Importers often price stock from the supplier invoice and a rough percentage for everything else. When margins are thin, that rough percentage decides whether a shipment made or lost money.
What goes into landed cost
- Supplier price and exchange rate on the day of payment.
- Customs duty, excise and other border charges.
- Freight, insurance, clearing agent and local transport.
- Handling and storage until the goods are sellable.
Allocate costs to the items that caused them
Freight is usually allocated by weight or volume, duty by value. Doing this per consignment gives every item a true unit cost — and your sales team a true floor price.
Margin by product and customer, known before month-end, is the difference between growing and guessing.
Close the loop with sales
Once landed cost flows into stock value, every sales invoice carries its real margin. Reports by product, customer and consignment stop being a spreadsheet project.
