New Method to Request Invoice Deadline Extensions
October 4, 2018
Attached: Invoice Deadline Extension Tool Guide
Applicants that do not receive discounted bills and instead elect to pay their vendor invoices in full, must submit the Form 472 BEAR Form to obtain their E-rate reimbursements from the fund. The deadline to submit the BEARs is 120 days from the last date to receive service, which, for FY 2017, is October 28, 2018 for recurring services and January 28, 2019 for one-time purchases such as equipment. Applicants that cannot meet this deadline may request a single, 120-day extension of that deadline, but the request MUST be submitted by the original BEAR deadline.
USAC has just announced that all invoice deadline extension requests (IDERs) now must be submitted within EPC. IDER requests previously were submitted in the BEAR invoice system, or using a Customer Service Case. Beginning now, all IDER requests must be submitted using the new tool. If you previously requested/received an extension, you do not have to resubmit it using the new tool.
Multiple FRNs may be submitted at the same time, and the approvals (if eligible) are shown instantly. Users submitting the request must have full or partial rights in EPC for that entity (cannot be view-only).
In general, the tool is easy to use, but does require a 2-step process that first checks the FRN for extension eligibility and then requires the applicant to submit the request to receive the extension request decision. Be sure not to forget this second step.
Attached is an IDER Guide showing each step and here are the written steps:
> From your EPC Landing Page, click on Name of District/Library under USAC Logo.
> Click on ‘Related Actions.’
> Scroll to the bottom of the list, and click on’ Invoice Deadline Date Extension Request.’
> Enter FRN number(s) in the text box, separated by commas if multiple FRNs.
> Click ‘Check Eligibility’ (this determines if the deadline has already passed to make this request).
> Assuming the FRN(s) is eligible, you must THEN click ‘Submit’ to actually submit the IDER request to USAC.
> System will then show the status of your request.
> An e-mail also will be sent to the submitter, containing a spreadsheet showing the status of the IDER request. A News post and Notification also will be created in EPC showing the IDER action.
Note: Consultants may submit IDERs for multiple BENs in the same request (under Actions in their EPC portal). Service providers also may submit IDERs for multiple BENs (under Related Actions in their EPC portal).
As always, I strongly encourage you to submit all BEARs by their original deadline because the risk that you’ll forget to do it later is too high.
If you have any questions about the new tool, please e-mail me!
— Julie
Julie Tritt Schell
PA E-rate Coordinator
717-730-7133 – o
717-730-9060 – f
jtschell@comcast.net
www.e-ratepa.org