President Donald Trump on Saturday signed a bill reopening the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) application window until August 8.

The five-week extension was approved last week by both houses of Congress. Both the US House of Representatives and the Senate passed the legislation by unanimous consent.

House approval on July 1 came after the Senate surprise passed the extension on the night of June 30, just hours before the scheduled PPP application window closed.

The extension keeps a source of funding open to struggling small businesses while Congress works on a second, more targeted funding program. The PPP, which has remaining funding of around $ 129 billion, was launched in early April as the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S. economy and forced many businesses to shut down. The program offers forgivable loans that small businesses and other eligible entities can use to cover payroll and other selected costs.

The US Small Business Administration (SBA), which oversees the program with the Treasury Department, stopped accepting loan applications at midnight on June 30. The program had yet to officially reopen Sunday night, according to the SBA. PPP Home Page.

Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., Tweeted June 30 that extending the deadline was an important step and the next step should be to go through a second round of PPP loans to help smaller businesses that do. need it most.

Senator Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Chairman of the Senate Small Business Committee, said in a tweet that he was not opposed to extending the PPP deadline until August 8, but that the vast majority of small businesses companies that wanted PPP funds have already used the program.

“What we really need to embrace very soon is targeted help for those who need a second round of help,” said Rubio.

As of 5 p.m. ET on June 30, the SBA had approved nearly 4.9 million loans for a total of more than $ 520 billion.

PPP in brief

Congress created the PPP under the $ 2 trillion CARES Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, PL 116-136. The legislation allowed the Treasury to use the SBA’s Small Business Loan Program 7 (a) to fund forgivable loans of up to $ 10 million per borrower that qualifying businesses could spend to cover payroll, mortgage interest. , rent and utilities.

The loans are available for small businesses that were in operation on February 15 with 500 or fewer employees, including nonprofits, veterans organizations, tribal groups, self-employed, sole proprietorships and independent contractors. Businesses with more than 500 employees in certain industries can also apply for loans.

Congress designed the loans to support organizations facing economic hardships created by the coronavirus pandemic and help them continue to pay employee salaries. PPP loan recipients may have their loans canceled in full if the funds have been used for eligible expenses and other criteria are met. The amount of the loan forgiveness may be reduced based on the percentage of eligible costs allocated to non-salary costs, any decrease in employee numbers and decreases in wages or salaries per employee.

AICPA experts will discuss the latest P3 news during its weekly webcast at City Hall on July 9 at 3 p.m. ET. The webcast, which offers CPE credits, is free to AICPA members. Registration is available on this page.

the AICPA Paycheck Protection Program Resource Page houses resources and tools produced by the AICPA to help cope with the economic impact of the coronavirus.

For more information and stories on the coronavirus and how CPAs can handle the challenges of the pandemic, visit JofA‘s coronavirus resource page or subscribe to our email alerts for the latest PPP news.

–Jeff drew (Jeff.Drew@aicpa-cima.com) is a JofA senior editor.