On September 8, USAC will begin sending all Universal Service Fund payments to the bank account tied to your SAM.gov registration. If you invoice using the Billed Entity Applicant Reimbursement (BEAR) method, this is worth five minutes of your attention before the end of the week.
Here is the short version. If your SAM.gov registration is active and your Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) is already on your FCC Form 498 in EPC, you do not need to do anything at all. Your reimbursements will arrive in the bank account attached to your SAM.gov record, with no action needed on your end. It’s worth confirming that account is the one you want the money going to.
If your UEI is not on your Form 498, you can still submit invoices after September 8, but USAC will hold the payment until the UEI is added and your SAM.gov registration is active with valid banking information. USAC will email your E-rate remittance contact if that happens, with the subject line “Action Required: Your Payment is on Hold.” If a payment has already been held, contact the USAC Customer Service Center at CustomerSupport@USAC.org.
What to check before September 8
- Is your SAM.gov registration active? Registrations must be renewed annually.
- Is a valid bank account attached to that registration?
- Is your current UEI entered on your FCC Form 498 in EPC?
Once you renew a SAM.gov registration, SAM.gov notifies USAC directly, so there is no second step on your Form 498.
If any of that turns up a gap, E-rate Guide Sheauna Brown walked through what a UEI is and how to get your records lined up earlier this year, including the mismatches that cause the most trouble.
If you would rather not put a UEI in EPC, USAC says you can elect to use the Service Provider Invoice (SPI) method instead, where your service provider files the invoice and passes the discount through to you. USAC has the steps to switch your invoicing method.
One last thing worth saying plainly. This is a change to how payments are routed, not to your funding, your commitments, or your invoicing deadlines. Nothing you have already been approved for is affected.
Payments start routing through SAM.gov on September 8. Bring your questions to the September 10 My E-rate Guides (MEG) webinar. Our Guides will answer your questions live. Register today.
