Form 472

Introduction:

The FCC Form 472 is otherwise known as the “BEAR” form.  “BEAR” is an acronym for Billed Entity Applicant Reimbursement.   The BEAR is an online form filed by applicants seeking reimbursements for E-rate discounts. (Alternatively, applicants can seek upfront discounts from their service providers.) As of July 1, 2016, BEAR payments are now made directly to applicants.

 Preparation Tips:

Tip 1:  Before a BEAR may be filed, applicants must submit a Form 498. 

Formerly a service provider-only form, the Form 498 establishes banking information to USAC so that disbursed funds for BEARs may be automatically transferred to the applicant’s bank account.

Tip 2:  The applicant representative filing a BEAR must have a PIN issued by USAC to them in the name of the applicant organization.

Tip 3:  The Form 472 is online only and may be found in the legacy USAC system.  It is not in the E-rate Productivity Center (EPC).

Tip 4: The deadline for submitting a BEAR is 120 days after the last date for receiving services.

• For recurring services received by June 30, the deadline is October 28.
• For non-recurring services, which must have been received by September 30, the deadline is January 28 of the following year.
• The SLD reference section includes instructions for requesting an Invoice Deadline Extension.  Only one extension is allowed for invoice deadlines.  The extension request must be filed before the initial deadline expires.

Tip 5: Monthly charges at each end of the reimbursement period do not have to be prorated.

• If the reimbursement period is the full fiscal year, applicants can use the entire amount (less any ineligible portions) of monthly bills for any billing dates on or after July 1, and up until and including June 30 of the following year.
• Use of full billing periods avoids the need to prorate any portion of a monthly bill including services rendered before the start date or after the termination date. The SLD recognizes that any excess charges captured in using the first full month's bill will be approximately offset by ignoring the partial month charges included in the next bill after the termination date.

Tip 6: Reimbursement claims must be based on the actual payments made for services, supported by invoices. 

          Make sure to remove ineligible items from the billed amounts before submitting BEARs.

An example of a spreadsheet that can be used to capture billing data for the effective discount period is shown below. The example is for telephone service provided under three billed telephone numbers ("BTNs"). A single account, long distance billing summary would be a much shorter attachment:

Sample Bill Summary Form