Frequently Asked Questions
Technical Support:
The Batch Processing feature needs to be enabled in your account. Contact Client Services to enable Batch Processing.
To learn how to process a batch job visit the Batch Processing Guide page.
It’s not uncommon for batch processes to get interrupted for one reason or another. For example, you’ve gotten as far as creating the PDF file containing all the cover sheets for your mailing but won’t be printing the file and mailing until later in the day. No worries. Just log in, select Batch Jobs in the Create Cover Sheets & Labels tab, and you’ll see you still have access to the batch files you created earlier. These files are retained until you purposefully delete them. Note that you if have progressed through to producing the final PDF file containing cover sheets and labels that include postage, that indicia has today’s date, and it can be problematic if you mail these items on a later date.
Check the printer margins in the Page Setup section of your browser. In Internet Explorer and Firefox, choose File and then Page Setup. In Safari, choose File, then Print, then Manage Custom Sizes under the Paper Size option.
Once in the Page Setup screen, make sure the Page Size is set to a standard 8 1/2" x 11" size, in portrait mode, and that all four margins (Top, Bottom, Left and Right) are set for no more than .25".
Only the Account Administrator for an account can reset passwords and IDs. If the Administrator forgets the password or otherwise has trouble accessing your account, they should contact SimpleCertifiedMail.com for help.
SimpleCertifiedMail.com includes a full set of controls for Account Administrators, whether your business wants centralized control or prefers to have each office or region manage their use of the service and payments for USPS Postage and fees.
A national administrator can have visibility and control across all locations, while also having regional or single location administrators who oversee smaller groups of users. Administrators control who can use the service, what features they can access, who can access production and delivery reports, who purchases postage, and who receives the monthly statement of service that recaps use over the previous month.
As SimpleCertifiedMail.com is an Internet-based service and all data is stored securely on our servers, all your data is safe even if your computer crashes.
Simply login to your account and select the "Order Envelopes/Labels" tab. Three to five business days from the date of your order, the supplies should arrive. If you need them faster, Priority Mail is available.
We promptly refund your balance.
SimpleCertifiedMail.com has two ways to ensure you receive a refund of USPS postage and fees for Certified Mail that is created, but for one reason or another, not actually mailed.
The first is a manual method. Log in to the service and navigate to the Delivery Information Report under the Reports heading on the main toolbar. Use of the search options such as “Date Created Between” to find a record of the cover sheet or label you created. When the list of your Certified Mail pieces appears, locate the correct piece, look for the column titled “Last Status” and select “Request Refund”. This starts the refund process. Note that cover sheets and labels do not appear in the Delivery Information Report until the day after you create them.
The second method is automatic. If SimpleCertifiedMail.com has not received an acceptance scan from the USPS for the mail piece, on the eight day the service automatically requests a refund. This ensures a refund is generated even if you forget to request one.
In both cases, the cost of service is credited to your account, less a $0.25/piece service fee. If the Certified Mail piece is mailed at some point in the future, the refund is reversed. From the time a refund is requested, anytime you see the mail piece in the Delivery Information Report screen, the word “Refund” will be shown under the Last Status column.
- Google Chrome – version 98 and later
- Microsoft Edge – all versions
- Firefox – version 97.0 and later
Absolutely. Just contact us at 1-888-462-1750. Monday through Friday, 8am-5pm (ET).
Send an email to assistance@simplecertifiedmail.com requesting to close your account. Client Services will contact you to confirm and then refund any leftover account balance to you. Even though the account will no longer be able to create cover sheets and labels, your historical transactions can be accessed for up to ten years using your login.
The first payment account you establish when you become a client of SimpleCertifiedMail.com is called the Primary Account. As an example, this initial Primary Account might be funded from your Bank of America checking account. If you never set up additional accounts, all of your funding will come from this initial Primary Account.
Some clients use more than one payment account. For example, a firm with several offices can tie all their payments to a single Primary Payments Account, or can have each office linked to a unique payments accounts, or can use a blend. For example, the Charlotte office may use a North Carolina bank, while the Miami office uses a Florida-based bank for its payments. Or both offices may use the same bank account. The same goes for payments made via one credit or debit card, or several different cards.
