Monday, January 28, 2013 is Deadline to File FY 2011 BEARs
January 25, 2013
~ List of affected entities attached ~
Due to the impact of Hurricane Sandy on the original FY 2011 invoice deadline date for recurring services, USAC extended the invoice deadline to January 28, 2013 -- MONDAY. If you did not receive discounted bills for your FY 2011 funding requests, you must submit a Form 472 BEAR for reimbursement. A paper BEAR must be signed by both the applicant and service provider and postmarked by Monday 9 (http://www.sl.universalservice.org/form). You can file the BEAR online if you and your service provider both have PINs (http://www.sl.universalservice.org/menu.asp).
Important notes:
1) Attached to this message is a spreadsheet containing a list of all PA funding requests that, as of January 25, have either not had a BEAR submitted or have $0-funded invoice. The list does NOT include FRNs where any disbursements have previously been made for FY 2011. Also, the list contains all FY 2011 FRNs that haven't been invoiced, not just those with January 28, 2013 deadlines.
2) If you submitted an online BEAR but have not yet received your reimbursement check, it is likely because your vendor did not certify your online BEAR. To know whether this is your situation, log-in to the Online BEAR system, click on Track Form. If the status shows 'Pending Validation', it means your vendor has not has not certified your BEAR. (If it says 'Passed Validation', it has been vendor certified. After USAC has issued the reimbursement check, the status will show 'Completed'.) If your vendor hasn't yet certified your BEAR, it most likely means they don't have a PIN in which case you must submit to them a paper BEAR for their signature.
3) If you submitted a vendor-certified BEAR and the FRN is still on the attached list it's mostly likely because your BEAR was $0.00-funded. This often happens when you list the wrong invoice date (7/1/2012 instead of 7/1/2011) on the BEAR. Simply refile the corrected BEAR by the deadline.
4) Need to file for an extension? They're very easy to complete and I've attached an example for you to use. Just fill in the blanks and fax to USAC at 973-599-6526. After USAC grants your extension, you will have an additional 120 days to submit your BEAR.
Some last minute advice:
10 Digit Myth: On the paper BEAR, it asks for your 10-digit 471 number and 10-digit FRN number. These numbers are not 10 digits -- this is an error on the form. Just use the numbers as they appear on your funding commitment decision letter.
1 BEAR Per Vendor: A separate BEAR must be submitted for each vendor. If you have 2 or more FRNs with the same vendor (same SPIN), you can put all of them on the same BEAR.
Items 14 and 15? Item 14 should be the total amount of eligible services for the year (assuming you're filing a BEAR for the full 12 months). Item 15 should be the Item 14 amount multiplied by your approved discount. Do not just list your funding cap for the year in 14 or 15. These figures should be actual amounts. USAC will only pay up to your cap, or the actual amount you've spent, whichever is less.
Committed Amount vs. Actual Amount: You may only seek reimbursement for the exact amount paid for eligible services and may not seek reimbursement of the full funding cap if you didn't spent up to that amount (for example, if you were committed $10,000, but then only spent $6,000, you can only request E-rate reimbursements based on the $6000).
Paper BEAR Version: If you don't have an E-rate PIN, you must file a paper BEAR and the easiest version I've found to use (type-in/print out) is available at http://www.e-ratecentral.com/formsRack/app/Form472.asp.
Not Going to Use the $? File a Form 500 to return the funds. http://www.e-ratecentral.com/formsRack/app/Form500.asp.
Please let me know if you have any questions or need help!
-- 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
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