— FOR FINANCE DIRECTORS
Customs is a financial risk you can control
Duty costs, retrospective corrections, overpaid duties and audit exposure all sit on your balance sheet. We give you the visibility and governance to manage them before customs authorities find them first.
Duty cost management | Audit defensibility | Financial exposure mapping | Predictable advisory costs
For finance directors running international operations, customs is one of the least visible items on the balance sheet until it surfaces as an unexpected liability. Alegrant helps you bring it under active governance, so it is understood, managed and reported before customs authorities raise it with you.
— WHAT FINANCE DIRECTORS TELL US
“We don’t have full visibility of our customs duty spend across all markets.”
“Our customs agent handles it, but I’m not sure what we’re actually paying in duties, or why.”
“We had a retrospective duty correction. I didn’t know that was even possible.”
“We’re expanding internationally and customs costs are a variable I can’t model.”
— THE FINANCIAL REALITY
Customs is a balance sheet risk, not just an operational one
Most finance directors see customs as a cost line: duties, customs agents’ fees, freight. Few can see the risk beneath it. Products classified at the wrong duty rate for years. Trade agreement entitlements never claimed because nobody built the process to qualify for them. A valuation method that customs authorities later correct across several years of transactions.
Customs errors compound. A misclassification applied to every shipment for three years does not stay small, and customs authorities review past declarations, not only current ones.
Bringing customs under active governance does two things at once. It reduces the risk of unexpected liabilities, and it uncovers duty that should never have been paid.
WHAT THIS LOOKS LIKE IN PRACTICE
Overpaid duties recovered
A compliance review identified an outdated classification, the client recovered past overpayments and secured a 0% rate for future imports.
Duty costs avoided
An FTA origin strategy unlocked duty-free access to EU markets for a UK exporter, eliminating tariff costs on every future shipment.
— ownership
Who on your board customs management?
In most organisations, the tax function does not own customs, logistics does not own the liability, and the finance director assumes one of them does. Customs authorities can generally recover underpaid duty on declarations made over the past three years. The declarations your customs agent makes are made in your name.
If nobody owns the position, nobody is managing it.
3 years
The period over which customs authorities can generally recover underpaid duty on past declarations.
— WHERE THE FINANCIAL EXPOSURE SITS
Where customs exposure builds
RISK AREA
HOW IT BUILDS
FINANCIAL IMPACT
WHO USUALLY NOTICE FIRST
Incorrect classification
A tariff code is set once and never reviewed as the rules change.
Retrospective duty across several years of transactions, plus potential penalties.
Customs authorities, at audit
Trade agreement entitlements not claimed
The goods qualify for duty-free access, but no process exists to qualify and evidence origin.
Full duty paid on every shipment that could have been zero-rated.
Usually nobody. The cost simply continues.
Retrospective audit corrections
Customs authorities review past transactions, and find errors years after the fact.
Lump-sum duty corrections, VAT adjustments, and interest on historical periods.
Customs authorities
Duty costs left out of growth plans
New markets or supply chain changes entered without assessing the customs cost.
Margin erosion, mis-priced contracts; unexpected P&L impact.
Finance when margins fall short
Duty paid earlier than necessary
Duty paid at import on stock that sits in inventory or is later re-exported.
Working capital tied up without need. Customs warehousing or duty relief can defer or remove the payment.
Usually nobody. It looks like a normal cost.
— HOW WE ADDRESS EACH RISK
Customs governance you can rely on
Every engagement has a defined scope, a fee agreed before work begins, and clear outputs. You know what you are buying and what you will receive.
Customs Review
An assessment of whether your customs processes are correct, from a single area in one jurisdiction to a full group review. We identify errors, unclaimed reliefs and accumulated exposure, and give you a prioritised plan for what to fix and in what order. Where you want it, we also estimate the financial impact of what we find.
Customs Advisory
For decisions that need customs modelled into them: market entry, supply chain restructuring, due diligence for an acquisition, or a trade agreement strategy. Scope and fee are agreed upfront, and the output is written for the people taking the decision.
— evidence
What this looks like when it works
DUTY RECOVERY
Duty recovery: a Customs Review uncovers overpaid duties
A large organisation with established customs processes engaged Alegrant for assurance. The review confirmed strong controls and then went further. It identified an outdated product classification, which was quantified and corrected. The client recovered overpaid duty on past transactions and secured a 0% rate for all future imports.
CAPITAL EFFICIENCY
Capital efficiency: global expansion without duplicating stock
An SME in the oil and gas sector faced a growth-or-stall decision. A global operator wanted its equipment held near production sites in several countries, and holding inventory in each was not affordable. Alegrant designed a bonded warehouse and customs framework that allowed one central stock to serve sites worldwide. The client won the contract without additional capital outlay.
— Free guide for finance directors
The Customs Exposure Report:
Finance Director’s guide to hidden duty costs, audit risk and balance sheet exposure.
If you would like to understand the six areas where customs exposure most commonly builds before deciding on next steps, this guide maps each one with the questions your team should be asking.
WHAT CLIENTS SAY
“Alegrant provided tailored consultancy and training to our whole management team, from business development to finance and logistics. The policies developed are embedded in our management system and have proved invaluable as we have grown into three world regions.”
SMS Oilfield
Sensing technology for global oil & gas operations in KL, Abu Dhabi, West Africa & the Middle East
“Alegrant de-mystified international trade and the implications of Brexit for our business. We minimised the tariff impact and are now confident to take forward our internationalisation with all its commercial benefits.”
Jean Hamilton
Director – HebHomes Limited
WHY ALEGRANT
What finance directors value in an external customs adviser
- No invoice surprises. Every engagement is scoped and priced before work begins. No hourly billing and no open-ended retainers without defined scope.
- Exposure in financial terms. Where your data allows, we estimate the financial impact of what we find, so you know what you are dealing with and not only that a risk exists. We agree the method with you before any figure is shown.
- Independence from your customs agent. We have no commercial interest in how your goods are cleared. Our advice is aligned with your financial interest, not a clearance agent’s volumes
- One position across jurisdictions. Multi-country operations get a single, consistent customs position, not conflicting advice from different countries.
- Written for decision-makers. Our assessments translate customs complexity into financial and strategic terms your board can act on.
A note on advisory cost versus customs cost:
A single classification error on a high-volume import product can result in duty corrections covering several years of transactions. A Customs Review typically pays for itself from the first correction identified, either as cost avoided or as duties recovered from past overpayments.
A note on advisory cost versus customs cost
A single classification error on a high-volume product can lead to duty corrections covering several years of transactions. A Customs Review can pay for itself from the first correction found, either as cost avoided or as duty recovered from past overpayments.
Three questions most finance directors cannot answer
Who owns customs duty as a tax in your organisation? What did you pay in duty last year, and was it the right amount? What would an audit of the last three years find? One conversation with a senior adviser will tell you whether you should be concerned. No pitch, no obligation.
● Multi award-winning customs advisory firm ● WCO Academy partner ● Team France Export approved ● La French Tech Aix-Marseille ● Tech Zero member: net zero by 2030 ● Pledge 1% member