Invoice Deadline Extensions

Applicants and service providers may request a one-time, 120-day extension of the deadline to file an invoice – FCC Form 472 (Billed Entity Applicant Reimbursement (BEAR) Form) or FCC Form 474 (Service Provider Invoice (SPI) Form).

USAC updates the Funding Request Number (FRN) Extension Table after an invoice deadline extension request has been successfully processed. The extended deadline will appear in the far right-hand column of the search results.

Deadline

You must submit an invoice deadline extension request on or before the invoice deadline date. This deadline is 120 days after the last date to receive service or 120 days after the date of the FCC Form 486 Notification Letter, whichever is later.

Note: If there is a possibility that you will be late filing an invoice, you should request a one-time invoice deadline extension, even if you eventually do not need it.

If you need an invoice deadline extension but the deadline to request one has passed, you must first submit a waiver request to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC must grant your waiver request before USAC can extend the invoice deadline.

For applicants who have submitted a service substitution or SPIN change request and USAC has not yet issued a Revised Funding Commitment Decision Letter (RFCDL):

• The applicant or service provider should submit an invoice deadline extension request if the invoice deadline is approaching.
• If an FRN is partially committed, applicants and service providers should submit invoices for the committed portion of the FRN that is not affected by the post-commitment request.

Invoice Deadline Extension Requests for Funding Year (FY) 2016 and Forward

Invoice deadline extension request for FRNs from FY2016 and forward must be filed in the E-Rate Productivity Center (EPC). To request an extension in EPC, you must have full or partial rights.

• For applicants, the requestor must be a full- or partial-rights user on the EPC profile of the billed entity that filed the FCC Form 471 (the form that featured the Billed Entity Number (BEN) of the billed entity). Applicants are limited to requests for that BEN, but FRNs in a single request can be from multiple funding years and/or FCC Forms 471.
• For consultants, the requestor must be a full- or partial-rights user on the EPC profile of the BEN featured on the FCC Form 471. A consultant can file a single request for FRNs from multiple funding years and/or multiple clients.
• For service providers, the requestor must be a full- or partial-rights user on the EPC profile for the Service Provider Identification Number (SPIN) featured on the FRNs. A service provider can file a single request for FRNs from multiple funding years and/or multiple BENs.

To file a request, each type of user must first log in to One Portal to access EPC:

• APPLICANTS: From your EPC landing page, choose the Records tab and search for your billed entity. (You can also access the billed entity record from the landing page by clicking the billed entity name in the Welcome message or on the first line of the list of entities.) Select Related Actions from the top menu, and click the Invoice Deadline Date Extension Request link.
• CONSULTANTS: From your EPC landing page, choose the Actions tab and click the Invoice Deadline Date Extension Request link.
• SERVICE PROVIDERS: From your EPC landing page, choose the Records tab and search for your SPIN. Then, select Related Actions from the top menu, and click the Invoice Deadline Date Extension Request link.

From this point, all users follow the same process. First, they enter the FRNs that they want to extend in the open text field. FRNs must be separated by commas (but note that the system will ignore spaces). Then click the Check Eligibility button.

• The system will split the FRNs you have entered into two tables.
  • The first table includes the FRNs that are eligible for an extension. If there are any FRNs on this table you want to remove, check the box to the left of the FRN and click the Remove button.
  • The second table will include the FRNs for which you cannot submit an extension request together with the reason for each (e.g., the FRN does not exist in EPC, the FRN does not belong to your organization).
• Click the Submit button. The system will return the eligible FRNs in two tables.
  • The first table includes FRNs with approved extensions. The extended invoice deadline date will appear after the original invoice deadline date.
  • The second table includes FRNs that have not been approved for extensions, together with the reason for the denial (e.g., an extension has already been approved).
  • Note that the table of FRNs originally marked as ineligible are repeated below the first two tables for reference.

The requestor will receive an email containing the above information, and a news post will be created for both the BEN(s) and the SPIN(s) associated with the FRNs on the list. Also, the landing page for each BEN and SPIN will contain a notification of the decision for each FRN in the Notifications section.

Invoice Deadline Extension Requests for FY2015 and Previous Funding Years

Invoice deadline extension request for FRNs from FY2015 and previous funding years must be filed in the E-Rate program legacy system.

To access the tool, applicants must:

1. Log in to One Portal to access the BEAR Form.
2. Click the Deadline Extension tab at the top of the screen.
3. Enter the first FRN for which you want to request an invoice deadline extension. You can only request an extension for one FRN at a time. The screen will display the details of the FRN so that you can verify that you entered the correct FRN.
4. Click Submit to request a deadline extension.

You will receive an automatic approval or denial message on your screen and also an email with the same message. If your request is approved, the FRN Extension Table will update immediately with your extended invoice deadline date.

Service providers accessing the tool must:

1. Log in to E-File.
2. Click on the 472 Online BEAR link.
3. Choose your SPIN and click Set. (If you have more than one SPIN, you must choose the appropriate SPIN from the dropdown list.)
4. Click the Deadline Extension tab at the top of the screen.
5. Enter the first FRN for which you want to request an invoice deadline extension. You can only request an extension for one FRN at a time. The screen will display the details of the FRN so that you can verify that you entered the correct FRN.
6. Click Submit to request a deadline extension.

You will receive an automatic approval or denial message on your screen and also an email with the same message. If your request is approved, the FRN Extension Table will update immediately with your extended invoice deadline date.

Extension Request Denial Reasons

Invoice deadline extension requests can be denied for the following reasons:

• The entire commitment on the FRN has already been paid.
• An invoice deadline extension request was already requested and approved.
  • For example, your service provider may have submitted a request, or you or someone in your organization may have previously submitted a request. You can check the FRN Extension Table to determine if the invoice deadline was extended.
• You have already received one 120-day invoice deadline extension for this FRN and USAC cannot approve a second 120-day extension. You can check the FRN Extension Table to determine the invoice deadline date.
• USAC has not yet made a commitment on the FRN.
• The FRN was denied.
• The FRN is not associated with your login credentials. If this is the case, please try to resubmit the request with the correct information.
• The request was made after the last date to invoice.