Important Restaurant Revitalization Fund Updates for Square Sellers

The RRF is part of the US American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. 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.

Unlike the PPP program, the Restaurant Revitalization Fund awards are not loans. They are not serviced as loans and have no forgiveness component. There are no intermediary banks involved. Awards are sized based on the drop in a business’ gross receipts from 2019, with reductions for PPP loans.

Eligible businesses for the Restaurants Revitalization Fund include, food and beverage businesses who have experienced a pandemic-related revenue loss. Including restaurants, food stands, food trucks, food carts, caterers, bars, saloons, lounges, taverns, etc.

For more information about eligibility, visit the SBA website. If you meet the program requirements, you can submit your application starting May 3 through your online Square Dashboard or through the SBA Portal. For more information about eligibility, visit the SBA Portal to learn more about the program.

Starting May 3rd, you are able to apply for an RRF award through your online Square Dashboard or through the SBA Portal.

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. Registration for applications through the SBA Portal open at 9 AM EST on April 30.

No, you can apply without having filed your 2020 taxes. This will be the case for many businesses.

Funds from the Restaurants Revitalization Fund must be used on business related expenses, including: business payroll costs, business rent, business mortgage, business debt service, business utilities, business food and beverage expenses, business maintenance expenses, construction of outdoor seating, business supplies, covered supplier costs, and business operating expenses.

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.

Having access to this information will make it easier to submit your application through Square. 

No, you will only be able to submit one application through Square, an applicant with multiple eligible locations under the same EIN must apply for all locations in one single application. If you have multiple EINs under a single Square account, we recommend you submit one EIN application through Square, and the other through the SBA.

Yes, you will be able to apply for multiple locations through your Square Dashboard. You will also be able to exclude ineligible locations (eg. a retail business) from your application if needed.

Yes, you will be able to include additional revenue. After submitting your application through Square with your processing data, you will be directed to an SBA website to complete your application and may need to upload supporting documentation from external revenue there.

No, Square will not allow you to upload supporting documentation as part of the application flow. However, after submitting your application through Square, you will be able to navigate to the SBA Portal, login, and upload supporting documentation if needed.

No, after submitting your award application through your Square Dashboard, you’ll need to eSign your application. Here’s how it works:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.   
4. 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.

If you have questions about the SBA portal or any issues logging in to the portal, please reach out to the SBA.

After submitting your application through Square and eSigning, you’ll be able to monitor the status of your application through your Square Dashboard home. The Restaurants Revitalization Fund module will update as your application is reviewed.

Square is not involved in the allocation or determination of any funds. For any further questions or information, please reach out to the SBA.

In the instance that you made an error or submitted an incorrect application, you are 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.

Yes, if you are not able to submit your application through Square, we recommend you review the supporting documentation on the SBA website to find more information about what is required for your application.

• You are able to download supporting POS documentation, including a 1099-K from your Square Dashboard by navigating to Account & Settings > Business > Tax Forms.
• To download a sales report, navigate to the Reports tab on your Dashboard, and from Sales Summary click Export to download a CSV file.

To help support applicants throughout the process, the SBA will offer phone and District Office support.

• SBA call center hotline (844-279-8898): Applicants can call this number for multilingual application or program support.
• SBA District Office: Applicants can reach out to their local District Office for tailored regional SBA support.