It’s not unusual for clients to need to change the bank account, credit, or debit card they are using with our service. Here’s how the process works in the Payments Manager:
First, don’t edit your existing Primary account. Instead, set up a new account. Next, assign the new account as the Primary Account. This downgrades the previous Primary Account to an ordinary account but does not delete it. If you choose to delete the original account, the system will prompt you to move the existing balance to the new Primary account or another account you have with the service. If you’re not comfortable with the process, call Client Services and we’ll help you set up the new account and move your balances between accounts.
If the account you want to delete is set as your Primary Account, you must first set another account to be the Primary Account before deleting the original Primary account.
After you set another account to Primary, call Client Services and request that they move the previous Primary Account’s balance to the new Primary Account or to any other account you might have in our system. Then, delete the original account. When deleting accounts that are not designated as the Primary Account, Client Services will assist you to transfer the existing balance to another account or to move the funds off the service altogether.
Go the Support section of the web site. Select Video Tutorials and see two videos that cover payments. How to Sign Up and Get Started explains how to set up for first payments accounts. How to use the Payments Manager explains how to set up and manage additional accounts. In addition, the Account Administrators Manual contains a section on the use of Payment Accounts. Of course, you can always call Client Services and talk to us directly.
Occasionally, Internal Revenue Service or State Tax offices don’t include a street address or Post Office box, just a town or city with a specific ZIP+4. When preparing Certified Mail letters for these offices one-at-a-time, leave the Address and Address 2 entries blank in “Step 2: Recipient” on the Create Cover Sheets & Labels screen, and be sure to check the “Bypass address validation” box at the bottom of the Step 2 section of the screen. If you don’t the Address Validation screen will flag the address for missing a street address or Post Office Box. Likewise, when mailing via the Batch Processing Wizard, leave the “ToAddress” and “ToAddress2” fields blank in your Excel or CSV file, then check “Bypass address validation” in Step 6 of the Batch Processing Wizard process.
Sales and Customer Service:
SimpleCertifiedMail.com is a web-based software platform that greatly simplifies the process of preparing, tracking, archiving and accounting for USPS Certified Mail®, whether you are producing pieces one-at-a-time, by the hundreds, or by the tens of thousands. Three production platforms (Desktop, Batch and Web Services via REST APIs) run on the same application and can be used simultaneously. The software is used by organizations of all sizes, including multi-location accounts as it enables employees to prepare and manage mail from office and remote locations without any need for postage meters or other equipment with monthly subscription fees.
- Prepare and manage Certified Mail®, Priority Mail® and First-Class Mail® from your office or home, with any standard inkjet or laser printer, eliminating the need for costly postage meters, time consuming trips to the Post Office and old-fashioned USPS® forms.
- Batch processing features make it easy to produce hundreds or thousands of Certified Mail® pieces very quickly, by importing addresses from Microsoft Excel.
- Administrative features make it easy to manage hundreds of users over many dozens of locations.
- Intelligent APIs enable the integration of SimpleCertifiedMail.com’s services with your main business systems. The APIs are used by a wide range of enterprise customers and mail service providers to simply the preparation of Certified Mail® and to pull USPS® data and confirmations directly into key business systems.
- A Proof of Acceptance (Electronic) for each item is posted to your account within hours, eliminating the need for Scan Forms, Manifests and Firm Books.
- Receive Proof of Delivery and Return Receipt (Electronic) within 24 hrs. The Return Receipt (Electronic) is the universally accepted legal equivalent to the Green Card.
- Your Certified Mail® tracking data and confirmations remain in your secure online account for 10 years. This includes the expenses you incur to send Certified Mail®, making it easier to manage and allocate your Certified Mail® costs, and to bill them back to clients where appropriate.
- Receive automatic refunds of USPS® charges for Certified Mail® that is created, but not mailed within eight days.
No. SimpleCeritifedMail.com requires no special hardware or software. All you need is a PC or Mac, an Internet connection, a web browser (Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge or Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, or Apple Safari) and a printer. You can also connect our services to your own platform, via our REST APIs.
No contact is required. Nor are there any up-front, monthly or annual fees. You simply pay a small transaction fee for every piece of Certified Mail created, tracked and managed using our web-based software. You’ll spend less than you do today using Green Cards, while benefiting from a much simpler process, much faster access to Proof of Acceptance and Proof of Delivery, and an online record of your mailing expenses that makes it easier to seek reimbursement from clients when appropriate.
