70 Best Practices Your Customs Ecosystem Can Perform Today to Generate Revenue & Protect Your Profits
Supply Chain Study: Part 4 of 5
In Part 1 of 5: What is a Customs Ecosystem?, we reviewed what a Customs Ecosystem is, and how the Best-in-Class ecosystems are dependent on three key parts working together; your in-house Customs Team, your Customs Broker, and your Customs Compliance Advisory Firm.
In Part 2 of 5, we reviewed the 8 stakeholder groups in your organization who benefit from a best-in-class Customs Ecosystem. Taking a deeper dive into two specific stakeholder groups; Global Sourcing & Procurement.
In Part 3 of 5, we continued our review of stakeholder groups benefiting from a best-in-class Customs Ecosystem focusing on four specific and related groups; Logistics, International Transportation, Warehousing, and Distribution.
In Part 4, we will review the final two stakeholder groups benefiting from a best-in-class Customs Ecosystem focusing on four specific and related groups; Accounting & Finance, and Legal & Risk and Control.
For those who are simply interested in obtaining a copy of the complete report, a link is provided at the bottom of this post to request a copy.
8 Stakeholder Groups Who Benefit from a Best-In-Class Customs Ecosystem
#7: Accounting & Finance
Common importer/exporter concerns & challenges involving the Account & Finance teams
Below is a listing of common concerns and challenges shared by importers and exporters:
- Duty Drawback, Recovery, and Post-Entry Refunds
- Obtaining the proper trade data in order to Identify and recover overpaid duties from past importations
- Provide Support in Landed Cost Analysis
- Ensuring inclusion and exclusion of all potential cost components when determining the correct value for duty
- some examples include: duty, brokerage, royalty payments, management fees, etc.
- Assists Reporting Process Design
- Avoiding penalties and supporting accurate transaction values
- Audit-Ready Customs Records
- Maintaining accurate and complete documentation & trade data integrity prior to a Customs Administrationย and other governmental department audit and/or request
- Advance Rulings as Tax Risk Mitigation Tools
- Reducing surprises during internal and/or external audits or reconciliations
Best practises that your Customs Ecosystem can provide to the benefit of your Accounting & Finance teams to generate revenue & protect your profits
Of the 70 Best Practises identified in the study, below are those that benefited the Accounting & Finance stakeholder groups.
Internal Customs Department:
- Track duty spend and communicate monthly with Accounting & Finance teams
- Work with Accounts Payable /Accounts Receivableย ย to ensure accurate duty & tax capture
Customs Broker:
- Provide transactional records and accounting feeds
- Reconcile entry summaries with monthly payments
- Ensure invoice-level accuracy
Customs Compliance Advisory Firm:
- Conduct retroactive duty recovery audits
- Identify overpayments and missed refund claims (example: Duty Drawbacks on exported or destroyed goods)
- Support valuation and assist policy reviews during internal financial audits
- CARM & ACE portal training and optimization
#8: Legal, Risk & Control
Common importer/exporter concerns & challenges involving the Legal and Risk & Control teams
Below is a listing of common concerns and challenges shared by importers and exporters:
- Risk Matrix Development for Customs Compliance
- Benchmarking & mapping areas of potential exposure (valuation, origin, permits, sanctions, etc.)
- Self-Audit Protocols & Recordkeeping Standard Operating Procedures
- Maintaining accurate and complete processes to proactively reduce the risk of non-compliance penalties issued by a Customs Administration or other government department
- CARM/ACE Preparedness & Security Role Setup
- Protecting access and security of trade data & customs liabilities
- Regulatory Change Tracking & Impact Analysis
- Alerting Legal/Risk & Control teams to cross-border regulatory & governmental policy shifts in an efficient and timely manner
- Customs Compliance Manual & Internal Controls Design
- Ensuring governance and accountability is accurately documented & maintained
Best practises that your Customs Ecosystem can provide to the benefit of your Legal and Risk & Control teams to generate revenue & protect your profits
Of the 70 Best Practises identified in the study, below are those that benefited the Legal and Risk & Control stakeholder groups.
Internal Customs Department:
- Maintaining a current import/export compliance manual
- Coordinating internal audits and Customs Administration responses
Customs Broker:
- Maintain records, entry packets, and Customs Administration correspondence
- Provide notification of real-time non-compliance or rule changes
Customs Compliance Advisory Firm:
- Perform simulated Customs Administration audits & penalty exposure reviews
- Support CARM/ACE onboarding, including security roles and bonding
- Provide real-time trade regulatory updates and customs compliance benchmarking & risk matrices
- Advise and provide updates on Customs Administration and court appeals
Download this Report
This concludes Part 4 of 5: 8 Stakeholders Who Benefit from a Best-in-Class Customs Ecosystem; #7. Accounting & Finance, and #8. Legal & Risk & Control.
For those interested in downloading the full report
The link below will take you to our Contact Us Request Form.
Please copy the following and paste it into the message field of the form:
I would like to request a copy of 70 Best Practices Your Customs Ecosystem Can Perform Today to Generate Revenue & Protect Your Profits.
