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iceflame1211 t1_itvmg65 wrote

Reply to comment by Thr0wingIt4llAway in Anyone work for BerryDunn? by uninspired-v2

Right, I agree they doubtfully did anything illegal. They're too professional for that. Most of the largest accounting firms in Maine took PPP loans, likely unnecessarily... I guess I'm more jabbing at the PPP program not having any significant means or needs test built in- just had to show the receipts, not that COVID actually damaged your bottom line.

BerryDunn is regularly in the top 3 biggest firms in Maine by revenue, and I'd be shocked if they lost -any- business at all during the COVID pandemic. A quick Google search shows they had a revenue growth of 18% in 2021 and may have break top 50 firms in the nation this year.

I reiterate- what they did likely wasn't illegal... but it is immoral IMHO. When you already have a hundred million in profit at the end of the year, it is greedy and wrong to take even more from taxpayers that they very clearly did not need. However, their primary interest is generating more revenue, not doing what's right for the American people/non-client taxpayers. Congress's incompetence in passing PPP gifted a lot of rich corporations with giant bonuses, and BerryDunn was one of them.

I get what BerryDunn did, it's shitty, but in their defense it's what almost everyone else did too.

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Thr0wingIt4llAway t1_itvszt7 wrote

The firm does not have 100 million in profit at FY end. Revenue and profit are not the same. Prior to the pandemic, the firm (and any business) has significant expenses, debts, and operating costs. Payroll expense is typically a business's greatest expense. The pandemic introduced economic and business risk. I'll quote, the Paycheck Protection Program is "An SBA-backed loan that helps businesses keep their workforce employed during the COVID-19 crisis." This is what it what used for. Using a program as it was intended is not immoral, IMO. Was their fraud with PPP nationwide? Sure there was. If it is your MO to apply that narrative to whatever businesses you want, so be it. I wouldn't say it is immoral or "shitty" for any qualifying business to apply for a PPP loan in support of retaining its employees and make sure their financial wellbeing is intact.

You can point to our revenue growth in 2021, but that doesn't change the fact that in 2020, business leaders across the country were facing huge economic uncertainty about the future. It was take the loan or lay people off. To your point about "but in their defense it is what almost everyone else did too": almost everyone else was facing the exact same uncertainty and decisions about retaining or release staff. This is what PPP was for at that specific time, not in hindsight.

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