When I first talk to exporters frustrated by the amount of time it takes to complete their export documentation, they often tell me they spend two hours or more on every single shipment. If they have multiple export orders to ship, the time they have left to do any other part of their job is virtually nil.
A typical export shipment can require five or more documents including a commercial invoice, a packing list, a shipper’s letter of instruction, a bill of lading and a certificate of origin. On top of that, a shipment valued at more than $2,500 per Schedule B code needs to be filed electronically through the Automated Export System (AES). And, of course, every shipment, regardless of value, needs to be screened against U.S. export regulations.
It’s easy to see why it can take so long!
To help companies save time creating their export documents, I’ve come up with five tips for improving your export documentation process:
If you were about to begin a home project, whether it was building a set of bookshelves or cooking a five-course dinner, you’d start by laying out all your tools and ingredients. The same goes for beginning an export documentation project. Make sure you have all the paperwork and information you need before you begin.
Do you have complete descriptions, including weights and dimensions, of the products you’re shipping? Do you have an idea of the forms you’ll need to complete and send with the shipment? If you don’t have the export forms available, do you know where you can quickly find them?
Airline pilots use checklists when taking off and landing aircraft. It’s easy to understand why. The procedures and processes are too many and too complex to memorize, and just one overlooked detail could jeopardize the safety of the flight. Exporting also has its share of complexity, in which one overlooked detail could delay your shipment or derail it in customs for days or weeks.
Therefore, create an export documentation checklist with check boxes for each step in the process. List every item in the order it must be completed. A simple checklist almost guarantees you won’t forget a step while you’re processing a shipment. It can also prove an invaluable tool if you ever get audited by the Office of Export Enforcement, the FBI, or any other agency that has jurisdiction over exports.
Finally, it’s easy to create your checklist as a Word or Excel document. Add numbers and empty check boxes next to each item. Checklists can also be created using Google Docs and easily shared with employees throughout your company.
Accuracy is critical when preparing export documents, so make sure you include a step on your checklist to proofread your work and all forms before you ship anything.
Exporting is a complex topic. The more you know about exporting, the easier and more familiar the subject will become.
Export knowledge gives you the proper context to understand the "why" and the "how" behind each export form and the other shipping requirements. The more you know, the more you can anticipate what’s required as you’re preparing forms. That just makes things go a lot faster!
The good news is you don’t have to go back to school to acquire the knowledge that will give you a leg up. Start by reading these blog posts on the Shipping Solutions website:
Download these free guides:
In addition to the articles and other free resources published by Shipping Solutions, check out the following government websites for export-related information and insights:
Many exporters use templates created in Word, Excel or Google Docs for preparing their paperwork. Templates are more efficient than completing paper documents and can be customized with your company’s corporate identity.
Templates work particularly well when you have a limited set of customers you ship to or a limited number of products you export. In this case, you can often just copy a previous set of documents you’ve created and update only the information that has changed from one shipment to the next. Just make sure you double check your work to ensure none of the old information remains on the form.
Templates also save you money over buying and stocking pre-printed forms, although there is a cost associated with the time it takes to create the templates. If your company does create its own templates, it’s important to monitor changes to export regulations and shipping requirements to ensure the templates remain compliant.
The downside of using templates for your export paperwork is that you still usually need to enter your shipping information on multiple forms, since they aren’t linked together. In addition, you have to reenter all your export information when filing your electronic export information (EEI) through AES and screening the parties in your shipment against the government’s denied party lists.
The fastest way I know to create your export documents is to use a software program like Shipping Solutions. Shipping Solutions users tell us the software allows them to create their export forms up to five-times faster than using templates or paper documents.
For example:
With Shipping Solutions, you only need to enter your export information once, and the software automatically populates the data fields on more than two dozen export documents. You can store your contact, product and company information in the various Shipping Solutions databases to eliminate redundant data entry. Shipping Solutions Professional also allows you to import orders from your accounting or ERP system to save even more time.
In addition to saving time, importing your orders or utilizing the software’s various databases helps improve the accuracy of your documents by minimizing the chances of a typographical error that could slow your shipments or delay payments for your exports.
When it comes time to file through AES, you can simply click a button in the software and the program uploads the data to AESDirect. You don’t have to reenter the information on a website or pay a third-party do it for you. Finally, the software saves you more time (and possibly a lot of money) when it makes it easy to check your shipments against all the government denied party lists, Export Administration Regulations, and International Traffic in Arms Regulations.
Let us show you how Shipping Solutions software can help your company create its export documents up to five-times faster than you're doing it now. Register now for a free online demo of the software. There's absolutely no obligation.
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