Landed Cost Completeness Checklist

Pricing, finance, and import operations teams · Before quoting or approving margin

Risk warnings

  • A landed-cost model is not complete until assumptions are tied to evidence and final invoices are reconciled.

Commercial value inputs

  • Match product value to the supplier quote or proforma by SKU, pack size, currency, and Incoterm.
  • Capture origin-side costs not included in unit price, such as pickup, export clearance, loading, certificates, or inspection fees.
  • Choose the allocation basis before calculating unit cost: units, cases, net weight, gross weight, CBM, or pallet share.

Cross-border cost inputs

  • Confirm commodity code, country of origin, duty rate, and any extra tariff or trade-remedy measure before quoting.
  • Document the freight quote scope, including mode, lane, surcharges, fuel, security, peak-season, and validity date.
  • Include cargo insurance cost, or record the explicit decision and risk owner if the shipment is not insured.
  • Decide how import VAT/GST is treated in the model: recoverable cash timing, blocked cash, or permanent cost.

Arrival and reconciliation

  • Add destination costs: terminal handling, customs brokerage, exam fees, port storage risk, inland delivery, and warehouse receiving.
  • Add FX spread, bank fees, payment charges, and financing cost for deposits or delayed recovery.
  • Reconcile final supplier, freight, broker, duty/tax, and local invoices against the landed-cost model before locking margin or re-quoting.

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