Setting up your state
Pick your state, confirm your ESA program, load the per-state compliance checklist.
Why state setup matters
Every state with an ESA program runs it slightly differently. The payment platform, the vendor registration system, the quarterly reporting cadence, and the attendance rule are all set at the state level. If you load these correctly once, your Compliance tab is accurate for the year. If you do not, you will be missing a deadline you did not know existed.
1. Pick your state
From the school chip in the sidebar, choose the US state your school is registered in. CohortLedger loads the state-specific configuration. We currently ship Live for Texas, Arizona, Florida, Utah, Louisiana, West Virginia, Iowa, Arkansas, and Missouri. See States supported for the full list and the per-state details.
2. Confirm your ESA program
Each state has at least one ESA program and sometimes several. Arizona has the standard ESA, with separate per-category award tiers. Florida has FES-EO and FES-UA (the Family Empowerment Scholarship for Unique Abilities, for students with specific diagnoses). The program determines the per-student annual award. Pick the program (or programs) your enrolled families are on. If a family is on a program CohortLedger does not yet support, mark them as Out of pocket and contact us so we can add the program.
3. Confirm the payment platform
Each program flows through a specific payment platform: ClassWallet (Arizona, Arkansas, Missouri), Odyssey (Texas, Utah, Louisiana, Iowa), Step Up EMA + MyScholarShop (Florida), or Student First Technologies (West Virginia). CohortLedger pre-populates this from the program you picked. Verify the platform shown matches what your families see when they log in. If it does not, contact us. We will check the configuration.
4. Verify the quarterly reporting cadence
Texas TEFA disburses in three tranches (25% / 25% / 50%). Arizona, Florida, Utah, Louisiana, and Iowa use a quarterly cadence with a window that opens around the 15th of the first month of the quarter and closes around the 30th. The deliverable varies by state: Arizona expects the account holder’s quarterly expense report through ClassWallet, Florida a Verification Report confirming enrollment and attendance before each payment, Texas a confirmation of continued enrollment to release each installment. CohortLedger pre-loads the cadence and the deliverable shape for your state. Verify the items in your Compliance tab match what your state asks for.
5. Load the vendor registration status
If your school is already an approved ESA vendor in your state, mark the vendor registration item Complete in your Compliance tab and set the renewal date. If you are still in the application process, mark it In progress so CohortLedger surfaces the next step.
State-specific vendor systems:
- Texas: Odyssey provider portal (Certified Educational Assistance Organization).
- Arizona: ADE ESA Portal for approval, ClassWallet for payments.
- Florida: Step Up For Students provider portal.
- Utah: Odyssey provider dashboard (replaced ClassWallet May 2025).
- Louisiana: Odyssey Marketplace Participating Service Provider.
- Iowa: Odyssey provider portal.
- West Virginia: Student First Technologies.
- Arkansas: ClassWallet vendor application (LEARNS EFA).
- Missouri: ClassWallet vendor application (MOScholars).
See How to register as an ESA vendor in Arizona for a detailed walk-through of the Arizona process.
6. Keep your enrollment and attendance records
Several ESA programs tie each payment to confirmed enrollment and attendance, and a state audit can ask for those records. CohortLedger keeps a dated attendance record per student and surfaces what your state asks for in the Compliance tab, so the records are ready when a payment confirmation or a reviewer needs them.
You are set
Your state is loaded. Compliance is populated. You can now enroll families and start the quarterly invoicing cycle. Move on to Enrolling families.