On May 15, 2020 the SBA released a worksheet for calculating PPP loan forgiveness. Note: this worksheet does not provide any more official guidance or definitions on what is forgivable. So taxpayers and their advisors are still in the dark about exactly what qualifies. So, until then you have a nifty excel worksheet that you can use to guess at your forgiveness amount, but be sure to fill it out in pencil so you can change it when the SBA gets around to issuing formal guidance.
One item that was provided more clarity is the fact that costs incurred outside the 8-week window but paid during the 8 week window count toward forgiveness. E.g. let’s say you incurred wage expense in early May and pay date for those expenses was May 16th. You received your PPP loan on May 15th. It appears that the wage expense paid on May 16th would qualify for forgiveness because it was paid in the 8 week window after receiving the funds (even though the wages were for work performed prior to May 15th).
We are recommending that business owners defer spending decisions as long as they can to see if we get more guidance.