# Pull your USPS Business Customer Gateway balances by API

> Read your permits and fees due, your Enterprise Payment account balances and your Mailer Scorecard from the Business Customer Gateway with one API call each. A workflow checks every CRID each weekday morning and emails you the trust accounts running low.

Page: https://fous.com/automate/usps-business-customer-gateway
Updated: 2026-11-12

Works with your own USPS Business Customer Gateway account. Fous is an independent product.

## What you can build on the BCG

### Get permits and fees due

Reads Manage Permits and Balance and Fees for one business location (CRID): each permit, its status, its Post Office and the next fee due.

- Takes: CRID
- Returns: Permit number, status, Post Office, balance, next fee due date, fee amount

### Get Enterprise Payment account balances

Reads the Enterprise Payment Account Overview for one CRID: each EPS account's Current Balance, Pending Transactions and Account Status.

- Takes: CRID
- Returns: EPS account, account type, current balance, pending transactions, account status

### Read the Mailer Scorecard for a month

Opens the Mailer Scorecard from Mailing Reports and reads, for letters or flats, the indicators over their error threshold and each one's error percentage.

- Takes: CRID, month, letters or flats
- Returns: Indicator, error percentage, threshold, over threshold, mail class

### Approve or deny a service access request

As the Business Service Administrator, opens Manage Users and approves or denies the pending request for access to a service that you name.

- Takes: User name, service, approve or deny
- Returns: User name, service, decision, date

## Automate the BCG with a workflow

A [workflow](/product/workflows) runs your methods as one process, with nobody at the screen. A schedule or a call from your own system starts it, the steps run in order, and the result arrives in your inbox or in the systems you already use.

### Low EPS trust account balances, every CRID

Starts: Every weekday at 7:00

1. For each CRID you name, get the Enterprise Payment account balances.
2. Keep the trust accounts whose Current Balance is under the amount you set.
3. Email you the list with CRID, EPS account, Current Balance and Pending Transactions.

### Last month's Mailer Scorecard, once it is complete

Starts: On the 11th of every month at 8:00

1. For each CRID, read the Mailer Scorecard for last month, letters and flats.
2. Keep the indicators over their error threshold.
3. Summarize them by CRID and post the result to your webhook.

### Permit fees coming due

Starts: Every Monday at 8:00

1. For each CRID, get the permits and fees due from Balance and Fees.
2. Keep the permits whose next fee falls due in the next 30 days.
3. Email you each one with permit number, Post Office, due date and fee amount.

You can run a workflow by hand on every plan, Free included. Schedules and webhook triggers come with the paid plans, from $29 a month.

## Once built, one call from your code

Once you have built a [method](/product/methods), it is one POST to /v1/runs from your backend, or a tool an AI agent calls over MCP. This is what “Get permits and fees due” would look like.

Example request:

```
curl https://api.fous.com/v1/runs \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOUS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "method": "gateway.usps.com/get_permits_and_fees",
    "input": {
      "crid": "48210375"
    }
  }'
```

Example response:

```
{
  "status": "completed",
  "data": {
    "crid": "48210375",
    "business_name": "Acme Direct Mail",
    "permits": [
      {
        "permit_number": "1742",
        "status": "Active",
        "post_office": "Columbus, OH 43215",
        "balance": 2310.45,
        "next_fee_due_date": "2027-01-14",
        "fee_amount": 345
      }
    ],
    "count": 1
  }
}
```

An example with invented data, not a ready-made endpoint. The method exists in your organization once you build it, and its name, inputs and fields follow your request.

## The BCG’s own options

USPS publishes REST APIs for addresses, prices, labels, tracking, carrier pickup and drop-off appointments, reached with OAuth 2.0 credentials from an app in its Customer Onboarding Portal. Labels also need USPS Ship enrollment and an Enterprise Payment Account. Permits, Balance and Fees, the Mailer Scorecard and user access are handled in the BCG itself.

| Option | What it covers | What it takes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| USPS APIs | Addresses, domestic and international prices, labels, tracking, carrier pickup, drop-off appointments in FAST, and payment accounts used for labels. | A USPS business account and an app created in the Customer Onboarding Portal. Labels need USPS Ship enrollment and an Enterprise Payment Account. |
| Informed Visibility | Mail tracking data for letters, flats, bundles, handling units and containers. | A service you request from the BCG's Mailing Services list. |
| The BCG by hand | Manage Permits, Balance and Fees, Mailer IDs, Mailing Reports, the Mailer Scorecard and user access, one CRID at a time. | A BCG account. One username and password reaches every CRID on the account. |

Read on November 12, 2026: [USPS API Catalog](https://developers.usps.com/apis), [Getting started with USPS APIs](https://developers.usps.com/getting-started), [Business Customer Gateway: Overview and Tour](https://postalpro.usps.com/mnt/glusterfs/2024-07/BCG%206.18.2024.pdf).

