SBA 8a

What information will need to be provided with your 8(a) Application submitted to the SBA.

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Keep in mind that each 8(a) Application is unique and document requirements vary for each 8(a) Application.

Below is a general list of items that will need to be included within your 8(a) application. Your unique application may require additional items not specified below.

  • Signed 1040 personal tax returns (last three filing years) including all schedules, attachments, W-2’s, 1099’s and proof of payment for any tax owed for each 8(a) Applicant and their spouse.
  • Signed business federal tax returns including all schedules and attachments for the last three filing years, or as many as you have been in business, if less than 3 years. Proof of payment for any tax owed may be required, if applicable.
  • Balance Sheet, Income Statement, A/P and A/R aging statements no older than 30 days old for the current year to date. Please note, your financial statements must be prepared either on an income tax basis or be GAAP compliant.
  • Balance Sheet, Income Statement, A/P and A/R aging statements for the last three completed fiscal years.
  • A resume for each 8(a) Applicant and any other key officer, employee, director or 10% or more owner.
  • A detailed listing of all clients broken down by revenue earned for the last 12 months and possibly for the last three years.
  • A current certificate of good standing (required for Corporations and LLC’s only).
  • Stock certificates/Stock ledger (Corp), Membership Certificates/ledger(LLC).
  • Articles of Incorporation/Organization/Partnership filing/DBA Filing.
  • Foreign Organization Filings and associated Certificates of Good Standing (If applicable).
  • Articles of Conversion/Buy-Sell Agreements, Voting Agreements (if applicable).
  • Bylaws, Operating Agreement or Partnership Agreement.
  • Stockholder/Board or Member Meeting minutes (Most Recent).
  • Proof of US Citizenship (if required).
  • Business bank signature cards.
  • Copies of all business and special licenses.
  • Copies of any business loan agreements.
  • A copy of the current lease agreement for business.
  • A current personal financial statement and supporting statements for  the following: (Checking/Savings, IRAs with terms and conditions, Life Insurance (Cash Surrender only), Stocks/Bonds, Mortgage, Deeds, Fair Market Value for Real Estate, Home Owners Insurance Policy, Any Other Assets (Boats, RV’s, Motorcycle, Other Business Ownership, etc.), Automobile Title/Registration and associated loans, Credit Cards, Home equity or any other Loan Agreements (Student, etc.).

For more information, or assistance with your 8(a) Application, please visit cloveer.com.

Want to know if you really qualify for the SBA 8(a) Program?

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Exploring the possibility of applying for the SBA 8(a) Program?

Don’t know where to start? The first step is to find out if you meet the SBA’s 8(a) Program eligibility requirements before you decide to take the leap into the complex 8(a) Application.

You can view all of the basic eligibility requirements by visiting cloveer.com or read below.

Cloveer offers a free online 8(a) eligibility questionnaire that will help determine your current state for 8(a) Program eligibility.

The questionnaire will take approximately 15-20 minutes to complete online and is free.

As you answer the majority of the questions, our tool will automatically inform you if you have a potential 8(a) Program eligibility issue.

The questionnaire covers 100% of all current 8(a) eligibility criteria.

Upon your submission of eligibility questionnaire we will review your responses and follow up to discuss your current state of 8(a) Program eligibility and answer any additional questions you might have.

8(a) Program Eligbility Questionnaire

8(a) Certification: Are you earning revenue from a past employer?

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When you apply for the 8(a) Program the SBA will look at your current year to date and the past two to three years of revenue and whom it earned its revenue from. If you have earned revenue from a client who happens to be your past employer the SBA may take issue with this.

The relationship your firm has with your former employer can have a negative impact on your ability to get successfully 8(a) Certified if it results in the ability for them to impact your to control of your firm. Earning a large percentage of your revenue from a past employer may result in the SBA denying your application.

Why?

As stated above, the SBA will look at your mix of clients and if a large percentage of your revenue comes from a past employer they could possibly try to affiliate you with your past employer since you had a employer/employee relationship. There is no magical number for the percentage since they look at the totality of the relationship such as contracts, subcontracts, sharing of employees, facilities, etc.

