How to Fill Out Form 3602-NZ: Sections, Postage, and Submission

To fill out Form 3602-NZ, enter your permit holder information and Post Office of mailing, weigh one piece to four decimal places in pounds, check the processing category and postage type, tally your pieces by price tier, multiply each tier by the current Notice 123 nonprofit rate, total the postage in Part B or E, and sign the certification. The form is the postage statement nonprofits use for a single mailing of identical-weight, nonautomation letters or flats at USPS Marketing Mail nonprofit prices.1United States Postal Service. USPS Form 3602-NZ – Postage Statement, Nonprofit USPS Marketing Mail Easy, Nonautomation Letters or Flats

Before You Start

Three things have to be in place before Form 3602-NZ can be accepted at the counter. Your organization needs nonprofit mailing authorization from an approved PS Form 3624 application. You need a permit imprint, obtained by filing PS Form 3615 and paying the $370.00 application fee. And the annual mailing fee of $370.00 must be current at the Post Office where you’re entering the mail; it’s valid for 365 days from the date of payment.2Postal Explorer. Annual Mailing Fee3United States Postal Service. Notice 123 – Price List

The mailing itself must contain at least 200 addressed pieces or weigh at least 50 pounds to qualify for USPS Marketing Mail nonprofit prices.4United States Postal Service. Publication 417 – Nonprofit USPS Marketing Mail Eligibility You’ll also need to have run your address list through an approved Move Update method (NCOALink, ACS, or another approved option) within the past 95 days.5PostalPro. Guide to Move Update

When 3602-NZ Is the Right Form

The form’s full title is “Postage Statement — Nonprofit USPS Marketing Mail Easy — Nonautomation Letters or Flats.” Two conditions have to hold. First, every piece in the mailing must weigh the same. If your piece weights vary, you need the full-length PS Form 3602-N instead. Second, the mailing must be at nonautomation prices — the pieces don’t meet the barcoding, addressing, or physical standards for automation pricing. A missing or invalid Intelligent Mail barcode is the most common reason, but pieces can also be nonautomation because they’re polywrapped, contain rigid items, or fail the aspect ratio and flexibility tests in DMM 201.6United States Postal Service. DMM 201 – Physical Standards for Commercial Letters, Flats, and Parcels

If your letter-size pieces are nonmachinable, they’re priced at the nonautomation flat rates in Notice 123, not at letter rates.7United States Postal Service. Notice 123 – Price List Confirm which category applies before you start filling in numbers.

Filling Out the Form Section by Section

Download the form from Postal Explorer at pe.usps.com, or pick up a printed copy at your Business Mail Entry Unit.1United States Postal Service. USPS Form 3602-NZ – Postage Statement, Nonprofit USPS Marketing Mail Easy, Nonautomation Letters or Flats The instructions are shared with Form 3602-EZ, the commercial version.8United States Postal Service. Instructions for Filling Out PS Form 3602-EZ and 3602-NZ PS Forms

Header and Permit Holder Information

Enter the permit holder’s name, address, email, and phone number. Fill in the Post Office of Mailing — the city and state of the office where you’ll drop the mail, which must match the office where you hold the permit. Enter the mailing date and your permit number. Federal agencies enter a cost code in the designated field; other mailers leave it blank.

If you’re filing more than one postage statement for the same mailing, use the Statement Sequence Number field to number them. For a single-statement mailing, leave it blank.

Mailing Details

This block describes the physical mailing.

  • Weight of a Single Piece: weigh one piece and record the weight in decimal pounds to four digits. A one-ounce piece is 0.0625 pounds.8United States Postal Service. Instructions for Filling Out PS Form 3602-EZ and 3602-NZ PS Forms
  • Processing Category: check the box for letter or flat.
  • Type of Postage: check permit imprint, precanceled stamps, or metered.
  • Total Pieces: the total number of pieces in the mailing.
  • Total Weight: multiply the single-piece weight by total pieces.
  • Number of Containers: the count and type of trays or sacks.
  • Move Update Method: check the method you used within the past 95 days.

Precision on the single-piece weight matters. Rounding to two or three decimals compounds across thousands of pieces and can produce a postage shortfall that the clerk will catch.

Postage Computation in Part B or E

Pick the destination entry column that matches how the mail enters the system — no discount, DSCF, or another entry option. Working from the tally you kept while sorting into trays or sacks, enter the number of pieces at each price tier. Multiply the applicable rate from the current Notice 123 by the piece count for each row.8United States Postal Service. Instructions for Filling Out PS Form 3602-EZ and 3602-NZ PS Forms

For nonautomation flats weighing 4 ounces or less, a single per-piece price applies at each sort level. Sample nonprofit rates from Notice 123: 5-Digit is $0.602 per piece with no destination entry discount; Mixed ADC is $0.953 per piece; the 5-Digit rate drops to $0.564 at DSCF entry.7United States Postal Service. Notice 123 – Price List

For pieces over 4 ounces, the price is a per-piece rate plus a per-pound rate. Multiply the piece count by the per-piece price, multiply the total pounds by the per-pound price, and add the two.7United States Postal Service. Notice 123 – Price List

Add the Total Postage column and enter the sum in the Part B or E Total box. Carry that figure to the front page under Total Postage. If you’re paying with precanceled stamps or metered postage, subtract postage already affixed to get the Net Postage Due.

Certification

Print your name, sign, add a phone number, and date the form. The signature certifies that the mailing meets applicable standards and that the numbers on the statement are accurate.

Submitting the Form

You can present Form 3602-NZ two ways.

In person, bring the completed form together with the physical mail — sorted into properly labeled trays or sacks — to the Business Mail Entry Unit at your permit Post Office. Payment runs through the Enterprise Payment System, which draws from your Enterprise Payment Account funded by ACH debit or as a trust account.9PostalPro. Enterprise Payment System The account balance has to cover the full postage before the clerk can accept the mailing.

Electronically, submit through the USPS Business Customer Gateway at gateway.usps.com.10United States Postal Service. Business Mail 101 – Get a Postage Statement Three methods run through PostalOne!: Postal Wizard (a web interface), Mail.dat, and Mail.XML.11United States Postal Service. PostalOne! Postal Wizard is the simplest fit for most nonprofits filing occasional mailings; Mail.dat and Mail.XML are built for high-volume mailers with compatible software.

Mistakes That Get the Form Kicked Back

A short list of errors accounts for most rejected or delayed acceptance:

  • Using 3602-NZ for a mailing with varying piece weights. Switch to PS Form 3602-N.
  • Rounding the single-piece weight to fewer than four decimals.
  • Claiming letter prices for pieces that are nonmachinable and should be priced as flats.
  • Presenting mail after the annual mailing fee has lapsed past its 365 days.
  • An Enterprise Payment Account balance below the total postage on the statement.
  • No Move Update within the past 95 days, or no evidence of the method claimed on the form.

Weigh a piece carefully, verify the postage math against the current Notice 123, confirm the annual fee is current, and check the EPS balance before you leave for the Post Office. Those checks catch most of what would otherwise send you home with the trays still in the car.