A Proof of Acceptance PDF file is posted to your account upon each of your Certified Mail letters receiving their first Acceptance Scan from the USPS. This is usually within a few hours of the mail piece being picked up by the postal carrier, and it eliminates the need for USPS PS 3800 Forms, Scan Forms, Manifests, Firm Books and time-consuming trips to the Post Office. The Proof of Acceptance (Electronic) has been deemed by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to satisfy TITLE 26, Subtitle F, CHAPTER 77, Sec. 7502 of the US Treasury Code with “Timely mailing treated as timely filing and paying.”
Once your Certified Mail is delivered, a Proof of Delivery or USPS Return Receipt (Electronic) PDF for each piece is posted to your account within 24 hours. You can also have these PDFs emailed to you by choosing “Send Email Notification of Delivery” on the “Create Cover Sheets and Labels” screen as you prepare your Certified Mail. The Return Receipt Electronic, also known as the RRE, contains the same information as the PS3811 Green Card, but in an electronic (PDF) format. The RRE was developed by the USPS to speed up the process of receiving Proof of Delivery and to eliminate problems associated with Green Cards such as cards getting damaged or torn off as they make their way through the mail stream; offices having to find space to file the Green Cards; and Green Cards getting lost in office files.
The United States Postal Service Domestic Mail Manual states that the Return Receipt (Electronic) is the legal equivalent of the PS3811 (Green Card). The IRS, State Tax Authorities and Courts have welcomed the Return Receipt (Electronic) as the PDF file can be stored and emailed in PDF form, whereas the Green Card must always be submitted in its original form.
You can learn more about Return Receipt (Electronic) by visiting www.usps.com
The Green Card is the original, manual way to receive Proof of Delivery for each Certified Mail piece. Using Green Cards is a slow and laborious process as users have to wait for signed Green Cards to return via the mail stream before they have official confirmation of their Certified Mail being delivered, and then need to file the Green Cards in a way that makes retrieval easy, even years in the future, as the IRS, state and federal courts only accept original Green Cards as proof of delivery, not copies.
The Return Receipt (Electronic), also known as the “RRE”, contains the same information as the Green Card, but in an electronic (PDF) format. It was developed by the USPS to speed up the process of receiving Proof of Delivery and to eliminate problems associated with Green Cards, such as cards getting damaged or torn off as they make their way through the mail stream, offices having file Green Cards for years, and Green Cards getting misplaced after they are filed. The USPS Domestic Mail Manual states that the Return Receipt (Electronic) is the legal equivalent of the PS3811 (Green Card). The IRS, State Tax Authorities and Courts have all welcomed the Return Receipt (Electronic) as the PDF file can be stored and emailed in PDF form, whereas the Green Card must always be submitted in its original form.
Users of SimpleCertifiedMail.com receive the RRE for every Certified Mail piece they send, within 24 hours of the piece being delivered. The PDF is posted to their accounts, and users can also elect to receive it via email. The PDF remains in the client’s account for 10 years, and can be downloaded at any time.
SimpleCertifiedMail.com incorporates the USPS PC Postage™ technology, so postage and other USPS fees are all paid through our service, and electronic postage is printed directly onto cover sheets and labels by your standard printer. Changes in postal rates take place automatically each January.
You will likely reduce the time and labor required to prepare Certified Mail by more than 80% because you will no longer need the USPS forms and a postage meter. Since the service posts an electronic Proof of Acceptance, right after each of your letters receives it first outbound scan by the USPS, you eliminate the labor time and corporate liability for people traveling to and from the Post Office to get a stamped PS 3800 and the use of Scan Forms, Manifests and Firm Books. Your account will then receive an electronic Proof of Delivery or electronic Return Receipt (both in PDF format) within 24 hours of each Certified Mail piece being delivered, thus helping you speed up any business process dependent on USPS Certified Mail® such as Affidavits of Service, auctions, and collections. A complete record of all your transactions is stored in your online account for 10 years, eliminating the need for manuals files. And to help you manage your USPS Certified Mail® costs, you can use these records to easily sort your Certified Mail expenses by client or matter number, helping you bill these costs back to clients when appropriate.
