Verification required by June 27 on new Ohio Business Gateway

The following was provided by the State of Ohio's Gateway Modernization Project Organizational Change Management Team.

The Ohio Business Gateway is being transformed into a faster, more reliable and more secure system. A part of the transition is ensuring the accounts of individuals or businesses that file on behalf of others are set up according to the latest security best practices. This means only one email address will be able to be associated with one account on the Gateway.

Using the same email address to create multiple accounts for different clients on the Gateway will no longer be allowed.

The Gateway Modernization Project Team has undertaken an extensive outreach effort to contact CPA users who currently have their account and their clients’ accounts set up using a common email address. As a result, you may have received an email, phone call and letter from the Ohio Business Gateway notifying you if you are impacted by this change.

If you have chosen to set up your clients’ accounts using a common email address, you must resolve this issue in the current Gateway system no later than June 27, 2018. Failure to resolve this issue means that, when the modernized system is implemented, you will not have access to all your clients’ accounts when you log in to the modernized Gateway.

To ensure you and your clients’ accounts are properly set up in the current Gateway system and prepared for the transition to the modernized Gateway, you must:

1. Establish your organization as a third-party service provider in the current Gateway; and
2. Establish a relationship between your third-party service provider account and your clients’ Gateway accounts.

There are several resources available to help you complete the high-level steps outlined above:

• Online Step-by-Step Instructions

  The link above will take you to detailed instructions on how to complete all the steps needed to establish a service provider-client relationship in the current Gateway system.

  To start, click on the header titled, “Manage employee user access to your account” after scrolling down the page.

• Gateway Service Provider/Client Account Preparation Checklist

  The Gateway Service Provider/Client Account Preparation Checklist provides a high-level overview of the steps you should take to prepare your and your clients’ accounts for the transition to the modernized Gateway.

• Establishing a Service Provider/Client Relationship for Service Providers Video Tutorial

  The video tutorial linked above provides step-by-step instructions on how to establish a service provider/client relationship for your service provider account in the current Gateway system.

• Establishing a Service Provider/Client Relationship for Clients Video Tutorial

The video tutorial above provides step-by-step instructions on the process your clients will need to follow to establish a service provider/client relationship for their accounts.

In addition to these resources, the Modernized Gateway Help Desk is available to answer your questions and help you set up your and your clients’ accounts correctly in the current Gateway system.

The Modernized Gateway Help Desk can be reached at 614.902.4110 Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.