The Paycheck Protection Program is one of two programs designed to help small businesses during the coronavirus crisis. The other is the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. While both programs help struggling businesses get back on their feet financially, they have slightly different goals which are suggested by the names of the two programs.

The Paycheck Protection Program business loans account is a new stimulus package designed to help companies retain workers by covering eight weeks of payroll plus some other costs of remaining in business. This loan is 100% forgivable if you follow forgiveness guidelines.

The Economic Injury Disaster Loan program is an established program that helps small businesses overcome the loss of revenue during a declared disaster such as a hurricane, major fire, or, in this case, the COVID-19 pandemic. This loan includes a $10,000 advance (if you apply) that is automatically forgiven.1

Many small business owners do not know they can apply for both an EIDL loan and a PPP loan for the same COVID-19 disaster. There are rules, including the key requirement that you can't use money from both loans for the same thing. For example, if you use the proceeds from a PPP loan for payroll, you can't use an EIDL loan for payroll also."