The Employee Retention Credit
We Specialize in Maximizing ERC for Small Businesses
Receive up to $26,000 Per Employee
left until April 15, 2025 - The Filing Deadline to Claim Your Refund.
How Does It Work?
Watch our video to understand more about the ERC program and how we can help your business.
About The ERC Program
What is the Employee Retention Credit (ERC)?
ERC is a stimulus program designed to help those businesses that were able to retain their employees during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Established by the CARES Act, it is a refundable tax credit – a grant, not a loan – that you can claim for your business. The ERC is available to both small and mid-sized businesses. It is based on qualified wages and healthcare paid to employees.
- Up to $26,000 per employee
- Available for 2020 and the first 3 quarters of 2021
- Qualify with decreased revenue or COVID event
- No limit on funding
- ERC is a refundable tax credit
How much money can you get back?
You can claim up to $5,000 per employee for 2020. For 2021, the credit can be up to $7,000 per employee per quarter.
How do you know if your business is eligible?
To qualify, your business must have been negatively impacted in either of the following ways:
- A government authority required partial or full shutdown of your business during 2020 or 2021. This includes your operations being limited by commerce, inability to travel or restrictions of group meetings.
- Gross receipt reduction criteria is different for 2020 and 2021, but is measured against the current quarter as compared to 2019 pre-COVID amounts.
- A business can be eligible for one quarter and not another.
- Initially, under the CARES Act of 2020, businesses were not able to qualify for the ERC if they had already received a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan. With new legislation in 2021, employers are now eligible for both programs. The ERC, though, cannot apply to the same wages as the ones for PPP.
Employee Retention Credit Program Qualifications
Even if your business did not have a revenue reduction or was deemed essential….
You can still qualify for ERC!
Some Examples Include:
- Change in business hours
- Partial or full suspension of your operations
- Shutdowns of your supply chain or vendors
- Reduction in services offered
- Reduction in workforce or employee workloads
- A disruption in your business (division or department closures)
- Inability to visit a client’s job site
Suppliers were unable to make deliveries of critical goods or materials
- Additional spacing requirements for employees and customers due to social distancing
- Change in job roles/functions
- Tasks or work that couldn’t be done from home or while transitioning to remote work conditions
- Lack of Travel
- Lack of Group Meetings
The key considerations are...
Due to the government order of partial or full suspension, was your business NOT able to
continue its activities in a comparable manner and did that result in a more than nominal
impact on your business operations?
If you answered yes to any the above, reach out to us and find out how we can help you
maximize your refund.
Employee Retention Credits
Bottom Line is assisting our clients with various forms of government aid, in particular the Employee Retention Credit Program (ERC), which was part of the March 2021 legislation of the American Rescue Plan Act that revised the original ERC Program included in the CARES Act of May 2020, where an employer had to choose between Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and ERC. The 2021 legislation expanded, extended and enlarged the ERC program and also allows eligible employers to benefit from both or either of PPP and ERC. Many people do not realize that they can now use PPP and ERC!
ERC has been very lucrative to many small and mid-sized businesses across the country:
- We have secured refunds for our clients ranging from $100k to $10M
- Up to $26k per employee on payroll (depending on actual paid wages and healthcare)
- Breaks down to $7k per employee per quarter in 2021 from 1/1/2021 and can continue to 9/30/2021 for a total of $21k
- Recovery Startup Business are eligible to continue in the program to 12/31/2021
- Retro back for 2020 at $5k per employee
- The IRS will issue refunds for the past quarters back to 2020 Q2 including to the beginning of 2021
If you are not receiving ERC, we would welcome the opportunity to discuss your eligibility requirements and how to start the program. We will manage it from end to end for you. We can get you up and running with funds in your bank account fairly quickly
We can help you through the myriad of complexities that may pertain to your company’sunique situation such as the following:
- Program benefits to both small and large employers
- Eligibility requirements by Revenues or Governmental orders for past and future quarters
- Aggregation affiliation rules
- International nuances
- Treatment of furloughed employees and employees paid while not working
- Eligible costs besides wages such as employer paid healthcare & pension contributions
- Full or partial eligibility of Program benefits for the duration or part of the Program’s 21 months
- What constitutes a Recovery Startup Business and its benefits under the Program
- Rules governing Part Time employees
- Nuances of Union and Non-Union situations
- Multi-state companies sort through multiple Governor’s Executive Orders impact on eligibility
- Analyzing the mathematical sweet spot to maximize both PPP forgiveness and ERC credits
- Demystifying FAQs from the IRS
Most Relevant Industries
- Auto Repair Shop
- Bars
- Cars Washes
- Churches/ Temples
- Commercial Buildings
- Contractors and Construction Companies
- Country Clubs
- Doctor/ Veterinarian Offices
- Dry Cleaners
- Franchisees
- Gyms
- Hotels
- Manufacturers
- Moving Companies
- Parking Garages
- Private Schools
- Property Managers
- Restaurants
- Retailers
- Senior Living and Retirement Communities
- Sports Facilities
- Trade Show and Conference Organizers
- Wholesalers
Why Us?
