Task guides
Pair import documents and the customs notice
Step-by-step task guide: Invoicing and dunning.
- Open Settings, then Imports. This is for goods brought in from outside the EU. Owner, admin and accountant can pair documents and change the settings; bookkeeper, client viewer and tax advisor can open the tab, but it is locked for them. Nothing has to be switched on.
- Why it matters: to deduct the Import VAT you need the customs notice (the import duty notice or an ATLAS printout). One import collects up to three documents: the Supplier invoice, the Forwarder invoice and the Customs notice. The app books the import VAT from the customs notice only once that notice is paired.
- After documents are read, customs notices, forwarder invoices and invoices from suppliers outside the EU are recognised and suggested for pairing, matched by the numbers printed on them (MRN, air waybill, invoice reference). The switch Pair import documents automatically decides what happens next. Off (the default): the finds appear as a Suggestion and apply only when you press Pair. On: the autopilot pairs them itself and books the import VAT from the customs notice; every pairing is in the audit log.
- To pair by hand, choose the Document from the list, check its Role, and choose the Import it belongs to (found by its MRN or air waybill) or New import. Fill MRN (18 characters), Air waybill, Import VAT and Customs duty as printed on the notice, then choose Pair. What you type replaces what was read. The app refuses a wrong MRN or air waybill number, a role that is already filled in this import, a document that already belongs to an import, and a document that is already reviewed or posted.
- An import is Open, customs notice missing until its customs notice is paired, then Evidenced by the customs notice. Unpair undoes a pairing and puts the original values back. Once an import is evidenced its documents are fixed and Unpair is off.
- Under Window for the customs notice (days) (1 to 365, default 30, then Save) you set how long the notice may take, counted from the import date or, without one, the day the import was created. An open import shows Customs notice due by that date. If the notice is still missing afterwards, the app checks daily and puts a warning on the forwarder's or supplier's document; it goes away when the notice is paired.
- Pairing changes the forwarder invoice: the import VAT the forwarder passed on is taken out of that invoice's VAT, and the customs notice becomes the import VAT booking. If the customs notice is missing, ask the forwarder or the customs agent for it. Imports are never deleted.