Where to Start in the Product Catalog Web Module
The MANAGE > E-Rate menu option in the Product Catalog provides access to functions for creating, managing, and viewing FRNs in the IDI solution.
This displays the E-Rate Funding page which is the starting point for E-Rate configuration and management. Initially the E-Rate Funding page displays all current FRNs (whose end dates have not passed).
For each FRN this view displays:
FRN – The link in each row lets you view details for the associated FRN
Application Number
SPIN – Service Provider Identification Number
Start & End Dates
Percentage (discount)
Approved Amount
Remaining Amount – Approved amount minus total of eligible charges for utilization logged against the FRN
If the number of FRNs exceeds the page limit, you can page through more FRNs using the < > buttons. You can also adjust the number of items per page via the associated drop-down menu.
From the E-Rate Funding page you can search for specific FRNs, create a new FRN, view FRN details, and view utilization.
FRN Search
You can search for FRNs by:
FRN
Application Number
Date ranges
Include Historical – When checked, the search results include FRNs with an end date that has passed. This defaults to unchecked (do not include historical FRNs).
Enter search criteria and click Search. The page will list FRNs that match the criteria up to the specified number of items (rows).
Example Search Result:
Include Historical Example:
Creating a New FRN
Users assigned the Product Catalog Admin role with Manage E-Rate permission can create FRNs in the Product Catalog web module. Click Create FRN on the E-Rate Funding page then use the dialog to enter the following information (all parameters required except for Description):
FRN – Unique value assigned by USAC for an approved funding application request
Application Number – Application submitted for E-Rate funding
Start and End Dates – This typically spans one fiscal year.
Approved Amount – The maximum amount USAC will reimburse the service provider for eligible services for a specified date range.
E-Rate Funding Percentage (integer, <=100) – Percentage by which eligible MRCs are discounted as determined by USAC.
Service Provider ID (SPIN) – Unique ID assigned to each service provider by USAC
Service Provider Name – Name assigned to each provider by USAC
Description (optional)
All entries are tracked in the Audit Log. The log includes all details as described above as well as the created by user ID and created on date.
Note:
Saving the new FRN displays the FRN Details. From here you can edit any information you entered above except the FRN which will be read-only. This view also provides additional controls for associating eligible products and services to the FRN. This is required to automate logging of utilization based on the product and service MRCs.
Associating Eligible Products and Services
Click the Edit button on the FRN Details page to make applicable fields editable, including the Associate Products and Assign Services buttons.
Clicking either button displays a search dialog that lets you select one or more items returned by the search (Assign Services dialog shown below).
Notes:
Eligible Products search excludes Package SKUs that are set to a Tax at Component Level.
A service can only be associated to one active FRN. If you attempt to associate a service to another FRN with any overlapping start/end dates, a warning is displayed, and you will not be permitted to associate it to this FRN.
The kebob buttons in the Eligible Products and Assigned Services lists let you remove items as may be needed.
Viewing/Editing/Managing FRN Details
The FRN Details page is displayed when you save a new FRN. You can also navigate to this page from the search results on E-Rate Funding page by clicking the link in the applicable row in the FRN column.
The detail page displays the same information as presented in the search result plus associated products and services, Created By user ID, and CreatedOn date. From the Detail page users with Manage E-Rate permission can:
Associate eligible products and services and edit other details specified when you create the FRN. For example, you can adjust the Approved Amount or E-Rate Funding Percentage.
Manually log utilization against the FRN. Any charges for the utilization are eligible for E-Rate discount and reduce the Remaining Amount accordingly.
Editing FRN Details
Clicking Edit makes the following fields editable:
Application Number
Start and End Dates
Approved Amount
E-Rate Funding Percentage
Service Provider ID (SPIN)
Service Provider Name
Description
Associate Products and Assign Services controls
In the example below the Approved Amount is being increased from 750 to 1000.
Saving this change will update both the approved and remaining amounts.
Manually Logging E-Rate Utilization
Typically, billing automatically logs E-Rate utilization for an FRN by evaluating the assigning eligible services and features. Users assigned the Product Catalog Admin role with Manage E-Rate permission can manually log utilization if product/service associations were not configured prior to billing, or when manual corrections are needed.
From the details view, click Log Utilization. This displays the Log Utilization dialog with the selected FRN pre-populated. The following information is required:
Account Number – This must be a valid account number in the IDI solution.
Invoice Number – An invoice number (or Next Invoice) must be selected to let the system know what 474 file that the manual utilization should be included in. You can select from historical invoices (in the case that the 474 file for that bill period has not yet been sent), or the Next Invoice option can be selected to include the manual utilization in the file for the next bill period. The invoice number selected is not reflective of timeframe when the utilization occurred. Any information on when the utilization occurred can be entered in the Description.
Note:
This field is disabled until a service is selected.
Service Number – This must be a valid service number for the specified account.
Frequency – Manual Utilization records should have ONE-TIME as the frequency. The system defaults this to ONE-TIME, but it can be changed to MONTHLY in the case that a historical invoice was selected. If the utilization is set for Next Invoice, this value cannot be changed.
Eligible Charges – Actual charges for eligible utilization before reimbursement.