## Signing in to the BCG

The BCG signs you in with one username and password for all its services. Multifactor authentication applies, by emailed code, text message or an authenticator app, and accounts created on or after March 6, 2025 cannot opt out. With Fous you sign in once through the BCG's own sign-in with your own account: the login is sealed with AES-256, emailed codes are handled, and an expired session is signed back in.

## Worth knowing

- **One account, many CRIDs**: A single BCG account can hold many CRIDs, and you choose the business location to view. A method takes the CRID as an input, and a workflow loops over your CRIDs.
- **The BSA decides who sees what**: The first user to request a service at a location becomes its Business Service Administrator and approves others. Permits need Manage Mailing Activity; the Enterprise Payment Account Overview also needs at least a Subscriber role in EPS.
- **A scorecard month closes on the 10th**: Mailings submitted in a month keep being verified until the 10th day of the following month, and the Mailer Scorecard updates daily. Read last month's results after the 10th.
- **Transaction searches cover 125 days**: Transactions in Mailing Reports are searched over a date range of 125 days or less. A Business Reply Mail search can cover up to 365 days for one permit.

## More in Government: US federal

- [BSA E-Filing System](https://fous.com/automate/bsa-e-filing-system.md)
- [FINRA Gateway](https://fous.com/automate/finra-gateway.md)
- [PostalOne](https://fous.com/automate/postalone.md)
- [Invoice Processing Platform](https://fous.com/automate/invoice-processing-platform.md)
- [FMCSA Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse](https://fous.com/automate/fmcsa-drug-and-alcohol-clearinghouse.md)
- [Wide Area Workflow](https://fous.com/automate/wide-area-workflow.md)
- [E-Verify](https://fous.com/automate/e-verify.md)
- [EPA Central Data Exchange](https://fous.com/automate/epa-central-data-exchange.md)
- [SAM.gov](https://fous.com/automate/sam-gov.md)
- [CM/ECF](https://fous.com/automate/cm-ecf.md)
- [EFTPS](https://fous.com/automate/eftps.md)
- [FBI NICS E-Check](https://fous.com/automate/fbi-nics-e-check.md)
- [FLAG](https://fous.com/automate/flag.md)
- [HUD Secure Systems](https://fous.com/automate/hud-secure-systems.md)
- [USCIS online account](https://fous.com/automate/uscis-online-account.md)
- [IRIS Taxpayer Portal](https://fous.com/automate/iris-taxpayer-portal.md)
- [Motus](https://fous.com/automate/motus.md)
- [TRACS / iMAX](https://fous.com/automate/tracs-imax.md)
- [USPTO Patent Center](https://fous.com/automate/uspto-patent-center.md)
- [EDGAR Filer Management](https://fous.com/automate/edgar-filer-management.md)
- [COD](https://fous.com/automate/cod.md)
- [IRS e-Services](https://fous.com/automate/irs-e-services.md)
- [IRS Tax Pro Account](https://fous.com/automate/irs-tax-pro-account.md)
- [EIV](https://fous.com/automate/eiv.md)
- [USPTO Trademark Center](https://fous.com/automate/uspto-trademark-center.md)
- [SSA Business Services Online](https://fous.com/automate/ssa-business-services-online.md)
- [NetDMR](https://fous.com/automate/netdmr.md)

Other industries: [Bonfire](/automate/bonfire), [Colorado Revenue Online](/automate/colorado-revenue-online), [DIR Public Works eCPR](/automate/dir-public-works-ecpr), [Sonepar Onlineshop](/automate/sonepar-onlineshop), [Bullhorn](/automate/bullhorn), [CAQH Provider Data Portal](/automate/caqh-provider-data-portal).

## Frequently asked questions

### Does the USPS Business Customer Gateway have an API?

Not for its own screens: USPS's API catalog covers addresses, prices, labels, tracking, carrier pickup and drop-off appointments, with OAuth 2.0 credentials from an app in the Customer Onboarding Portal. Permits, Balance and Fees, the Mailer Scorecard and user access are handled in the BCG.

### Where do I see my Enterprise Payment account balance?

In the Enterprise Payment Account Overview. It shows Current Balance for a trust account, Pending Transactions for an ACH debit account and the Account Status. You need Manage Mailing Activity and at least a Subscriber role in EPS for that account.

### When are a month's Mailer Scorecard results complete?

After the 10th day of the following month. Mailings submitted in a month keep being verified until then, and the Scorecard data updates daily. It is available to the eDoc submitter and to the mail owner or mail preparer.

### Why can't a colleague see our permits in the BCG?

Access to each service is approved by its Business Service Administrator or a BSA delegate, and managing permits needs Manage Mailing Activity. Your colleague requests the service under Manage Services and the BSA approves it. A new BCG account gets a new CRID unless your Company Identifier is selected when it is created.

### Is Fous affiliated with the United States Postal Service?

No. Fous is an independent product. You use it with your own Business Customer Gateway account, and a method reads and does only what that account can.

Fous is an independent product: it is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the operator of USPS Business Customer Gateway (United States Postal Service). The name is used only to say which system this page is about. Something here wrong or out of date? Write to legal@fous.com.