I vote a qualified "yes." The business would have continued to function, but I and my partners likely would not have taken paychecks and there would have been no raises or bonuses for the staff. The PPP loans allowed us to meet all payroll and advertising obligations without having to personally fund the firm. The double hit of OHOs sucking up all the existing hearing files at the beginning of the pandemic (meaning very limited hearings being scheduled now) combined with DDS taking months longer to make initial and recon decisions has disrupted the monthly cash flow. The good news is that we have historically record number of cases pending now at the initial and recon levels. Our new client acquisition rate is strong. Once these cases start to move more quickly through the system, we anticipate things to return back to normal. 2022 should be a much better year.
I would have had to lay off my staff. As it is, even with the PPP, there were months I didn't take a paycheck.
Things are starting to look up. The AC is remanding more of my cases, and I have a backlog at reconsideration, so money should start flowing again soon.
It would have been easier with a PPP loan, but I missed out on the first round and did not bother in the second. I had about a three month total disruption in cashflow and then it did return to normal. 2020 was not a great year, but my reserves were deep and the time off the road allowed time to chase down slowed court fees and take on new caseload. Perhaps too much! Like 10:04, my caseload at the initial and reconsideration level is at its highest level, and new client intake has been quite strong since mid 2020. 2021 has started with strong cashflow.
My experience has been very similar to the comments made by @10:04. The impact of the pandemic continues to be felt and 2021 will be a bad year financially....even worse than 2020. OHO has burned through all the cases pending at hearing level. Initial and Recon cases are backlogged and the bottleneck has really hit us hard. Average fees at hearing level are down as well.
But, as mentioned by 10:04, 2022 should be a good year. Intakes are up and missing monies from 2020 and 2021 should be viewed as income delayed, not income lost.
Thanks to PPP money, we've kept everyone employed and we've been able to make it work. It has given us breathing room. Maybe we could have made it without help from PPP, but it would have been ugly.
My situation is different from some reps, but I didn't get the loan, and while cases really slowed down for a bit, OHO just wasn't scheduling many hearings, things got better later. Things slowed down for me this year because I was sick though not with covid, but things are picking up. If I had more overhead, the PPP loan would have been necessary.
11:01 is spot on. The missing monies from this year will be delayed until next year and not lost, unlike those in the restaurant or travel business. The key to the loans, in addition to keeping everyone employed and with health insurance, was to be able to maintain and even increase our advertising. So while cashflow has been severely disrupted, the steady stream of new clients has not missed a beat. Once this bottleneck at DDS finally breaks open, we'll be strongly positioned for 2022 and beyond.
No. I did not have all my eggs in one basket. Overall it was not too bad a year, it was worse during the housing bubble bust, no loan needed, never closed the office.
There is going to be a flood of claimants in 2022. Some will file just because cannot find work. Others will legitimately be depressed and have other Covid conditions.
Not sure the SSA will be ready to handle all these claims.
12 comments:
I vote a qualified "yes." The business would have continued to function, but I and my partners likely would not have taken paychecks and there would have been no raises or bonuses for the staff. The PPP loans allowed us to meet all payroll and advertising obligations without having to personally fund the firm. The double hit of OHOs sucking up all the existing hearing files at the beginning of the pandemic (meaning very limited hearings being scheduled now) combined with DDS taking months longer to make initial and recon decisions has disrupted the monthly cash flow. The good news is that we have historically record number of cases pending now at the initial and recon levels. Our new client acquisition rate is strong. Once these cases start to move more quickly through the system, we anticipate things to return back to normal. 2022 should be a much better year.
I would have had to lay off my staff. As it is, even with the PPP, there were months I didn't take a paycheck.
Things are starting to look up. The AC is remanding more of my cases, and I have a backlog at reconsideration, so money should start flowing again soon.
It would have been easier with a PPP loan, but I missed out on the first round and did not bother in the second. I had about a three month total disruption in cashflow and then it did return to normal. 2020 was not a great year, but my reserves were deep and the time off the road allowed time to chase down slowed court fees and take on new caseload. Perhaps too much! Like 10:04, my caseload at the initial and reconsideration level is at its highest level, and new client intake has been quite strong since mid 2020. 2021 has started with strong cashflow.
My experience has been very similar to the comments made by @10:04. The impact of the pandemic continues to be felt and 2021 will be a bad year financially....even worse than 2020. OHO has burned through all the cases pending at hearing level. Initial and Recon cases are backlogged and the bottleneck has really hit us hard. Average fees at hearing level are down as well.
But, as mentioned by 10:04, 2022 should be a good year. Intakes are up and missing monies from 2020 and 2021 should be viewed as income delayed, not income lost.
Thanks to PPP money, we've kept everyone employed and we've been able to make it work. It has given us breathing room. Maybe we could have made it without help from PPP, but it would have been ugly.
Nope, literally would've had to shutter due to the exceptional delay in release of fees.
My situation is different from some reps, but I didn't get the loan, and while cases really slowed down for a bit, OHO just wasn't scheduling many hearings, things got better later. Things slowed down for me this year because I was sick though not with covid, but things are picking up. If I had more overhead, the PPP loan would have been necessary.
Could we have continued representing clients? Yes.
Deep salary cuts and terminations without PIP? Yes.
11:01 is spot on. The missing monies from this year will be delayed until next year and not lost, unlike those in the restaurant or travel business. The key to the loans, in addition to keeping everyone employed and with health insurance, was to be able to maintain and even increase our advertising. So while cashflow has been severely disrupted, the steady stream of new clients has not missed a beat. Once this bottleneck at DDS finally breaks open, we'll be strongly positioned for 2022 and beyond.
Luckily my banker is my friend. We would have been fine but now its getting tighter. Didn't qualify for the second one.
No. I did not have all my eggs in one basket. Overall it was not too bad a year, it was worse during the housing bubble bust, no loan needed, never closed the office.
There is going to be a flood of claimants in 2022. Some will file just because cannot find work. Others will legitimately be depressed and have other Covid conditions.
Not sure the SSA will be ready to handle all these claims.
1:46 you do understand that employers are actually begging for people to work in almost every single sector right?
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