You check the status of Certified Mail, Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express pieces through your SimpleCertifiedMail.com account. We receive status directly from the USPS every few hours.
The tracking data, Proof of Acceptance, Proof of Delivery and Return Receipt Electronic PDFs remain in your account for ten years and can be downloaded to your own servers as required.
There are a number of video tutorials available that highlight how the service works. You can email sales@simplecertifiedmail.com to request an online demonstration.
It’s simple. Just click Sign-Up in the upper right-hand corner of this web site. Or call toll free 1-888-462-1750.
The built-in Batch Processing features make it easy to import Excel and CSV files and quickly print Certified Mail cover sheets and labels for hundreds or thousands of pieces. Two processes are documented in Batch Processing Manuals found in the Resources section of the web site. One process is for batches where all the mailed letters are of the same weight and use the same size envelope or label. The second is for batches of mail containing mixed weight and/or mixed size pieces. Details are available on the Batch Processing Guide page.
In addition, a set of Intelligent REST APIs enables complete automation of requesting Certified Mail cover sheets and labels and the import of Proof of Acceptance (Electronic), Proof of Delivery (Electronic) and Return Receipt (Electronic).
SimpleCertifiedMail.com sends you window envelopes to use with our service – at no charge. The envelopes have a large, clear window that enables the USPS scanners to scan the address, postage and Certified Mail bar code. Envelopes are available in three sizes: #10, 6” x 9” and 9” x 12”. And of course, you can order your own window envelopes from your favorite envelope supplier as long as you follow our specifications.
Simply login to your account and select the "Order Envelopes/Labels" tab. Three to five business days from the date of your order, the supplies should arrive. If you need them faster, Priority Mail is available.
Yes, but you need to be absolutely certain that your supplier produces the envelopes and labels to specifications that work with our service and are approved by the Post Office, as it's crucial that the Post Office scanners can easily scan these items. Please contact our Customer Service team for details.
Please refer to the Cost of Service link under FOR BUSINESS.
Using SimpleCertifiedMail.com is similar to using a postage meter. You prepay for your Certified Mail® postage and fees from a business checking account via ACH, or from a credit or debit card. The funds you deposit with SimpleCertifiedMail.com are maintained in a separate Trust Account by the Branch Banking & Trust Company (BB&T) and are covered by a Fidelity Bond. Your account administrator manages the account.
In addition, we do not retain any banking information in our system. All bank account and credit card numbers are immediately transmitted to our service provider, Forte Payment Systems. They return a secure encrypted token that is used to process any transaction. This is the same process required by all ACH and Credit Card processors.
Credit and debit cards are both accepted. SimpleCertifiedMail.com (“SCM”) charges a 2.9% fee (4.0% for American Express) for each transaction. This covers fees levied upon SimpleCertifiedMail.com by the credit card processors. There are no fees when funding comes directly from a bank account.
SimpleCertifiedMail.com uses the highest level of commercial encryption to ensure the safety and integrity of your data. Each client’s data is partitioned to provide additional risk management. For more information, contact sales@simplecertifiedmail.com or call us toll free at 888-462-1750.
Your business assigns an Account Administrator with authority to add and delete users, whether on a national basis, on a regional basis, or in just one location. Administrators also control what features each user can access, who can access production and delivery reports, who purchases postage and who receives the monthly statement of service that recaps use over the previous month.
To provide an example, a firm with 50 offices across the country, might have a national Account Administrator who oversees use of the service from the corporate office, while responsibility for day-to-day use is pushed to Regional Account Administrators covering a group of locations or even one large location. SimpleCertifiedMail.com uses the term “Groups”. A large office in Los Angeles might be its own Group with its own Account Administrator. Or the Account Administrator might oversee offices throughout a region, for example, the Southeast. Groups can be specific departments, a single location, or several locations. There’s a lot of flexibility in the way you use Groups.
A record of all transactions is kept in the account for ten years. Users can download activity and USPS costs in Excel™ format.
Absolutely. Just contact us at 1-888-462-1750, Monday through Friday, 8am-5pm (ET).
Simply email your suggestions to support@SimpleCertifiedMail.com.
You can use our Mail Services to outsource Certified Mail, Priority Mail and First-Class Mail by connecting via our REST APIs. For more information, click on the Developers link from the home page or contact Client Services.