[Finance & business intelligence]() / [Use cases]() / [Landed cost]() [How it works]() [What you get]() [Scope]() [Start a review]() [Finance & business intelligence]()[Margin]() # Put true landed cost into every margin number. Freight, duties and handling in the cost of every product, with each estimate trued up when the bill arrives. [Start with a finance review]() [How it works]() Landed cost · Canvas field jacket CAT-042 · lot received Nov 9 Component Per unit Status Factory price $52.00 Invoiced Ocean freight $4.80 Estimate Duty $3.40 Actual Inbound handling $1.80 Estimate Landed cost $62.00 2 of 4 final What it cost to land one jacket, with each component marked as invoiced, estimated or actual. ## Sound familiar? - The product cost in your system is the factory price, and landing it cost more. - A freight bill arrives weeks after the margin report went out. - Two products change places once the freight is added. Missing costs can reverse which product looks better, so buying and pricing get decided in the wrong order. ## What changes. ShowTodayWith the engine Product cost The factory price The factory price plus freight, duties and handling Freight bills Booked when they arrive, to whatever is open Estimated at receipt, then trued up and allocated by SKU Returns A refund line, nothing more Handling and disposition counted in the product’s cost Visibility One cost per product, with no flag Each SKU marked complete or incomplete ## How it works. 5 steps, 4 stages. - AI**1** - Rules and automation**3** - Your team**1** - Approval 1. 1 Collect 1. AI ### Read supplier and freight invoices Pulls freight, duty and handling lines and proposes how each one splits across SKUs. - NetSuite - ShipBob 2. 2 Estimate 1. Your team Approval ### Approve the allocation rules Finance and supply agree how freight and duty split: by weight, volume or value. 2. Rules and automation ### Estimate at receipt Each SKU gets a landed cost the day stock arrives, so no margin is missing a cost. 3. 3 True up 1. Rules and automation ### True up when the bill lands Estimates are replaced by actuals, and the difference is kept for review. 4. 4 Publish 1. Rules and automation ### Label every SKU Margin views show complete or incomplete beside each figure. - Triple Whale True-up gaps sharpen the next estimate ## What you get. Real work, every week. Freight and duty true-ups October - Canvas jacket · ocean freightEstimate $4.80 · bill $5.30 a unit **+$0.50**Trued up - Waxed jacket · dutyEstimate $6.10 · entry $6.45 a unit **+$0.35**Trued up - Trail pant · carrier invoiceEstimate $3.90 a unit · bill not received **—**Incomplete Estimates replaced by the bills as they land. A missing bill shows as incomplete, not as zero. Cost-complete products · October **41 of 48**products with every cost in - Canvas field jacket - Waxed field jacket - Merino crew - Trail pant Carrier invoice missing How many products can be trusted today. The rest are labeled. ## How you’ll know it’s working. 1. Products with every cost in The share of SKUs whose margin you can act on. 2. Size of the true-up at each close How far estimates sit from the bills, product by product. 3. Rank changes after the true-up How often late costs change which product looks better. Baselines agreed before we build. ## Works with what you have. Commerce - NetSuite - Shopify Fulfillment - ShipBob Accounting - QuickBooks Planning & BI - Excel or Sheets We configure first Your ERP’s landed-cost or inventory costing feature, if it has one. We check how it handles freight and duty before building. We build when Freight, duty or return costs arrive on separate invoices and never reach the product cost. ## What a first build includes. Built in your accounts, around your team. Scope, fee and baseline agreed before we start. 1. 1 Design 2. 2 Build 3. 3 Run it, or hand it over [Start with a review]() [Scope this build]() ### We build - A landed-cost build-up for every SKU - Allocation rules finance and supply approve - Estimate-to-actual true-ups, with the difference kept - A cost-complete label on every margin view ### We start from - Supplier, freight and customs invoices - Product and purchase-order data - 3PL and carrier bills ### From your team Owner Finance lead, with the supply chain lead Involves - Finance - Supply chain - Merchandising ## Questions teams ask. Do we need a landed-cost module in our ERP? Maybe not. NetSuite and similar systems can allocate freight and duty, and we check yours first. What they often leave out is returns handling, retailer allowances and late bills in the margin you actually see. What if one freight bill covers a whole shipment? A rule splits it across SKUs by weight, volume or value, and finance approves the rule. It starts as an estimate at receipt and is trued up when the bill lands. Who owns it once it’s running? You do. It’s built in your accounts, documented, with training for the people who run it. Ownership usually sits with your finance lead, with the supply chain lead. We can keep running it with you, or step back. How do we start? Usually with a finance review: two to four weeks, a fixed fee credited to the build, and a plan that’s yours. If the job is already clear, we can scope the build directly. ## Part of your finance engine. One of 11 use cases, in 5 parts. [See the whole finance engine]() 1. [Trusted records **2**]() 2. [Margin **2**]() 3. [Cash & commitments **2**]() 4. [Payables & receivables **2**]() 5. [Reporting & decisions **3**]() In margin - [**Contribution diagnosis**Explain contribution margin by product and channel]() - **Landed cost**You’re here Works with - [**Month-end close**Close the month with every balance supported]() - [**PO cash check**Test a purchase order against your cash buffer]() ## Put every cost in the number. Start with a finance review. [Start with a finance review]() [**Talk it through first**15 minutes]() We reply within one business day. --- Source: [https://www.thekeating.co/use-cases/landed-cost/]() [Contact Keating & Co](mailto:nelson@thekeating.co) · [Agent guidance](https://www.thekeating.co/llms.txt)