Do not wait until the last minute to file.

For an FRN that covers 12 months of monthly service, USAC will look for 12 months of service in that funding year whether the bills are calculated in advance or in arrears. Any bills being submitted for reimbursement must be for service within the funding year.

• Make sure the service start date is no earlier than July 1 of the funding year, but you should use the earliest date of service for the period you are billing, which is not necessarily July 1. For example, a bill for service for the month of December might have a service start date of December 1.
• If you receive a bill with an invoice date that falls after the end of the funding year for a service period that is within the funding year, enter the start date of the service period in the Shipping Date column rather than entering the Customer Billed Date. USAC will check to be sure that there is no overlap in payments - that is, that they did not already pay the discount in the previous funding year for the entire customer bill for the same month of service.

Enter either a Customer Billed Date or a Shipping Date to Customer, but not both.

• Enter a Customer Billed Date for recurring services
• Enter a Shipping Date for non-recurring services (equipment)

Before submitting a form verify that:

• you subtracted the cost of any ineligible products and services
• you subtracted the cost of any products and services that were not approved on that FRN
• the Discount Amount Billed is less than the Total (Undiscounted) Amount
• the approved discount percentage is correct
• there are still available (not yet awarded) funds for the FRN

Your invoice may be reviewed. If it is:

• Call or email your reviewer with questions. Contact information is provided on requests for information from the reviewer.
• If possible, resubmit your invoice instead of filing an appeal. If you understand from USAC's communication what was incorrect on your invoice, you can just resubmit the invoice with the correct information or within the correct timeframe.

See the PDF file below for step by step instructions on filing the Form 472 BEAR.

Guide
Form 472 BEAR How to Guide