Date – The Date is used as the Ship Date on the utilization record in the 474 file. This value defaults based on the value selected for Invoice Number. The default value is the Bill Period End Date – 1 day plus the offset number of days from the Bill Cycle’s configuration
E-Rate Amount – Amount to be reimbursed by USAC. This amount cannot exceed:
Remaining Amount for the FRN
Eligible Charges * E-Rate Funding Percentage
The Description field lets you enter information to support auditing such as month and year or invoice number the manual entry applies to. The description text is also available when using the E-Rate Utilization Manually Created trigger so it can be incorporated with the Create Adjustment action to set the adjustment date.
On saving, the remaining amount is reduced by the specified E-Rate amount.
Manually logging utilization creates an audit log entry with all utilization properties as described above, the User ID that created the entry, and the Created On date.
Note:
You can set up workflow automation when E-Rate utilization is manually logged via the E-Rate Utilization Manually Created trigger.
View Utilization Options
You can do this from the Details page for a specific FRN or from the E-Rate Funding page. When you navigate from the Details page, the utilization for that specific FRN is listed by default. When you navigate from the E-Rate Funding page you’ll see the utilization for all FRNs for all time (no date range). In either case you can use the Search functionality to display utilization for a specific FRN and/or date range. See Viewing and Managing Utilization below.
Viewing and Managing Utilization
Clicking View Utilization on the E-Rate Funding page displays utilization for all FRNs. Clicking View Utilization on the FRN Detail page displays the utilization logged against that FRN. Both pages provide the same functionality. There are two tabs at the top – Search and Create File. The view defaults to Search. This lets you:
Edit or delete a utilization entry.
Search for utilization on a specific FRN and/or date range.
The ellipsis button in the right column for each row displays a menu that lets you edit or delete the entry. The grid results can be exported.
Example – Navigating from E-Rate Funding page:
Example – Navigating from FRN Detail page:
The Create File tab lets you create the 474 file for a selected bill period.
See Creating a 474 File (Request For Reimbursement).
Editing a Utilization Record
Users assigned the Product Catalog Admin role with Manage E-Rate permission can edit a utilization record. Right-click on the ellipsis in the applicable row and choose Edit to display the Update Utilization dialog. In the example below the E-Rate amount for this log entry is being adjusted down.
You can see the result in the updated Utilization view.
Deleting a Utilization Record
Users assigned the Product Catalog Admin role with Manage E-Rate permission can delete a utilization record. Right-click on the ellipsis in the applicable row and choose Delete.
Searching for Utilization
Whether you navigate to the Utilization page from the FRN Detail or E-Rate Funding page, the Search tab lets you search for a specific FRN or enter a date range.
Note:
When using FRN as search criteria, the entry must be an exact match. Wildcards are not permitted.
The result for the above search is shown below.
Creating a 474 File (Request for Reimbursement)
The USAC 474 file is a form to request reimbursement from USAC for the discount amount for eligible services and equipment provided to the applicant. Authorized users can create the USAC 474 file for a specific bill period and then manually submit to USAC for reimbursement. From the E-Rate Utilization view select the Create File tab then select a bill period from the drop-down menu.
Selecting a bill period enables the Create 474 File button.
Note:
The date used to tag all utilization in the file is the selected Bill Period End date -1 (last day of the bill period). For example, if the bill period is May 2, 2023 – June 2, 2023, the utilization date is June 1, 2023. This date is used to determine whether the utilization is valid for inclusion in the file. It must fall within the FRN date range.
Clicking that button displays a dialog for entering contact information.
This dialog displays:
Date from the search criteria that was entered.
Maximum Records defaults to < 1000. This can be overridden.
Enter the file contact information. You can request to use cookies to populate with the previous values used.
Clicking Submit generates the file and downloads it to the local machine. If the number of records exceeds the max records parameter, multiple files are generated.
Example File:
Submit the file to USAC.
Note:
Submitting this form is done manually outside the IDI solution.
File layout
The 474 file is a comma-delimited text file. The layout includes a file header and file trailer. Within those records, there is a header record, detail records and a trailer record for each service provider (SPIN) included in the file. A detail record exists for each FRN having utilization within the bill period, with the aggregate total for the FRN across all services in the bill period.
Note:
Per USAC, the file cannot contain more than 2500 lines and must be less than 200 KB.
All fields in the file are in double quotations:
File Header:
“SRH”
contact name
email address
phone number (10 digits)
Service Provider Header:
“HDR”
Service Provider name
SPIN
contact name
phone number (10 digits)
extension (optional)
Invoice Number – can use Invoice Date for this value
Invoice Date – mmddyyyy
Detail record (DTL): note multiple DTL records within the HDR/TRL grouping for a SPIN
“DTL”
Application number
FRN
Frequency
Billed Date (blank)
Ship Date (use date on utilization record) – mmddyyyy
Total amount billed (sum of eligible charges from the utilization records)
E-Rate Amount (sum the amount USAC is responsible for from utilization records)
Discount Percentage (from FRN configuration)
Service Provide Trailer:
“TRL”
Total E-Rate Discount Amount for the SPIN
Record Count for SPIN
File Trailer:
“SPT”
Number of SPINs (HDR record count)
Number of details (DTL count)
Total E-Rate Discount Amount for the file