Happy May Day everyone!
Did you know that May 1st is a holiday in many cultures around the world? In fact, people in over 100 countries get to take today off as it is Labor Day, and plenty of others celebrate it as simply May Day. May Day is an informal holiday that celebrates unity, togetherness, and rebirth – a celebration of life!
While we’ve gotten to take ‘togetherness’ to a new level with self-isolation, I thought that it was so refreshing to hear that today is a holiday that celebrates it. And we could all use a little more celebration, don’t you think?
In this newsletter, I will cover:
- Things to celebrate!
- Relevant updates regarding Coronavirus and small business finances
- One small favor I’m asking from you
This is what you need to know:
Where’s Stephanie?
I’ve been prioritizing helping everyone with new, pressing, and unprecedented things such as PPP loans, unemployment questions, and making sure everyone in my circle is well taken care of with stimulus payments and more. Therefore, I’ve been moving a little slower than usual on your tax returns. Thank you SO much for your patience, encouragement, and trust as we all work through this together.
If you’re waiting on an email reply or your tax returns from me, know that they’re on their way! If you have any questions or want to give me a nudge, feel free to shoot me an email 🙂
Things to celebrate:
The good news is, we have plenty to celebrate! While I covered a lot of the details that pertain to small businesses in my last newsletter, I wanted to give you a few happy updates:
- Self-employed people in Illinois will be able to start applying for unemployment the week of May 11th, so mark your calendar! The process is explained on the IL Department of Employment Security website here, but please let me know if you need any assistance.
- Illinois residents have a $5,000 grant opportunity! The Chicago Microbusiness Recovery Grant program is accepting grant applications for businesses with less than 4 employees and that earn less than $250,000/year in revenue.
- The PPP was re-funded, AND some clients have already received their PPP loans this week! If you haven’t yet, find yourself a lender ASAP to get dibs on the funds before they run out. You don’t want to feel like this guy:
Updates:
- The Economic Injury Disaster Loan has been maxed out for the time being. While the PPP has been re-funded, the EIDL has not yet seen similar provisions. If you were approved, you may still receive your $10,000 loan advance, so keep an eye out for that. The messaging around this program is unclear, and I’ll continue to keep you updated as I learn specifics.
- If you applied for PPP the first time without success the first time, there’s still a chance the loan will come through. The funds will likely dry up quickly, so push this to the top of your priority list!
- Your federal Q1 and Q2 estimated tax payments are postponed until September 15th. If you need help planning for this, shoot me an email and I’ll let you know the next steps.
- Although federal taxes are postponed, Illinois quarterly estimated tax payments are still maintaining normal deadlines.
Okay, and our one favor from you:
Big changes are coming soon to ZP and I need your help! I’d love to have few snippets of ‘what our clients say’ available. Could you hit ‘reply’ and give me 2-3 sentences of what you’ve learned from us, or what you love about working with us? Thanks in advance!
Have an incredible May,