SBA, Treasury release names of some PPP recipients

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and Treasury released Monday the names of all organizations that received Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) forgivable loans of $150,000 or more.

The SBA and Treasury also published data for recipients of PPP loans less than $150,000 but did not reveal the names and addresses of those businesses.

The data released Monday provides the following details for all of the nearly 4.9 million PPP loans: North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes, ZIP codes, business type, demographic data, not-for-profit information, and jobs supported. For loans of at least $150,000, the SBA also listed business names and addresses sorted by the following loan amount ranges:

• $150,000 to $350,000
• $350,000 to $1 million
• $1 million to $2 million
• $2 million to $5 million
• $5 million to $10 million

The list of names is accessible via the SBA Paycheck Protection Program Loan Level Data webpage.

A five-week extension for the PPP approved by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump reopened the application window for PPP funds until Aug. 8. The application window for the PPP had closed June 30 with $131.9 billion in funding remaining, but the SBA resumed accepting applications from lenders Monday morning.

Treasury and SBA had committed to releasing the loan-level data in an agreement reached with the bipartisan leaders of the Senate Small Business Committee. Lawmakers and critics of the program had called for greater transparency into who was receiving the loans from the $659 billion PPP program.

Details about the data

In an 18-page report, the SBA and Treasury revealed that 86.5% of PPP loans were for less than $150,000. Those loans, however, accounted for only 27.2% of the $521.5 billion in loans approved.

The average loan size was $107,000. More than 3.5 million loans were for $50,000 or less, while about 82,600 loans were for more than $1 million.

Other highlights in the report include:

• PPP loans are supporting about 51.1 million jobs, as much as 84% of all small business employees, based on U.S. Census calculations that small businesses employ around 59.9 million workers in the United States.
• Across the 50 states, PPP loans covered 72% to 96% of estimated small business payroll. The state with the highest percentage of loan support is Florida, while Virginia has the lowest percentage of loans covered.
• Lenders with less than $10 billion in assets were responsible for $231 billion in loans — or about 44% of the total. Banks with more than $50 billion in assets accounted for 36% of the value of the loans — about $190 billion.
• Among industries, health care received the most money — $67.4 billion — while professional, scientific, and technical services received the largest number of loans, 638,221. The construction, manufacturing, accommodation and food services, and retail sectors each received more than $40 billion in loans.
• Banks accounted for about $497 billion in loans, followed by credit unions ($9.7 billion), small business lending companies ($6.6 billion), and fintech ($4.7 billion).

The PPP in brief

Congress created the PPP as part of the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, P.L. 116-136. The legislation authorized Treasury to use the SBA’s 7(a) small business lending program to fund loans of up to $10 million per borrower that qualifying businesses could spend to cover payroll, mortgage interest, rent, and utilities. PPP borrowers can qualify to have the loans forgiven if the proceeds are used to pay certain eligible costs. However, the amount of loan forgiveness will be reduced if less than 60% of the funds are spent on payroll over a loan forgiveness period of either eight weeks or 24 weeks.

The program launched in early April with $349 billion in funding that was exhausted in less than two weeks by businesses and other entities seeking funds to help cope with the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Congress then approved another $310 billion in funding for the program, but demand for the loans fell after public backlash prompted several businesses to return their PPP loans. The dampened demand was also attributed to concerns about the rules for loan forgiveness.

Congress passed legislation last month easing the requirements for loan forgiveness.

PPP loans are available to small businesses that were in operation on Feb. 15 with 500 or fewer employees, including not-for-profits, veterans’ organizations, Tribal concerns, self-employed individuals, sole proprietorships, and independent contractors. Businesses with more than 500 employees in certain industries also can apply for loans.

Congress designed the loans to support organizations facing economic hardships created by the coronavirus pandemic and assist them in continuing to pay employee salaries. PPP loan recipients can have their loans forgiven in full if the funds were 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 attributed to nonpayroll costs, any decrease in employee headcount, and decreases in salaries or wages per employee.

AICPA experts discuss the latest on the PPP and other small business aid programs during a weekly virtual town hall. The webcasts, which provide CPE credit, are free to AICPA members. Go to the AICPA Town Hall Series webpage for more information and to register.

The AICPA’s Paycheck Protection Program Resources page houses resources and tools produced by the AICPA to help address the economic impact of the coronavirus.

For more news and reporting on the coronavirus and how CPAs can handle challenges related to the pandemic, visit the JofA’s coronavirus resources page or subscribe to our email alerts for breaking PPP news.

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