Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)

The Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) provided small businesses with an SBA-backed loan to keep them open and keep their workforce employed during the COVID-19 crisis. Ascendus was approved as a PPP intermediary lender during both the first and second draws of the program. In total, we provided 2,300 small business owners with $33 million in PPP forgivable capital through the program.

Importantly, our loans went to those most in need of relief and recovery support:

• Ascendus’s average PPP loan size was just $14,000, compared with $101,000 nationally – we continue to extend critical resources to the smallest businesses nationwide. 70% of our clients were self-employed individuals or independent contractors.
• 70% of our PPP borrowers were entrepreneurs of color, including 60% who are Black or Latinx – populations who have borne the brunt of COVID-19 health and economic consequences.
• Half of our PPP borrowers were immigrants or had English as a second language – individuals less likely to have access to the technical assistance and support to navigate government programming.
• Over half our PPP loans were provided to businesses within the administrative services, transportation or childcare industries.

If you obtained a PPP loan in 2020 through Ascendus, you should have received an invitation email with a personalized link to access our SPARK online portal. If you did not receive your email invitation, please email your loan consultant or [email protected].

If you received your loan in 2021 Ascendus will email you an invitation to apply for forgiveness by August. We appreciate your patience. If you did not receive a PPP loan with Ascendus, make sure to contact your lender that funded your PPP loan to apply for forgiveness.

Learn more on the PPP loan forgiveness process below.

Ascendus will continue to support clients as they navigate the loan forgiveness process helping them survive the closures, remain afloat and retain critical employment in their communities.  Stay-tuned for information on PPP Forgiveness Webinar in English and Spanish.

You can also visit the SBA website to ensure you are preparing yourself for your forgiveness application.

Already an Ascendus PPP client? After this final round of PPP applications is closed, we will be reaching out to our PPP clients regarding forgiveness applications. If you have questions about your forgiveness application, we ask that you wait until after June 30th before reaching out to us. We have provided FAQs on PPP forgiveness below. You can also visit the SBA website to ensure you are preparing yourself for your forgiveness application. Learn More

How and when do I apply for loan forgiveness?

A borrower can apply for forgiveness once all loan proceeds for which the borrower is requesting forgiveness have been used. Borrowers can apply for forgiveness any time up to the maturity date of the loan. If borrowers do not apply for forgiveness within 10 months after the last day of the covered period, then PPP loan payments are no longer deferred, and borrowers will begin making loan payments to their PPP lender.

To apply for loan forgiveness:

What documentation do I need to process loan forgiveness?

Payroll (for all payroll periods that overlapped with the Covered Period):

• Bank account statements or third-party payroll service provider reports documenting the amount of cash compensation paid to employees
• Tax forms (or equivalent third-party payroll service provider reports) for the periods that overlap with the Covered Period:
• Payroll tax filings reported, or that will be reported, to the IRS (typically, Form 941); and
• State quarterly business and individual employee wage reporting and unemployment insurance tax filings reported, or that will be reported, to the relevant state
• Payment receipts, cancelled checks, or account statements documenting the amount of any employer contributions to employee health insurance and retirement plans that the borrower included in the forgiveness amount
• Do NOT include the following when calculating eligible payroll costs for loan forgiveness:
• Qualified wages paid during April 1, 2020, through December 31, 2021, that are taken into account for purposes of claiming:
• the Employee Retention Credit under section 2301 of the CARES Act, as amended by sections 206 and 207 of the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020 (additional Guidance on the Employee Retention Credit under Section 2301 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (PDF) and Guidance on the Employee Retention Credit under the CARES Act for the First and Second Calendar Quarters of 2021 (PDF) are both available from the IRS), and the Employee Retention Credit under section 3134 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as enacted by the American Rescue Plan of 2021. (Note that reporting these qualified wages in the payroll costs entered on your loan forgiveness application will affect the amount of qualified wages that can be used to claim the employee retention credit.)

Non-payroll (for expenses that were incurred or paid during the Covered Period and showing that obligations or services existed prior to February 15, 2020 for the first three listed obligations/services):

• Business mortgage interest payments: Copy of lender amortization schedule and receipts verifying payments, or lender account statements
• Business rent or lease payments: Copy of current lease agreement and receipts or cancelled checks verifying eligible payments
• Business utility payments: Copies of invoices and receipts, cancelled checks or account statements
• Covered operations expenditures:  Copy of invoices, orders or purchase orders paid, and receipts, cancelled checks or account statements verifying eligible payments
• Covered property damage costs:  Copy of invoices, orders or purchase orders paid, and receipts, cancelled checks or account statements verifying eligible payments, and verification that costs were related to uninsured property damage due to public disturbance vandalism or looting that occurred in 2020
• Covered supplier costs:  Copy of contracts, orders or purchase orders in effect at any time before the Covered Period (except for perishable goods), and copy of invoices, orders or purchase orders paid, and receipts, cancelled checks or account statements verifying eligible payments
• Covered worker protection expenditures:  Copy of invoices, orders or purchase orders paid, and receipts, cancelled checks or account statements 
 verifying eligible payments, and verification that expenditures were used to 
 comply with COVID-19 guidance

The Ascendus forgiveness process for uploading documentation and submitting and signing the application is completely online. All Ascendus borrowers will be invited to begin the process to apply for loan forgiveness through our SPARK online portal.

This list of documents required to be submitted to your lender is not all-inclusive.

Forgiveness forms and instructions:

• SBA Full FAQ About PPP Loan Forgiveness
• SBA PPP Loan Forgiveness Application + Instructions
• SBA PPP EZ Loan Forgiveness Application + Instructions
• SBA PPP 3508S Loan Forgiveness Application + Instructions
• SBA Loan Forgiveness Requirements and Loan Review Procedures as Amended by Economic Aid Act

If you have questions about the forgiveness process of your PPP loan, please reach out to your loan consultant or email [email protected].