We are pleased to announce an upcoming enhancement to eZ-Audit, scheduled for Aug. 2, 2020. With this update to the web-based system, all schools and other entities required to submit financial statements and compliance audits to Federal Student Aid (FSA) will begin submitting those statements and audits electronically using eZ-Audit. Hard copies will no longer be mailed to FSA.
This is a significant change for foreign schools, third-party servicers, Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program lenders, FFEL lender servicers, guaranty agencies (GAs), and GA servicers. These entities are new to eZ-Audit and must first complete a registration process before gaining access to the system.
In the following sections, we provide further detail about this change, including an overview of eZ-Audit for new users and the required steps to complete the registration process. We present this information in the following order:
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Overview of eZ-Audit Submission Process
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Registration for Schools or Entities New to eZ-Audit
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New and Updated eZ-Audit Step-by-Step Guides
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Contact Information
Overview of eZ-Audit Submission Process
As noted above, with this release, foreign schools, third-party servicers, FFEL Program lenders, lender servicers, GAs, and GA servicers will submit financial statements and compliance audits electronically using eZ-Audit (https://ezaudit.ed.gov). Hard copies will no longer be mailed to FSA.
Each of the new user groups will use eZ-Audit to submit Annual, Change in Fiscal Year End (FYE) request, Close Out Audit, and Stub Audit submissions. Foreign schools will also use eZ-Audit to submit New Institution and Reinstatement submissions.
Using data from the audit report, the school or entity will answer general information questions, input financial data, and upload copies of the actual audit reports to eZ-Audit in Portable Document Format (PDF). eZ-Audit will in turn provide:
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Instant acknowledgement of receipt
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Status of submission
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Automated notifications
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Access to historical submissions
Foreign schools, third-party servicers, FFEL Program lenders, lender servicers, GAs, and GA servicers can submit Annual Submissions starting with Fiscal Years (FYs) ending in 2019. If the FY 2019 annual submission has been received by FSA, begin with FY 2020. The FY 2020 Annual Submission link is available the first day after the school or entity’s audit end period.
All other submission types are available to use upon gaining access to the system, if applicable (i.e., Close Out Audit or Change in FYE request).
Registration for Schools or Entities New to eZ-Audit
To gain access to eZ-Audit, the school or entity must first complete the registration process.
Detailed registration instructions are provided in the attachment to this announcement, titled eZ-Audit Registration Instructions. The instructions outline the required registration steps for each type of user (school, third-party servicer, lender/lender servicer/GA/GA servicer), and explain how to gain access to the eZ-Audit system through the creation of an eZ-Audit Institution Administrator.
After the initial steps are completed, the designated eZ-Audit Institution Administrator will receive two separate emails that provide a username and temporary password. The Administrator will be required to create a new password, select challenge questions, and acknowledge the rules of behavior before accessing the system for the first time. Once logged in, the eZ-Audit Institution Administrator will be responsible for granting access to additional eZ-Audit users.
Registration requests may be submitted now but will be held for processing until the enhancements to eZ-Audit are implemented on Aug. 2nd. After implementation, registration requests will be processed in the order in which they were received.
New eZ-Audit Step-by-Step Guides
The eZ-Audit Step-by-Step Guides are detailed instruction manuals for navigating eZ-Audit, submitting by submission type, and managing access. The Step-by-Step guides are available from the eZ-Audit homepage.
After the upcoming release for eZ-Audit, this series of guides will be expanded to reflect the additional types of users described in this announcement. New guides will be available for foreign schools, third-party servicers, FFEL Program lenders, lender servicers, GAs, and GA servicers.
Contact Information
We appreciate the community’s support as we implement this important change to eZ-Audit.
If you have questions about eZ-Audit, including questions about the registration process or submission requirements, contact the eZ-Audit Support Team at 1-877-263-0780 or by email at fsaezaudit@ed.gov.
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