botminds.aiRequest a demo
SystemTrade Compliance

Customs Entry Audit

A weekly post entry audit that reads every line your brokers filed against your own records, argues the broker's side first, and corrects what stands while the window is open.

See the demoBook a demo
See one week of broker filings audited screen by screen ↓
Watch with transcript →
The problem

The broker filed the proforma, and the final invoice went to payables

The importer of record answers for each line its brokers transmit, yet the check is a handful of printed entry summaries a month held up against an invoice from the ERP. Air shipments are entered on a proforma before the final invoice exists, and the final one goes to accounts payable, not to the broker.

A tariff number the parts master retired, an old country of origin left in the broker's product file, last year's fee table: each stays on the entry until CBP finds it or the correction window closes. Questions go to the broker by email and come back as paragraphs days later. Nobody tracks each entry's last safe day, and nobody can say which errors were the broker's and which began in the importer's own process.

Built forTrade compliance analystsTrade compliance managersGlobal trade directorsCustoms counsel

The Problem Today

Importers answer for each line their brokers file, and a check by hand reaches a few entries a month.

300 days
from entry to file a post summary correction, sometimes fewer published
120 days
to produce the invoice after a summary filed on a proforma published

Held up against each other by hand

  • Entries
  • Invoices
  • Parts codes
  • Origins
  • Overpaid duty left unclaimedThe window closes and lines liquidate as filed
  • Our gaps read as broker errorsA final invoice never forwarded looks like theirs

The Solution

  1. Each filed line, each weekAgents read the week's entry summaries the Monday after filing
  2. Our records over the formPaid invoice, parts master and approved origin laid over each line
  3. The broker's side argued firstFindings the records do not support fall before any notice
  4. Signed, then transmittedAnalyst prepares, manager checks, director signs larger ones

Built-in controls

  • Brokers answer in fields; a note goes to a person
  • Preparer, checker and second signer differ
  • Counsel rules on patterns, with a second person

What You Get

Errors are corrected while the window is open, with the broker's agreement on record.

  • Each line read, no samplingEvery entry summary of the week, all brokers
  • Answers you can countOne structured notice per broker, answered in fields
  • A pattern ruled onceChecked weekly once the director approves
Features

Post entry audit features, from the filed 7501 to the correction in ACE

The analyst runs the audit each Monday, the manager and director sign, and the broker answers and files. The screens follow one week of entries.

demoSample data on every screen: the importer, its brokers and sellers, each person, entry number, part and dollar amount.

  1. 01Weekly run

    Post entry audit of each filed line, run weekly from ACE reports

    • The week's entry summaries pulled automatically. The audit starts from what the brokers transmitted, so no line waits for someone to request an extract.
    • Plan, reads and hand-off for each agent. The analyst sees which record each agent read and its confidence score, and opens any of those records from the same screen.
    • A look-back added mid-run in plain words. One instruction widens the run to earlier weeks for a Chapter 99 line, and the added step is logged under the analyst's name.
  2. 02Form overlay

    Entry summary review with invoice, parts master and origin over the 7501

    • Three record layers over the broker's form. The paid invoice, the parts master as of the entry date and the approved origin can each be lifted, so the analyst sees which record disagrees.
    • Each disagreement lit on the field it hits. A proforma value or an outdated origin shows on the line where it was filed, numbered, with the duty it moves.
    • Findings for the entry beside the form. Filed value, expected value, the sources and the status with the broker sit together, with nothing retyped into a spreadsheet.
  3. 03Broker's reply

    Each finding argued from the customs broker's side before a notice goes

    • The broker's best defense, finding by finding. What the records cannot support falls here, so the broker receives only findings that stand.
    • The agents' own mistakes filtered as ours. Gross weight read as net or a superseded purchase order is defeated and labeled, so the error is not sent to the broker.
    • Figures revised when the defense is half right. When freight sits inside an invoice total, the expected value comes down and the finding stands at the corrected amount.
  4. 04Discrepancy notice

    One structured discrepancy notice per customs broker, field by field

    • Field, filed value, our value and the evidence. The broker checks a named field against named documents, rather than reading a list of questions in an email.
    • Drafted by an agent, sent by the analyst. The analyst reviews the notice and sends it with a reason code, so what reaches the broker carries a name.
  5. 05Broker's answer

