Your whole E-Rate portfolio. One place to act.
E-Rate software for consulting firms: see funding changes, deadline risks, invoices, and C2 budgets across your clients. Give each district a read-only view and a Monday update in your firm’s name, and turn portfolio data into documents.
Talk directly with the founder. No SDR and no automated sales sequence. Prefer email? Ask Eric directly.
In production since July 2026; first consulting firm live August 2026. Founding cohort — 2 spots remaining.
The portfolio and sync-change figures were observed in the first production deployments, July and August 2026; they describe those deployments only and are not projections. Syncs run on a fixed four-hour schedule.
The platform
From status checks to a client-ready practice workflow.
Three funding years can be in play at once, and Form 486 and invoice deadlines vary by FRN. E-Rate Wave connects the published USAC data to the client, document, fee, and deadline work around it.
A view for every district, a Monday edition in your name
Your firm gets a hosted dashboard. Each district gets a read-only view of its FRNs — statuses, committed dollars, deadlines — refreshed every sync, and a Monday district edition under your firm’s name. They see what you do for them every week, not just on wave day.
Manage your roster without a support ticket
Add one applicant by BEN or add from a list. Verify matches against USAC, edit client details and fees, and remove applicants from monitoring in the dashboard. New data appears after a successful sync.
Eleven documents, generated from live data
Pick any combination of nine per-client documents — from both LOA formats and fee agreements to live calendars, retention schedules, service statements, and C2 budget plans. Two additional deadline-specific documents are available through operator-assisted generation; they are not buttons in the client document picker.
Deadline clocks that are worth money
See Form 486, invoicing, and service-delivery deadlines, plus UEI and Form 498 payment-readiness information. Keep filing dates and payment holds distinct, and review invoice extension windows before deciding the next step. Review the current invoice-deadline rules.
Find unused C2 commitments worth reviewing
After the invoice window closes and USAC posts disbursement data, E-Rate Wave flags current-cycle C2 commitments with a possible unused remainder. It shows the FRN, amount, and reason for a consultant to verify before filing Form 500. If money may still be invoiced, the rescue workflow takes priority. See how C2 reinstatement works.
A Monday update your clients can understand
Get a firm-wide digest and a client-ready district edition under your firm’s name. Forward it yourself, or opt individual districts into automatic delivery. Scheduled change alerts and digests depend on successful processing and mail delivery.
See what USAC authorized, line by line
Choose an applicant and funding year to inspect published invoice lines, authorized disbursements, and the remaining amount per FRN. Export CSV for your review. Invoice data helps you investigate; an unspent balance is not a recovery guarantee.
Find the UEI without leaving the client workflow
Use your own SAM.gov key in your browser to search for an applicant, inspect the match, and confirm the UEI before saving. Your key stays in that browser. This is an individual lookup, not unattended registration monitoring.
The problem
Wave season means someone checks EPC. Every morning. For every client.
As of July 1, more than half of FY2026 funding requests were still waiting on a decision. Waves land week after week — and every wave means the same question from every client: “Any news on ours?”
Most firms answer it with a spreadsheet and a browser tab. The spreadsheet is out of date the moment it’s saved — and while everyone watches the waves, the 486 and invoice deadlines from two other funding years keep ticking.
How it works
Three steps. Then it just runs.
We connect your portfolio.
We help connect your applicant list and confirm the portfolio size covered by your plan. Then manage additions, edits, and removals yourself in the dashboard.
Six scheduled syncs each day.
Published USAC data is checked on six scheduled syncs, every four hours. Changed fields feed the tracker and alert history. Source publication and successful syncs determine when new information appears.
Turn the update into client work.
Review the change, inspect deadlines and invoices, generate the documents you need, and share a district view or the Monday district digest under your name. Your own Airtable automations remain under your control.
Deployment
Two ways to run it
Model A — We host your firm’s dashboard.
You and your clients get the full practice platform: a hosted firm dashboard with a read-only view per district, client management, fee capture, document generation, alert feed, searchable FRN grid. You look like you built a product — because under your name, you did. Included in every consultant plan.
Model B — We feed YOUR Airtable.
Already built your own tracker in Airtable? Keep it. E-Rate Wave writes USAC data into your existing base and your own views and automations take it from there. Your system, self-updating. No migration, no new portal, no retraining. Base price — no hosting surcharge.
Pricing
Choose the portfolio size that fits today.
Consultant plans include the hosted practice platform or an integration with your existing Airtable base. The schools and libraries plan gives one self-filing applicant the same monitoring and operating view, with guided onboarding included.
Up to 30 applicants
Up to 75 applicants
One self-filing applicant
FY2027 founding applicant pilot — 3 spots remaining
We’re selecting five self-filing schools and libraries for a guided first-year cohort — free for the first year, with no implementation fee and guided onboarding included. In exchange, we ask for one 20-minute workflow-feedback call each month. No purchase commitment and no testimonial requirement; renewal after the first year is optional at the published $149/month rate, disclosed before you join.
Consultant founding cohort — 2 spots remaining
We’re preparing a small group of firms for the late-October filing-year workflow. Founders receive 50% off the first year and free implementation, plus direct access to the founder and roadmap priority. In exchange, we ask for a case study or testimonial, plus structured onboarding feedback, agreed in writing.
Core — up to 30 applicants
Founding Core — $149.50/month for year oneOr pay the year up front — $1,794
$0 implementation · standard rate begins in month 13
Scale — up to 75 applicants
Founding Scale — $174.50/month for year oneOr pay the year up front — $2,094
$0 implementation · packs of 5 extra applicants $5/month each in year one · standard rate begins in month 13
Secure Stripe checkout · we’ll contact you to schedule onboarding
No long-term contract during early access.
