May, 2020

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7 Small Business Grants for Veterans in 2020

Fundera

For a relatively small population, veteran entrepreneurs have a significant footprint on the landscape of small business in the U.S. And like many business owners, they sometimes need business loans or other forms of funding to help launch or grow their endeavor. As of 2019, 2.5 million of the country’s small businesses were owned by veterans, which accounts for 9.15% of all American businesses.

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Will Cannabis Banking Turn Over a New Leaf After COVID-19?

Abrigo

Key Takeaways Cannabis-related businesses have thrived during the pandemic, without help from the federal government. Despite their continued growth, CRBs remain largely underbanked. Perceptions around banking CRBs are changing as well, opening the door for more financial institutions. The coronavirus pandemic has significantly altered our day-to-day lives.

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[Webinar] Improve cash flow and automate payments with Salesforce Quote to Cash

GoCardless

Learn how you can make the most of the Salesforce platform to transform customer engagement and payment collections.

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PPP Loan Forgiveness

Pactola

Since late February, our work lives have been similar to driving through a whiteout. All long-term plans have been thrown out the window and you are forced to focus on what is within the next 10 feet in front of you. The concern for performance in the next quarter has been replaced with wondering if you will get enough work completed to get at least 5-6 hours of sleep.

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Environmental Report Fails

StackSource

Third potential blog killer: a failed Environmental Phase 1.

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What Is a Business Model? | The Different Types of Business Models Explained

Fundera

When you’re first starting a business , one of the most important parts of the process is planning. Although it can be tedious and overwhelming, you’ll want to take the initial time to determine what you’ll be selling, who your customers will be, and overall, how your business will make money. To this point, you’ll want to select a business model and incorporate this design into your planning and research.

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The Complete Step-by-Step Guide to the PPP Loan Forgiveness Application

Fundera

The Small Business Administration and the Department of the Treasury released the official Paycheck Protection Program forgiveness application form on May 15. This form, also known as SBA Form 3508, is what small business borrowers will submit to their PPP lender when it’s time to have their loan partially or entirely forgiven. . Although small businesses have been applying for PPP loans since the program was created passage of the CARES Act, information on forgiveness has been lacking.

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How to Set up an Online Ordering System for a Restaurant

Fundera

The consumer desire for online food ordering has skyrocketed. Even before the coronavirus pandemic made in-restaurant dining an impossibility for many establishments, takeout and delivery options were in high demand. Now, with many restaurants still unable to offer dine-in experiences, and many consumers opting for a safer alternative, it’s more important than ever.

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What?s the Difference Between Copyright and Trademark?

Fundera

Copyright vs. Trademark. Both copyright and trademarks (as well as patents) protect an individual, group, or business’s intellectual property—the difference between the two, however, lies in what they specifically protect. Copyrights protect original works such as novels, songs, movies, and software, whereas trademarks protect words, phrases, symbols, or designs that distinguish a particular brand in comparison to others—including things like brand names, logos, and slogans.

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The Ultimate 5-Step Guide to How to Sell Online

Fundera

5 Steps to Start Selling Online. Choose what products you want to sell. Decide where you want to start selling online. Choose an ecommerce platform. Set up your online store and establish your selling policies. Market your products and start fulfilling orders. Online sales continue to grow—increasingly making up a larger and larger piece of the U.S. retail market.

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PPP Forgiveness Timeline: What Lenders Need to Know

Abrigo

Key Takeaways The PPP forgiveness process is a major concern among community financial institutions, and many worry about having the resources to handle it. The good news is that lenders won't face as much of a compressed time frame as they did during origination, so they can focus now on identifying important PPP forgiveness dates and on helping borrowers understand which documents and information will be needed.

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FinCEN Issues Advisory on COVID-19 Related Medical Scams Transactional Red Flags for your Suspicious Activity Monitoring Program

Abrigo

FinCEN issued an advisory on May 18, 2020 to alert financial institutions to medical scams related to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as new SAR key terms for reporting these scams. FinCEN reminds financial institutions that “detecting, preventing, and reporting COVID-19 scams and illicit activity is critical to our national security.” While this advisory is for medical-related scams, criminals may use similar methods for other COVID-19 related scams similar to those used before the pandemic.

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Hackers in Your Home – DNS Hijacking

Abrigo

Key Takeaways Hackers are attacking personal DNS networks inside homes. The World Health Organization has been a big target by hackers. There are steps businesses and individuals can take to protect their networks. . Hackers can infiltrate people’s home networks through their routers using an attack called DNS Hijacking. This type of attack changes the router’s DNS settings to display malicious webpages chosen by the attacker.

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Bad Actors Emerge in PPP Lending – More Expected as Forgiveness Guidance Emerges

Abrigo

Key Takeaways Like other federal relief programs, the PPP has become subject to fraud. The first federal charges of PPP loan fraud have been made – and they're unlikely to be the last. While the SBA has said lenders will be held harmless, some banks fear they will still be culpable if borrowers fail to comply with PPP criteria. Banks can take additional steps to bolster customer due diligence.

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How to Submit a PPP 1502 Report – Get Lender Processing Fees

Abrigo

Key Takeaways While lenders are still awaiting further guidance on PPP loan forgiveness, the SBA has stated that lenders will have to submit an SBA Form 1502 to report on PPP loans and collect processing fees. While an SBA Form 1502 exists for 7(a) loans, the SBA will make a specific Form 1502 for PPP loans, according to the final rule. Lenders must submit 1502 reports through Colson Services Corp.

