Earlier this year, the second round of the Paycheck Protection Program, commonly referred to as PPP, was updated and made available. This news was common knowledge to business owners and was quite a relief.

But did you know, up to 40% of PPP-2 funding can be used for software upgrades, but the deadline is March 31? Because congress extended the definition of operational expenses, “PPP-2 can now be used for software and cloud upgrades.” (Datto, 2021) The extended definition was made to apply to: “any business software or cloud computing service that facilitates business operations, product or service delivery, the processing, payment, or tracking of payroll expenses, human resources, sales and billing functions, or accounting or tracking of supplies, inventory, records, and expenses.” (Datto, 2021)

The first round of the PPP fund was really intended to help business with payroll expenses, to help maintain their staff and operations. The new language included in the PPP-2 funding summarizes to a few key points that could be vital to your business, especially with the rate and degree of cyber security attacks that have and are continuing to take place this year:

• Non-payroll expenses may now include IT expenses for business continuity.
• Non-payroll expenses can makeup up to 40% of the loan amount spent.
• If you have been thinking about transitioning your business to the cloud, now may be your window of opportunity to do so without incurring all of the expense.

Be sure to do your research and see if your business qualifies for PPP-2 funding. More information in this regard can be found on the Small Business Administration website here.