File Funding Year 2018 BEAR's for E-Rate Reimbursement NOW!!!

File BEARs Now for FY 2018 E-rate Reimbursements

***FY 2019 BEARs Also May Now Be Submitted ***
***Do NOT File in EPC - Use Old BEAR System ***
***Invoicing Status of All FY 2018 FRNs Attached ***
***BEAR Filing Guide Link Below ***

BEAR Filing Instructions

The 2018 Funding Year ended June 30, 2019 for recurring services and so now is the time to submit the Form 472 -- BEAR -- to USAC for services in which you paid vendor bills in full from July 1, 2018 - June 30, 2019. How do you know if you need to submit a BEAR? The easy answer is that if you received discounted bills from your vendor, you do not need to submit a BEAR (your E-rate discounts were applied to your bill). If you did not receive discounted bills, then you likely will have to file a Form 472 BEAR to collect your reimbursement. 

BEAR filing guide is linked above. 

ALSO…many applicants purchased FY 2019 internal connections equipment after April 1, 2019 and paid for the equipment in full. Assuming they have received an FCDL, those applicants may now submit BEARs for those purchases as well. Slide 11 of the attached BEAR Filing Guide shows how to complete the form for these one-time purchases.

Very Important Notes - Please Read:

• BEARs (Form 472s) will NOT be filed in the EPC Portal. Instead, you must use the legacy system/method of applying at: https://www2.sl.universalservice.org/bear/login.aspx. To get into the old system, you must use your E-rate PIN -- not your EPC credentials. If you don't have an E-rate PIN or can't find it, complete the short PIN Request template at: BEAR PIN TEMPLATE and then upload it into EPC by creating a Customer Service Case. USAC will then mail you a new PIN in a week.   
• Before you file the BEAR, you must have an approved Form 498. The Form 498 provides USAC with the banking information so that your BEAR reimbursements can be directly deposited into your account. (Remember, vendors no longer approve your BEARs, USAC reimbursement payments do not pass through the vendors, and no paper checks are mailed.) You do not need to complete the Form 498 annually. If you completed last year, the online BEAR system already has your banking data on file. If you need to change your banking data, you can edit your existing 498 in EPC. See Form 498 Section below for more information.
• The deadline for filing a BEAR for recurring services is October 28, 2019. DO-NOT-MISS-THIS-DEADLINE as the invoicing deadline rules are VERY strict. If you cannot submit a BEAR by the deadline, you must submit an invoice deadline extension request (IDER) BEFORE October 28 (or whatever your invoice deadline is). USAC will then approve a single 120-day extension. USAC is not permitted -- under any circumstance -- to grant a second extension. Also, they are not permitted to grant any extension requests that are submitted after October 28 (or whatever your original invoice deadline was). Thus, it's important that you begin your BEAR forms NOW.  Please don't wait until the last minute because you're likely to forget to file. Each year, many applicants are committed funding, but then never go back to seek reimbursement. Don't let them keep your well-deserved money.

Todd Lawrence

tlawrence@sde.idaho.gov