Operations
How long must a CMRA keep Form 1583 on file?
Straight answer
A CMRA must keep each customer's Form 1583 for at least six months after the customer's service is terminated. A digital copy at the business location satisfies USPS, and ID images do not need to be retained locally once they are uploaded to the Customer Registration Database. Record the termination date on the form and in the CRD.
Checked September 3, 2026
Does the six months start at sign-up or at termination?
At termination. The form stays on file for the whole time the customer is active, then for at least six months after the termination date you record on it.
DMM 508.1.8 ties retention to the end of service, not the start. A customer who stays five years has a form on file for five years and six months. The termination date is what starts the clock, which is why USPS wants it recorded on the form and in the CRD as soon as practical after the customer leaves.
Is a scanned copy of Form 1583 enough?
Yes. A digital copy of the completed form kept at the business location satisfies the retention rule. You do not need the paper original.
The copy must be complete: the customer's signature, the witness or notary acknowledgment, and the CMRA section. If the form was notarized online, the notarized PDF is the record. Innbocks keeps the approved form, its notarization evidence, and your approval history on the customer record, and it stays there after the customer cancels.
Do I have to keep copies of customer IDs?
Not locally, once legible images of both IDs are in the CRD. Keep them until the upload is confirmed, then local copies are optional.
Since the CRD launched in October 2023, the ID images live in the USPS database. USPS states that ID images need not be retained at the business location after upload. If USPS later flags an image as unclear, you must re-collect and re-upload it, so many operators keep the images in their software anyway. Innbocks retains them on the record and tracks the expiration date, since an expired ID is a certification failure.
USPS CRD explained
What must be uploaded for every customer and what happens when an image is rejected.
What else happens for six months after termination?
You remail the former customer's mail with new postage for at least six months, and your next quarterly certification confirms the termination date is recorded.
Retention and remail run on the same six-month clock. During that window, mail that arrives for the former customer is forwarded to the address they gave you, at your postage. At the next quarterly certification (January 15, April 15, July 15, or October 15) you certify that the termination date is entered. In Innbocks, canceling a customer records the date and opens the matching CRD task so nothing waits for memory.
Frequently asked questions
Records that outlast the customer
Innbocks keeps the approved Form 1583, ID images, and termination date on every customer record and opens the CRD task when service ends.