The key considerations are...
Due to the government order of partial or full suspension, was your business NOT able to
continue its activities in a comparable manner and did that result in a more than nominal
impact on your business operations?
If you answered yes to any the above, reach out to us and find out how we can help you
maximize your refund.
GovernmentAid, a division of Bottom Line Concepts, assists clients with various forms of financial relief, particularly, the Employee Retention Credit Program.
Our services include:
- Thorough evaluation regarding your eligibility
- Comprehensive analysis of your claim
- Guidance on the claiming process and documentation
- Specific program expertise that a regular CPA or payroll processor might not be well-versed in
- Fast and smooth end-to-end process, from eligibility to claiming and receiving refunds
Dedicated specialists that will interpret highly complex program rules and will be available to answer your questions, including:
- How does the PPP loan factor into the ERC?
- What are the differences between the 2020 and 2021 programs and how does it apply to your business?
- What are aggregation rules for larger, multi-state employers, and how do I interpret multiple states’ executive orders?
- How do part-time, Union, and tipped employees affect the amount of my refunds?
About Bottom Line
We are a no-risk, contingency-based cost savings company. We negotiate on behalf of our clients to get the best prices possible from their existing vendors. We audit old invoices for errors getting our clients refunds and credits. We increase the profitability and overall valuation of our client’s organizations. We believe strongly in all species being created equal. Therefore, animal rights, sustainability, and protecting the environment for future generations are paramount to us. Through our “Line Up For Charity” program we give our clients the opportunity to donate part of the cost savings we achieve to causes our clients are passionate about. We provide a work environment where you can make difference.
Founded in 2009, Bottom Line is North America’s leading Contingency-based cost consulting firm. We have worked with more than 7,000 clients and have successfully brought over $2.2 billion dollars in savings since inception.
Our new division Government Aid will make sure you’re taking the right next steps and maximizing your ERC claim for your business.
Interested in finding out more, or have any questions for us?
FAQ
ERC BASICS :
What period does the program cover?
The program began on March 13th, 2020 and ends on September 30, 2021, for eligible employers.
You can apply for refunds for 2020 and 2021 after December 31st of this year, into 2022 and 2023. And potentially beyond then too.
We have clients who received refunds only, and others that, in addition to refunds, also qualified to continue receiving ERC in every payroll they process through December 31, 2021, at about 30% of their payroll cost.
We have clients who have received refunds from $100,000 to $6 million.
QUALIFICATIONS :
Do we still qualify if we already took the PPP?
Yes. Under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, businesses can now qualify for the ERC even if they already received a PPP loan. Note, though, that the ERC will only apply to wages not used for the PPP.
TAXES :
Do we still qualify if we remained open during the pandemic?
Yes. To qualify, your business must meet either one of the following criteria:
Experienced a decline in gross receipts by 20%, or
- Experienced a decline in gross receipts by 20%, or
- Had to change business operations due to government orders
Do we still qualify if we did not incur a 20% decline in gross receipts?
Many items are considered as changes in business operations, including shifts in job roles and the purchase of extra protective equipment. The ERC, in this case, also applies only for Q3 and Q4 of 2021. Businesses can qualify, regardless of the number of full-time employees.
- A government authority required partial or full shutdown of your business during 2020 or 2021. This includes your operations being limited by commerce, inability to travel or restrictions of group meetings.
- Gross receipt reduction criteria is different for 2020 and 2021, but is measured against the current quarter as compared to 2019 pre-COVID amounts.
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