Margin confidence
How to calculate landed cost and reconcile every expense
Landed cost is goods value plus international freight, insurance, duty, import taxes and fees, broker and port charges, exception costs, and inland delivery, minus credits or rebates. Calculate each layer in one currency, label estimates separately from final amounts, and keep every value tied to shipment evidence.
By Ayhan Karaca, Co-Founder · Updated: September 8, 2026
Start with a landed-cost formula you can audit
Landed cost = goods value + international freight + insurance + duty + import taxes and fees + broker, port, exam and storage charges + inland freight − credits and rebates. This is an operating template, not a universal tax or accounting rule: include only the layers that apply, convert them with the approved exchange-rate date, and state whether the result is per shipment, purchase order, item, unit, weight, value, or another allocation base.
- Record the original amount, currency, exchange rate, and rate date.
- Separate quoted, estimated, accrued, disputed, and final amounts.
- Keep duty, tax, and government fees as distinct components.
- Reconcile credits and late invoices before declaring the cost final.
The fee layer alone changes the answer
CBP states that FY2026 merchandise processing fee for formal entries is 0.3464% of imported merchandise value, excluding duty, freight, and insurance, with a $33.58 minimum and $651.50 maximum; exemptions may apply. CBP’s FY2024 typical-day data reports about $241 million in duties, taxes, and other fees collected daily. These figures show why cost logic needs current evidence and scope.
| Layer | Evidence example | Control question |
|---|---|---|
| Goods | Commercial invoice | Which value and currency? |
| Freight and insurance | Provider invoice or accrual | Estimated or final? |
| Duty, tax and fees | Entry and payment support | Which treatment and date? |
| Exception charges | Exam, storage, D&D or expedite invoice | Which event caused it? |
| Allocation | Approved business rule | How did the cost reach item or order? |
Estimates become dangerous when they look final
A purchase decision may need an estimate before every invoice exists. That is normal. The control failure occurs when the estimate loses its label, source, assumption, or replacement path. Finance then closes margin with silent gaps, while operations cannot explain which shipment event created the variance.
Reconcile from shipment to evidence
Keep each cost tied to the shipment, provider, currency, category, source record, and estimate/final state. Show unmatched amounts and aged gaps explicitly. When a value changes, preserve enough context to explain the movement rather than overwriting history.
- Separate purchase value from logistics and import layers.
- Keep estimated and final amounts visibly distinct.
- Link exception charges to the event and responsible invoice.
- Use an approved allocation method and disclose its boundary.
How Tyllus helps
Tyllus organizes shipment-level freight, duty, tax, broker, forwarder, and exception costs with their supporting evidence and status. Finance can trace a number back to its source, while operations can see the event behind the variance. Tyllus does not make legal duty determinations, replace accounting policy, or guarantee a margin result.
Check your cost variance before handing it to finance
Use the free landed-cost worksheet to compare baseline and current amounts across five cost layers. Keep quoted, estimated, accrued, disputed and final amounts distinct, confirm the supporting records, then download the breakdown for the receiving reviewer. Values stay in your browser tab.
Trace margin back to shipment evidence.
See how Tyllus can organize cost layers, estimates, final amounts, exceptions, and source records in one operating context.