x
Alumni

Restaurants Revitalization Fund: Common Questions & Answers

Hi Food and Beverage Sellers! 

 

Square will start enabling applications for the Restaurants Revitalization Fund (RRF) today Monday, May 3rd at 12:00 PM EST. This plan includes a $28.6 billion fund for awards to eligible businesses, administered by the SBA. Square is working with the SBA to help business owners apply for an award if they are eligible. If you meet the program requirements, you can submit your application through your Square Dashboard or through the SBA Portal. If you are eligible to apply through Square, we will pre-fill your application with information you have on your Square account.

 

I encourage you all to take a look at the Live Q&A: Restaurant Revitalization Fund for Square Food and Beverage Sellers for common questions and answers. I’ve also included an overview of the Live Q&A below:

 

When can you apply:

  • Applications start on Monday 5/3 at 12:00 p.m EST / 9:00 a.m. PST.
  • The SBA has a registration window open on Friday 4/30, but if you plan to apply through Square you do not need to register with the SBA. 

 

Who can apply through Square:

  • To determine if you are an eligible business type, you’ll need to visit SBA’s website (sba.gov/restaurants).
  • If you processed with Square in 2019 and 2020 (Table 1 or 2 in the RRF application), you can apply through Square’s dashboard or the SBA. If you used multiple POS providers during that period or had supplemental income e.g. from online ordering apps, you can still apply with Square. You’ll be able to add supplementary income information — but the SBA may require you to provide additional documentation before you e-sign your application.
  • If you began processing with Square in 2020 or 2021 (Table 3 in the RRF application), then you will need to apply through the SBA. You can get useful information from your Square account to include in your application — to learn how, please take a look at our Support Center.

 

Why you should or should not apply with Square

  • If you apply through Square can save time completing and submitting your application with pre filled data from your Square account.
  • Submitting through Square can help you get your application in front of the SBA quickly — before the RRF funds run out.
  • Square will enable you to add supplemental revenue information in your application for either Table 1 or Table 2 applicant. However, if you are a Table 3 applicant, you will need to apply via SBA because Square will not let you upload supporting documentation for eligible expenses. 

 

How can you apply with Square:

  • If you are eligible to apply through Square, you’ll need to log in to your dashboard when the application window opens, using the owner’s login. From there, you’ll find a specific RRF module from where you can start your application.
  • Square will have pre-filled your application with the information we know about your business. That said, there is information we do not have access to. To complete your application as fast as possible we recommend to have the following information handy:
    • The date (day, month, and year) you began operations.
    • How many months you operate in every location. This is especially important if you operate a seasonal business. 
    • Any additional income you may have earned in 2019 and 2020 that was not processed through Square. Ideally you are tracking this income by location. If this information is not available feel free to distribute this across locations ensuring the total revenue by location (through Square and other sources)stays under $5M.
    • Your PPP loan information — especially if you did not process these loans with Square.
  • After submitting your award application through your Square Dashboard, you’ll need to eSign your application. Here’s how it works:
    • Open an email from Square with the title “Your RRF award application is not yet complete.” Follow the link in the email to visit the SBA portal.
    • If you see a page with the title “Third Party Signup,” you are in the right spot. Enter the text you see in the grey pixelated image in the appropriate field and click Complete Sign Up.
    • You’ll then receive an email from SBA with the title “SBA Restaurant Revitalization Fund - Password Reset E-mail.” Click the link included in the email to reset your password.
    • Once you complete your password reset, scroll to the bottom of the page and click Sign and Submit Application to sign your application via DocuSign.
    • The SBA may also require additional documentation for your application if you indicated revenue outside of Square. From the SBA portal, you will be able to upload supporting documentation to the Additional Info Needed section if required by the SBA.

 

How can you get help if you have more questions?

  • If you have more granular questions about the application process, eligibility, or awards, please reach out to the designated SBA helpline (844-279-8898) or the SBA district office. Applicants can call this number for multilingual application or program support.
  • Reach out to your SBA District Office: Applicants can reach out to their local District Office for tailored regional SBA support.

 

Note: You will be able to apply through Square if we have available processing data for at least a portion of 2019 and 2020 available through your Square account. If you are able to apply through Square, you will see a module on your online Square Dashboard prompting you to begin the application. If you apply through Square you do not need to register through the SBA portal. If you began processing with Square in either 2020 or 2021, we recommend that you apply through the SBA Portal. Square will not be able to support these applications and you will not see a module on Dashboard to begin your application.

 

Update: The SBA has announced that they will officially stop accepting applications for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) on Monday, May 24, at 8 p.m. ET.