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Digital Capabilities Adopted for PPP: The ‘New Best Practices’ For Strongest Players

Abrigo

Key Takeaways PPP required lenders to embrace digitalization at scale and vendors delivered The earliest PPP solutions were built upon existing solutions for SBA 7(a) A focus on the entire life cycle of the PPP loan is important in lender-vendor collaboration. The lightning-fast adoption of digitalization by financial institutions scrambling to get Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans into the hands of small business customers could represent a watershed for those that embrace their newfound

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Is Your Financial Institution’s Data Safe in the Cloud? FFIEC Issues Joint Statement on Cloud Computing

Abrigo

Key Takeaways The FFIEC issued a joint statement highlighting best practices for safe and sound use of cloud computing services. There are three main cloud service models, each with different levels of shared responsibilities between provider and client. There are several steps financial institutions can take to mitigate the risk. Cloud computing is an efficient and cost-effective way of housing data and is becoming a mainstay for data services and infrastructure across the globe.

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What the Coronavirus Has Taught Us About Banking Relationships

Abrigo

Key Takeaways The coronavirus has propelled FIs and customers to embrace digital offerings Work from home schedules, sheltering in place, and urgent financial needs have changed customers' expectations of bank response times. The Paycheck Protection Program exposed the importance of digital offerings for customer retention and acquisition. One of the key values community financial institutions have always leaned into is their relationships with their customers, but these relationships have been

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FinCEN Reissues Real Estate Geographic Targeting Orders: What Does this Mean for Your FI?

Abrigo

Key Takeaways FinCEN reissued Geographic Targeting Orders NYC and Miami were the original targets, but the newest order includes 12 other mentor areas. FIs should have procedures in place to monitor for red flags in these areas . On May 8, 2020, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) reissued their Geographic Targeting Orders (GTOs) to include the same 12 metropolitan areas issued in November 2019 (read here ).

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A Grim April Employment Report

Abrigo

This morning’s Employment Situation Report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the month of April was, not surprisingly, grim. The headline unemployment rate (U3) moved to 14.7%, up from 4.4% the month before. The broader measure of labor underutilization (U6) moved to 22.8%, up from 8.7% the month before. Nearly 21 million jobs were lost in April, wiping out nearly a decade's worth of job gains.

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Top Reasons to Promptly Upgrade Your AML Software

Abrigo

Key Takeaways You should always update your software to the latest version as soon as it's available. The update may contain important updates to do regulatory changes that will keep you compliant. If you or your IT department are having issues keeping up with software updates, consider a hosted solution. Have you wondered why your smart phone continues to notify you of application updates as soon as they are available?

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How Are PPP Loans Forgiven? What We Know Now

Abrigo

Key Takeaways The process for how PPP loans will be forgiven is developing, but lenders can look to guidance so far for key information. Borrowers will be able to request forgiveness eight weeks after the loan is funded; they must provide evidence that expenses should be forgiven. A lender has 60 days from receiving an application for borrower forgiveness to make a decision on the request.

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How to Improve Cash Flow

Fundera

Positive cash flow is critical to your business’s financial health. Without adequate cash flow, your business will cease to exist—even if it’s profitable on paper. . There are many good ways to improve cash flow for your business. There are also short-term cash flow improvement strategies that could harm your business in the long run. The best ways to improve cash flow maximize your business’s profitability and your available cash at the same time.

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How to Update Your Business for a Post-Coronavirus Future

Fundera

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, millions of small business owners across the U.S. are either unable to operate as normal or dealing with diminished demand. In some cities and states where lockdown orders remain in place, it’s unclear when things will return to business as usual. . There are few upsides to this situation. Many businesses are suffering, and small businesses—many of which were operating without much of a financial safety net before the pandemic—have little recourse but to apply fo

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6 Tips to Avoid PPP Loan Fraud

Fundera

Millions of small business owners, from independent contractors to the CEOs of small companies, have applied for Paycheck Protection Program loans over the last few weeks. Now, some of those business owners are considering returning their PPP loans, or hoping that their decision to take one of these loans does not constitute fraud. . The vast majority of business owners who will receive a PPP loan can make the argument that they needed it: Unemployment is at historic levels, demand is way down,

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The Best Accounting Software for Small Retail Businesses

Fundera

The Top 5 Retail Accounting Software Solutions. QuickBooks Desktop: Best for brick-and-mortar retail shops. QuickBooks Online: Best for brick-and-mortar businesses with multiple locations. Xero: Best for online retail businesses. Zoho Books : Best for bundling retail accounting software with other business tools from the same provider. Wave: Best free accounting software for small retail businesses.

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What to Do If You Can’t Get a PPP Loan

Fundera

If you’re an American small business owner, you’ve heard of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans by now. In fact, you’ve probably looked into getting one, if not gone ahead and applied through one of the thousands of lenders accepting PPP loan applications. . The PPP is a new loan program, introduced by the federal government to help businesses impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

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Best Tools to Modernize Your Small Business

Fundera

15 Best Tools to Modernize Your Small Business. Shopify : Best overall for creating an ecommerce website. Square Online Store : Best for Square POS users to start selling online; for a free ecommerce software. WordPress and WooCommerce : Best website builder and free ecommerce plug-in pair. Zippykind : Best online ordering software with a free plan.

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Do You Need a Business License to Sell Online?

Fundera

Selling goods online has never been more popular. As ecommerce grows, many are wondering if you need a business license to sell online. Not only does getting a business license—and several other required permits—give your business credibility, but it’s also required to operate legally and establish your company. We’ll go through the answer to this question as well as many other considerations to take into account as you’re establishing your online business.

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Your Step-by-Step Guide to Using Your PPP Loan

Fundera

Millions of small businesses across the country have received funding through the new Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) in response to the coronavirus pandemic. By the time funding for round two of the program runs out, the government will have guaranteed over $650 billion in loans for impacted small businesses. . The demand for PPP loans is the result not only of incredible need for emergency financing, but the fact that they are forgivable if used to cover payroll as well as rent, utilities, a