If you have Category Two equipment on a FY2025 funding request, September 30, 2026 is your date. That is the service delivery deadline for FY2025 non-recurring services. The equipment has to be delivered and installed by then, and then it has to be invoiced. Miss either step and the funding goes away.
Here is what to check before the end of the month.
Is the equipment installed?
The switches, access points, cabling, and routers you requested for FY2025 must be delivered and installed at the approved locations by September 30, 2026. Equipment sitting in boxes in a storage closet does not meet the requirement. Neither does equipment that was delivered to the wrong site or that never got racked and turned on.
Walk your FY2025 funding requests line by line and confirm three things: the equipment arrived, it was installed at the entity listed on the funding request, and your service provider has documentation showing when the work was completed. If something was substituted along the way, make sure USAC approved the substitution.
Do you need more time?
If installation will not be finished by September 30, you can request a one-year extension of the service delivery deadline by filing an FCC Form 500, the form used to change or update information on an existing funding request. The critical detail: the request must be filed on or before September 30, 2026. There is no grace period, and USAC does not accept late extension requests for this deadline.
Some funding requests receive an automatic extension without any filing. If your Funding Commitment Decision Letter was issued on or after March 1, 2026, or if USAC approved a SPIN change (a change to your service provider) or a service substitution on or after March 1, 2026, the deadline moves out automatically. Check your funding request in your E-rate Productivity Center (EPC) account to see whether an extension is already reflected before you file anything.
Is the invoice filed?
Installation is only half the job. The invoice deadline for FY2025 non-recurring services is January 28, 2027, which is 120 days after the service delivery deadline. Depending on your funding request, your date may differ, so verify the invoice deadline shown in EPC rather than assuming.
Decide now who is filing. If your service provider bills USAC directly, they file the FCC Form 474 (SPI). If you paid the full invoice and are seeking reimbursement, you file the FCC Form 472 (BEAR). Either way, your FCC Form 486, which tells USAC your services have started, must be on file first. Unpaid vendor invoices are also a common reason reimbursements stall. A conversation with your vendor in October is a lot easier than one in late January.
Each funding request is entitled to one automatic 120-day invoice deadline extension, requested through a Customer Service Case in EPC before or within 15 days after the original invoice deadline. Use it if you need it, but don’t request it at the same time you file a service delivery extension. Doing so burns the one extension you get.
The bottom line
FY2025 Category Two dollars are committed, not guaranteed. Confirm the equipment is installed, confirm the invoice path, and calendar both dates. If a funding request looks like it may slip, file the Form 500 now rather than hoping the installation lands in time.
While you are in there, walk the rest of your FY2025 funding requests too. Category One recurring services have their own invoice deadline, and the checks are different. Eric Jester’s Don’t Wait Until October: What to Check on Your FY2025 FRNs Now has the full review checklist.
There is a better way to track this than a spreadsheet and a calendar reminder. E-rate Manager® shows your service delivery and invoice deadlines by funding request, so dates like September 30 are in front of you months before they matter. Request a demo today.
About the Author: E-rate Guide Todd Lawrence has spent the last 15 years helping schools and libraries get the E-rate funding they need to keep students connected. He got into the work in 2010, when Idaho schools were caught in a state network validity dispute and needed someone to help them recover. Outside of E-rate, he is on the trails or with his wife, kids, and grandchildren.
