You create an application for a small business from the Client Application page. To get to the Client Application page:

• Look up or register a business and click the View Business, or

• Click View Business from the list of Recent Businesses, or

• Select Small Business from the Client Applications menu at the top of the page to be directed to your most recent application.

To create a small business application:

1. From the Application page, select Create Application.

2. Enter the Business Owner Contact Information.

3. Enter the Business Owner Income and Demographic Information.

4. Enter the Business Information.

5. Click Submit Application.

To add a grant or loan:

1. From the Client Applications page, select the application to which the service will be added.

2. Click the Add Grant or Loan button.

3. Select the Program and Project for the grant or loan.

4. Select the Type of capital (Grant or Loan), Award date, and Amount of grant or loan.

5. Select the Use of grant or loan. You can select more than one.

6. Click the Save Grant or Loan button.

SmallBusinessCentral tracks services funded by Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) programs. CDBG-funded programs are required to benefit low- and moderate-income (LMI) San Franciscans. There are three ways CDBG-funded projects can meet this requirement:

1. Low- and Moderate-Income Area Benefit: Support a business located in a low- and moderate-income neighborhood.

2. Low- and Moderate-Income Microenterprise Development: Support a microenterprise owned (or that are being developed) by a low- and moderate-income small business owner. A microenterprise is a business with 5 or fewer employees, including the owner.

3. Low- and Moderate-Income Job Creation or Retention: Support a business with services that will directly create or retain jobs primarily for low- and moderate-income persons.

Your agency's compliance with the low- and moderate-income benefit requirement is established during the setup of your CDBG-funded project before the fiscal year, in coordination with your program manager. This determination is subsequently recorded in SmallBusinessCentral. When entering client services, the low- and moderate-income benefit type data field will be populated with the project's benefit requirement.

SmallBusinessCentral is a web-based data management system used by the Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD). It is used to monitor and track service delivery to San Francisco small businesses and small business entrepreneurs by non-profit community partners. The purpose of this guide is to show users of SmallBusinessCentral how to register clients in the system, enroll them into services, and track outcomes. The document is divided into four sections:

1. System Access

2. Client Registration

3. Client Enrollment

4. Reports

This user guide also includes an appendix with additional information and resources, including:

1. Applications and Forms.

2. Instructions for how to look up Business Account Numbers.

3. Instructions on how to meet the low-to-moderate income requirement Community for Development Block Grants.

4. How to look up the NAICS code for a business.

5. Documentation on technical and capital assistance service types.

Help desk instructions and training materials are also included for additional resources.

Creating a new SmallBusinessCentral user account

To request a new SmallBusinessCentral user account, complete the User Account Request Form. After your program manager approves your request, you will receive an email with your credential within 3 business days.

Resetting your password

You can reset your password from the SmallBusinessCentral login screen.

To reset your password:

1. Select Forgot Password?

2. Enter your registration email address and select Submit. You will be sent a link to reset your password.

3. Follow the email link and enter and confirm your new password.

Account lockout

If you have not accessed the system in 90 days, you will be locked out of SmallBusinessCentral. To unlock your account, select the Forgot Password? link on SmallBusinessCentral login screen and follow the same instructions used to reset your password.

If you have not accessed the system in 180 days, your account is removed from SmallBusinessCentral. You need to follow the creating a new SmallBusinessCentral user account steps above to request a new user account.

Removing a user account

User accounts can be removed by completing the User Removal Form.

To register a new business:

1. Select Register Business from the Register Client menu at the top of the webpage.

2. Below Register Business, enter the Business Account Number (BAN). If you do not know the BAN, you can .

3. Click Verify BAN.

4. After SmallBusinessCentral verifies the BAN, click Register Business.

1. After you register the business, click View Business to go to the Small Business Application page. From the Small Business Application page, you can create an application and add client services, grants, or loans.

You must register a client in SmallBusinessCentral before you enroll a client. A client only needs to be registered in SmallBusinessCentral once. How you register a client depends on the client type:

• Small Business: You register a small business using the 7-digit Business Account Number (BAN) created by the San Francisco Treasurer & Tax Collector's Office.

