Workflow — Customs Entry Preparation

Customs entries in minutes. HTS classification with ruling-database backstop.

Commercial invoice, packing list, BOL / AWB, certificate of origin, ISF data → HTS classification, valuation method determination, country-of-origin determination, preferential-trade qualification (USMCA, FTAs), partner-government-agency (FDA, EPA, USDA) flags. Entry Summary 7501 prepped into CBP's ABI / ACE for the licensed broker filing.

Take the AI Assessment Get a Per-Entry ROI Model

$35–$120

Per entry at brokers + offshore prep teams

$45–$85

Per hour, US-licensed customs broker (loaded)

60–85%

Volume off the offshore prep line after AI cutover

What This Replaces

The Offshore Customs-Prep Team on Every Entry

The work the offshore prep team does on every entry — and the cost of leaving it there.

The labor

Customs entry preparation today moves through US-licensed customs brokers at $45–$85 per hour fully loaded plus heavy offshore prep support — Genpact, WNS, Cognizant BPS, Accenture Operations, EXL plus customs-broker-owned offshore ops at Livingston International, Expeditors, Flexport, and others. Per-entry cost runs $35–$120 fully loaded counting prep, broker review, and ABI / ACE filing. The licensed-broker role is regulator-required for the filing itself; offshore prep handles HTS classification, valuation, and document assembly.

The cycle time

Standard entry-prep cycle runs hours-to-days from document receipt to ACE filing, with longer cycles when HTS classification requires CBP ruling research, when PGA-agency requirements (FDA Prior Notice, EPA TSCA, USDA APHIS) require additional documentation, or when USMCA / FTA preferential-trade qualification needs supplier-data review. Every hour an entry sits in queue is an hour the importer pays demurrage at the port and a delay the broker eats on the per-entry contract.

The Workflow

Input · Analysis · Output

What goes into entry prep, what we do to it, and what shows up in ABI / ACE for broker review.

Input

Trade documents + ISF + supplier data

Commercial invoice and packing list
BOL or AWB
Certificate of origin
ISF data (already filed under ISF workflow)
Supplier mill certs and material declarations
Prior CBP rulings on similar products
Importer of record data and CBP Form 5106

Analysis

Classify, value, qualify

HTSUS classification with GRI application
Valuation method determination per 19 USC 1401a
Country-of-origin determination per CBP rules
USMCA / FTA preferential-trade qualification
Partner-government-agency (FDA, EPA, USDA, FCC) flag identification
Anti-dumping / countervailing-duty (AD/CVD) screening
Confidence score per finding; exceptions to broker queue

Output

Entry Summary 7501 into ABI / ACE

Entry Summary 7501 prepped
CBP ABI / ACE entry filing draft
PGA documentation queue (FDA, EPA, USDA)
AD/CVD screening alert if applicable
Broker review queue with confidence-flagged exceptions
Release and entry-summary archive
Per-entry audit trail with classification basis

Side by Side

Customs Entry Preparation Today vs. With Last Rev

The numbers that matter: cycle time, per-entry cost, accuracy, and CBP audit posture.

Dimension	Broker + Offshore Prep	Last Rev Customs Entry Prep
Cycle time, document receipt to ACE-ready entry	Hours-to-days	Minutes-to-an-hour per entry
Per-entry unit cost	$35–$120 fully loaded	Per-entry, benchmarked at 25–45% of broker + offshore unit cost
HTS classification consistency	Variable — analyst judgment, drift on uncommon products	Per-product HTS with prior CBP ruling backstop and the GRI applied
PGA-agency flag accuracy	Manual flag review, occasional misses on FDA / EPA / USDA	PGA-flag rules encoded per HTS chapter / commodity
USMCA / FTA preferential-trade qualification	Manual supplier-data review	Tariff-shift, RVC, de-minimis analysis with supplier data referenced
ABI / ACE integration	Manual data entry into broker software, then ACE Portal	Direct via ABI / ACE feed for broker review and filing
Audit log per finding	Broker / analyst notes, no rule-level lineage	Source document + HTS rule + valuation basis + confidence per element

How It Works

From Trade Documents to Filing-Ready Entry Summary 7501

Five steps. Every one logged. Every one reversible if your confidence threshold isn't met.

Submission Lands

Commercial invoice, packing list, BOL / AWB, certificate of origin, ISF data, supplier mill certs, and importer-of-record data — paired with prior CBP rulings on similar products and the importer-specific HTS catalog.

Extraction & Classification

HTSUS classification with General Rules of Interpretation (GRI) application. Valuation method determination per 19 USC 1401a. Country-of-origin determination per CBP rules. USMCA / FTA preferential-trade qualification. PGA-agency flag identification. AD/CVD screening.

Validation Against CBP / PGA Rules

Findings validated against current CBP regulations, PGA-agency requirements (FDA Prior Notice, EPA TSCA, USDA APHIS), and the importer's compliance program. Anything below your confidence threshold per finding is routed to the licensed broker review queue — final filing remains with the broker.

Push to ABI / ACE

Entry Summary 7501 prepped for broker review. CBP ABI / ACE entry filing draft assembled. PGA documentation queue updated. AD/CVD screening alert if applicable. Broker reviews and files.

Audit Log Persisted

Every HTS classification, valuation finding, country-of-origin determination, and PGA-agency flag logged with the source document, rule citation, model version, and confidence score. CBP-Focused-Assessment-ready and yours.

