International Commerce Codes
FollowAbout International Commerce Codes
If your business ever ships goods internationally, you may be required by your customs department to produce a Commercial Invoice. The Commercial Invoice should describe the goods being shipped alongside their value so that customs can accurately determine if any duties or taxes are due to be paid.
To assist you with this, we have a configuration option called "International Commerce Codes". When enabled, the International Commerce Codes setting allows you to define International Commerce Attributes on the following records and transactions:
- Products
- Customer
- Supplier
- Company
- Shipments
The International Commerce Attributes applied to each of these records and transactions are then available to collate within Unleashed's Commercial Invoice template, which can be printed for each Shipment in Unleashed.
Enable International Commerce Codes
By default, the International Commerce Codes configuration is disabled. To enable the International Commerce Codes configuration:
- From the main menu, go to Settings, Company, and select the Configuration tab.
- Find the International Commerce Codes option and switch the toggle ON.
- Click Save in the top right corner and the setting is now enabled.
The International Commerce Codes can be disabled at any time.
Product International Commerce Attributes
When International Commerce Codes is enabled, the Details tab within your product records will update to display a new section called "International Commerce Attributes".
This section allows you to record the following details per product:
-
International Commerce Code: A 6-14 digit code that Customs authorities use to identify goods that are sent/received internationally. Also known as "Commodity Code", "Harmonized Code", "HS Code" or "Tariff Code"
NOTE: If updating the International Commerce Code in bulk using an Import CSV, make sure that your column for the international commerce code is formatted as TEXT to ensure any leading 0's are not lost. - Customs Description: A simplified description of the product to appear on a commercial invoice.
- Country of Origin: The country where the product was manufactured, select the drop down list available.
-
Supplementary Unit: Supplementary units are used for customs purposes for goods when a more appropriate measure is required. Select the associated measure (if required) from the dropdown list available.
NOTE: Skip to the end of this article for a comprehensive list of the supplementary units and descriptions available.
International Commerce Attributes can be uploaded in bulk for your product records using the Import Products CSV template. For more details, see Import Products Field Definitions.
If an invalid country or supplementary unit is supplied, the row will not be imported and an error message will be generated. If you are unsure of the accepted values, refer to the drop-down lists on any Product page, or leave the field blank, import the product, and update it manually via the Product page.
Company International Commerce Attributes
Each company or business that ships goods internationally is provided with an Economic Operators Registration and Identification (EORI) number. The EORI number for each party within the shipping process will be required on each Commercial Invoice.
Add your Company's EORI number (Shipper's EORI) to your Company details within the Settings page or, in the case where you have offshore warehouses, provide an EORI number per Warehouse in your Warehouse settings. If no EORI number is located for a Warehouse, then the Company EORI number will be used.
Where to enter the Company EORI number
To save your Company EORI (Shipper's EORI) within Unleashed:
- From the main menu, go to Settings, Company and select the Details tab.
- Enter your company's EORI Number in the filed provide, then click Save.
Where to enter the Warehouse EORI number
If you have offshore Warehouses, each warehouse will be provided with it's own unique EORI number. If a Shipment within Unleashed is dispatched from an offshore Warehouse the Shipment's Commercial Invoice will populate the Warehouse's EORI number, over the Company EORI number.
To save an EORI number for a Warehouse:
- From the main menu, go to Settings, System and select Warehouses.
- Select the offshore Warehouse being updated and provide it's EORI number in the field available.
Customer International Commerce Attributes
Customs will need to know the EORI number of the company/persons receiving the shipped goods. As such you'll be able to provide your Customer's EORI (Receiver's EORI) number in their Customer record. The Customer's EORI will automatically populate in each Shipment generated for the Customer moving forwards, to be included on the Commercial Invoice.
Where to enter the Customer EORI number
- Go to the Customer record in Unleashed.
- In the Details tab, provide the Customer's EORI number in the field available and Save.
In the case where you might be shipping to a 3rd party with a different EORI number to your Customer's, simply overwrite the Receiver's EORI number on the Sales Shipment page.
Supplier International Commerce Attributes
If you purchase stock from international Suppliers, you'll need the Supplier's EORI number in order to process any Supplier Returns for them. The Supplier's EORI number will automatically populate in their Purchase Orders and any Supplier Return generated for them, to then be included on their Commercial Invoices.
Where to enter the Supplier EORI number
- Go to the Supplier record in Unleashed.
- In the Details tab, provide the Supplier's EORI number in the field available and Save.
Shipment International Commerce Attributes
Alongside populating the Shipper's EORI, Receiver's EORI and Product commerce attributes, each Shipment must also define the following:
- Incoterm: International Commercial Terms (In-Co terms) defines the respective obligations, costs and risks involved in the delivery of goods from the seller to the buyer. Select the term (if required) from the dropdown list available.
- Nature of Transaction: Nature of Transaction Code (NoTC) indicates the type of transaction being declared. Select the NoTC (if required) from the dropdown list available.
-
Commercial Value: This field will automatically populate per Shipment Line with the undiscounted unit price per product multiplied by the order quantity. The amount can be changed in each Shipment (prior to dispatch) to reflect the appropriate commercial value.