    Broker answers agree, disagree or need more, with a reason and a document

    • An answer and a reason code per finding. Agreement can be counted and acted on, and a disagreement goes back to the analyst and stays out of the correction.
    • Documents attached where the broker disagrees. The broker's copy of a classification instruction or its product file log arrives with the answer it supports.
    • The broker's free-text note read by a person. The correction instruction for that broker stays blocked while the note is unread.
  6. 06Options

    Post summary correction now or wait, priced against the last safe day

    • Correct now, wait or accept, for each finding. Each option shows the money either way, so the analyst chooses with the deadline in view.
    • Last safe day from entry and scheduled liquidation. The earlier of the two limits is shown per entry, so a correction window does not close unnoticed.
    • Assumptions shown on each option. A tariff reading or a pending ruling is an input the analyst confirms, and the instruction's net changes with it.
  7. 07Manager's check

    Correction instruction checked against the wire, parts master and origin

    • The sources opened inside the check. The manager reads the line comparison, the tariff list extract and the approved origin record before signing as checker.
    • Patterns ruled on at the moment of checking. Repeated proforma values on air entries can go to counsel, and the affected line waits for that decision.
    • Preparer and checker kept apart. Whoever prepared the instruction cannot check or approve it, so a second person reads each correction before the broker does.
  8. 08Signatures

    A larger customs correction signed second after counsel's decision is read

    • Counsel's decision kept privileged. Others see only that a decision was recorded; the instruction, notices and exports leave its content out.
    • Director signs above the company threshold. The director confirms counsel's decision and signs second with the full comparison open.
    • Released to the broker on the last signature. The signed instruction goes to the broker at once, so a correction does not sit in an inbox while its window runs.
  9. 09PSC filed

    Broker transmits the post summary correction and records ACE's response

    • Signed instruction delivered to the broker portal. The broker transmits exactly the lines that were signed, as a new version of the same entry summary.
    • Transmission time recorded by the broker. The broker logs when the correction went, so the importer does not chase it by email.
    • Short duty kept apart from assumed refunds. What rests on no assumption is reported separately from money that depends on a pending ruling.

Who signs a customs entry audit correction, and what they read first

The analyst prepares, the manager checks, the director signs larger corrections, counsel rules on patterns.

Trade compliance analysts

Run the Monday audit, send discrepancy notices and prepare corrections

  • All lines read, findings lit on the form
  • Broker answers that can be counted
  • The last safe day on each finding
Trade compliance managers

Check each correction instruction and rule on repeated errors

  • Filed and paid invoices side by side
  • Parts master history as of the entry date
  • Patterns sent to counsel in one step
Global trade directors

Sign larger corrections second and approve the agents' rules

  • Counsel's decision in front of the signature
  • Broker scorecards counting only findings that stood
  • New rules wait for the director
Customs counsel

Decide whether a pattern of underpayment needs more than corrections

  • Facts only, with no agent opinion
  • A privileged area kept out of exports
  • A second person on each decision

Eight agents check the filing, and the broker's side is one of them

From the ACE pull to the drafted instruction, each agent names who it hands to.

Entry collector

Pulls the week's entry summaries from ACE reports and the brokers' files.

  • Changes no filing
Document matcher

Finds each entry's proforma and final invoices, packing list, purchase order and payment.

  • Flags any unpaid invoice it uses
Line checker

Lays the invoice, the parts master as of the entry date and the approved origin over each line, and raises findings.

  • Decides no classification or origin
Duty calculator

Recomputes duty, Chapter 99 lines and fees per line and entry, to the cent.

  • Uses no rate it cannot cite
Broker's reply

Argues the broker's side of each finding and defeats what the evidence defeats, the agents' own errors included.

  • Calls no one careless
  • Lets no unsupported finding through
Notice writer

Drafts the structured discrepancy notices and reads the brokers' answers in their fields.

  • Sends nothing without the analyst
  • Keeps notes out of the findings
Correction planner

Works out the window, the options and the money per finding, and drafts the instruction.