• Small Business Entrepreneur: You register a small business entrepreneur using the entrepreneur's email address.

Before you register a client in SmallBusinessCentral, use the look up tool to see if they are already registered.

To log in to SmallBusinessCentral:

1. Navigate to SmallBusinessCentral.

2. Enter your User Name.

3. Enter your Password.

4. Select Log In.

5. Accept the user terms and conditions.

Client services are used to document technical assistance service delivery to small businesses and small business entrepreneurs. Grants and loans are also a type of service, but are tracked separately. Adding a client service is the second step of the client enrollment process. A client is not considered enrolled until at least one service is added to the application.

Keep in mind:

• Client services are defined by your agency's scope of work.

• A client may be provided multiple technical assistance services, grants, or loans.

• A client may be provided technical assistance services, grants, or loans by more than one agency.

• Some technical assistance services have specific outcomes.

After a client has received a technical assistance service, you MUST record if the client completed the service. For grants and loans, you MUST indicate whether the grant or loan has been disbursed for it to be considered complete.

After you register a client, you can then enroll the client. Creating an application is the first step of the two-step enrollment process. The second step of the enrollment process is to add a client service. A client is enrolled when both an application has been created and at least one client service is added to the application.

You create an application for a small business entrepreneur from the Client Application page. To get to the Client Application page:

• Look up or register an entrepreneur and select View Entrepreneur, or

• Click View Entrepreneur from the list of Recent Entrepreneurs, or

• Select Small Business Entrepreneur from the Client Applications menu at the top of the page to be directed to your most recent application.

To create a small business entrepreneur application:

1. From the Application page, select Create Application.

2. Enter the Entrepreneur Contact Information.

3. Enter the Entrepreneur Income and Demographic Information.

4. Click Submit Application.

To complete a service:

1. From the Client Applications page, select View Service for the service to be completed.

2. At the bottom of the page, select the Edit button.

3. Enter the Service end date.

4. Enter any additional service details or outcomes required for the service if applicable.

5. Click the Update button.

Before you register a small business or a small business entrepreneur in SmallBusinessCentral, use the look up tools on the Home page to see if the client is already registered.

To look up a business:

1. On the Home page, under the on the Look Up Business tab, enter the Business name or Business Account Number (BAN).

2. Click Look Up Business.

3. Click View Business to go to the Small Business Application page.

To look up a small business entrepreneur:

1. On the Home page, under the on the Look Up Entrepreneur tab, enter the First name, Last name, or email address.

2. Click Look Up Entrepreneur.

3. Click View Entrepreneur to go to the Small Business Entrepreneur Application page.

Application for Small Business Services

The is the primary data collection instrument for SmallBusinessCentral. The application collects small business and entrepreneur contact, income, demographic, and business-related information. All small businesses and small business entrepreneurs must complete the application. Small business owners complete both pages of the paper application. Small business entrepreneurs only need to complete the first page.

After you have collected the necessary information on the , you can then enter that information into SmallBusinessCentral by creating a or application.

An application for a business location or a small business entrepreneur only needs to be created once. Different agencies can add services, grants, and loans to the same application, regardless of the agency that created the application.

To register a new entrepreneur:

1. Select Register Entrepreneur from the Register Client menu at the top of the webpage.

2. Below Register Entrepreneur, enter the First name, Last name, and Email of the entrepreneur.

3. Confirm the email.

4. Click Register Entrepreneur.

1. After you register the business, you can click View Entrepreneur to go to the Small Business Entrepreneur Application page. From the Small Business Entrepreneur Application page, you can create an application and add client services.

To add a client service:

1. From the Client Applications page, select the application to which the service will be added.

2. Click the Add Client Service button.

3. Select the Program and Project for the service.

4. Select the Technical assistance type and then the specific type of Counseling, Training, or Referral.

5. Select the Technical assistance language.

6. Add the Service begin date.

7. Click Save Service.

If changes are needed, agencies can only edit or delete the services they have added.

To edit or delete a service:

1. Click View Service next to the service
2. Scroll to the bottom of the page to find the Edit and Delete buttons.

• Click Edit to make necessary changes to the record, then click the Update button at the bottom to save your changes.