If you do have a relationship with your former employer you should try to keep any possible affiliation to a minimum.

To determine your overall state of 8(a) eligibility including possible issues such as above, please visit https://cloveer.com/sba-8a-program-eligibility-questionnaire/ and complete/submit your responses to us for a free eligibility analysis.

Need assistance with your 8(a) Application? With 20 years and over 3,000 successful applications under our belt, we can assure you that no matter which option you choose, Cloveer will work harder and faster to get your business SBA 8a certified.  Contact us today at 813-333-5800 or visiting our website at cloveer.com to discover what Cloveer can do for you.

8(a) Certification – Contract Listing Report, Copies of Contracts and Letters of Reference

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When you apply for the SBA 8(a) Program the SBA will require that you provide a detailed listing of your contracts* for the current year, through the most recently completed month, and at least the last three years. You may also have to provide the SBA a copy of your client contracts for the last 12 calendar months.

*The term contract means contract, agreement, PO, etc.

The contract listing breakdown. You must detail the following to the SBA:
1. Contract Name. List the name of the contract, if applicable. (e.g., DISA Contract)
2. NAICS Code. List the six digit NAICS code which you are performing the work under. (e.g., 541511)
3. Award Date. List the date the contract was awarded (e.g., 01/01/2015)
4. Customer Name (Billable Client). List the name of the customer/client you are billing for the work being performed. (e.g. Lockheed Martin)
5. Description. Provide a brief description of the work being performed for the client. (e.g., Web based software application for DISA)
6. Total Dollar Value of Contract. List the total value of the contract. (e.g. $100,000 or TBD, ongoing if no total value)
7. Revenue earned from Client. List the amount of revenue your company has earned from this client in the current year to date and the last two fiscal years. (e.g., $53,275)

See below for a example.

sample contract listing

Sample Contract Listing

You must also prepare another breakdown for the last 12 calendar months of your revenue too. See Below for an example.

Last 12 Months of Contracts

Last 12 Months of Contracts

The SBA will also use the above breakdown’s to look at your economic dependency over these periods of measurement to see if you are or have been earning more than than 70% of your revenue from one billable client. See our blog posting on economic dependency for more information on this topic.

Copies of Contracts:
Although not specified by the SBA in their 8(a) Application checklist you should gather and store electronic copies of all contracts, agreements, PO’s, etc between your firm and the client for the last 12 months as you have reported within the last 12 months of contracts/revenue breakdown. Be sure that all documents are duly signed by all parties, if the SBA requests this information from you.

Need assistance with your 8(a) Application? With 20 years and over 3,000 successful applications under our belt, we can assure you that no matter which option you choose, Cloveer will work harder and faster to get your business SBA 8(a) certified.  Contact us today at 813-333-5800 or visit our website at cloveer.com to discover what Cloveer can do for you.

Don’t think the 8(a) Program or HUBZone Program has any work? Think Again!

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If you don’t think the 8(a) Program or HUBZone Program can be a valuable tool for your business just look at the following 8(a) and HUBZone contract information pulled from the SBA for FY 2020.

8(a) Firms:
Awarded: $34B

8(a) Sole Source Contract Actions:
Awarded: $11.B

8(a) Competitive Contract Actions:
Total Action Obligations: $9.3B

HUBZone Firms:
Awarded: 13.6B

Need assistance with your 8(a) or HUBZone Application? With 20 years and over 3,000 successful applications under our belt, we can assure you that no matter which option you choose, Cloveer will work harder and faster to get your business SBA 8(a) or HUBZone certified.  Contact us today at 813-333-5800 or visit our website at cloveer.com to discover what Cloveer can do for you.

8(a) Certification and Community Property Laws

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§124.104   Who is economically disadvantaged?

