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

[Ani_]

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.

[PPastry]

Thank you

[Reddev3]

I use Square for credit card processing only and never take my cash through the system was wondering how that will work? Will there be a way to add my additional cash sales in your system?

[Ani_]

Hey @Reddev3, yes, there is a field to indicate revenue collected outside of Square.

[DFWRestaurant]

Is square going to launch on time May 3rd? Square was late with PPP and this is even more limited funding and will go quicker. 

[Ani_]

@DFWRestaurant Yes, we'll be ready to launch on time on May 3rd!

[ReverieKitchen]

Why isn't the SBA giving priority to restaurants that did not receive PPP funding or other grants and include us as disadvantaged??? Once again, we could lose out!!!

[Ani_]

Hi @ReverieKitchen - the priority period the SBA is implementing was directed by law in the American Rescue Plan Act. We understand you and restaurants across the country are struggling and are working to get relief to as many applicants as possible with the 28.6 billion in funding available.

[corvonyc]

I plan to apply directly through the SBA portal but have not yet filed my 2020 tax returns. In lieu of a 2020 return the SBA is accepting a "verified POS report" to prove 2020 gross receipts. Please elaborate on what constitutes as a "verified POS report." Can we send a scan of our dashboard sales report for 1/1/20-12/31/20, or do we need to get a specific document from Square that is not currently accessible through the dashboard?

[NmontaSBA]

Hello @corvonyc,

You are able to access POS reports, including your 1099k, from your Square dashboard. To access your 1099k, navigate to Account & Settings, Business, and Tax Forms.

SBA does encourage applicants who can apply through Square to do so! This is an amazing partnership we have worked together on to make sure you as an Applicant have all the data and documentation you need, in a platform you are already comfortable with.

[2A311117]

But, the 1099K only shows credit card sales.  The POS report will show all Cash, Credit Card, 3rd Party Ordering that goes through square, gift cards, checks as long as they went through the POS.  So what is a POS report? and will square have that report available to use?

[Kristy2801]

Is the application form format in square the same as the one from SBA?

[Kristy2801]

Is the application form format in square the same as the one from SBA?

[Joe]

Hi there, @Kristy2801 👋 Thanks for reaching out to us once again from here on the Seller Community!

I'm guessing your post is in relation RRF program? I've gone ahead and merged your post into an existing thread of Sellers who were also looking for information regarding the program and had questions for the SBA. This same thread should have other answers for you, as well as can generate a response directly from an SBA associate.

We hope to get an answer to your question for you soon! 

[NmontaSBA]

Hi @Kristy2801, 

Whether you apply through Square or SBA, you will be required to supply the same information. The look and feel might be slightly different in the platforms, but it is the same application at the core! The Square application will be streamlined for Applicants, and pre-filled with your information to help make the process as smooth as possible.

[Kristy2801]

I have been using square for years. However, after Covid reopening, our landlord required us to change to another POS system for him to check sales. However, I know they will chance back to use square soon. Can I still use square to apply for the RRFG now? Most of my 1099k and sales are in Square for these two years. only couple months sale are in the new POS. 

[NmontaSBA]

Hi @Kristy2801, Applicants should use their current POS system to apply (if applicable) and apply through restaurants.sba.gov if their current system does not offer the RRF application.

[BigAls]

How will SQUARE handle sales and payments that are not transacted in SQUARE?   Such as EZ Cater or UberEats, etc.   We have all of our income reported in our tax returns and P&Ls, but they aren't all loaded through Square.     We don't use SQUARE for all INVOICES as SQ Invoices aren't acceptable to some municipal customers who pay via ACH.  

[Ani_]

Hey @BigAls  - You will be able to apply through Square with processing data from 2019 and 2020. You’ll be prompted to indicate external revenue and later upload supporting documentation (eg. from third party delivery providers) through the SBA portal once your application is submitted.

[Kchiao]

If I am a Square Customer, but also have sales outside of what Square POS has captured, should I still pre-register with SBA.gov on Friday 4/30 @ 6:00am PST?  SBA Application Portal Training Webinar mentioned today that there is no need to pre-register on Friday if we are already a Square customer. Would it be okay to pre-register through SBA anyways since Square has not opened up any portals regarding the RRF? 

[Ani_]

@Kchiao If you have sales through Square in both 2019 and 2020, then you will be able to apply through Square, and you will be able to enter revenue from outside of Square. You may be required to upload supporting documentation for the outside revenue through the SBA portal after application submission.

If you plan to apply through Square, then there is no need to pre-register.

[onoyohawaii]

Is the application going to show up on our Square homepage on Monday when the application opens? It would be helpful to know exactly what to expect on Monday so we can be totally prepared and ready to go on Monday. Thank you!