September 21, 2018

Commitments for Funding Year 2018

Funding Year 2018. USAC is scheduled to release Funding Year (FY) 2018 Wave 24 Funding Commitment Decision Letters (FCDLs) on September 23. As of September 21, FY2018 commitments total over $1.74 billion.

On the date that FCDLs are issued, you can access your FCDL notification from the Notifications section of your landing page in the E-rate Productivity Center (EPC).

September Invoicing Webinar

On September 19, we conducted our monthly webinar on invoicing. We discussed the invoicing process for both applicants and service providers. If you missed the webinar, you can use this link to register and watch a recording.

New Invoice Deadline Extension Tool in EPC

Last week we noted that we were working on a new invoice deadline extension tool in EPC. Below is a short description of how applicants, consultants, and service providers will be able to request invoice deadline extensions for their Funding Request Numbers (FRNs) using the new tool.

• The new EPC tool will be used to request invoice deadline extensions for FRNs for funding years after FY2015.
• The existing legacy tool (the tool accessed through the online BEAR Form) will be used to request invoice deadline extensions for FRNs from FY2015 and previous funding years.

We plan to remove the legacy-tool option for submitting extension requests for post-FY2015 FRNs this weekend. The new EPC tool will be available October 1. You can submit an invoice deadline extension request by opening a customer service case in EPC next week, but we suggest that you wait for the new EPC tool. (We will not be able to process those requests until the new EPC tool becomes available.)

Below is a description of how to use the new EPC tool:

To request an extension in the new EPC tool, 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 EPC:

• APPLICANTS - From your 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 landing page, choose the Actions tab and click the Invoice Deadline Date Extension Request link.
• SERVICE PROVIDERS - From your 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 is 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.