FCC Form 472 (BEAR Form)

Purpose of FCC Form 472 or Billed Entity Applicant Reimbursement (BEAR) Form

Applicants file an FCC Form 472 (Billed Entity Applicant Reimbursement (BEAR) Form) to request reimbursement from USAC for the discounted cost of eligible equipment and services approved on the FCC Form 471, and which the applicant has received and paid in full to its service provider.

When to File FCC Form 472

The FCC Form 472, or BEAR Form can be filed after:

• The applicant has set up an account within the E-Rate Productivity Center (EPC).
• Eligible equipment and services are approved on the FCC Form 471.
• The applicant has filed an FCC Form 486 (Receipt of Service Confirmation and Children’s Internet Protection Act Certification Form).
• The service provider has filed an FCC Form 473 (Service Provider Annual Certification (SPAC) Form) for that funding year.
• Eligible equipment has been delivered and installed and/or services have started.
• The applicant has paid their service provider in full for the eligible equipment and services received.
• The applicant has filed an FCC Form 498 and obtained an applicant 498 ID.

You can file the BEAR Form as often as you wish (e.g. monthly, bimonthly, quarterly, annually). However, you must have received the eligible equipment and services described on the form and paid the service provider for them in full before you file.

Deadline: You must file the BEAR Form no later than 120 days after the latest of the following:

• 120 days after the last day to receive service;
• 120 days after the date of the Funding Commitment Decision Letter;
• 120 days after the date of the Revised Funding Commitment Decision Letter approving a post-commitment request made by the applicant or service provider or a successful appeal of a previously denied or reduced funding request that is impacting requests for reimbursement, whichever is latest; or
• If the date of the first notification of a denial or reduction of a timely filed request for reimbursement is on or after the invoice deadline, you have 60 additional days to refile a corrected BEAR.

Requesting an Invoice Deadline Extension

Each Funding Request Number (FRN) is entitled to a one-time automatic 120-day invoice deadline extension if the extension request is filed before, or within 15 days after, the deadline calculated under one of the scenarios above.  You should request an extension if there is a possibility you will not file the BEAR Form by the invoice deadline.

• If your IDD has not passed, you can request the extension in EPC.
• If your IDD has passed but you are still within 15 days of the IDD, you can request a one-time invoice deadline extension by opening a Customer Service Case in EPC and listing the FRN(s) you want to extend. Note: This is an interim process that will remain in place until  EPC can handle these requests directly.

If you need an invoice deadline extension, but the deadline to request one has passed (i.e., it is more than 15 days after the IDD), you must first submit a waiver request to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC may find good cause to waive the invoice filing deadline extension rule and grant a one-time extension of 120 days from the original invoicing deadline if you can demonstrate that you attempted to file for an extension within 15 days of the original invoice filing deadline. The FCC must grant your waiver request before USAC can extend the invoice deadline.

If you do not know your current invoice deadline, review your Funding Commitment Decision Letter (FCDL) or Revised Funding Commitment Decision Letter (RFCDL) in the E-Rate Productivity Center (EPC). To view the invoicing and other related deadlines for multiple FRNs, use the E-Rate FRN Status Tool FY2016+ within E-Rate’s Open Data tools, are an additional resource.

Instructions on how to file FCC Form 472 are in the next section.