Document Mailing

Mailing Basics

Abound supports the ability to send a physical paper mail of a specific document to the associated user through the /users/{userId}/documents/{documentId}/mailings endpoint. This is particular useful for delivering 1099 forms to payees.

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It can take up to 3 business days from when a mailing is initially created to when it is "postmarked" by USPS - be sure to account for this delay to accommodate filing deadlines.

When a paper mailing is created using the POST method, it is initialized with the status created. Once the mailing is sent to USPS, the status moves to pending. After 5-7 business days, the mailing can be expected to have been delivered and the status will change to done. In rare circumstances the mail may be undeliverable, in which case the status will update to error and you should attempt to very address details and recreate the mailing.

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Subscribe to the mailings.updated webhook event to receive real time updates on your mailings and handle potential errors.

Creating Mailings

All of the relevant information associated with the mailing (recipient name, address, and document) will be derived from the /user and /user/{userId}/documents/{documentId} that is associated with the mailing. No body data needs to be sent in the POST /user/{userId}/documents/{documentId}/mailings API request because the information is inherited from the associated resources. The derived name and/or company fields will be truncated to 40 characters.

Below is an example response from POST request:

{
  "data": {
    "mailingId": "mailingId_XXXXXXXXXX",
    "to": {
      "name": "Ada Lovelace",
      "company": "InGen Corporation",
      "address": "256 Byron Street",
      "address2": "Suite 32",
      "city": "Palo Alto",
      "state": "CA",
      "zipcode": "94306",
      "country": "US"
    },
    "from": {
      "name": "Erlich Bachman",
      "company": "Pied Piper",
      "address": "1401 N Shoreline Blvd",
      "address2": "Suite 1",
      "city": "Mountain View",
      "state": "CA",
      "zipcode": "94043",
      "country": "US"
    },
    "status": "created",
    "createdTimestamp": 1620150657828
  },
  "request": {
    "timestamp": 1620150657828,
    "requestId": "requestId_XXXXXXXXXX"
  }
}

Canceling Mailings

Mailings can be canceled as long as the status is still created. Once a mailing is sent to USPS, the status will update to pending and the mailing cannot be deleted.

Use the DELETE /user/{userId}/documents/{documentId}/mailings/{mailingId} API endpoint to cancel a mailing in the created status.

Below is an example response from a cancellation API request.

{
  "data": {},
  "request": {
    "timestamp": 1620150657828,
    "requestId": "requestId_XXXXXXXXXX"
  }
}