Step 6: Invoicing

Invoicing USAC for the discount portion of the bill for the approved eligible services begins after Invoicing Prerequisites (see below) are met. The E-Rate Program has two methods of Invoicing. The type of invoicing utilized is the Applicant’s choice. Invoicing is performed within the E-Rate Productivity Center (EPC).

Invoicing Prerequisites

1. File FCC Form 486 (Receipt of Service Confirmation and Children’s Internet Protection Act Certification Form)
2. Service Provider must have filed FCC Form 473 (Service Provider Annual Certification or SPAC). Check your Service Provider’s SPAC status at the Open Data FRN Status Tool
3. Ensure you file for BMIC services correctly on your FCC Form 471.
   • Mistakes are often identified during invoicing. Read our BMIC FAQs for guidance on how to fix misclassified equipment.
4. Ensure you have correctly listed the bandwidth speed under the approved FRN on your FCC Form 471.
   • If you’re using a flexible bandwidth speed, enter the details into the min/max field.
5. Make sure all equipment purchased is installed before the Service Delivery Deadline.
6. Payments (see Obligation to Pay).
   • BEAR Invoices: Applicant must pay service provider in full before invoicing E-Rate.
   • SPI Invoices: (Applicant pays the service provider their non-discounted portion). Before submitting FCC Form 474, service providers should bill their customers for:
     • The non-discounted portion of costs for the approved eligible equipment/services and
     • Any costs for the ineligible portion of equipment/services.

Invoice Filing Deadline

Regardless of invoicing method, the invoice must be filed by the Invoice Delivery Deadline, which is no later than

• 120 days after the last day to receive service or
• 120 days after the FCC Form 486 Notification Letter date

Whichever is later. To view your invoice deadline date, review your Funding Commitment Decision Letter or Revised Funding Commitment Decision Letter in the E-Rate Productivity Center. To view invoicing and other related deadlines for multiple FRNs, use the E-Rate FRN Status Tool FY2016+ within E-Rate’s Open Data tools as an additional resource.

Invoice submitters are entitled to a one-time 120-day extension of the deadline upon request.

USAC Communications

After processing your BEAR Form, USAC issues a BEAR Notification Letter in your EPC Newsfeed with information about the processing of your invoice. USAC also issues a copy of this letter to your service provider(s).
If there is a denial or reduction of the amount requested on the SPI Form, you can refer to the associated invoice decision code(s) for more information.

Next Steps

For many applicants, invoicing is the last step in the process. However, if you have changes, corrections, or other activities outside of the regular application process, you should review the information in Before You’re Done.