Urgent: FY 2014 BEARs or Extensions Requests are Due Wednesday, October 28
October 27, 2015
~ Are you on the attached list? ~
~ Extension requests also due by Oct 28 ~
Wednesday, October 28 at 11:59 PM, is the deadline for submitting BEAR reimbursement forms for most FY 2014 funding requests (year ending June 30, 2015). It also is the deadline for submitting a request for a BEAR extension if you need one.
Please examine the attached excel list. If your organization is listed then please carefully review the rest of the message. If you’re not listed, then you can feel free to delete and stop reading.
If your organization is on the attached list, it means one of six possible situations. I have no way of knowing which situation applies to each of you.
- You have not yet submitted your E-rate BEAR reimbursement form and did not realize tomorrow is the deadline.
- You submitted the BEAR form online and the service provider has not yet certified it (Online Status = Pending Validation).
- You’re currently working on the form and hope to submit it and obtain the service provider’s certification by tomorrow’s deadline.
- You already submitted your BEAR reimbursement form, the service provider has certified it, and it’s pending at SLD (Online Status = Passed Validation).
- You did not receive the services associated with the funding request and do not intend to submit a reimbursement form.
- You know about tomorrow’s deadline and already requested an extension because you need more time to prepare the BEAR forms.
7. Your service provider gave you discounted bills, but has not yet submitted their Service Provider Invoice to USAC (which is not your responsibility).
If you filed a BEAR online and want to check the status, log-in to the online BEAR and click, “Track BEAR.” Then enter the invoice number or date range and look in the far right column. If it says Pending validation, you should file an invoice deadline extension request. If it says Passed Validation, it means your service provider has certified it has been sent to USAC for processing (meaning you don’t have to do anything else).
If you fall into #1, #2, or #3, youMUST submit a request for an invoice deadline extension by tomorrow’s deadline (Wednesday, October 28). It’s easy to do, and it will be approved AS LONG AS YOU SUBMIT IT BY TOMORROW. If you do not request the extension by tomorrow’s deadline, USAC/SLD will have no power or authority to grant an extension, and then the only recourse you have is to file a request for waiver of the deadline with the FCC. The FCC has stated that they will only grant waivers where the application can show extraordinary circumstances that would have prevented them from submitting the BEAR by October 28.
If you fall into #4, the SLD’s head of invoicing has also advised that you should request an invoice deadline by tomorrow as an insurance policy against receiving a $0-funded BEAR notification. A zero funded BEAR notification occurs when there is some mistake or problem with reviewing and authorizing payment on the BEAR. If you receive this zero funded BEAR notification letter after the 10/28 deadline, and you have not requested an invoice extension, then the SLD’s hands are tied – they cannot grant the invoice deadline extension – and you have to file a deadline waiver request with the FCC.
If you fall into # 5, #6 or # 7,then you don’t have any action item from this message.
To request a BEAR invoice extension, simply complete the BEAR Extension Request document attached to this message, and then submit online or via fax (see below). All of the information you need to include on the request is in the attached excel file.
Requesting by Email
http://www.slforms.universalservice.org/EMailResponse/emr_select.aspx
choose “Invoice Deadline Extension Request” from the “Topic Inquiry” menu and “Other” from the “Specific Inquiry” menu. You can either type your request in the freeform text box or indicate that you would like to submit an attachment containing your request. USAC will automatically reply to incoming emails to confirm receipt.
Requesting by Fax
Requests filed by fax must be faxed to (973) 599-6526. The fax transmission should include a cover sheet listing contact name, contact phone number, and contact email address. Make sure you print out a fax transmission confirmation sheet that shows that the fax was successfully sent by 10/28.
Please email me with your questions at jtschell@comcast.net.
– Julie
Julie Tritt Schell
PA E-rate Coordinator
717-730-7133 – o
717-730-9060 – f
jtschell@comcast.net
www.e-ratepa.org
penn*link