(2) When married, an individual claiming economic disadvantage must submit separate financial information for his or her spouse, unless the individual and the spouse are legally separated. SBA will consider a spouse’s financial situation in determining an individual’s access to credit and capital where the spouse has a role in the business (e.g., an officer, employee or director) or has lent money to, provided credit support to, or guaranteed a loan of the business. SBA does not take into consideration community property laws when determining economic disadvantage.

This means that both the applicant (individual claiming disadvantage) and his or her spouse must submit a separate Personal Financial Statement during the 8(a) Application process, unless:

They are legally separated.

and;

The SBA will not split all assets and liabilities 50/50 unless they are jointly owned or there is a pre and/or post nuptial agreement that details which assets are held by one individual or another, separately.

§124.105   What does it mean to be unconditionally owned by one or more disadvantaged individuals?

(k) Community property laws given effect. In determining ownership interests when an owner resides in any of the community property states or territories of the United States (Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Puerto Rico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin), SBA considers applicable state community property laws. If only one spouse claims disadvantaged status, that spouse’s ownership interest will be considered unconditionally held only to the extent it is vested by the community property laws. A transfer or relinquishment of interest by the non-disadvantaged spouse may be necessary in some cases to establish eligibility.

This means that the applicant (individual claiming disadvantage) and their spouse must execute a community property transmutation agreement to ensure that they have transferred or relinquished the proper percentage of ownership held within the applicant firm so that the applicant has unconditional ownership of the applicant firm that is applying for the 8(a) Program.

If you need a template to prepare an acceptable Community Property Transmutation Agreement, please visit our shop that contains a template for purchase.

8(a) Certification Tip – Your primary NAICS code and what’s reported on the business tax returns.

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When you apply for the SBA 8(a) Program you must report to the SBA what your primary NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) code is.

Your primary NAICS code is defined as the six digit code in which your business earned its largest segment of revenue, in the most recently completed fiscal year. To get 8(a) certified you typically must have earned your largest segment of revenue in your primary NAICS code for at least the last two fiscal years. If your business has not earned the largest segment of revenue in the primary NAICS code reported to the SBA for the last two fiscal years you will need to apply with a 2 year waiver.

To determine the primary NAICS code for your business you can visit our blog post titled “How to Determine your Primary NAICS Code” for detailed instructions.

The primary NAICS code for your business must also match what is reported on your business tax returns otherwise the SBA will assume that the business does not meet the two years in business requirement.

If your primary NAICS code is different that what is reported on your filed business tax returns, and the NAICS code reported on the business tax returns is incorrect you must:

Submit a letter of explanation to SBA, as part of your 8(a) Application, from your CPA or tax preparer regarding the business activity code and service listed on the filed business tax returns vs what NAICS code that should have been reported on them. This letter will save you 15-30 days of processing by the SBA.

Need assistance with your 8(a) Application? With 15 years and over 3,000 successful applications under our belt, we can assure you that no matter which option you choose, Cloveer will work harder and faster to get your business SBA 8a certified.  Contact us today at 813-333-5800 or visiting our website at cloveer.com to discover what Cloveer can do for you.

8(a) Certification: Family members with ownership in another business. What do I need to know and provide?

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When you apply for the 8(a) Program the SBA will ask if you have any immediate family members who have ownership in a business. Why? 13 C.F.R 121.103(f) defines that the SBA may find affiliation on an identity of interest between individuals or business, including family members.

Immediate family member is defined as father, mother, husband, brother, sister, grandfather, grandmother, grandson, grand-daughter, father-in-law, and mother-in-law.

If you do have an immediate family member that has ownership interest in any other business, and you conduct business with it, you must provide the following documentation to the SBA:

The above must be supplied if any immediate family member, any owner of more than 10%, any director, any officer has ownership in any other business entity.

