This article is the fourth in a series of updates on USAC’s new online E-rate portal system, the “E-rate Productivity Center” or “EPC” (pronounced “Epic”). The EPC portal will ultimately be used for all electronic E-rate news, contacts, and filings. Most immediately, EPC must be used by all applicants seeking to file Form 470s for FY 2016. It is important, therefore, for applicants (and their consultants if they use one) to get their EPC accounts established as early as possible in the FY 2016 application cycle.
One of the first things an applicant should check once its EPC account has been established is the list of associated entities. To do so, from the basic applicant page, click on “Related Entities” in the left-hand column. This will display a list of entities, ten to a page. As initially displayed, the list is in no particular order, but it can be sorted by clicking on the column headings. Details on a particular entity, including entity number, can be reviewed by clicking on the organization’s name.
Ideally, the list of entities displayed will match the entity list from the applicant’s FY 2015 Form 471 application(s). Unfortunately, not all entities have been carried over into EPC. For the most part — although this does not appear to be an entirely consistent problem — the current EPC list appears to be missing non-instructional facilities (“NIFs”). USAC is aware of the missing entity issue, believes it has a solution, and hopes to correct the problem within the next couple of weeks.
Ultimately, to use the EPC portal correctly, the entity list needs to be correct — and to be updated over time as entities are added or deleted. In the short term, one use of the list as currently displayed is to generate the basic entity count in an applicant’s Form 470. To the extent that the actual entity count is not too different from the displayed entity count (usually the case), there should not be a problem. The actual entity count can be entered in the Services Requested table and/or the textual Narrative fields. Longer term — specifically by the time an applicant is ready to start a Form 471 for FY 2016 in the first quarter of next year — a corrected entity list will be required.
One problem with checking an EPC entity list, particularly for a larger applicant, is that there is no way to download the EPC list into a spreadsheet. The EPC listing, however, does indicate the number of entities, so the total can be easily checked. If there is a shortfall, the best way to identify the missing entities is to start with a printed copy of the entity list from last year’s Form 471 (either by using last year’s Block 4 upload template or by displaying and expanding the Discount Calculation section of an online FY 2015 Form 471), and comparing it to the EPC listing, ten entities at a time. (Hint: First sort and print the EPC list alphabetically.)
There are several approaches to correcting an EPC entity list. The simplest may be to do nothing, trusting USAC to make corrections over the next couple of weeks. To be more proactive and immediate, entity changes can be made directly within the portal (albeit, currently, only by the account administrator). Alternatively, a list of additions (or deletions) can be electronically submitted from the EPC portal to USAC as a Customer Service Case.