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.

[hotandcoolcafe]

Hello - we used a different POS company in 2019 and switched to square in 2020. Can we still apply through square and show other documentation for 2019 gross reciepts?

[Ani_]

Hey @hotandcoolcafe, Unfortunately Square will not be able to support your application, we recommend you apply through the SBA.

[CoffeeShop]

Wholesale vs Retail

• Our business was over the 33% on-site retail in 2020 (and 2019)
• Our retail, wholesale and online business are all under same brand and EIN

Are we able to separate the gross receipts and PPP for just our retail cafes or is it the total gross receipts for the entire entity the EIN received?  

Thanks!

[NmontaSBA]

@CoffeeShop You must apply using the total gross receipts for the entire entity the EIN received.

[VeggieyQue]

Hello, 

Thank you for all the support. I won't be able to attend the Q&A, will there be a recording I can access tonight?

[Tom]

Hi @VeggieyQue, thanks for reaching out. All answers to questions will come through in this thread in written form. While there won't be a recording, we will summarize important action items based on themes from the questions here—and mark it as a Best Answer after the event. Hope this helps clarify a bit more!

[Kristy2801]

Questions about Square:

• Square will open application on Friday?
• Our business been using square for years. My landlord required us to switch to other POS system in order for them to check sales after we reopen. But we plan to use back Square soon, in this case, can I still use square to apply now? Square has most of my 1099k for these two years. We only use other POS for couple months.
• Can square let me to attach additional 1099k from other POS platforms like Grubhub?
• Will Square’s application form will be the same as SBA?
• The 1099-k form square provided is including sales tax and tips, should we deduct the sales tax and tips by ourselves?

[Ani_]

Hi @Kristy2801, Square applications will open on Monday, May 3 when the SBA opens applications. If you processed with Square in 2019 and 2020, Square will be able to support your application. Square will additionally provide space to include outside revenue, and you’d be able to upload supporting documentation to the SBA portal after submitting your application. Square’s calculation will be the same and the form will include the same information, but data that is already available through Square will be prefilled.

[Kristy2801]

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

[BGOperators]

We purchased an already operating business (seasonal outdoor bar/restaurant) in January 2020.  We changed the business LLC and EIN to reflect the new owners.  We were only able to be open a week before the pandemic shut us down in our state.  Are we able to use their previous sales that were recorded in the same Square account to show what our sales were in 2019 vs 2020 for the RRF?

[NmontaSBA]

Hi @BGOperators, 

If you do not have the financial records from the previous owner (including payroll records), you may apply using Application Table 3. 

If you have the financial records from the previous owner (including payroll records) you should apply using the appropriate Table that corresponds to the length of time the business has been open.

Regardless of which Table you use in the application, you must include all Paycheck Protection Program loans received by the business in 2020 and/or 2021, regardless of ownership, in line 3 on Table 1, 2, or 3 of your funding calculation.

[VeggieyQue]

Hello, as I won't be able to attend can the following questions be asked on my behalf please?

- In 2021 I became a corporation, in 2019 and 2020 I was sole proprietor; do I enter my status as Corporation or Sole proprietor?

-My 2019 and 2020 taxes were done as a sole propreitor; I don't have form 4506-T. Can I use the tax forms I submitted in 2019/2020? Which lines from the schedule C do I use for their calculations?

- I used two POS systems in 2019 and 2020; I have two 1099k's is that ok? 

- I have profit and loss reports for 2020 only not for 2019. Is that a problem?

Can they outline the calculation we need to use, an example would help.

Thank You.

[NmontaSBA]

Hi @VeggieyQue, You should apply how you filed taxes in 2019 and 2020. The 4506T is embedded in the application.

The amounts required to calculate gross receipts varies by the entity tax return type:

• For self-employed individuals (IRS Form 1040 Schedule C): line 3 
• For partnerships (IRS Form 1065): line 1c
• For S-Corporations (IRS Form 1120-S): line 1c
• For C-Corporations (IRS Form 1120): line 1c
• LLCs: Use one of the above
• B Corporations: Use line 1c from either IRS Form 1120 or 1120S

If you used two POS systems in 2019 and 2020 you must upload all documentation related to both systems. Tax returns are required for 2019 gross receipts, so if you don’t have profit and loss statements for 2019 that is ok.

[PitMasterSean]

where is the link for the zoom or call?

[Tom]

Hi @PitMasterSean, thanks for checking in and sorry for the confusion. All questions will be addressed in writing within this thread — there is no call or Zoom meeting. Our teams will start replying today at 1:30-2:30pm PT / 4:30-5:30pm ET. Please feel free to respond here if you have any questions on this topic.

[PPastry]

I am trying to see answers and I am not able to figure this out.  My email is blowing up but to questions asked no answers to be found.  how do we see the answers?

[sammyairtime]

We recently discovered that the IRS still hasn't processed our 2019 mail-in business tax filings due to their backlog caused by COVID. We e-filed our 2020 business tax so those are in. If the IRS still hasn't processed our 2019 tax filings when we apply for the RRF, will that create a problem for our RRF application either via the SBA or Square?

[NmontaSBA]

Hi @sammyairtime, Please upload your 2019 tax filings for documentation in your RRF application.

[sammyairtime]

We have 3 Square accounts that we actively use for payment processing. If we apply for the RRF via Square will there be an option to consolidate all 3 accounts into one RRF filing? One of the accounts has the LLC's EIN listed while the other two has the social security of the owner listed. For tax purposes, all 3 accounts are filed via schedule C under the owner's personal income taxes. How many RRFs do I file? Three, one for each account? Two, one for each TIN? One, consolidate all three accounts into one application?

[Ani_]

Hey @sammyairtime, If they are three separate Square accounts, you will need to apply through the SBA. You will not be able to combine revenue across separate Square accounts.

[Bayard]

Hi, my Square account is under the previous Owner's name (I know square is working on a way to transfer ownership when the business changes hands) will I be able to fill out my RRF app through square regardless?