How to Fill Out PS Form 3602-R: USPS Marketing Mail Postage Statement

PS Form 3602-R is the postage statement you file each time you send a batch of USPS Marketing Mail at commercial prices, and to fill it out you work from the back of the form forward: complete only the lettered parts that match the shape and preparation of your pieces, then carry those subtotals to page 1 to get the postage owed. This guide walks through how to fill out PS Form 3602-R start to finish, including the accounts you need in place first and the certification you’re signing at the bottom.

What You Need in Place Before You Start

The form assumes you already have a mailing permit and a funded account. If you don’t, the Postal Service won’t accept the statement no matter how correctly you complete it.

A permit imprint, obtained by filing PS Form 3615 at your local Business Mail Entry Unit or Post Office. The one-time application fee is $370.¹²
An annual mailing fee of $370, which covers 12 months of commercial-price USPS Marketing Mail.¹
An advance deposit account at the Post Office. Postage is deducted from this account each time you drop a mailing, and the balance has to cover the postage before acceptance.³
A Mailer Identification number (MID), a six- or nine-digit code encoded in the Intelligent Mail barcode on each piece. Request one through the Business Customer Gateway’s MID Tool or on paper through your BMEU.⁴
A Customer Registration ID (CRID), created automatically when you open a Business Customer Gateway account. You’ll need it if you submit the statement electronically.⁵

Every mailing on Form 3602-R also has to meet the minimum volume threshold of 200 pieces or 50 pounds.⁶

When 3602-R Is the Right Form

USPS also publishes a simplified version, Form 3602-EZ, for small mailers sending straightforward batches of letters and flats.⁷ If your mailing includes parcels, or if the sortation and pricing don’t fit inside the EZ form’s limits, use the full 3602-R. Most commercial mailers working through a mail house or handling more than a few thousand pieces end up on this form.

Page 1: The Identifying Information

Page 1 has two working areas. The top half identifies who is behind the mailing; the bottom half holds the postage totals you’ll come back and fill in last.

Three boxes at the top of the form ask who’s involved:⁸

Permit Holder: the business or person whose permit number and deposit account will be charged.
Mailing Agent: a letter shop, print house, or other provider that prepared the mailing for someone else. Leave blank if you prepared your own mailing.
Mail Owner: the business that decided what to send and benefits from it. If the permit holder and mail owner are the same, leave this blank.

Below those boxes, enter your permit number and the Post Office that issued it. Then fill in the mailing date, total number of pieces, total weight, and processing category. The postage lines under these fields stay blank for now.

Working Through the Lettered Parts

The rest of the form is broken into lettered parts, each dedicated to a specific mail shape and preparation:⁸

Part A: Automation Letters (both 3.5 oz. or less and pieces over 3.5 oz.)
Part B: Nonautomation Letters
Part C: Carrier Route Letters, including Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) variants
Part D: Automation Flats
Part E: Nonautomation Flats
Part F: Carrier Route Flats, including EDDM flats
Part G: Marketing Parcels (presorted)
Part L: Customized MarketMail
Part S: Extra Services and Fees (tracking, picture permit imprint, certificate of bulk mailing, hazardous materials)
Part Z: Promotions, Incentives, and Discounts (display only)

Only fill in the parts that apply. A batch of automation letters means you complete Part A and skip everything else lettered. A mixed mailing of letters and flats means you complete Part A (or B) and Part D (or E).

Classify the Mail First

Confirm whether your pieces are letters, flats, or parcels; the physical dimensions decide which part you use. Then decide whether the pieces qualify for automation prices, which requires an Intelligent Mail barcode and machinability, or nonautomation prices. Automation is cheaper, so the classification matters. The eligibility rules are in Domestic Mail Manual Section 243.⁹

Record the Piece Weight to Four Decimals

Weight goes in decimal pounds, to four decimal places, not ounces. If your scale can’t measure that precisely, weigh the pieces at the Post Office.⁷ Weight also decides how you’re priced. For automation and machinable letters, the cutoff is 3.5 ounces (0.2188 pounds). For nonautomation letters and flats, the cutoff is 4.0 ounces (0.25 pounds). Under the cutoff you pay a flat per-piece price; over it, a per-piece plus per-pound price.⁹

Enter Piece Counts by Presort Level

Inside each lettered part, rows correspond to presort tiers: 5-Digit, AADC (Automated Area Distribution Center), Mixed AADC, 3-Digit, and Basic. Enter the number of pieces that qualified for each tier based on how you actually sorted the mail. Deeper presorts get lower per-piece prices, so the counts feed directly into your postage.