Compliance & Defensibility

Built to Meet the Quality Bar Customs Brokerage Already Runs On

CBP regulations and HTSUS conformance

CBP regulations (19 CFR), HTSUS classification with GRI application, valuation methods (19 USC 1401a), country-of-origin determination, and preferential-trade qualification rules tracked. CBP rule and HTSUS revision updates flow into the validation engine within days of effective dates.

PGA conformance (FDA, EPA, USDA)

Partner-government-agency flag rules encoded per HTS chapter / commodity. FDA Prior Notice / FSMA, EPA TSCA / FIFRA, USDA APHIS, FCC Part 2 / Part 15, and other PGA requirements surface at entry-prep time so PGA documentation routes correctly.

Licensed broker role respected

We don't make the entry-filing decision. Final filing is the licensed broker's regulator-required role under 19 CFR 111. We prep the Entry Summary 7501, classify HTS, determine valuation, qualify FTA preference, and flag PGA — your broker reviews and files. Confidence-flagged exceptions route to broker review automatically.

Importer data and IP confidentiality

Trade documents contain importer pricing, supplier IP, and competitive product information. Deployable in your VPC or our SOC 2 environment. Encryption in transit and at rest; retention policies tied to CBP recordkeeping rules (5-year minimum under 19 CFR 163).

Common Questions

What Brokers and Importers Ask About Customs Entry Prep

Those are the customs and GTM platforms where entries, HTS catalogs, and trade-compliance data live. The competitor on this page is the broker + offshore prep labor that does the actual classification, valuation, and entry-prep work — typically US-licensed brokers at $45–$85 per hour onshore plus offshore prep at $11–$22 per hour at Genpact, WNS, Cognizant BPS, Accenture Operations, EXL, Livingston International, Expeditors, or Flexport ops centers. We undercut that combined labor cost, integrate directly into your customs platform / ABI / ACE, and deliver Entry Summary 7501 drafts for broker review and filing.

We don't replace the licensed customs broker. Final filing is the broker's regulator-required role. We prep the entry, classify HTS, determine valuation, qualify FTA preference, and flag PGA — your licensed broker reviews and files. Confidence-flagged exceptions route to broker review automatically. The broker is in the review-and-approve loop on every entry.

Our pilot success threshold is HTS-classification, valuation, and PGA-flag accuracy at parity with or above your incumbent prep team, measured on the same shadow-data sample of historical entries. Anything below your defined confidence threshold per finding is routed to the broker review queue.

Novel and ambiguous products are classified with GRI application, prior CBP rulings cross-referenced, and binding-ruling-request decision flagged when needed. Each classification surfaces with the GRI basis cited so the broker reviews on a richer file than offshore prep produces today. We don't make the broker call on borderline classifications — we surface the basis.

USMCA, KORUS, CAFTA-DR, and other FTA preferential-trade rules are encoded per agreement. Tariff-shift analysis, regional-value-content (RVC) calculation, and de-minimis rule application run against supplier mill certs and material declarations. The audit log records the qualification basis per entry so post-importation USMCA verifications resolve cleanly.

Yes — through the documented integration surface each platform supports. CBP ABI / ACE via the Automated Broker Interface and ACE Portal; SAP GTS via SAP integration patterns; Oracle GTM via APIs; Descartes via APIs. Your IT and trade-compliance teams review and approve service accounts. We do not require platform-side custom development.

Customs-entry pilots typically run 6–8 weeks: 1–2 weeks of integration and per-importer HTS-catalog mapping with the broker team, 4 weeks of shadow-mode running on real entries with no ACE-side filing writes, 1–2 weeks of supervised cutover on a constrained scope (one importer of record, one product line). Production rollout is staged after the pilot meets your accuracy and broker sign-off.

We benchmark against your current per-entry cost — typically $35–$120 fully loaded counting broker time and offshore prep. Our target is 25–45% of that per-entry cost at higher accuracy and faster cycle time. Pricing structures around volume tiers and outcome SLAs, not hourly billable rates.

Two Ways to Start

Take the AI assessment for a structured read on customs-entry-prep feasibility. Or talk to us if you already know offshore prep is the largest line on your customs operations budget.

Self-serve · 8 minutes

Take the AI Assessment

A short structured assessment that maps your monthly entry volume, customs platform, and broker / offshore prep arrangement to AI feasibility and ROI.

Talk to a specialist

Get a Per-Entry ROI Model

Send us your monthly entry volume, your customs platform, and your current broker / offshore prep arrangement. We'll come back with a per-entry unit-cost comparison and a 6–8 week pilot plan in 5 business days.

Other Workflows

More Logistics & Trade Workflows We Replace

The same approach, applied to the other document-heavy labor lines on your trade-compliance budget.

HTS Classification

Product specs → HTSUS classification with GRI application, prior CBP ruling search.

ISF (10+2) Preparation

Importer Security Filing data — extracted from PO, supplier invoice, vessel schedule — ACE-filed before lading.

USMCA Certificate of Origin

BOM + supplier origin → tariff-shift, RVC, de-minimis analysis. USMCA certificate in hours.

Duty Drawback Claim Preparation

Imports matched to exports per substitution / unused-merchandise rules — TFTEA drawback via ACE.