BEAR Deadline Imminent for FY 2020 Recurring Services FRNs
October 19, 2021
Attached: FY 2020 BEAR Deadline Recurring Services as of 10-19-2021
~ File in One Portal, Before Entering EPC (new) ~
~ FRNs w/Approaching Deadlines Attached ~
There are 267 recurring services funding requests (FRNs) from Funding Year 2020 that have quickly approaching invoice deadlines. The last day to receive FY 2020 recurring services was June 30, 2021 and therefore the deadline is October 28, 2021 to submit the Form 472 — BEAR — to USAC for services in which you paid vendor bills in full from July 1, 2020 – June 30, 2021. If your name is on this list, please be sure to file a BEAR Reimbursement Form (Form 472) by the listed deadline. A helpful BEAR Filing Guide is available at: http://e-ratepa.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Form-472-BEAR-Filing-Guide-2021-1.pdf
Attached is a list showing the FY 2020 FRNs where no disbursements have been made by USAC (meaning that 100% of the commitment amount remains), and where the invoicing deadline is imminent (most are next Thursday, October 28, 2021). (Some applicants have already been approved for invoice deadline extensions and do not appear on this list.) If your name is on this list, I strongly encourage you to request an invoice deadline extension (IDER), just for good measure. IDER requests must be made one FRN at a time (USAC is having a system issue that is preventing multiple IDER approvals), and will be automatically granted for 120 days. See http://e-ratepa.org/?p=31914 for more information on filing the IDER.
Note: If you applied for additional E-rate internet access funding in the 2nd FY 2020 COVID window (last October), depending on when the increased internet began, USAC may have created an additional FRN and reduced/adjusted the dates of the original FRN to handle this request. Be sure to check the attached spreadsheet and file using the correct FRN numbers, amounts and number of months on your BEAR. I highlighted C1 service start dates that were later than July 1 as a heads-up.
NEW BEAR LOG-IN INFORMATION, ETC. – Please Read:
- Where to File BEARs: BEARs (Form 472s) are now filed under the One Portal umbrella which you access at: https://forms.universalservice.org/portal/login and proceed through the multi-factor authentication steps. When you reach the One Portal Dashboard, you should see three links in this order: EPC, BEAR, ECF. If you don’t see the BEAR link, it means you are not set up with BEAR access credentials. Simply complete the BEAR Access Template at: https://www.usac.org/e-rate/resources/forms/bear-form-access/ and then upload it into EPC by creating a Customer Service Case. USAC will then provide you with BEAR access in a few days. Request an IDER extension while you’re waiting for this credential to be granted.
- BEAR PINs: The requirement to enter a BEAR PIN has been removed because you will be logging in under One Portal. However, whenever you click on the BEAR link, you will still be required to enter your Billed Entity Number (BEN) before seeing the BEAR system. BENs can be found on the attached spreadsheet.
- Form 498 ID: When completing the BEAR, be sure a Form 498 ID is showing. If the Form 498 ID is blank, it means that USAC does not have your school or library’s banking information in their systems which means that your BEAR cannot be processed because reimbursements can be directly deposited into your account. The Form 498 is only submitted one time and the only time it must be modified if your school or library changes banks, band account numbers, and/or BEAR remittance contacts within your institution (the remittance contact receives the BEAR approval e-mails). A helpful Form 498 Filing Guide is available at: http://e-ratepa.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/498-Filing-Guide-2019.pdf.
If you have any questions about filing the BEAR or invoicing deadlines, please contact me at jtschell@comcast.net.
– Julie
Julie Tritt Schell
Pennsylvania E-rate Coordinator
717-730-7133 – o
jtschell@comcast.net
www.e-ratepa.org