Hello Everybody! What we are going to talk about today is the EPC or what is commonly referred to as “The Portal”. This is the wonderful domain that holds all kinds of important information and must be accurate in order for your district to file forms, receive your proper reimbursement percentage, and make any changes that need to be made. Of course, as Erate consultants we can handle a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to the portal, so what I am going to cover today is going to be a basic overview of what the portal is used for and how to keep it updated.

The first and most important thing that must be correct in the portal is the Account Administrator. This is the person assigned by your district to certify forms and make any changes necessary to keep the portal updated. If you know your administrator is leaving it’s important for them to assign a new one before they go. Unfortunately, more often than not, this doesn’t happen, but don’t worry, we can fix it. That’s why we’re here. The administrator also must ensure that the district’s financial information is correct. This can be reviewed and corrected in the portal and must be accurate or you won’t get your money, which is the main objective. As stated above, this person also needs to be accurate to certify forms after they are written. You don’t want to miss deadlines because the certification went out in to cyberspace. Of course as a consultant we can always certify for you, but most districts like to see what was submitted before certifying.

While we’re on that topic, let’s talk about forms. As consultants we interact with and complete these for the schools, and for the most part send them for certification. Here are the basics; the 470, 471 and 486 forms all get filed through the portal. Without going in to detail, these are the forms that solicit bids for services, apply for services, and accept the funding issued by USAC. Without these forms, nothing gets funded and THEY MUST BE ON TIME! We (your consultant) worry about getting them in on time, but now you know where to find them. There are a couple others in the portal but these are the most important as you go through the filing process.

In another BLOG I talked about budgets and reimbursement percentages, which are based on entity populations and free/reduced lunch numbers. Guess where all this information is inputted and saved? If you said “The Portal” you win a prize. Just kidding, but I’m glad you’re paying attention. If these numbers are not accurate it can affect your funding. With a little help from you we ensure they are and make sure you get what you are entitled to. The Portal also keeps the correct entity addresses as well which is important when assigning funding. Accuracy is very important to USAC and can sometimes make or break the amount for which you are approved.

Hopefully this gives you a good overview of the importance of having accurate information in the portal and what it is used for. At Education Consortium we can help you further understand how to manage it, and work with you to ensure you are in good shape and on time with all the important forms that take you through the Erate process. Please reach out if we can answer any questions about what we do and how it can help you maximize your return.