Coverage
What E-Rate Wave watches
Available today
- FRN status changes & funding commitment decisions (FCDLs)
- Form 486, invoice, and service-delivery deadline views, with action windows to review per FRN
- Category 2 budget tracking, per district, straight from USAC data
- C2 Recovery candidates — current-cycle, committed-but-undisbursed amounts flagged only after the invoice window closes and published disbursement data is available (the first FY2026 candidates cannot appear before late 2027)
- Hosted firm dashboard plus a read-only view per district, refreshed every sync
- Add one applicant or add from a list, with USAC verification; edit and remove clients
- Nine documents in the client picker, plus two operator-generated deadline documents and per-district fee tracking
- Wave-by-wave commitment tracking; changed-fields-only alerting; alert log per client
- Monday firm and district digest editions; optional per-district automatic email; configured firm alerts
- Six scheduled syncs a day, every four hours
- Form 473 (SPAC) watch per service provider SPIN, with an alert when an invoice deadline approaches undisbursed money
Shipping next
- Self-serve CRN auto-import (portfolio auto-discovery)
- State-specific program awareness
Will USAC pay you? Check a BEN. No login. No signup.
Since September 8, 2026 USAC holds BEAR payments where the Form 498 has no UEI. Type a BEN to see whether USAC’s own Form 498 records show a UEI and what status the form is in, plus FY2025–2026 FRN status: funding decisions, waves, committed dollars, pending reasons. Straight from USAC Open Data, the same feed E-Rate Wave watches for you. Got the payment-on-hold notice?
Consultants: search your busiest district’s BEN and see what we see. Reads USAC Open Data only; no SAM.gov key involved.
The operational difference
A practice platform does more than report a status change.
See what changed
Scheduled USAC syncs compare published data and record changed fields, giving your firm a focused activity trail instead of another manual status check.
Know what needs action
Review deadlines, C2 budgets, recovery candidates, funding movement, fee readiness, and documents across the portfolio from one operating view.
Show clients the work
Give each district a read-only view of its funding status and deadlines, and a Monday edition in your firm’s name, without a separate status email.
FAQ
Fair questions, straight answers.
Is my data safe?
Each client runs isolated — separate bases, per-client tokens, failures contained. Your data is never mingled with another firm’s.
How is this different from a status tracker?
A status tracker reports changes. E-Rate Wave adds the operational layer around that data: a hosted firm dashboard with per-district views, per-FRN deadlines, document generation, fee tracking, and portfolio-wide alerts.
What if I already track this in my own system?
That’s Model B — we feed your existing Airtable base. It’s our favorite deployment.
Where does the data come from?
USAC Open Data — the same public source EPC reporting draws from. We don’t screen-scrape EPC and we don’t need your EPC credentials.
Is the schools and libraries plan for one building or an entire district?
It covers one self-filing E-Rate applicant or billed entity, with up to 10 schools or library branches. An independent school or library may be its own applicant; schools and branches within a district or library system generally roll up under the parent applicant. Larger districts, library systems, and consortia receive custom pricing.
I file my own Form 471. Is this for me?
Yes. The schools and libraries plan is for an applicant that files and certifies its own forms: an independent school or library, a district, or a library system. Same monitoring engine, with the dashboard, documents, and Monday email written to you. Read the schools and libraries page.
Does the schools and libraries plan include E-Rate consulting?
No. The plan provides software, monitoring, guided onboarding, dashboards, deadlines, documents, and alerts. You retain procurement decisions, form certification, and submission responsibility. Hands-on consulting is a separate service.
How does C2 Recovery work?
After an invoice window closes, automatic invoice-extension windows have been checked, and USAC has posted disbursement data, E-Rate Wave can flag a current-cycle C2 remainder for review. It shows the FRN, estimated remainder, and qualification reason. A consultant must verify the circumstances and file FCC Form 500; E-Rate Wave never labels a candidate as confirmed recoverable money. Candidate timing depends on the FRN’s actual windows and published disbursement data. Because the rule waits for the window to close, the first FY2026 candidates cannot appear before late 2027. Form 500 can also be appropriate earlier when circumstances require a commitment reduction. Read USAC’s Form 500 guidance.
Can you alert on PIA inquiries?
No. PIA review inquiries live inside the EPC portal and are not available in USAC’s public datasets. E-Rate Wave watches published data and helps signal when an EPC check is warranted.
Will E-Rate Wave email my clients?
District digest emails are optional and enabled per district. You can forward the client-ready edition yourself instead. Your firm’s notifications and any automations in your own Airtable base are separate. Document generation does not mean a client has been emailed.
Can I inspect invoice detail and look up a UEI?
Yes. The Invoices view retrieves published USAC invoice lines for an applicant and funding year and offers CSV export. Individual SAM.gov searches use your own key in your browser; you inspect the match and confirm before saving the UEI.
Who’s behind this?
E-Rate Wave is built and run by Eric Collins, a principal software engineer with more than twenty years of delivery experience across defense and commercial systems. He built the first version for a consulting-firm friend drowning in wave-season EPC checks. E-Rate Wave is operated by Daedalus Freight, LLC, d/b/a E-Rate Wave (FL fictitious name G26000101044).
See what your next portfolio review could look like.
See the consultant workflow with illustrative demo data: a portfolio review, an invoice check, roster changes, and client-ready documents. Talk directly with Eric about how it fits your firm.
Request a 15-minute demo See the 45-second product tourPrefer email? Ask Eric directly.