Wolters Kluwer further develops TSoftPlus for loan forgiveness stage of Paycheck Protection Program for local lenders of all sizes

Wolters Kluwer Compliance Solutions is ready to help local lenders and their small business client recipients of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funding facilitate online loan forgiveness applications through its TSoftPlus™ PPP Forgiveness Module. The comprehensive end-to-end solution will facilitate and automate the application process for the forgiveness of loans to small businesses that received PPP emergency funding under the U.S. CARES Act. The offering, providing seamless technology benefits, will be made available to local lenders and PPP borrowers following finalization of requirements from the Small Business Administration (SBA) and U.S. Treasury.

The TSoftPlus PPP Forgiveness Module will allow lenders and borrowers to benefit from improved accuracy and document management. It combines the functionality of Wolters Kluwer’s Online Loan Applications product, which enables compliant, convenient distance banking for borrowers, with its Paycheck Protection Program Supported by TSoftPlus™ solution. This widely used solution was launched in early April to assist lenders in their support of small businesses nationwide with payroll funding, providing relief from the onslaught of the COVID-19 crisis.

“Wolters Kluwer continues to play a major and historic role in helping hundreds of local lenders and their Main Street business customers. In the process, our TSoftPlus automated solution has so far helped those businesses retain approximately one million jobs across all 50 states,” said Steven Meirink, Executive Vice President and General Manager for Wolters Kluwer Compliance Solutions. “Now we are again focusing our capabilities to substantively assist PPP loan program borrowers and lenders in the loan forgiveness phase. The TSoftPlus PPP Forgiveness Module will help simplify and speed the complex process of applying for loan forgiveness under the CARES Act. It promises an intuitive borrower experience, processing gains for lenders that we expect to be up to 20 times faster than manual solutions.”

The product’s online functionality will expedite the loan forgiveness application process for remote, electronic application transactions. Notably, the TSoftPlus PPP Forgiveness Module will feature an online form pre-populated with required SBA documents and existing PPP borrower loan information. This approach speeds and automates loan documentation and uploads, thereby enhancing overall application accuracy while reducing the occurrence of incomplete applications. Both existing TSoftPlus customers, who will already have access to the system, and new customers will find the comprehensive solution straight-forward and user friendly. Customers will be immediately able to upload basic PPP data, thereby helping avoid the backlog issues that were widely reported by non-TSoftPlus users during the approval phase of the PPP program.

The seamless user experience and workflow will enable lenders and small businesses to focus efforts on the challenge of determining how much of a PPP loan is eligible for forgiveness. “Initially businesses turned to their accountants for guidance around eligibility and application. With the most recent Internal Revenue Service (IRS) notice around deductibility of expenses funded by a PPP loan and the subsequent loan forgiveness, the questions have gotten more challenging. We continue to provide ongoing guidance, tax expertise, and briefings for accountants to help them navigate the complexities of the program,” said Mark Luscombe, JD, LL.M, CPA, Principal Analyst, Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting.

Wolters Kluwer Compliance Solutions is a market leader and trusted provider of risk management and regulatory compliance solutions and services to U.S. banks and credit unions, insurers and securities firms. The business, which sits within Wolters Kluwer’s Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) division, helps these financial institutions efficiently manage compliance obligations tied to loan and deposit origination transactions and workflows, manage risk and other regulatory compliance obligations, and gain the insights needed to focus on better serving their customers and growing their business.

Paycheck Protection Program Supported by TSoftPlus is one of several solutions launched by Wolters Kluwer’s GRC division in response to the COVID-19 crisis, including the Business Entity Search for CARES Act solution, offered by Wolters Kluwer’s Lien Solutions business, which conducts bulk/batch corporate identity searches to verify the business status of potential borrowers. COVID-19 Noteworthy Developments Bulletins, meanwhile, aggregates COVID-19 related global regulatory changes, orders, notices and other informational updates for the financial services industry. The division has also launched a COVID-19 resource center to provide businesses and law firms with international, federal and state legislative updates.

Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) is a division of Wolters Kluwer, which provides legal and banking professionals with solutions to ensure compliance with ever-changing regulatory and legal obligations, manage risk, increase efficiency, and produce better business outcomes. GRC offers a portfolio of technology-enabled expert services and solutions focused on legal entity compliance, legal operations management, banking product compliance, and banking regulatory compliance.

Wolters Kluwer (AEX: WKL) is a global leader in information services and solutions for professionals in the health, tax and accounting, risk and compliance, finance and legal sectors. Wolters Kluwer reported 2019 annual revenues of €4.6 billion. The company, headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands, serves customers in over 180 countries, maintains operations in over 40 countries and employs 19,000 people worldwide.