{"id":35041,"date":"2023-10-05T02:05:47","date_gmt":"2023-10-05T02:05:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/e-ratepaorg.local\/?p=35041"},"modified":"2023-10-10T02:16:35","modified_gmt":"2023-10-10T02:16:35","slug":"bear-deadline-imminent-for-fy-2022-recurring-services-frns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/e-ratepa.org\/?p=35041","title":{"rendered":"BEAR Deadline Imminent for FY 2022 Recurring Services FRNs"},"content":{"rendered":"

October 5, 2023<\/span><\/p>\n

Attached:\u00a0Form 472 BEAR Filing Guide FY 2022<\/a><\/p>\n

Attached:\u00a0FY 2022 BEARs Due as of Oct 5 2023<\/a><\/p>\n

~ FRNs w\/BEAR Deadlines and BEAR Filing Guide Attached ~<\/p>\n

There are 188 recurring services funding requests (FRNs) from Funding Year 2022 that have quickly approaching invoice deadlines.\u00a0 The last day to receive FY 2022 recurring services was June 30, 2023 and therefore the deadline is October 30, 2023 (Oct. 28 is a Saturday) to submit the Form 472 — BEAR — to USAC for services in which you paid vendor bills from July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023.<\/p>\n

Attached is a list showing all FY 2022 FRNs for both Category 1 and Category 2, where no disbursements have been made by USAC (meaning that 100% of the commitment amount remains).\u00a0 If your name is on this list, and the invoice deadline showing in Column N is October 30, 2023, please gather the vendor invoices and submit your Form 472 BEAR as soon as possible. \u00a0(Note: I included\u00a0all<\/em>\u00a0FRNs, including the Internal Connections\u2019 FRNs, where no disbursements have been made, even though they have later invoice deadlines just as a reminder to get these in.)\u00a0 When reviewing the spreadsheet, please take note of any special actions you must take before the BEAR can be filed (Column O).<\/p>\n

Most common mistake on BEARs:\u00a0 Listing wrong service start date or listing wrong application numbers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>For recurring services, be sure to list 7\/1\/2022<\/strong>\u00a0as the service start date (not 2023) in Item 10 and leave Item 11 blank.\u00a0 Also, be sure to use your FY\u00a02022<\/strong>\u00a0Form 471 and FRN numbers as shown in the attached spreadsheet,\u00a0not\u00a0your FY 2023 application and FRN numbers.<\/p>\n

Where to File BEARs:<\/strong>\u00a0 Until October 30, 2023, BEARs (Form 472s) are still filed in the legacy system which you access at:\u00a0https:\/\/forms.universalservice.org\/portal\/login<\/a>.\u00a0 When you reach the One Portal Dashboard, you should see three links in this order:\u00a0 EPC, BEAR, ECF.<\/p>\n

\"clickhereforBEAR\"<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t see the BEAR link, it means you are not set up with BEAR access credentials.\u00a0 Quickly complete the BEAR Access Template at:\u00a0\u00a0https:\/\/www.usac.org\/e-rate\/resources\/forms\/bear-form-access\/<\/a>\u00a0and then upload it into EPC by creating a Customer Service Case.\u00a0 USAC will then provide you with BEAR access in a few days (be sure to request an\u00a0IDER extension<\/a>\u00a0while you\u2019re waiting for this credential to be granted).\u00a0 Consult this handy\u00a0BEAR Access Request Guide<\/a>\u00a0to help you through this process.<\/p>\n