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Import & export

File study: purchase order to landed cost on one import

How an import file in Customer Flow keeps the invoice, packing list, duty, and extras together so landed cost is not a month-end spreadsheet.

Shipping containers at a port with a packing list, bill of lading, and tablet on a dockside table
A consignment is the container plus the papers — invoice, packing list, and bill of lading — in one place.

The problem on the desk

The supplier invoice is not the cost of the goods. Freight, insurance, duty, and inland haulage arrive on later papers. If those lines live in a workbook, margin is a guess until someone pastes them in.

What the file holds

  1. Step 1

    Open the import, not a new sheet

    Create the file from the purchase. Partners and commercial terms are reused. The packing list and invoice attach to this consignment.

  2. Step 2

    Record extras as they arrive

    Freight and duty become cost lines on the same record. Landed cost is a running total, not a quarterly true-up.

  3. Step 3

    Approve and close with an audit trail

    Nothing posts because someone said yes in chat. The yes is saved on the file. Stock and money still agree when the import closes.

When the file closes

The consignment owns its papers and cost lines. When duty is assessed, the HS code and the extra sit on the same file as the bill of lading. Finance can export the trail instead of reconstructing email.

How an import file moves

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