I’m amazed at the difference in conversations I have with businesses of different sizes.
The size of the company makes all the difference when it comes time to get massive benefits from the government.
Companies with hundreds of employees and teams of accountants and payroll people as usual take advantage of amazing government programs while those with fewer employees and lower revenue seldom hear of these programs. Even if they do hear about these programs the smaller companies lack the resources to process these benefits.
Of course in this case we’re talking about the Employee Retention Tax Credit or ERTC for small businesses.
As part of the Cares Act, businesses affected by the pandemic were able to participate in either the Payment Protection Program (PPP) or the Employee Retention Tax Credit program (ERTC) where you can get a check for up to $26,000 per employee.
It was one or the other.
Most businesses went with the PPP because it was easier to understand, it was easier to apply for and was completely forgivable.
But about a year ago the laws changed that made it so that businesses could benefit from BOTH programs even if you previously used the other program. There was not a lot of noise about this. It just kind of quietly crept into the world and hardly anyone noticed.
Also, they changed the qualifying criteria substantially making it much easier for businesses to file a claim.
The larger companies of course have people who’s job it is to keep an eye out for these programs and ultimately see the huge benefit of a program where they could realize up to $26,000 per employee.
They immediately task their accountants and CPA’s to file for the Employee Retention Tax Credit for millions but it’s important to note, even they get things wrong a lot of the time because it’s very complicated.
After all the legislation for ERTC is over 5,000 pages. That’s the size of a full heavy box of copy paper. Who’s going to read through all that and understand it? Believe it or not, even these bigger companies with all their internal resources get a lot of things wrong and leave tons of money on the table.
If the big companies with all their staff struggle to get through it. How would a smaller business even begin to manage taking advantage of that boost of revenue to grow their own business? It’s almost impossible.
So are the small businesses getting overlooked again? Excuse the cynicism but it’s almost as if the politicians purposely wrote this generous program in such a complicated way as to only allow those with massive resources to take advantage of it. Yet they don’t hesitate to make sure it sounds like the politicians are doing something good for the smaller businesses.
No small business owner is going to take time away from running their business to try to learn about the Employee Retention Tax Credit program. Even if you send it to your private CPA or even contracted CPA firm, they don’t want to allocate their time to learning the ERTC program. What many people don’t realize is that even though it has the word “Tax” in the name it’s more closely related to payroll functions. Most CPA’s don’t do that.
If it was something you could file for every year then it would definitely become a new discipline that CPA’s and Payroll companies would get really good at. But because it’s a one off event, you can understand why they don’t dig deep into it.
It’s almost as if when they wrote the ERTC legislation they knew the small business would never take advantage of the program or if they do, they’ll mess it up so much that they’ll only get a third of what they’re entitled to. But again the politicians get to stand on a podium and tout how they gave billions in tax credits to the little guy when it should have been much more.
So how does a smaller business benefit from ERTC?
- Understand what’s at risk.
| Number of Employees | 10 | 25 | 50 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum Up to $26,000 PER EMPLOYEE | $260,000 | $650,000 | $1,300,000 |
As you see, this is not some small time grant or assistance loan. This is real money that is delivered to you in the form of a check that can be used immediately in any way you deem necessary.
It does NOT need to be paid back.
When you realize how much is available, we find that more small business owners take this a whole lot more serious and aren’t willing to risk losing the opportunity.
2. Don’t dismiss this as some kind of hassle that you don’t have time to deal with.
Because your busy, it can be overwhelming. Time goes by and it never gets done. I can’t blame you. The good news is that there’s a simplified way to file for your Employee Retention Tax Credit. The company I recommend, Jorns and Associates, takes care of everything for you. You complete a questionnaire, supply them with your tax returns, payroll information and they’ll take it from there. They will happily work with your CPA and Payroll company so you don’t even have to be involved.
3. Make sure you choose the very best, most highly qualified specialists in the ERTC industry.
I probably don’t have to tell you that whenever the government makes available a super generous program like this, a lot of people and companies see an opportunity at a money grab.
A lot of them will happily take your money for a mediocre service and leave a lot of money on the table that you should have received. I’ve seen private individual CPA’s, as in just one guy in a tiny office start running ads for ERTC. I heard an ad on the radio for a law firm that was promoting this amazing program all small businesses are entitle to. When I looked them up, they were doing estate planning just 3 months ago.
I’ve even seen larger CPA or Payroll companies put a sign on a door that says ERTC Division and put poor Judy in there and tell her to figure it out.
I spoke to a larger business with about 150 employees and they said they for sure know that their payroll company got it wrong 4 different times and now they just hope it’s good enough.
Jorns and Associates was processing ERTC filings from the very beginning. It’s what they do every day, all day. Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner.
Out of the multi billions in ERTC funds in credits recovered they have a very high average per employee because of their proprietary software, they stand behind you if you ever get audited, they offer an amazing no risk program.
They’re here to help you get lots of money from the government finally.
I could say a lot more but this is getting long already. My recommendation: Just talk to someone at Jorns and Associates and make up your own mind.
