Covid 19 disaster relief loan app

[mircpa]

Hello

Does anyone know how much money forms preparer/accountants are entitled to charge helping clients fill up application ?

[JohnH]

I haven't charged any of my clients for helping with the short form application.  I just want to do what I can to help them stay in business.  The income stream from not losing them due to business failure is worth a lot more than a few $ in the present.  I consider the time to be an investment in their future and mine (or the tax preparer I hand them off to when I retire). They will have to prepare more detailed financials when the actual loan process starts and that will be the time to discuss fees. 

Personal experience - this evening I was speaking with my daughter and her husband on my way home from work.  I mentioned the EIDL in passing during our conversation.  She had to cut the conversation short because an HVAC repair guy had dropped by to pick up his check for some work he had done for them.  A short while later she called to ask if i minded giving some details about the EIDL program because the HVAC guy had just told them he wasn't sure his business is going to survive this situation.  She put him on the phone and I spent about 30 minutes explaining some aspects of the program and telling him exactly what he needs to do AS SOON AS HE GETS IN FRONT OF A COMPUTER.  Then I ate my dinner which by now was getting a little cold.

No charge for the advice, but maybe he and 5 or 6 of his employees may continue to have jobs that would have disappeared in the next few weeks. That's worth more to me than a processing fee.  But if I were seeking clients, I'm betting I'd have a pretty good chance of stealing his business from his current accountant.