Navigating Global Trade Finance

Expert CPA Solutions for Logistics and Transportation

Strategic advisory focused on managing high-volume client duty advances, optimizing cash flow, and ensuring rigorous compliance with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) regulations.

Large red cargo ship named Nordic Erika docked at a port with a crane on deck, under a partly cloudy sky.

Financial and Compliance Services for Cross-Border Logistics

Client Advance Reconciliation: Implementing processes to manage high-volume duty and freight advances, ensuring prompt reimbursement, and protecting working capital.

Customs Compliance Audit Prep: Preparing financial documentation, classification records, and valuation data to minimize risk during CBP and CTPAT audits.

Profitability per Shipment Analysis: Implementing activity-based costing models to accurately determine the true profitability of individual client services (brokerage, trucking, warehousing).

Our Value Proposition: We secure your financial operations by specializing in the complexities of international trade. We implement systems that streamline client advance reconciliation and ensure airtight compliance with CBP, allowing you to move goods quickly and profitably.

FAQs

Q: How do we structure client duty and freight payments to ensure our working capital isn't tied up?

A: We structure the process to minimize the time funds are advanced. This involves ensuring immediate reconciliation of the client's commercial invoice against the company's invoice, often by implementing a separate bookkeeping account for client advances only.

Q: We pay duties on behalf of clients. How should this be recorded on our Balance Sheet?

A: These payments should generally not be recorded as revenue or expense. They should flow through as a liability (when owed to CBP) and then an asset (as a receivable from the client), requiring precise GL management to avoid inflating your top line.

Q: We utilize various truck drivers (owner-operators) for final delivery. How do we ensure their classification is compliant?

A: Given the high risk, we ensure contracts and operating procedures clearly establish the drivers' status as Independent Contractors (1099), focusing on their control over routes, schedule, and equipment to mitigate IRS and state employment tax penalties.

Testimonial

“Managing the cash required to float client duty advances was our single biggest operational headache and constraint on growth. This team implemented a reconciliation process that accelerated our reimbursement cycle by over 10 days, instantly freeing up crucial working capital and stabilizing our daily cash flow." — Jerry Tan, CFO of Grace International Logistics, a Small-Cap International Freight Forwarder and Logistics company.