Employee Retention Credit: Your Business Likely Qualifies

Did you know that many business owners may qualify for the Employee Retention Credit? In fact, the IRS estimates 70-80% of small and medium businesses qualify. This credit was put into place to reward businesses that kept their employees during the pandemic.
 
Despite its ease to qualify for, many business owners are not aware of this credit, or they have been told by their CPA or Accountant that they would not qualify. We want to let you know that there have been many updates to the ERC program since it was released, and your business likely qualifies.
 
What is the Employee Retention Credit?
The Employee Retention Credit is a refundable payroll tax credit that was introduced as part of the CARES Act in March of 2020.  The credit is available to employers whose businesses have been financially OR OPERATIONALLY impacted by the pandemic. Too many businesses and those they are getting advice from are focusing on ONE qualifying area: Reduction in Gross Receipts. But there are three others that DO NOT REQUIRE a reduction in revenue:
·       Startup Recovery Business
·       Supply Chain issues
·       Full or Partial shutdown
 
Full or Partial shutdown is where most companies qualify as we were all impacted by government shutdowns in one way or another. The simplest way the IRS describes this is whether government orders around Covid affected your business's ability to deliver its goods and services in its normal course by more than 10%. That is all it takes to qualify.
 
How much time does this take?
This is the best part, you can go through the prequalification and qualification process from start to finish in about 20-30 minutes, including having a brief call with us.  We’ve had multiple clients who did not think they qualified until we had a brief 5-10 minute discussion to help identify whether it would be worth it to them to take the time to review the pre-qualification application.
 
How is the Money Delivered to the Company?
This is actual money that comes back to your bank account! It is not a loan and there is NO forgiveness needed. Furthermore, this is NOT an income tax credit.
 
How Much Will this Cost?
Payroll services and CPA mostly charge you the fee upfront. We’ve heard that the going rate is $500.00 per employee per quarter or 20% of the credit. When you work with us, we do not get paid unless you get paid and until you get paid.
 
In Closing
During the pandemic, businesses needed to make changes to typical daily operations to keep up with regulations. We’ve talked to many businesses that did not have a reduction in revenue because they were quick to adjust and innovate in their operations. But they were still affected. The Employee Retention Credit was designed to help businesses keep employees. If you think you may qualify, we encourage you to reach out to us and we can help you determine if you are eligible!
 
You can schedule a 15-minute consultation here or email us at info@think-lateral.com.
 
If you want to skip the call and see if you pre-qualify on your own, we recommend that you watch this video so you can learn about ERC and the process. Once done, you can get a no-obligation estimate on your credit by using this link. Let us know how we can help!
 
Jon Bassford, JD, MBA, CAE
CEO and Founder
Lateral Solutions