How web-based software helps CPAs manage Certified Mail® more efficiently

By Andrew Newmark | September 23, 2021

CPAs have long relied on Certified Mail® to comply with best practices for the on-time filing of taxes and other matters where proof of mailing is important.

This has meant filling out Certified Mail® Receipts and Green Cards by hand, feeding the envelopes through the postage meter, heading down to the post office for a Proof of Acceptance receipt, waiting for signed Green Cards to be returned, and storing the Proof of Acceptance receipts and Green Cards in case they are needed to prove timely filing sometime in the future. This labor-intensive process is out of sync with the initiative by most firms to streamline operations and digitize their records. And it doesn’t work at all for employees working from home.

Image of USPS Certified Mail forms 3800 and 3811 — *The USPS PS 3800 Certified Mail® Receipt and PS 3811 Return Receipt*

Fortunately, SimpleCertifiedMail.com’s online software provides a much more efficient way to prepare, track and manage Certified Mail. No wonder the software is used nationwide by two of the Big 4 accounting firms, and many others.

Easier Preparation:

SimpleCertifiedMail.com’s online software enables you to print cover sheets or labels, complete with electronic postage and USPS® IMpb tracking barcodes, in just seconds from your home or office printer, and use those cover sheets or labels to finish your mail piece (see examples below). Then you simply leave the Certified Mail® for your Mail Carrier to pick up or drop in any USPS Mail Box. No more USPS forms, postage meters and trips to the Post Office. In addition, Batch Processing features make it easy to mail dozens, hundreds or thousands of Certified Mail pieces with ease, often resulting in labor savings of more than 80%. And Batch Processing supports the mailing of Certified Mail items to the IRS and state tax authorities without using a street address or Post Office box.

Image of Certified Mail envelope and label — *A Certified Mail® envelope and package, each ready to mail.*

No More Trips to the Post Office for Proof of Acceptance/Mailing:

For many CPAs, Proof of Acceptance, also known as Proof of Mailing, is more important than Proof of Delivery. SimpleCertifiedMail.com posts an electronic Proof of Acceptance (see PDF file below) to your account for every Certified Mail® letter sent, within hours of mailing, right after the mail piece receives its acceptance scan at a USPS facility. The Proof of Acceptance (Electronic) provides the city, state, date and time the USPS acknowledges possession of the item. This file is stored in your account for 10 years and can be downloaded and printed at any time.

Importantly, the electronic Proof of Acceptance is accepted as prima facia evidence that the Post Office physically took possession of the Certified Mail® piece. It has been deemed by the IRS to satisfy TITLE 26, Subtitle F, CHAPTER 77, Sec. 7502 of the US Treasury Code: “Timely mailing treated as timely filing and paying… the date of the United States postmark….shall be deemed to be the date of delivery or the date of payment, as the case may be.”

Receive the Signed Return Receipt within 24 Hours of Delivery:

For those CPAs that also require a signed Return Receipt to prove delivery of their Certified Mail® letters, SimpleCertifiedMail.com posts the USPS Return Receipt Electronic (“RRE”) to your account within 24 hours of the Mail Carrier delivering the Certified Mail® letter.

*USPS® Return Receipt Electronic (“RRE)*

With the RRE, the recipient’s signature and the time and date of delivery are captured by the Mail Carrier on a tablet computer and those elements become key parts of the USPS® Return Receipt Electronic. Since signatures can hard to read, SimpleCertifiedMail.com adds the recipient’s address in a box along the lower edge of the RRE to ensure that it’s easy for mailers to identify the recipient of the mail piece when the RRE is posted to their account.

The USPS created the Return Receipt (Electronic) to eliminate waiting up to a week for a signed Green Card to be returned and sometimes having to send a second Certified Mail letter for Green Cards that are misplaced in the mail stream. The RRE is accepted by the IRS, state tax authorities and courts as the legal equivalent to the Green Card, in electronic or printed format. The RRE remains in your SimpleCertifiedMail.com account for ten years and can be downloaded and printed by users at any time.

Send Certified Mail from home or office:

SimpleCertifiedMail.com enables CPAs to send Certified Mail from their homes while still using their office address as the return address on the Certified Mail piece. The “Add Alternate Address” field within the software signals to the USPS that the Certified letter is being mailed from an alternate address, ensuring that CPAs receives an accurate Proof of Acceptance (Electronic) for any Certified Mail letter mailed from a home.

Summary

It’s easy to see why so many accounting firms, including two of the Big 4, use SimpleCertifiedMail.com. It improves management of Certified Mail® while reducing time and associated labor costs by more than 80%!

Watch our video to learn more.

Watch to See How SimpleCertifiedMail.com Works

If you have any questions, contact us toll-free at 888-462-1750 or by email.
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