Invoices, whether they be applicant filed BEAR (Billed Entity Applicant Reimbursement) forms (also called Form 472s) or SPI (Service Provider Invoice) forms (also called Form 474s), must be postmarked no later than 120 days after the last date to receive service. No funding will be provided on an invoice submitted after its deadline.

For most FY 2002 recurring services, with a last service date of June 30, 2003, the 120-day deadline is October 28. The comparable invoice deadline for non-recurring services, with the last service date of September 30, 2003, is January 28, 2004.

There are several circumstances under which an invoice deadline for a specific funding request can be extended, namely:

(1) For a non-recurring service, the last service date can be extended for another year (i.e., until September 30th of the following year) in a situation involving a late funding commitment, SPIN change, or service substitution. Under the 120-day invoice rule, an extended service date translates into an equally extended invoice deadline.

(2) The last service date for a recurring service cannot be extended but, in the event of a SPIN change, the invoice deadline will be extended 120 days beyond the SPIN change approval date. SPIN changes for recurring FY 2002 services can be filed up until October 28, the nominal invoice deadline.

(3) Deadlines for either type of service can be extended under various conditions by filing an Invoice Deadline Extension Request. A request can be filed up until the original invoice deadline.

Revised invoice deadlines are listed on the SLD Web site, by funding year, in the FRN Extension tables.

Libraries that filed Form 486s for Internet Access and/or Internal Connection services before the effective date of the Supreme Court’s CIPA decision in mid-August are reminded that their earlier Form 486s have been cancelled and that new Form 486s (using the August 2003 version) must be filed within the same deadlines.

Applicants who mailed Form 486s to the SLD may not have yet received confirmation that their Forms have been processed. The annual Form 486 processing backlog in October was compounded this year by the need to revise the Form. This shut down the SLD’s online entry system for half of August and a good portion of September.

Applicants, who have not yet received a Form 486 Notification Letter, but wish to confirm that the SLD has at least received their Form 486s should take one or more of the following steps:

(1) Check the application status using the SLD’s Funding Request Data Retrieval Tool. If the data field labeled “Service Start Date as Shown on the Form 486” is blank, it means that the SLD has not yet processed a Form 486 for that specific FRN.

(2) Call the SLD’s Client Service Bureau (888-203-8100). Basic Block 1 data from a mailed Form 486 is entered upon receipt. The CSB should be able to tell if a specific applicant’s Form 486 has been received.

(3) When in doubt, file another Form 486. At worst, a duplicate Form 486 will be filed, and one will have to be cancelled. More likely, however, an error message will be generated if an online user tries to enter a specific FRN in Block 3 that duplicates a FRN that appeared on an earlier Form 486 that has been processed.