New to Intuit's QuickBooks is the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Center, and the latest update adds a loan forgiveness estimator and PPP-specific reports to QuickBooks Online, among other tools.
Many tech providers within the accounting space have rapidly added tools to help small businesses cope with business disruption during the COVID-19 pandemic, including some pricing relief.
Currently, QuickBooks users can access:
- PPP Center - available to all QuickBooks Online, Desktop, and Self-Employed customers who applied and received a loan through QuickBooks Capital.
- Loan Forgiveness Estimator - available to all users who obtained a loan through QuickBooks Capital and are QuickBooks Online or Desktop customers with employees.
- PPP Reports - Expense reports are available to all QuickBooks Online, Desktop and Self-Employed users within the PPP Center. Payroll reports are available to QuickBooks Online Payroll and QuickBooks Desktop Payroll customers.
Paycheck Protection Program Center
The PPP Center can be accessed via the Capital Tab in QBO. It functions as the primary source in QuickBooks to find PPP-related information. The center allows users to track expenses, estimate forgiveness, generate PPP-specific reports to support forgiveness applications and find answers to commonly asked questions.
Businesses that have applied and received a loan through QuickBooks Capital will also receive access to loan information and documentation, auto-populated by the QuickBooks system. The resouirces are only available to businesses that have received their loan through QuickBooks.
Loan forgiveness estimator
The loan forgiveness estimator, accessed from PPP Center, is designed to help business owners and accountants better manage the forgiveness process and minimize future debt.
By tracking current payroll and non-payroll spend during the covered period, the tool gives a snapshot of where businesses stand and estimates how much of a loan is likely to be forgivable given current spending trends and Small Business Administration guidelines.
Users can also test scenarios, adjusting potential spending on payroll and other expenses, as well as changes to staff and wages, to determine the impact on forgivable and non-forgivable costs.
The tool features frequently asked questions and Treasury and SBA-compliant guidance on how to properly spend funds to maximize forgiveness.
PPP reports
Two new QuickBooks reports are now available in the PPP Center to assist with tracking and applying for loan forgiveness:
1. PPP Expense Report: A customizable profit and loss report that can be used to track selected eligible PPP expenses.
2. PPP Payroll Report: This automatically updated report, available to QuickBooks Online Payroll and QuickBooks Desktop Payroll users, pulls all eligible payroll expenses during the covered period. These include:
- Salary, wages, commissions or similar compensation
- Additional wages paid to tipped employees, if applicable
- Employee benefits, such as PTO, allowance for employee separation or dismissal, insurance premiums, taxes and retirement.