  • Files nothing
  • Gives no legal view
Pattern keeper

Proposes rules from people's rulings so the next run checks for them.

  • Applies no rule before a second person approves
More screens

Brokers' scorecards, counsel's referral and the run behind one week

Screens for the manager, counsel and the broker around the same correction.

A Chapter 99 line in questionThe valve-body line filed under a 50% steel heading; the approved code owes the 12.5% Section 301 line instead, so the $9,077.88 back is marked assumed until the ruling.
Plan, reads and hand-offs per agentPlan, sources, conclusion and recipient for each agent, with the steer and a hand-off log, newest first.
Our errors, filteredEight findings where the challenger caught the agents: a gross weight, a superseded purchase order, a parts code changed after entry, a bank rate.
The broker's side of the noticeThe customs desk picks agree, disagree or need more, a reason and a document for each finding, and can add a note a person reads.
Counsel's referralThree air entries filed on proforma values while a paid final invoice existed, with the duty short on each; the agents offer no opinion.
Broker scorecardsThirteen weeks per broker: entries, lines, findings that stood, PSC turnaround, and errors whose root cause was the importer's own.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Tariff codes, legal calls and the ACE filing belong to people

Whether a pattern needs more than correctionsCounsel decides in a privileged area and a second person confirms; the agents set out the facts and give no view.
Which tariff number or origin is rightThe line checker raises a disagreement; the classification analyst confirms the code in force and the manager rules.
Sending a notice to a brokerThe notice writer drafts it, and the analyst sends it with a reason code.
Approving a larger correctionAbove the company's threshold the director signs second, after reading counsel's decision.
Transmitting in ACEOnly the licensed customs broker files the correction, after the instruction is signed.

What a customs broker audit reads besides the filed entry summary

Each lit field on the form points back to one of these records.

ACE reportsThe importer's own entry summary lines as filed
Brokers' filesEntry packs and extracts from each broker
ERP invoices and paymentsProforma and final invoices, purchase orders and the wire that paid them
Parts master with historyThe tariff number in force on the entry date, not today's
Approved origin recordsCountry of origin and manufacturer per part, with who approved it
CBP messages and fee tablesChapter 99 lists and the merchandise processing fee for the fiscal year
Broker portalAnswers to notices in fields, attached documents and recorded PSCs

What importers ask before a post entry audit of their brokers

What is a post entry audit?

A post entry audit checks entries after the broker files them against the importer's own records. Here each line of each week's entry summaries is read against the paid invoice, the parts master as of the entry date and the approved origin, and a named person signs each fix.

How is this different from sampling entries each month?

Sampling reads a few printed entry summaries against invoices. This reads all lines from all brokers each week, argues the broker's side of each finding first, and sends only what stands in one structured notice per broker.

How long do we have to correct an entry?

A post summary correction can be filed within three hundred days of entry and no later than fifteen days ahead of the date liquidation is scheduled, if that is sooner. Once an entry liquidates, the remaining routes are disclosure or protest. Each finding shows its last safe day.

Does it blame the broker for every error?

No. A finding counts against a broker only when it stood after the challenger and its root cause was the broker's filing. A final invoice that never left accounts payable is recorded as the importer's own process, and the scorecard says so.

Who decides whether repeated errors need more than corrections?

Customs counsel, in a privileged area, with a second person confirming. The manager can send a pattern to counsel at the check, and the affected line waits. The agents never say whether a penalty or disclosure applies.

Who files the correction in ACE?

The licensed customs broker, after the analyst prepares, the manager checks and, for larger corrections, the director signs second. The broker records the time of transmission and ACE's response in its portal.

Trade Compliance

Trade compliance solutions for importers and their brokers

All 13 solutions →
First Sale for Export

Declare the factory’s price only where every gate holds, with the page for each.

1-min demoTariff Classification

Every code argued over its drawing, and challenged before anyone signs.

1-min demoCF-28 Response

A reply that agrees with its own exhibits, every sentence tied to its page.

1-min demo

Audit last week's entries
against your own records.

Bring a week of entry summaries from your brokers with the invoices you paid, and we will read each line with you.

Book a demoBrowse solutions