• Click Delete to remove your record. A prompt will appear to confirm your decision.

To run an Activities and Outcomes Report:

1. Select Activities and Outcomes from the Reports menu at the top of the webpage.

2. Select the Fiscal Year.

3. Review your pre-selected Agency.

4. Select the Program.

5. Select or enter a date in the Enrollment from Date.

6. Select or enter a date in the Enrollment to Date.

7. Click Search

View the Report

After clicking Search, SmallBusinessCentral will display a summary of activities and outcomes for the selected enrollment period. The activity summary table shows total clients served, total services provided, and the number of completed services. The outcome summary table shows the key outcome measures.

Navigate Client Activities

Below the summary tables, SmallBusinessCentral lists activities for all clients served during the selected enrollment dates. To navigate to this list, use the page number links located in the top left corner of the table. Clicking the application number link will open the application in a separate tab.

Export the Report

You can select Export to download the Activities and Outcomes report in Excel format. The exported report will include a comprehensive list of all activities and outcomes for the selected enrollment period. The exported report includes the summary tables on the first tab and complete list of activities with key outcome measures on the second tab.

When you create an application for a small business or a small business entrepreneur, SmallBusinessCentral will assign a unique application number to that client. This application number will be included on the client application page and on the activities and outcomes report. In addition to looking up a client using a Business Account Number (BAN), client name, or email address, you can also look up a client using an application number.

To look up client using an application number:

1. On the Home page, under the on the Look Up Application tab, enter the application number

2. Click Look Up Application.

If you entered a valid application number, you will be brought to the client application page.

A Business Accounts Number (BAN) is a 7-digit number assigned to registered businesses by the San Francisco Treasurer & Tax Collector’s Office. A registered business will have a single active BAN for all open business locations. SmallBusinessCentral uses Business Accounts Numbers (BANs) as unique identifiers for small businesses. You can find the BAN for a registered business on the list of registered business locations published on DataSF.

To look up a BAN on the list of registered businesses locations:

1. From the top left menu, select Filter.

2. Select Add a New Filter Condition.

3. From the drop down menu, change Location Id to DBA Name.

4. Change the filter operation condition from "is" to "contains".

5. Type the name of the business.

To run a Client Registrations Report:

1. Select Client Registrations from the Reports menu at the top of the webpage.

2. Review your pre-selected Agency

3. Select or enter a date in Registration from Date.

4. Select or enter a date in Registration to Date.

5. Click Search.

View and Navigate Client Registrations

After clicking Search, SmallBusinessCentral will display a list of 15 small businesses and small business entrepreneurs in alphabetical order. You can navigate through the list using the page number links located on the top right-hand corner of each table. Clicking View Business or View Entrepreneur will open the application in a separate tab.

Export the Report

You can select Export to download the Client Registration Report in Excel format. The exported report includes a comprehensive list of all small businesses and small business entrepreneurs registered by your agency on two separate tabs. The exported report includes key data collected at the point of registration for the small business or small business entrepreneur.

There are two reports in SmallBusinessCentral that can be used to keep track of clients, their services, and their outcomes:

• Client Registration Report

• Activities and Outcomes Report

A microenterprise is a business with 5 or fewer employees, including the owner. To meet the CDBG the low- and moderate-income microenterprise development requirement, the microenterprise must be owned (or is being developed by) an extremely low-, low-, or moderate-income person. A business owner that is above moderate income is not eligible for CDBG-funded services. Use the table below to determine the income level of the business owner or entrepreneur.

Employee data for jobs created or retained as a direct result of CDBG-funded services MUST be entered into SmallBusinessCentral. You add an employee after you add a client service.

