Solved: Re: Live Q&A: Restaurant Revitalization Fund for S... - Page 25

Ani_ · ‎04-22-2021

Hi Seller Community!

I'm excited to announce the Small Business Administration has developed a partnership with Square to distribute the Restaurants Revitalization Fund (RRF) relief to the food and drink industry. The Restaurants Revitalization Fund (RRF) is part of the U.S. Government’s American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. This plan includes a $28.6B fund for awards to eligible food and beverage business owners, administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA).

On Thursday, April 29th at 1:30-2:30 PM PST /4:30 PM-5:30 EST, we'll host a Live Q&A with the Small Business Administration (SBA) to answer any of your questions about the application process. Please make sure to ask any questions directly on this thread below. Keep in mind, the SBA will only be addressing questions related to the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF), not PPP.

How does the application process work?

We expect to start enabling applications for the Restaurants Revitalization Fund (RRF) on Monday, May 3rd at 12:00 PM EST. The award application program is owned by the SBA, and they are finalizing the process. We know how important these funds are to you and your business, so we are working as quickly as possible to get the application ready!

Unlike the PPP program, the Restaurant Revitalization Fund are awards and are not loans. They are not serviced as loans, and have no forgiveness component. There are no intermediary banks involved. Awards are determined by and allocated by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and not Square.

If you qualify for a Restaurant Revitalization Fund grant, you’ll have the option to apply Monday, May 3rd on Square Dashboard or through the SBA’s secure website. To help support applicants throughout the process, the SBA will offer phone and district office support.

Call center hotline (844-279-8898): Applicants can call this number for multi-lingual application or program support.
SBA District Offices: Applicants can reach out to their local District Office for tailored regional SBA support.

For more information about eligibility or to start your application, please visit the SBA Portal. You can also find more information about the Restaurant Revitalization Fund on the Support Center. Let us know if you have any questions for the SBA below!

Note: The SBA has announced that they will officially stop accepting applications for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) on Monday, May 24, at 8 p.m. ET.

Ani
Gestora de la Comunidad de Vendedores / Seller Community Manager, Square

Ani_ · ‎04-30-2021

On Thursday 5/29, we hosted a Q&A with the US Small Business Administration about the Restaurant Revitalization Fund.

In the Q&A, the SBA and Square answered questions about the application process — from general eligibility requirements to more specific information that applied to individual sellers.

Here’s some important information that applies to most sellers:

When can you apply:
- Applications start on Monday 5/3 at 12:00 p.m EST / 9:00 a.m. PST.
- The SBA has a registration window open on Friday 4/30, but if you plan to apply through Square you do not need to register with the SBA.

Who can apply through Square:
- To determine if you are an eligible business type, you’ll need to visit SBA’s website (sba.gov/restaurants).
- If you processed with Square in 2019 and 2020 (Table 1 or 2 in the RRF application), you can apply through Square’s dashboard or the SBA. If you used multiple POS providers during that period or had supplemental income e.g. from online ordering apps, you can still apply with Square. You’ll be able to add supplementary income information — but the SBA may require you to provide additional documentation before you e-sign your application.
- If you began processing with Square in 2020 or 2021 (Table 3 in the RRF application), then you will need to apply through the SBA. You can get useful information from your Square account to include in your application — to learn how, please take a look at our Support Center.

Why you should or should not apply with Square:
- If you apply through Square can save time completing and submitting your application with pre filled data from your Square account.
- Submitting through Square can help you get your application in front of the SBA quickly — before the RRF funds run out.
- Square will enable you to add supplemental revenue information in your application for either Table 1 or Table 2 applicant. However, if you are a Table 3 applicant, you will need to apply via SBA because Square will not let you upload supporting documentation for eligible expenses.

How can you apply with Square:
- If you are eligible to apply through Square, you’ll need to log in to your dashboard when the application window opens, using the owner’s login. From there, you’ll find a specific RRF module from where you can start your application.
- Square will have pre-filled your application with the information we know about your business. That said, there is information we do not have access to. To complete your application as fast as possible we recommend to have the following information handy:
  - The date (day, month, and year) you began operations.
  - How many months you operate in every location. This is especially important if you operate a seasonal business.
  - Any additional income you may have earned in 2019 and 2020 that was not processed through Square. Ideally you are tracking this income by location. If this information is not available feel free to distribute this across locations ensuring the total revenue by location (through Square and other sources)stays under $5M.
  - Your PPP loan information — especially if you did not process these loans with Square.
- After submitting your award application through your Square Dashboard, you’ll need to eSign your application. Here’s how it works:
  - Open an email from Square with the title “Your RRF award application is not yet complete.” Follow the link in the email to visit the SBA portal.
  - If you see a page with the title “Third Party Signup,” you are in the right spot. Enter the text you see in the grey pixelated image in the appropriate field and click Complete Sign Up.
  - You’ll then receive an email from SBA with the title “SBA Restaurant Revitalization Fund - Password Reset E-mail.” Click the link included in the email to reset your password.
  - Once you complete your password reset, scroll to the bottom of the page and click Sign and Submit Application to sign your application via DocuSign.
  - The SBA may also require additional documentation for your application if you indicated revenue outside of Square. From the SBA portal, you will be able to upload supporting documentation to the Additional Info Needed section if required by the SBA.

