BEAR Deadline Approaching for FY 2024 Recurring Service FRNs

September 22, 2025

Attached: FY-2024-BEARs-Due-as-of-Sept-22-1.xlsx

~ FRNs w/Deadlines Attached ~

There are 248 recurring services funding requests (FRNs) from Funding Year 2024 that have quickly approaching invoice deadlines.  The last day to receive FY 2024 recurring services was June 30, 2025 and therefore October 28, 2025 is the deadline to submit the Form 472 — BEAR — to USAC for services in which you paid vendor bills from July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025.  Attached is a list showing the FY 2024 FRNs where no BEAR or SPI has been submitted for reimbursement to USAC.  Note:  I also included non-recurring FRNs (C2 mostly) that have later invoice deadlines just so you are aware of these deadlines.

Where to File BEAR:  The Form 472 BEAR has been updated and is now located in EPC. A BEAR Filing Guide is available at:  Form-472-BEAR-Filing-Guide.pdf to help you navigate the fields.  Be sure to select FY 2024 so you are given the FY 2024 FRNs from which to select.  Note:  If you don’t see the link below, it means that your EPC Account Administrator must change your User Permissions in their EPC portal (see Slide 11 for instructions on changing User Permissions).  Hint:  the new BEAR allows (not requires) you to upload a copy of the relevant vendor invoice and I encourage you to do so for Category 2 funding requests.

Form 498 – Direct Deposit Banking Data Form:  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 is 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).

Requesting an Invoice Deadline Extension:  All Invoice Deadline Extension Requests (IDERs) must be submitted by the invoice deadline shown in Column M.  After submitting the IDER, you will automatically be given a one-time 120 days extension to file your reimbursement form.  The IDER module is found in the upper right corner of your EPC landing page under “IDD Extension.”   An IDER Guide is available at:  Guide-to-Requesting-Invoice-Deadline-Extension-1.pdf.

Open Data Invoice Disbursement/Decision Tool:  USAC has a new tool that shows all BEARs and SPIs that have been decided (approved, partially approved, or denied) and it includes denial and partially-approved reasons.  Unfortunately, the tool does not show invoices that are pending at USAC.  If your BEAR or SPI was denied (often shown as $0-funded), file for an IDER (see above), then use this tool to filter by your BEN/FY 2024 to see the denial reason.  Then file a new, corrected BEAR or SPI.    E-Rate-Invoice-Disbursements-Data-Lookup-Tool/t3vg-gfse.

If you have any questions about the FY 2024 Invoice Deadlines or completing the BEAR, 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