Form 470
Online or Mailed Filing |
| A Form 470 can be filed online, directly onto the SLD's Web site, or by mail.
The SLD encourages online filing, but there are advantages and disadvantages to
both.
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Online Filing Advantages:
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Speed of posting:
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The 470 is deemed to have been posted immediately upon completion. New
contracts can be signed 28 days thereafter.
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Error checking:
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Online field entries are checked as entered. This minimizes potential errors
such as incorrect additions or omitted fields.
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Online Filing DisAdvantages
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Field-by-field entry:
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No provision has been made to prepare a Form 470 offline, then download it
online to the SLD. Each field must be entered individually online (although
textual fields can be prepared in a word processing program, then copied and
pasted online).
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Online entry:
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Particularly burdensome for applications involving many entities, each
requiring the keying (and checking) of multiple fields of data.
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Warning:
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With online entry, the certification and signature page must be printed out before
final submission. It must be signed and mailed to the SLD.
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Mailed Filing Advantages:
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Error checking:
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The Form 470 can prepared offline, and reviewed and double-checked before
submission. This is particularly useful for longer and/or more complicated
applications.
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An Excel version of Form 470, available from E-Rate Central, may be useful
for those preparing numerous applications on behalf of multiple applicants.
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Mailed Filing DisAdvantages:
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Delays in posting:
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It may take up to two weeks from the date of mailing a Form 470 to the SLD
until it is entered into the system and posted. Delays in posting, and the
required 28 day waiting period, could complicate the signing of new contracts.
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Tip: Applicants submitting Form 470s by
mail can check to see if it has been posted by using the "Search Posted
Description of Services Requested" feature in the Vendor Area of the
SLD web site.
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Error checking:
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Errors might be made by the applicant which, when encountered during data entry
by the SLD staff, could result in a return of the Form and extensive delays
until corrections can be made.
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Data entry errors, or unanticipated formatting changes, may be introduced by
the SLD
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