Ani
Gestora de la Comunidad de Vendedores / Seller Community Manager, Square
134,793 Views
Message 1 of 674
Report
1 Best Answer
Alumni

Best Answer

Apologies for the issues! Here is the latest in updates:

  • Withdrawing applications - In the instance that you made an error or submitted an incorrect application, you are now able to withdraw your application from the SBA Portal and restart your application through your Square Dashboard. To begin this process, login to the SBA portal with your SBA user ID and click “withdraw.” Once you withdraw your application, you will be able to see the RRF “Start Application” module on Square Dashboard. Please keep in mind, fields that you previously filled out in your application will not be retained and you will need to fill out your information again. Once you submit the application again through Square, you will receive a new SBA user ID to login to the SBA portal and login to eSign your application.
  • Annualizing receipts - We were informed by the SBA that there was an error in some RRF award calculations. Impacted sellers have been emailed and will need to re-submit their application through Square. This will ensure that the potential award amount is correctly reflected in their application. We apologize for the inconvenience and encourage you to resubmit your application. Square is not involved in the allocation or determination of any funds. For any further questions or information, please reach out to the SBA.
  • Issues with emails not received -In the case that we were not able to successfully submit your application through Square to the SBA due to an error in the application, you will receive an email letting you know that there was an error with your application, what the error was, and prompting you to resubmit through your Square Dashboard to resolve the error. If Square was unable to submit your application to the SBA, you will receive an email prompting you to apply through the SBA.
  • General application glitches - If this issue is still happening after signing out/signing back in, please reach out to our Support team so they can file a ticket with our engineers.

I'll be sure to share any additional updates on this thread. 

Ani
Gestora de la Comunidad de Vendedores / Seller Community Manager, Square

View Best Answer >

104,468 Views
Message 457 of 674
Report
673 REPLIES 673
Alumni

Hi all, 

 

Apologies for the trouble!  Our team is looking into the issues reported below. Rest assured, we've escalated these issues to our RRF team, and will follow-up as soon as we have an update. 

 

Thanks for your patience! 

Ani
Gestora de la Comunidad de Vendedores / Seller Community Manager, Square
8,792 Views
Message 85 of 674
Report

Logging out of Square and logging back in... resuming application FIXED the issue for me.  Thanks for all your hard work and efforts!  

4,116 Views
Message 86 of 674
Report
Alumni

Glad to hear that helped @hogwoodcb007!

Ani
Gestora de la Comunidad de Vendedores / Seller Community Manager, Square
4,037 Views
Message 87 of 674
Report

There are several posts about waiting for email confirmation with e-signature link.  Can you please post an update for us regarding the hour+ wait time to receive this email.  Thank you!

3,772 Views
Message 88 of 674
Report
Alumni

@492pine @crystalawp @ss6 Our team is looking into this issue, rest assured we'll update this thread as soon as we can. Sorry for the trouble! 

Ani
Gestora de la Comunidad de Vendedores / Seller Community Manager, Square
3,153 Views
Message 89 of 674
Report

It has been about 90 minutes for me, hoping you can reassure me that our application will retain its place in line based on original completion time?

3,024 Views
Message 90 of 674
Report

@Ani_ are we supposed to receive a confirmation number? I submitted via square around 9:30 am PT and am still waiting in an email. Does no confirmation number mean we're not even in line?? 

2,548 Views
Message 91 of 674
Report

I have not received a link and its been over an hour since I submitted my application.

3,061 Views
Message 92 of 674
Report

Hi!

Applied an hour ago and still haven't received the DocuSign email. Is our application already in queue or not until we sign the documents from the email?

2,981 Views
Message 93 of 674
Report

same here

2,961 Views
Message 94 of 674
Report

What about those of us that are receiving an ineligible message when the system clearly shows we made more in 2019 than 2020? 

2,890 Views
Message 95 of 674
Report

Any news on the esign????

2,442 Views
Message 96 of 674
Report

unable to re=apply through Square after withdrawing application at SBAunable to re=apply through Square after withdrawing application at SBA

 

We are unable to reapply via Square or SBA directly. Please refer to the above screencap for the message we are receiving from the SBA. SBA sends us back to Square, but Square sends up back to the SBA.

2,293 Views
Message 97 of 674
Report

I withdrew my application that I had started with Square (I saw this exact same message) and set-up an entirely new account directly through the SBA website. I think you should be able to bypass Square completely by setting up an account through the SBA and submitting your RRF application that way.

2,287 Views
Message 98 of 674
Report

Is anyone else having trouble with dashboard saving info?

4,282 Views
Message 99 of 674
Report

I found the link when I scrolled down on my dashboard to about the middle of the screen.  I also initially got the "unable to save..." error.  I assumed it was something with my internet connection so I logged off and restarted my computer, logged back in (everything was saved) and was able to continue and save from there.  

4,287 Views
Message 100 of 674
Report

i switched to google chrome and it worked. 

4,181 Views
Message 101 of 674
Report

How long after submitting the application can we expect the email requesting a signature?

4,119 Views
Message 102 of 674
Report

I'm wondering the same thing.  I just submitted a few minutes ago and expected to get the e-sign email right away but haven't yet.  

3,434 Views
Message 103 of 674
Report

I was able to submit and I keep refreshing my email.  I need to upload supporting documents as well. 

3,306 Views
Message 104 of 674
Report

Is the email going to be sent from Square or the SBA? 

3,230 Views
Message 105 of 674
Report