USPS PS Form 5630: SCAN Form for Bulk Shipment Acceptance

USPS PS Form 5630, known as the Shipment Confirmation Acceptance Notice or SCAN form, lets a postal worker scan a single barcode to record acceptance for every package on your daily manifest at once.¹ One scan replaces the tedious box-by-box scanning that would otherwise hold up a pickup, and every tracking number linked to the form gets an “Acceptance” event in the USPS system within minutes.

What the Form Does

The form is a printed page containing one large barcode, a shipment count, and the mailing date. Behind that barcode sits an electronic manifest listing every tracking number you shipped that day. When the carrier or retail clerk scans the barcode, USPS marks all of those packages accepted simultaneously. For a high-volume shipper, that’s the difference between a 30-second handoff and a 15-minute scanning session.

Who Can Generate One

PS Form 5630 is available to mailers who buy postage electronically and print labels through USPS Click-N-Ship or a third-party shipping platform that connects to USPS systems. You need a USPS account, label-generation software, and a printer.

The form works across Priority Mail, Ground Advantage, and certain international services. Two rules govern what can go on a single form: every label must share the same mailing date, and every label must share the same origin ZIP code.² Shipping from two locations, or splitting a batch across two days, means two separate forms.

How To Create the Form

You generate PS Form 5630 inside your shipping software after all of the day’s labels are finalized. The trigger is usually a button labeled “Close Out,” “End of Day,” or “Create Manifest.” Hitting it compiles every eligible tracking number into one manifest, transmits the data to USPS, and produces a downloadable PDF with the scannable barcode.³ Labels reach the postal systems within about 15 minutes of the form being created.

Print the form on standard paper at a quality setting that keeps the barcode crisp. The printed page is what the postal worker’s handheld scanner reads, so a smudged or faded barcode can cause problems at pickup. There’s no USPS guidance confirming that a phone or tablet screen will be accepted in place of paper, so bring the printout.

One thing catches people off guard: labels can only be added to a SCAN form before they’ve been manifested.³ Once you close out and print, those labels are locked. Any label you create afterward has to go on a second form, and USPS prefers one form per shipper per day, so batch everything before closing out.²

When To Close Out

The form is date-specific. The system locks it at midnight on the ship date, after which it can no longer be printed.² The practical deadline is earlier: whenever your carrier picks up, or the last moment you can reach a post office.

The safest habit is to close out right before the handoff. Close out at 10 a.m. for a 3 p.m. pickup and any labels you print in between won’t be on the manifest, forcing a second form or individual scans on the extra boxes.

Handing the Packages to USPS

There are three ways to submit the form and the packages together: schedule a carrier pickup, hand everything to your regular letter carrier, or bring it all to a post office retail window or back dock.¹ Place the form on top of the stack so the postal employee sees it right away.

The employee scans the single barcode at the time of collection.² That scan triggers an Acceptance event for every tracking number on the manifest, and the tracking system updates within minutes.¹ Customers see movement on their orders quickly, and no one has to stand there while a carrier scans 40 boxes one at a time.

What Your Tracking Will Show

After the SCAN form is scanned, individual tracking numbers display “Shipment Received, Package Acceptance Pending.” That status means a postal facility has received a container or group of packages but hasn’t processed the individual items yet. When the container is opened and each package gets its own scan at the sorting facility, the status updates.⁴

The gap between “Shipment Received” and the next scan can run from a few hours to more than a day, depending on facility volume. It’s normal. If a customer asks, the honest answer is that USPS has accepted the package but hasn’t reached the first sorting scan.

Fixing Common Problems

The Barcode Won’t Scan

If the printed barcode is unreadable, the postal worker can key the barcode number into the handheld scanner manually.² It’s slower and invites typos, but a poor printout doesn’t have to sink the whole handoff. A fresh toner cartridge and a higher print-quality setting head off the issue.

Missing or Extra Packages

The scan triggers acceptance for whatever is on the electronic manifest, not what’s physically in the pile. Pull a package after printing (say, the customer canceled) and its tracking will still show an acceptance event, so void the label in your software. Forget to include a label before closing out and that package won’t get scanned in, which means the carrier has to scan it individually or you have to create a second form.

Late Additions After Closeout

You cannot add labels to a form once it’s closed. The only option is a new form for the extra packages.² If your carrier has already left, take the additional packages and the new form to a post office window. Experienced high-volume shippers wait until the last possible moment before pickup to close out, precisely to avoid this.

Keep a Copy as Proof

Save each SCAN form after it’s been scanned. The form is your receipt showing that USPS accepted the shipment on a specific date, which matters if a package goes missing and you need to file an insurance claim or issue a refund. Most shipping platforms archive recent manifests, but keeping your own copy is safer. Hold onto each form until every package in the batch has delivered and any return windows have closed.

1
United States Postal Service. Postal Bulletin 22239 – PS Form 5630, Shipment Confirmation Acceptance Notice
2
United States Postal Service. Field Information Kit – Shipment Confirmation Acceptance Notice (SCAN)
3
USPS Developer Portal. SCAN Forms 3.0
4
United States Postal Service. Where Is My Package? Tracking Status Help