As you can create multiple Commercial Invoice templates within Doc Designer to suit various requirements, use the "Commercial Invoice Template" dropdown menu within a Shipment to select the appropriate template to print.
Print a Commercial Invoice
Unleashed's Commercial Invoices will populate the required details from the Shipment of a Sales Order and as such a Commercial Invoice can only be printed for a Sales Order if a Shipment's been generated for it. The Shipment does not need to have been dispatched in Unleashed, it just needs to exist in at least a Parked status.
When printed from Unleashed, the Commercial Invoice template selected in the Shipment will be downloaded as a PDF file to your device and will be available to print.
Print a Commercial Invoice from a Shipment
To print a Commercial Invoice from a specific Shipment, select the Print dropdown at the bottom of the Shipment's page and select Commercial Invoice.
Print a Commercial Invoice from a Sales Order
To print an individual Shipment's Commercial Invoice from a Sales Order, go to the Shipments tab in the Sales Order, hover over the Action Cog on the Shipment's row and select Commercial Invoice.
Print all Commercial Invoices for a Sales Order
To print a Commercial Invoice for all Shipments created for a Sales Order, select the Print dropdown at the bottom of the Sales Order's page and select Commercial Invoice.
Bulk Print Commercial Invoices
You can print Commercial Invoices in bulk to account for multiple Sales Orders or Shipments at once.
To print multiple Commercial Invoices based on the Sales Orders:
- Go to View Sales Orders page, and use the checkbox to select the appropriate Sales Orders due to be printed.
- Go to the Action Cog in the header and select Print Documents.
- Select Commercial Invoices.
To print multiple Commercial Invoices based on the Shipments:
- Go to View Shipments page, and use the checkbox to select the appropriate Shipments due to be printed.
- Go to the Action Cog in the header and select Print Commercial Invoices.
Doc Designer Commercial Invoice
As soon as the International Commerce Codes setting is enabled in Unleashed, a default Commercial Invoice template will be made available and this can be immediately used to print with in your Sales Orders and Shipments. However, you have the option to create customized Commercial Invoice templates within the Doc Designer settings to facilitate any specific requirements.
Customized Commercial Invoice template
To design your own Commercial Invoice template:
- From the main menu go to, Settings, Doc Designer and select Commercial Invoices.
- Use the Template Name dropdown to select an existing template.
- Click on Duplicate.
- Fill in the "New Template Name" field will have just been displayed on the page and click on Create.
Once your new Commercial Invoice template have been created, you can update and edit the layout and components to suit your needs.
Since the Sales Shipment will automatically use the default commercial invoice, you may want to make your new template the default by checking the "Default" box against your template name.
Commercial Invoice components
Each product's Commerce Attributes and Commercial Value will be available to populate on a Commercial Invoice provided the component "Commercial Invoice Lines Grid" has been included on the Doc Designer's template. The "Commercial Invoice Lines Grid" component can be found in the Toolbox tab under "Shipment Data".
Similarly, the Shipper's EORI, Receiver's EORI and other commercial components included on each Shipment can be added to the template from the Toolbox tab under the "Commercial Invoice Data" section.
For more details on managing your account's templates, see Doc Designer.
Purchase Order and Supplier Return components
To include a Supplier's EORI number on the printed version of a Purchase Order or Supplier Return in Unleashed, add the "Supplier's EORI Number" component to the template in Doc Designer, which can be found in the Toolbox tab under the "Supplier Data" section.
For more details see, How to make Doc Designer templates editable.
How to Create Commercial Invoices Video
Supplementary Units:
The table below lists all current supplementary unit values with their descriptions. Use the "Unit Value" column for product imports.
Unit Value | Unit Description |
c/k | Carats (1 metric carat = 2 × 10-4 kg) |
ce/el | Number of cells |
ct/l | Carrying capacity in tonnes<1> |
g | Gram |
gi F/S | Gram of fissile isotopes |
GT | Gross tonnage |
kg C5H14ClNO | Kilogram of choline chloride |
kg H2O2 | Kilogram of hydrogen peroxide |
kg K2O | Kilogram of potassium oxide |
kg KOH | Kilogram of potassium hydroxide (caustic potash) |
kg met.am. | Kilogram of methylamines |
kg N | Kilogram of nitrogen |
kg NaOH | Kilogram of sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) |
kg/net eda | Kilogram drained net weight |
kg P2O5 | Kilogram of diphosphorus pentaoxide |
kg U | Kilogram of uranium |
kg 90 % sdt | Kilogram of substance 90 % dry |
1,000 kWh | Thousand kilowatt hours |
l | Litre |
l alc. 100% | Litre pure (100 %) alcohol |
1,000 l | Thousand litres |
m | Metre |
m2 | Square metre |
m3 | Cubic metre |
1,000 m3 | Thousand cubic metres |
pa | Number of pairs |
p/st | Number of items |
100 p/st | Hundred items |
1,000 p/st | Thousand items |
TJ | Terajoule (gross calorific value) |