Report every piece at the full published price first. Pieces that also meet Full-Service Intelligent Mail requirements are reported again on the Full-Service line to claim that per-piece discount.⁸

Destination Entry Columns

If you transport mail closer to its destination and hand it to USPS deeper in the network, you claim a destination entry discount in the corresponding column. The deeper you drop it, the larger the discount:

DNDC (Destination Network Distribution Center): about 21 locations nationwide, smallest discount.
DSCF (Destination Sectional Center Facility): roughly 350 locations, a larger discount.
DDU (Destination Delivery Unit): more than 33,000 local post offices, largest discount.

Enter the facility code and piece count in the appropriate destination column. If everything enters the system at your origin office, leave the destination entry columns blank and use the origin-entry column.

Bringing the Totals Back to Page 1

After finishing every part that applies, add the postage across those parts and complete the four postage lines on page 1 in order:⁸

Line 1, Subtotal Postage: add the postage from every completed part (A through S). Round to two decimal places for permit imprint mailings, three for postage-affixed mailings.
Line 2, Postage Affixed: only used if the pieces carry stamps or meter imprints. Multiply the affixed pieces by the rate and enter the result.
Line 3, Adjustments: any flat-dollar incentive or discount that applies to the whole mailing.
Line 4, Net Postage Due: Line 1 minus Lines 2 and 3. This is what gets deducted from your advance deposit account.

The Move Update Certification You’re Signing

The signature at the bottom of page 1 certifies that every address on the mailing was updated within 95 days before the mailing date. This is the Move Update standard, and it isn’t optional. Missing it can trigger additional fees or the loss of your bulk mailing privileges.¹⁰

USPS accepts three pre-approved methods:¹⁰

NCOALink, the National Change of Address Linkage System, which a licensed provider runs your list against.
ACS, the Address Change Service, an electronic notification when a piece is forwarded or returned.
Ancillary service endorsements printed on the mailpiece: “Address Service Requested,” “Change Service Requested,” or “Return Service Requested.” “Forwarding Service Requested” does not count as an approved Move Update method.¹¹

NCOALink is the most common route: run your list through a licensed provider before each mailing and keep the receipt. Don’t sign the form if you haven’t done one of the three.

Submitting the Completed Form

You can file Form 3602-R electronically through PostalOne! or on paper at the acceptance window. Electronic filing is strongly encouraged and reduces the chance of verification errors.¹² For occasional and small-volume mailers, the Postal Wizard tool inside the Business Customer Gateway is the simplest path; it handles Full-Service mailings under 10,000 pieces and calculates the postage as you go.¹³ Higher-volume mailers submit through Mail.dat or Mail.XML, both of which require certification through the Testing Environment for Mailers before the first live submission.

To file on paper, print the current form from pe.usps.com or pick one up at your BMEU, complete it by hand, sign the certification, and present it at the acceptance window with the mail.

Whichever route you take, a postal clerk verifies the physical mail before it enters the system. The clerk weighs sample trays, checks that bundles match the presort levels you claimed, and confirms your piece counts are reasonable. If everything matches the form, postage is deducted from your account and you get a postage statement summary as your receipt. If verification turns up problems, electronic submitters can be assessed for additional postage after the fact against their CRID, and paper filers may have the mailing rejected or held until the preparation is fixed.¹⁴

1
United States Postal Service. Notice 123 Price List
2
Postal Explorer. How to Apply for a Permit Imprint
3
Postal Explorer. Paying Postage
4
PostalPro. Mailer Identifier (MID)
5
PostalPro. Customer Registration ID (CRID)
6
United States Postal Service. Business Mail 101 – USPS Marketing Mail
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Postal Explorer. Instructions for Filling Out PS Form 3602-EZ and 3602-NZ PS Forms
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United States Postal Service. Postage Statement USPS Marketing Mail
9
United States Postal Service. Domestic Mail Manual 243 – Commercial Mail USPS Marketing Mail Prices and Eligibility
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PostalPro. Move Update
11
PostalPro. Ancillary Service Endorsements
12
PostalPro. Electronic Documentation (eDoc)
13
PostalPro. Business Customer Gateway
14
United States Postal Service. Postage Assessment After Verification