Weekly Digest – 17 June 2020
Welcome back to our Weekly Digest. We hope you and your family are safe and doing well. Read on for this week’s update.
Helping Businesses Go Digital
As many businesses continue to feel the impacts of COVID-19, the Ontario government has partnered with the federal government to help businesses reach more customers with a $57 million investment in Digital Main Street, which will help up to 22,900 businesses in Ontario improve their online presence.
A part of this program is the Digital Main Street Grant, where a $2500 grant will be administered by the Ontario BIA Association for small businesses to adopt new technologies and embrace digital marketing. You can read more here. This is might be a good opportunity but please get in touch if you have any questions.
Reopening the Economy
As the government is slowly opening up the economy and looking at ways to ease restrictions without compromising public health, it is best to proceed with caution. Here are some useful guidelines to reopening for various industries:
What’s your Break-even Point?
No matter what type of business you have, calculating your break-even point is important. It tells you the amount of revenue you need to generate to cover your fixed and variable expenses. If you are not a finance or math person, don’t stress! This FREE Break-even Calculator we created can make your analysis fast and easy.
If you need advice on the financial aspects of your business, especially on how you can become more profitable, please get in touch so we can help you plan your next big steps.
Loan Programs for Businesses in Canada
In order to help small- and medium-sized businesses gain easier access to the capital they need to see them through the COVID-19 situation, the Government of Canada has launched new loan programs including:
- The Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA), which will provide interest-free loans of up to $40,000 for small businesses and not-for-profits. The eligibility criteria for this program has recently been expanded to include “many owner-operated small businesses”. With this new criteria, businesses with payrolls of less than $20,000 are now eligible to apply. While this is good news for those businesses, additional details and the date for applications are expected to be released shortly. Get in touch with us to stay updated and let us help you assess if you meet the requirements for these loans.
- Export Development Canada (EDC) will guarantee new operating credit and cash flow term loans to small- and medium-sized businesses, up to $6.25 million, under the Business Credit Availability Program Guarantee. This financial support is available until or before 30 September 2020.
- The Co-lending Program will bring Business Development Bank of Canada together with other financial institutions to co-lend term loans to small- and medium-sized businesses to provide additional liquidity and help them meet their operational cash flow requirements.
If you are unsure which loan schemes are best for your business, don’t hesitate to contact us and we will help you assess based on your current financial situation and business needs.
Extension to Wage Subsidy
The Government recently announced an extension to the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) for an additional 12 weeks, taking it to August 29. There have also been changes made to extend the eligibility of the program to include organizations, such as partnerships and educational and training institutions.
However, as of June 8, only $10.5 billion in wage subsidies have been paid, out of the total budget of $45 billion. So if you haven’t applied for the CEWS yet, now is the best time to do so. This financial support is designed for both employers and employees, as it covers 75% of employee wages. This means employers will have the capability to re-hire workers that have previously been laid off due to COVID-19, and help them better position their businesses to get back up to speed following the crisis.
More information on the CEWS can be found here, but feel free to chat with us for any clarifications or questions you may have.
What’s next?
Over the last few weeks we’ve brought you updates on various government initiatives and cash flow schemes aimed at helping employers keep their businesses afloat amid the COVID-19 situation. We’ll keep you updated as and when things change but we are glad to see things easing. We now turn our attention to helping you develop a plan for recovery and future business success.
Get in touch
Contact us if you have any questions or want to discuss your next steps for your business.