How to Request Discounted Bills for FY 2016

August 25, 2016

E-rate rules require vendors to provide applicants with the choice of receiving discounted bills from their vendors (called the SPI process) or paying their bills in full each month and then obtaining reimbursement using the BEAR (Form 472).  Applicants may choose a different discount/reimbursement method for each FRN, but once the choice has been made and either a service provider invoice or BEAR invoice has been submitted to USAC for payment, that method of discounting must be continued for the remainder of the funding year for that FRN.

For applicants that would like discounted bills, most companies require applicants to formally request such discounts each year.  Although discounted bills cannot begin until the applicant receives their Funding Commitment Decision Letter (FCDL) and files their Form 486, applicants can and should submit their requests for discounted bills to each company as soon as possible so discounted billing can begin as early as possible in the funding year.

Each company has different requirements for requesting discounted bills. Some companies just require an e-mail or phone call.  Other companies require you to complete an online form or paper form specifying which account numbers should be discounted.  In order to make that process as easy as possible, I’ve compiled below a list of the most-used vendors in PA and the method to request discounted bills for that company.  If there are any I’ve missed, please let me know and I’ll continue to expand the list and post it to the PA E-rate website.  Where I have copies of vendors’ forms, I’ve attached them to this message.

Don’t forget:  if you want discounted bills, file the Form 486 immediately after you receive your FCDL!  Please let me know if you have any questions.

— Julie

Julie Tritt Schell
PA E-rate Coordinator

717-730-7133 – o
717-730-9060 – f
jtschell@comcast.net
www.e-ratepa.org

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