How can you get help if you have more questions?
- We will try to answer as many additional questions as possible here through the weekend.
- Call the SBA call center hotline (844-279-8898): Applicants can call this number for multilingual application or program support.

Reach out to your SBA District Office: Applicants can reach out to their local District Office for tailored regional SBA support.

Ani
Gestora de la Comunidad de Vendedores / Seller Community Manager, Square

View Solution >

krischris2 · ‎04-29-2021

I would like to know if Square Portal for the application is open on April 30

Seanse07 · ‎04-29-2021

Just to register a log in. you wont be able to fill an application out until monday

Ani_ · ‎04-30-2021

@krischris2 No, Square will open for applications on May 3 at the same time that the SBA portal opens. I believe the April 30th date you’re referring to is for registration with the SBA. If you plan to apply through Square, then this is not necessary.

Ani
Gestora de la Comunidad de Vendedores / Seller Community Manager, Square

Wtr4920 · ‎04-29-2021

If you have to close for a couple days to make the renovatoins required for a safe re-openning are the lost revenues covered?

Ani_ · ‎04-30-2021

Hey @Wtr4920, the SBA has released the formula that it is going to be using to calculate the awards a business is eligible at sba.gov/restaurants. We recommend reviewing the formula that applies to your business (e.g. based on when you were in operation) to get visibility on whether the change in your income and any associated expenses would be part of this calculation.

Ani
Gestora de la Comunidad de Vendedores / Seller Community Manager, Square

aluelcellars · ‎04-29-2021

Two Questions:
1) Will Square take into account the minority communities as well when submitting the application?
2) Are there documents that we should have prepared ahead of time on Monday to ensure that we can submit our application efficiently?

Ani_ · ‎04-30-2021

Hi @aluelcellars, Yes, we will enable you self attest if you are part of this group. Our Support Center has some information on how to be best prepared to apply with Square.

Ani
Gestora de la Comunidad de Vendedores / Seller Community Manager, Square

xgolftc · ‎04-29-2021

How do we get registered for the live Q&A?

Bsferra · ‎04-29-2021

I am looking for the same answer

Seanse07 · ‎04-29-2021

no live Q&A. They will just respond live for the next hour here on this forum. confusing title, i know

FMCorp · ‎04-29-2021

Thanks for clarifying.

txkeepercider · ‎04-29-2021

Can you send us the application square will use so we can gather then necessary paperwork for Monday's launch?

Ani_ · ‎04-30-2021

Hi @txkeepercider, if you decide to apply through Square we have some information on you can best prepare for Monday’s launch on our Support Center.

Ani
Gestora de la Comunidad de Vendedores / Seller Community Manager, Square

kelsenvana · ‎04-29-2021

If a restaurant is partially open in 2019 - first day of sales Nov 14, 2019 but only 6 days of open (sales) in November and 25 days in December - how many months is that considered for calculation Table 2? Is it 31 days and 1 month or is it from Nov 14 through Dec and it's 1.5 months?

NmontaSBA · ‎05-02-2021

@kelsenvana In this example, it is 11/14-12/31/19 so 1.5 months.

Nicola
SBA Guest Speaker
sba.gov/restaurants

epartee · ‎04-29-2021

If I apply for the RRF through Square instead of directly on the SBA website, will there be an electronic way to fill in form 4506-T?

Ani_ · ‎05-02-2021

Hi @epartee - There will not be a way to fill out the 4506-T form through Square.

Ani
Gestora de la Comunidad de Vendedores / Seller Community Manager, Square

corvonyc · ‎04-29-2021

The person associated whose name is on the Square account is no longer associated with the business. Can anyone sign as the authorized owner or can it only be the individual that is on the Square account?

Ani_ · ‎05-02-2021

Hi @corvonyc, The application will only be available from the owner login in the Square Dashboard. Owner information will be prefilled as the existing Square account owner, additional owners can be updated or adjusted.

Ani
Gestora de la Comunidad de Vendedores / Seller Community Manager, Square

KVSteam · ‎04-29-2021

Hi, For 2019 we had two different square account first 5 month on one account and the rest on second square account. Is there a way for square to consolidate it? or what advice would you suggest? Thank you

Ani_ · ‎05-02-2021

Hi @KVSteam, Unfortunately there is not a way to consolidate the two accounts. If you apply from the second Square account (which sounds like it also began processing in 2019), you will be able to indicate that you opened prior to when you began processing in that account, and upload supporting documentation via the SBA portal after submitting your application through Square.

Ani
Gestora de la Comunidad de Vendedores / Seller Community Manager, Square

Live Q&A: Restaurant Revitalization Fund for Square Food and Beverage Sellers

When can you apply:

Who can apply through Square:

Why you should or should not apply with Square:

How can you apply with Square:

How can you get help if you have more questions?