News & Events

The Internal Revenue Service is urging employers to take advantage of the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC), a refundable tax credit, which has been extended and increased through the first six months of 2021.

The credit, designed to aid employers that choose to keep employees on the payroll during the COVID-19 pandemic, was part of the CARES Act and originally set to expire at the end of 2020.

The origins of SWOT analysis are murky, but the strategic planning technique first became popularized in the early 1970s by Albert Humphrey at the Stanford Research Institute just as Silicon Valley was incubating into a global tech hotspot.

The U.S. Small Business Administration re-opened the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) earlier this month, making nearly $300 billion in forgivable loans available to those small businesses that did not receive a PPP loan last year, as well as a second draw for certain existing PPP borrowers.

Congress is expected to pass today a $900 billion stimulus package to help the nation make it through the winter as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to batter the economy.

2020 has certainly been a year of upheaval for business owners, but there is some status quo, especially when it comes to Texas labor laws where there are no new significant changes planned on the state level for 2021.

That means the major components we highlighted for labor laws for Texas in 2020 will still hold true next year, including a minimum wage of $7.25 hour, and compliance by businesses with the Texas Payday Law, which requires exempt employees be paid at least once a month and non-exempt employees receive a minimum of two paychecks per month.

America’s small business owners will find it easier to have Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans forgiven under new rules issued by the Small Business Administration and Treasury Department on Oct. 8, 2020.

The PPP was created under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) on March 27, 2020, with a goal to help businesses maintain payroll during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Saturday, July 4, 2020, President Trump signed into law a bill to extend the Paycheck Protection Program another 5 weeks. There is approximately $130 billion in loan money still available to small businesses through this program.

Here is a collection of articles we've found that best explain the details of this extension:

President Trump signed into law the Paycheck Protection Flexibility Act which restructures how employers can use loans issued through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). 

Businesses started reopening this month in Texas, but with a vaccine for COVID-19 still on the horizon, it will not be “business as usual” for the foreseeable future.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in announcing another phase of business reopening’s on May 18 said: “Our focus is to keep you safe, while also restoring your ability to get back to work, to open your businesses, to pay your bills, to put food on your tables.”

Forbes posted an excellent article that delved deeper into the PPP loan and the parameters that must be met in order to be "forgiven" by a lender. The article provides a breakdown of the application and a deeper understanding of what the PPP can really be used for; good information to know for those that have already received their funds as well as for those that are just applying.

The article highlights several challenges, including

The application confirms (with one small exception) that only those expenses paid within the 8-week period after receiving the loan are eligible for forgiveness. Many borrowers, however, are already half-way through that 8-week period, meaning even if this most recent guidance were complete – and it is far from it – it would still be entirely too late.