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.

[Botanero]

Great question, that I'd also like to know the answer to.

[Ani_]

Hey @meaghan1960  - If you plan to apply through Square there is no need to register with the SBA on Friday.

[U14]

To calculate the 2019 Gross receipts the instructions say to use the amount shown on our tax return form 1065 line 1c.  That amount is slightly different, about $3,300  more then in Square. Will that mess up our application? Which figure should we use?

[U14]

For the 2020 Gross Receipts to report, since we do not have our 2020 taxes completed , do we use the Square Gross Sales,  Square Gross Sales - Square Returns ( which is the equivalent of line 1c Form 1065), or do we use the Square Net Sales?

[NmontaSBA]

@U14 You should use whichever number accurately represents your 2019 gross receipts and if there is a discrepancy with your tax returns, upload a cover page or other document explaining the discrepancy.

[cafeanclair]

If we changed our system from Square to another pos system, can we still apply through Square? We still have an account and use it sometimes, not daily. 

[Ani_]

Hey @cafeanclair! We recommend you apply through SBA or your current point of sale provider.

[aacole]

A colleague of mine says that the Square portal will start accepting applications at 10:00am EDT this Friday (earlier than the scheduled 12:00 Monday May 3rd SBA portal opening. When is the Square portal open to take applications?

Also, given that the Square portal opens prior to SBA's scheduled portal opening on Monday, will SBA consider Square applications completed prior to that time as completed at 9:00am, in the order they were received by Square? That is, do I have the weekend to get the application into the Square portal to still have it considered as completed by 9:00am Monday morning?

Or, another way of asking the same question, should I complete the application as soon as possible starting at 10:00am EDT Friday April 30 to get earliest possible chance to have my application reviewed? Thanks.

[Ani_]

Hi @aacole,  The SBA will open for registration at 9:00 AM EST on Friday 4/30. However, Square and the SBA portal will not open for application until Monday 5/3 at 12:00 PM EST. Whether you plan to complete your application through SBA or Square, the portal will not be open until Monday at noon.

[aacole]

Where exactly will Square link to the RRF application within Dashboard? Is a link available?

[F_Choe]

Since I did not fully used Square in 2019, I will have to use tax return from 2019 for RRF.  My question is

1. Will Square take my 2019 tax return and allow me to use square sales record for 2020?

2. Will Square be able to Official Sales Report Document for 2020 so I can use it to apply thru SBA? 

It's my understanding that Clover and Aloha will provide Official Sales Report Document so I wonder if Square will offer same service.

3. What about 3rd party delivery orders that are not included in Square sales report?  Do I need to report this separately to SBA?  Then How?  Should I straight go to SBA and apply?

[Ani_]

Hey @F_Choe! 

If you have sales in 2019 through Square, we will be able to annualize your data. If you did not use Square in 2019 and began processing in 2020, we recommend you apply through SBA.

You are able to find your 1099k from Account & Settings, Business, Tax Forms, and you are able to find a Sales Report from the Reports tab on your Square Dashboard.

If you use third party delivery, we recommend you reach out to those partners for documentation.

[neat]

The SBA application says: • For a partnership: partnership’s IRS Form 1065 (including K-1s); 

What do they mean including K1s? SBA is requiring us to include all the K1s for all of the investors?

[NmontaSBA]

@neat SBA requires the Applicant to include the tax documentation that validates the gross receipts number used in the funding calculation, not all K1s for all of the investors.

[littlesaigondel]

Hi,

How do I register with Square so I can apply for the Grant?  Thank you.

Sheena Le

Little Saigon Deli

[Ani_]

Hi @littlesaigondel! There is no registration needed. If you processed with Square in 2019 and 2020, then you will see a module on your Dashboard prompting you to begin your application on Monday. We will also notify you via email. No additional registration is needed as an existing Square customer.

[Kristy2801]

1. Can you please show the table 4 calculation process and what docs need to provide to support each location’s sale since the tax return and P&L are for whole EIN with different locations

[NmontaSBA]

Hi @Kristy2801, an applicant with multiple eligible locations under the same EIN must apply for all locations in one single application. However, do not include gross receipts from a location that is not operating as an eligible RRF business type. For example, if you own a dry cleaner and a restaurant under the same tax identification number, you may only include gross receipts from the restaurant.

[robynmurphy3]

What forms will we need to upload to the application?

[Ani_]

Hey @robynmurphy3 - You can review required documentation by going to sba.gov/restaurants.

[Chrishawaii3619]

We operate two smoothie shops under the same corporation (C corporation) in Hawaii.  We have separate Square accounts for each location.  Would I be able to use one of the Square accounts to apply for the fund for both locations since both locations are under the same corporation and EIN number?