Next Tuesday, January 28, is the deadline that the Schools and Libraries Division has set for Service Provider Invoice forms and Billed Entity Applicant Reimbursement Forms associated with installations that were to be completed by September 30, 2002. That covers any internal connections projects that were funded with Year 4 (2001) E-rate discounts and did not qualify for an installation deadline extension because of, for instance, an appeal or service provider change.
The only exception from this deadline are cases in which an applicant had not received a Form 486 acknowledgement letter before September 30, 2002. In those cases, the payment paperwork is due within 120 days of receipt of the Form 486 acknowledgement letter. If an applicant has not yet submitted a Form 486 for work completed in the 2001 funding year, it should do so immediately. If a contract extension is required, the Form 500 should be submitted first to extend the contract.
In most cases, however, service provider Invoices and BEAR forms must be postmarked or received by January 28 to qualify for payment or reimbursement. Note that applicants must retrieve the signature of their service provider before they are permitted to submit a BEAR form. A waiver of the invoicing deadline is permissible in certain cases, but must be requested in writing. Details are available here.
