It seems the punishment comes when the EFL decide. I expect there would be discussions with the clubs first about how much equity they are going to put in. Stoke's owners have converted loans into shares in the past to avoid penalties.
A quite look through Google show a number of clubs are worried about facing points deductions this season.
For ffp the losses may be less than reported as there are a number of items of expenditure that can be written off to reduce the losses. How much a club pays for its academy is one.
If a number of clubs have concerns, then it could just be that we see avoiding them as a potential advantage over others if points deductions are being bandied about?