  1. SBA Form 355 (listing each firm as an alleged affiliate);
  2. Interim year to date financial statements, as well as number of employees;
  3. Three most recently filed business tax returns, including all schedules, attachments, and proof of tax paid;
  4. If the firm is a corp, provide:
    – Articles of incorporation and by-laws;
    – The last two years of  shareholder meeting minutes showing the election of the board of directors;
    – The last two years of board of director meeting minutes showing the election of the officers;
    – Stock certificates and ledger;
    – Assumed/fictitious name registration, if dba name is used;
    –     Copies of cert of good standing if your firm is a foreign firm; and;
    – Any buy/sell agreements, stock transfer agreements, etc.
    If the firm is a LLC, provide:
    – Articles of organization and operating agreement;
    – Assumed/fictitious name registration, if a dba name is used;
    – Certificate of good standing; and
    – Any buy/sell agreements, stock transfer agreements, etc.If the firm is a sole prop, provide:
    – Assumed/fictitious name registration.If the firm is a partnership, provide:
    – Partnership agreement;
    – Official filings with the state; and
    – Assumed/fictitious name registration, if a dba name is used.

Why do they require this information?
The SBA requires the above information to determine if any affiliation exists between the 8(a) Applicant firm and any other business that your family member owns.

Need assistance with your 8(a) Application? With 20 years and over 3,000 successful applications under our belt, we can assure you that no matter which option you choose, Cloveer will work harder and faster to get your business SBA 8a certified.  Contact us today at 813-333-5800 or visit our website at www.cloveer.com to discover what Cloveer can do for you.

8(a) Certification: Ownership or outside work in any other business can be a certification show stopper!

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The applicant(s) for 8(a) Certification must devote full-time to the business that is applying for the 8(a) Program with no outside employment. This means that they must generally work at least 40 hours a week during the normal hours of operation of the business that is applying for the 8(a) Program.

If the applicant(s) have an ownership or are an officer, director or partner  in any other business, other than the business that is applying for the 8(a) Program, the SBA may very well deny your 8(a) Application.

Why?

As stated above, you must devote full-time during the normal hours of operation of the business. If you have ownership or are an officer, director or partner in another business the SBA will likely conclude that you are not devoting full-time to the applicant business even if you do not devote any hours to the operation of this other business.

How to overcome this potential show-stopper?

a. You can dissolve this other business and provide evidence of dissolution to the SBA during the application review process.

b. You can formally resign your officer, director or partner position in this other business and provide evidence of resignation.

b. You can sell your ownership in this other business. The sale must take place at fair market value and you must be able to provide proof of the sale and a copy of any proceeds you might receive. Be sure to factor in any funds you receive as a result of this sale. You must also resign all positions you held in this other business and provide proof of this resignation.

What if the other business is just a business for holding real estate?

If the other business is just for holding real estate and you can prove this to the SBA, you can most likely keep your ownership in this other business since this other business is solely for the purpose of holding and/or protecting you ownership interest in the properties that it holds.

Need assistance with your 8(a) Application? With 20 years and over 3,000 successful applications under our belt, we can assure you that no matter which option you choose, Cloveer will work harder and faster to get your business SBA 8a certified.  Contact us today at 813-333-5800 or visit our website at www.cloveer.com to discover what Cloveer can do for you.

Do you really qualify for the SBA 8(a) Program. Find out for Free!

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Are you exploring the possibility of applying for the SBA 8(a) Program?

Don’t know where to start? The first step is to find out if you meet the very complex 8(a) Program eligibility requirements before you decide to take the leap into the 8(a) Application.

Cloveer has an online 8(a) eligibility questionnaire that will help determine your current state of 8(a) Program eligibility.

8(a) Eligbility Questionnaire

The questionnaire will take approximately 15 minutes to complete.

As you answer most of the questions, it will automatically inform you if you have a potential eligibility issue. Upon your submission we will review your responses and follow up to discuss your current state of 8(a) Program eligibility and answer any additional questions you might have.

8(a) eligibility questionnaire

Sample of Cloveer’s Online Questionnaire

Assuming you do qualify, If you would like assistance with your 8(a) Application, Cloveer can help.  With 20 years and over 3,000 successful applications under our belt, we can assure you that no matter which option you choose, Cloveer will work harder and faster to get your business SBA 8a certified.  Contact us today at 813-333-5800.