The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and its business and technology arm, CPA.com, has released a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan forgiveness platform, PPPForgivenessTool.com, which automates the forgiveness process for small business owners who received funds from the PPP.
Part of the CARES Act stimulus package, the PPP is designed to help businesses impacted by the coronavirus pandemic to maintain operations and payroll. PPP loans are forgivable if borrowers follow guidelines on payroll spending set by the Small Business Administration and Treasury Department, which administer the loan program. 
The platform, powered by fintech lender Biz2Credit’s software, is available to any business that has been approved for a PPP loan, regardless of lender. Borrowers or their accountants fill out the forgiveness application and the tool produces all government-mandated forms automatically. The PPP applicant will be able to electronically sign the 3508 or 3508 EZ forms (PPP loan forgiveness application firms) and all the required source documents will also be included in a downloadable file that can be provided to their lenders. The aim is to save businesses time by automating most of this process.
The platform incorporates the AICPA’s PPP loan forgiveness calculator, a template that reflects all current Small Business Administration and Treasury guidance on PPP forgiveness.
In April, the AICPA formed a working coalition with leading payroll providers to help provide ongoing guidance and recommendations around PPP for small businesses and CPA firms. This small business funding coalition has also maintained an ongoing dialogue with lenders, another key stakeholder in small business success. Because PPPForgivesnessTool.com is built on an open infrastructure, businesses can integrate it into their systems and automate the import of source data.
“For the past three months, we have been very actively engaged in providing resources and tools to support the 44,000 CPA firms in the critical role they’ve played for the five million businesses that applied for PPP loans,” said Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO of CPA.com, in a statement. “We are now incorporating our PPP calculation and process recommendations into a dynamic PPP Forgiveness Tool to help drive a simple and effective forgiveness process. Our broader goal with this tool is to also to help drive a common approach to this process with the payroll and lender communities.”