Most Self-Employed and Independent Contractors Don't Realize They Can Qualify for a 100% Forgivable PPP Loan
4.9/5 User Satisfaction- 1-Day Approval for $5,000 - $25,000, Deposited in 4-6 Days
- 100% Forgivable (If Spent on Wages, Utilities, Benefits, etc)
- No Fees, Personal Guarantee, Collateral or Credit Check
Take the 60sec Quiz to Find Out If You Qualify, and How Much You Can Get
100% Forgivable Loan (First Come, First Served)
If you spend the funds on payroll, operating expenses, rent or other qualified expenses, you can have 100% of the loan forgiven if you apply for it in the first 10 months.
No Fees or Cost to Apply
It’s 100% free to apply and get funding, with no fees whatsoever. Our fees are paid directly by SBA for processing everything.
No Personal Guarantee or Collateral
For loans under $100,000, there is no personal guarantee, collateral, credit check, criminal check or anything required.
Self-Employed and Small Businesses Got Passed Over in PPP Round One (and Most Don’t Realize It)
Because Big Banks Got Greedy
2020 was a heck of a year for most self-employed and small businesses. Then PPP made it worse…
During round one, big banks only served big companies because their commissions were higher. They just “didn’t have the time” to help anyone under $1M in revenue.
All the money meant to help small businesses went to mega corporations, or didn’t get used at all.
Anyone who was self-employed, an independent contractor, or owned a small business just got passed over.
Round 2 Has New Rules... But Most Still Don’t Realize They Qualify
PPP Round 2 was approved in December 2020. It has new rules, and more money set aside for the self-employed and small businesses.
But there are still two main problems:
- Most self-employed / 1099s don’t realize they qualify for a 100% Forgivable PPP loan. (usually for 2.5x their monthly earnings).
- Big banks aren’t setup to process small and simple loans. Their processes are slow and difficult. (often asking for 5x more paperwork than needed)
Community Initiative Banks + Streamlined 10min Application and 1-Day Approval Process
Because It Shouldn't Be That Hard to Get
Blueacorn was founded by a team of financial and tech industry experts. We help the over-looked get access to the financial help they need.
We’ve partnered with community-development, non-profit banks and the SBA.
We’ve also spent months building an easy 10min application. It strips out the unnecessary complexity, to make it easy for simple loans.
That means we:
- Have a 5-10 Minute Application (compared to 45+ minutes of most banks)
- Get loans approved in 1-2 days (compared to the weeks of most banks)
- Have SBA funds directly transferred to your current bank account in 4-6 days
Here's How it Works:
1
Take Qualification Quiz (60sec)
In just 60 seconds, you can find out:
- If You Will Qualify
- How Much Can You Receive
- If You're Eligible to Have it 100% Forgiven
It’s no obligation, can be done on any device, and takes less than a minute to complete.
2
Submit Application (10mins)
If you qualify, we’ll just need a few pieces of information to give the SBA. For documents, most self-employed people only need a 1040 tax return or 1099 INT form, and their driver’s license.
3
Get Funding Directly (5-7 Days)
We submit your application ASAP. If you’re approved, SBA is required to wire all funds to your bank account within a very short time window.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Top Questions
Are self-employed / independent contractors eligible for PPP loans?
Yes! If you work for yourself, or as an independent contractor - you are eligible! This includes anyone who is self-employed, a 1099 independent contractor, or sole proprietor.
What counts as payroll for someone who’s self-employed or an independent contractor?
Basically any money you made. That includes any wages, commissions, income, cash tips, or other earnings you receive. This is capped at $100,000 per year.
How much can I get?
If you qualify, you can receive 2.5 months of your normal payroll / earnings! That means if you normally earn $60,000 per year (or did in 2019 before things dropped way down in 2020), you could get $12,500. If your business is in the hospitality or food industry, that number goes up to 3.5x.
Do I need to have employees to qualify for a PPP loan?
No! You do not need to have any employees to qualify. If you are self employed, an independent contractor or a sole proprietor, you can qualify.
I am self-employed and have no employees, how do I calculate my maximum First Draw PPP Loan amount?
That’s pretty simple. What your entire loan amount is based on getting 2.5x your monthly earnings (or 3.5x if you’re going for 2nd draw and are in the food or hospitality industry). To find this:
- Find your IRS 1040 Schedule C Tax Return from 2019 (the normal one you get)
- Find the amount on Line 31. (if that’s over $100,000, reduce it to $100,000)
- Divide that number by 12 (to find your average monthly earnings)
- Multiply that monthly average by 2.5
- Viola!
For example, if your Line 31 says you earned $60,000 in 2019, you could apply for a loan of $12,500 ($60,000 / 12 = $5,000. Then $5,000 x 2.5).
What if I don’t have my Tax Return (1040 Schedule-C)?
That’s alright! We can help you fill out what’s called a Draft Schedule C, which provides an estimate of earnings for that year.
Do I have to pay back the loan?
You can apply to have your loan 100% forgiven if you meet certain criteria (which are pretty easy to meet). You have to:
- Spend that money within 24 weeks (6 months)
- Employee and compensation levels are maintained (which if you’re self-employed is just you)
- At least 60 percent of the proceeds are spent on payroll costs, and the rest goes to other eligible expenses (wages / payroll, mortgage interest, rent, utilities, taxes, benefits, etc).
