Transparency at Boston Growth Partners
We believe in complete transparency at Boston Growth Partners, and as such, want to share the process we take with every client - no matter how big or how small. As operators and consultants, we aim to do a ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS and work backwards. Why do we do this? Well, imagine the opposite…
For example, let’s say you go to the doctor and the doctor says to you, “what is your condition, and what are the medical reasons why you’re feeling this way?” How could you possibly answer those questions? Instead, you count on the doctor to ask how you are feeling, what your symptoms are, and then determine what is the root cause and associated treatment. It’s that same mindset that underpins the Boston Growth Partners process.
Step 1: We perform a recorded eligibility interview with every owner or executive to understand how their entity was impacted by COVID. We take the time to understand:
what products and services they provide and percentages of each
where they do business (states, countries, local routes, etc.)
what market segments they serve and what happened in each
who are their workers and what departments they work in—all the way from sales to shipping - who was physically there and who wasn’t
who are their suppliers and then who are their suppliers, and so on
what happened during COVID… and we listen and ask more questions.
Step 2: We focus on key areas (symptoms) and seek documents, records and analyses that help prove whether or not the client might be eligible for the credit. This is different for every client because the facts and circumstances change from organization to organization. We try to document the “what,” “when,” and “why.” For example, a church that could not hold weddings or a manufacturer who received a force majeure letter from a supplier are very different circumstances.
Step 3: We perform a lot of analysis, review of supplier letters, timing of events, facts and circumstances. We inevitably go back and forth with the client for a few weeks making sure we got it right. And despite what others may promise, no, it never takes “8 minutes!”
Step 4: With our client’s permission or directly from them, we retrieve all of the detailed payroll analysis (by week). This often means retyping manual payroll records and inputting them in another tool.This is often a painstaking process if you’ve ever worked with historical payroll reports.
Step 5: Proof the original 941’s, verify owners, affiliations, family relations, and other related businesses to ensure compliance with the rules.
Step 6: Proof signed PPP forgiveness documents and calculations and ensure they are proper. We will also review all of the calculations and put them into our tool to cross reference against the payroll data to ensure there is no overlap.
Step 7: Our analysis department will complete the financial analysis.
Step 8: We will pull all relevant government orders that impacted the client, their suppliers, their workers, and where they conduct their business or mission.
Step 9: We will then ALWAYS go back to the IRS authoritative Q&A and guidance and do the following:
Cite authoritative guidance
Write about the client’s specific facts and circumstances and provide evidence when available
Cite government mandate orders
Step 10: We provide the client with a full written report for them to review, edit and share with their trusted advisor.
Step 11: We prepare the 941-X and have a CPA review everything and sign-off.
As you can see, this process is not easy, but it is thorough. Are we experts? Yes. Are we perfect? No. All I can say is we try our best, interpret the law as it is written and use our skill and good people to keep getting better; week after week. We also consult with tax lawyers and IRS agents who we find helpful. We try not to get distracted by the buzz and self-interested opinions swirling around outside our control. Covid happened, you may or may not have been hurt by it, and you may or may not be eligible for this payroll tax refund. It will soon disappear and we will go back to doing more operations and financial consulting for businesses like you. For now, we continue to devote our attention to helping do good things with ERTC and do good at it in the process. In our next blog, I’ll share more about the systems and controls we use for our clients.
