The US Small Business Administration has stopped accepting applications for the Paycheck Protection Program after exhausting the $ 349 billion initial funding provided by Congress to fund forgivable loans to small businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The SBA, which administers the program with the Treasury, issued a statement on its website indicating that it is currently unable to accept new PPP requests based on available funds. The SBA also said it was unable to register new PPP lenders at this time.

The AICPA has issued a Press release urging Congress to quickly approve additional funding for the program.

“The need for swift and decisive congressional action is clear,” the AICPA statement read. “Small businesses are the economic engine of the country, and supporting and stabilizing them is essential to our economic recovery. “

The $ 2 trillion CARES Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, PL 116-136, established the PPP to provide up to $ 349 billion in forgivable loans that companies 500 or fewer employees could use it to cover payroll, mortgage interest, rent, and utilities. Congress authorized the Treasury and the SBA to lead the PPP process under the SBA’s 7 (a) loan program.

Small businesses have inundated SBA-approved lenders with P3 applications since the application window opened on April 3. Lenders and the SBA have struggled to keep up with demand as small businesses desperately need help in an economy stranded by restrictions imposed to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus that caused COVID-19.

“This program has been rolled out with remarkable speed, and although there have been a few obstacles along the way, small businesses see the paycheck protection program as a lifeline,” said the president and AICPA CEO Barry Melancon, CPA, CGMA, in Institute News. Release. “We need to expand this support to protect workers and ensure our economy can rebound quickly after restrictions are lifted.”

The SBA has approved more than 1.6 million loans submitted by nearly 5,000 lenders. That’s over 14 years of loans in less than 14 days, according to a declaration published Wednesday evening by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza. Mnuchin and Carranza also urged Congress to approve additional funding of $ 250 billion.

“We urge Congress to allocate additional funds to the Paycheck Protection Program – a critical and predominantly bipartisan program – at this point we will again be able to process loan applications, issue loan numbers. and protect millions of additional paychecks, ”the joint statement said. .

The US economy has lost 22 million jobs in the past four weeks, according to unemployment benefit claims data released by the US Department of Labor on Thursday.

AICPA Paycheque Protection Program Resources The 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.

– Jeff drew ([email protected]) is a JofA senior editor.