Then we’ll help you fill out the required paperwork to get it 100% forgiven!
How long will this program last?
After receiving hundreds of billions in new funding December 2020, the PPP program was extended to March 31, 2021, or as long as funds last.
I had W-2 Income as well as 1099 income in 2019 and 2020. Can I still get a PPP loan?
Yes! If you had any kind of self-employed income in 2019 or 2020 (as long as you began receiving that before Feb 15, 2020), you can still receive PPP funds.
That includes any 1099, self-employed or sole-proprietor income.
You receiving any other form of income (eg from investments, an employer payroll, etc) does not disqualify you from applying for PPP, as long as you have separate self-employment income.
Qualifications
Do I have to have a personal guarantee or collateral?
Nope! No personal guarantee or collateral is required!
Is there a credit check involved? What if I have bad credit?
Nope! No credit checks are performed, so there is no credit numbers required.
Can I get a PPP Loan if I’m on unemployment?
So this one is a little trickier. While yes you can get a PPP loan, you technically can’t use it to pay payroll if you’re on unemployment benefits. That means you couldn’t get it forgiven. So if you want to get the PPP, you’d have to get off unemployment for that time you’re paying payroll with the PPP loan.
Can I apply for a second PPP loan if I received a first round PPP loan in 2020?
Yes you can! The second draw was setup to help the more harder-hit businesses. You can qualify if you have:
- No more than 300 employees
- Have used or will use the full amount of the first PPP
- Can demonstrate you have to have at least 1 quarter (3 month period) in 2020 with a 25% drop in revenue compared with the same period in 2019.
Loan
What can I use the money for?
The PPP program was designed to be used for:
- Payroll / salary costs
- Employee Benefits (health insurance, retirement, etc)
- Interest on mortgages, (if incurred before February 15, 2020)
- Rent (if lease was signed before February 15, 2020)
- Utilities (that were in service before February 15, 2020)
- Operations costs such as software, cloud computing, and other human resources and accounting items
- Covered property damage costs related to property damage due to public disturbances that occurred during 2020 that are not covered by insurance; and
- Supplier costs
What counts as payroll costs?
Payroll cost include:
- Salary, wages, commissions, or tips (with a maximum of $100,000/yr for each employee);
- Employee benefits - costs for vacation, parental, family, medical, or sick leave, health care insurance premiums, and retirement benefits
- State and local taxes for employee compensation
- Covered worker protection expenditure such as personal protective equipment and adaptive investments to help a loan recipient comply with federal and/or state health and safety guidelines; and
- For the self-employed (sole proprietor or independent contractor): any wages, commissions, income, or earnings you make (capped at $100,000 per year).
What is the interest rate on the loan?
The interest rate is 1%. But that doesn’t matter if you get it all forgiven.
When is my loan due?
The loan term is 5 years, but you can get it 100% forgiven if you apply within the first 8-24 weeks (2-6 months)
Can I pay my loan earlier than 5 years?
Yes! There are no prepayment penalties or fees. But just know if you qualify for 100% forgiveness, you don’t need to worry about that at all.
Forgiveness
How is this loan forgiven?
It’s a pretty simple process. As long as you meet the following criteria, you can have your PPP loan 100% forgiven. You have to:
- Spend that money within 24 weeks (6 months)
- Employee and compensation levels are maintained (which if you’re self-employed is just you)
- At least 60 percent of the proceeds are spent on payroll costs, and the rest goes to other eligible expenses (wages / payroll, mortgage interest, rent, utilities, taxes, benefits, etc).
Then we’ll help you fill out the paperwork needed. You’ll need to provide some documentation that proves you actually spent it accordingly (like a bank statement), and you can have it 100% forgiven.
When can I apply for forgiveness?
You can have your loan 100% forgiven when you apply within 8 to 24 weeks of receiving it (2 to 6 months).
What are the qualifications for this loan being forgiven?
To have your loan 100% forgiven, you’ll need to have:
- Spend that money within 24 weeks (6 months)
- Employee and compensation levels are maintained (which if you’re self-employed is just you)
- At least 60 percent of the proceeds are spent on payroll costs, and the rest goes to other eligible expenses (wages / payroll, mortgage interest, rent, utilities, taxes, benefits, etc).
Then we’ll help you fill out the paperwork needed. You’ll need to provide some documentation that proves you actually spent it accordingly (like a bank statement), and you can have it 100% forgiven.
Employees
What’s the maximum payroll costs allowed per employee?
Payroll costs will be capped at $100,000 per year for each employee.
Will I need to keep employees on my payroll or rehire them quickly?
Having your loan forgiven is based on you maintaining or quickly rehiring employees and maintaining payroll levels. The amount you get forgiven will be reduced if full-time headcount declines, or if salaries and wages decrease.
What’s the maximum number of employees in a business to be eligible?
If you are applying for the 1st round of PPP loans, then you can have no more than 500 employees.
If you’re applying for the 2nd round of PPP, you can have no more than 300 employees.