To add an employee:

1. Click the Add Employee button.

2. Select the applicable Client Service, Grant, or Loan.

3. Enter the Employee Job Information.

4. Enter the Employee Demographic Information.

5. Click Save button.

To complete a grant or loan:

1. From the Client Applications page, select View Grant or Loan for the grant or loan to be completed.

2. At the bottom of the page, select the Edit button.

3. Enter whether the grant or loan was Disbursed, the Amount disbursed, and the Disbursement date.

4. Click the Update button.

To meet the CDBG low- and moderate-income requirement using low- and moderate-income job creation or retention, you must support a business with services that directly result in job creation or retention for low- and moderate-income persons. At least 51% of the jobs created or retained as a result of the service must be for extremely low-, low- or moderate -income persons. The table below shows income categories by family size

Cohort training is defined as training for two or more participants in a variety of topics related to starting, growing, and or strengthening a small business. Typically, there are nine topics covered during cohort training, which are listed below.

Service referrals involve service providers reaching out or responding to inquiries from small business owners or entrepreneurs. Based on their conversation with small business owner or entrepreneur, they connect the small business owner or entrepreneur to the appropriate resource or organization with the expertise. There are six different types of service referrals

One-on-one counseling involves a service provider providing knowledge and recommendations on business activities in addition to assisting the small business owner or entrepreneur in drafting plans, implementing, and/or executing plans. This supports business viability and business retention. There are 9 different types of one-on-one counseling.

Technical Assistance Service Types

There are three types of technical services and two types of grants and loans.

Grant and Loan Service Types

Please consult this User Guide for instructions on how to register clients, create applications, add client service, and run reports. You can use the search tool in the top right corner look up a specific topic. If you have questions about the scope of your programs, projects, or services, please contact your OEWD program manager. Otherwise, for additional technical assistance for issues with logging in, system malfunctions, or site unresponsiveness, you can open a support ticket.

There are three ways to open a support ticket:

1. Select the Help Desk bubble on the bottom right of the page. Preferred method.

2. Email sbcsupport@ajwi.com.

3. Call (415) 659-8149. Support staff are available from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.

When you open a support ticket, provide as much detail about the the problem. Use screenshots if possible. Please include your email, username, agency, user name, and page where the problem occurred. After you submit a ticket, you will receive a ticket number and priority level (Help Desk and Email only). Help Desk staff will notify you when the issue has been resolved.

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is a standard used to classify businesses for the purpose of collecting, analyzing, and publishing data related to the U.S. business economy. The Office of Economic and Workforce Development uses NAICS codes to classify the business it serves, and these data are collected in SmallBusinessCentral.

To meet the CDBG low- and moderate-income requirement with the low- and moderate-income area benefit, businesses that you assist must be located in a low- and moderate-income neighborhood that has been designated as part of a CDBG-funded project's service area. A project's service area is determined in collaboration with your OEWD program manager.

The table below lists the 5 agencies and corresponding low- and moderate- income service areas for the 7 CDBG-funded projects that must comply with the low and moderate-income area benefit.

This section includes materials from OEWD trainings on SmallBusinessCentral. In general, the content covered in theses training is addressed in this user guide.

SmallBusinessCentral Training - July 25, 2024

SmallBusinessCentral Training - February 8, 2024

SmallBusinessCentral Training - August 26, 2023

SmallBusinessCentral Training - January 26,

Follow the instructions below for how to register and complete the Application for Small Business Services for a non-profit organization . If you have additional questions or need further assistance, please reach out to your program manager.

Register a non-profit organization

All non-profit organizations have a Business Account Number (BAN). To register a non-profit organization, follow the instruction for how to Register a Small Business.

Complete the application

For the purpose of this application, the non-profit organization receiving technical or capital assistance is the “business.”

For the Small Business Owner/Entrepreneur Contact Information

Use the executive director’s contact details and the non-profit organization’s address.

Business Owner/Entrepreneur Income and Demographic Information:

• Enter 1 for the number of persons living in the family

• Enter 0 for the gross family income for all adult members

• Complete all other demographic questions

For Business Information

• Enter the Business Account Number (BAN). If you do not know the BAN, you can find it here.

• Leave business DBA name blank.

• Enter 100 for percentage of business ownership?

• Leave business start date blank

• Select No for business expanding and relocating

• Enter 813410 for primary business activity (NAICS code)

• Use your total revenue from the most recent Form 990 for gross business income

• Complete the number of employees’ section

• Select No for microenterprise

• For business designations, complete for the executive director if applicable