Build a landed-cost worksheet for a mixed order
Work through a mixed shipment, assign shared charges and reconcile the estimate with what arrived.
Quick answers from this guide
What should a landed-cost worksheet contain?
Use separate rows for the clothes, transport, import charges and receiving work. Beside each amount record its source, whether it is already included elsewhere, and whether it is estimated or final. Keep the total cash needed separate from recoverable tax confirmed by your finance adviser.
How do I split freight between different styles?
Use the measure behind the freight charge. In a hypothetical shipment where jackets occupy three quarters of the charged volume, assign them three quarters of that volume-based charge. Do not use this split for a weight-based charge without checking the packed weights.
How do I check the final cost?
Replace estimates with invoices and actual quantities received. Reconcile allocated charges to the shipment total, record damaged or missing units separately, and ask your finance adviser how they affect stock valuation.
On this page 5 sections
Build the worksheet around one shipment and one receiving address. A mixed order needs both a whole-shipment total and a way to assign costs to each style. For the list of possible charges, start with what sits outside the maker's quote.
01Start with the evidence for each row
Use these columns in a spreadsheet: charge, supplier, quoted amount, currency, included elsewhere, estimate date, final invoice and allocation method. Leave an unknown amount marked as pending; entering zero makes an incomplete estimate look complete.
Give the clothing order its own rows by style. Add transport, customs handling and warehouse receiving only where they are outside the existing quote. Ask the customs adviser for the import calculation for the exact goods and destination. This worksheet does not prescribe a duty rate or decide whether tax is recoverable.
Convert currencies on a consistent basis and retain the original amount. Record the exchange-rate assumption so a later change can be explained.
02Work through a mixed shipment
The following quantities are an arithmetic example, not a recommended first order or a supplier minimum. Imagine 100 jackets and 200 tops. The packed jackets occupy three cubic metres and the tops occupy one cubic metre. The carrier has priced this freight line by volume.
The jackets occupy three quarters of the total charged volume, so allocate three quarters of that freight line to jackets. Allocate the remaining quarter to tops. Divide each style's allocated freight by its own quantity to find its freight cost per piece.
Splitting this charge equally across all 300 pieces would assign only one third to the jackets, even though they occupy three quarters of the volume. That would understate the jackets' freight cost. If the carrier instead uses chargeable weight, obtain the weight calculation and allocate using that basis.
A receiving fee charged per carton needs carton counts, not the freight ratio. A style-specific relabelling charge belongs to that style. Keep each allocation method beside its charge.
03Separate the cash needed from the reported stock cost
Payment may be needed for import tax even when a finance adviser confirms it is recoverable. Show that cash requirement in the payment plan. Keep the recovery treatment in a separate column so the amount needed at arrival is not confused with the eventual cost recorded for stock.
Likewise, ask which storage or selling expenses belong outside inventory cost. The worksheet can track all spending without pretending every expense has the same accounting treatment.
04Compare one delivery with a split delivery
Duplicate the estimate before considering an early part-shipment. Request separate transport and receiving quotes for each arrival. Recheck fixed customs-handling charges and the number of delivery appointments.
Compare the combined cash requirement and arrival dates with the original plan. Do not assume that sending half the clothes costs half the transport bill. Mark which estimates need reconfirmation before a booking.
05Close the worksheet when the order arrives
Enter the invoices, the actual exchange costs and the quantities received. Keep shortages or damaged pieces visible; ask the finance adviser how to treat them rather than silently dividing every charge by the ordered quantity.
Check that the costs assigned to styles add back to the shipment total. Save the original estimate alongside the final sheet. The difference tells you which assumption to improve for the next order: packing volume, the transport route, a missing receiving charge or a changed quantity.