If you import goods into Karachi through the port or Port Qasim, you know the invoice price is only the start. By the time a container leaves the terminal you have paid bank charges on the LC, freight, insurance, duties and taxes, the clearing agent's bill, terminal and transport charges. If those costs sit in different files, your selling price is a guess, and a guess on a thin margin is how importers lose money without noticing.
One shipment, one record
The idea that makes import software useful is simple: every shipment is a single record. It starts with the supplier's proforma, moves to the LC or other payment terms, then to the bill of lading, container numbers and expected arrival, and ends when the goods are received in your godown. Every cost that belongs to that shipment is posted against it, whoever pays it and whenever the bill arrives.
| Stage | What the system records | Who usually enters it |
|---|---|---|
| Order | Supplier, proforma, items, quantities, currency | Purchase team |
| Payment | LC or advance details, bank, charges | Accounts |
| Shipping | Bill of lading, containers, vessel, expected arrival | Purchase team or forwarder |
| Clearing | Duties and taxes paid, clearing agent's bill, port and terminal charges | Accounts, from the agent's papers |
| Receiving | Quantities received in the godown, shortages, damage | Godown staff |
Working out landed cost per item
Landed cost is the invoice value plus every cost of bringing the goods to your godown, spread across the items in the shipment. The spreading rule matters. Freight might be spread by weight or volume, duty by value, and a fixed clearing fee by quantity. The software should let you choose the rule per cost type and show the result per item before the goods are priced for sale.
Foreign currency adds a second layer. The rate on the day the LC is retired is rarely the rate on the proforma, so the system should hold both and use the one your accountant agrees is correct. When the final costs are in, the shipment is closed and its landed cost becomes the cost of stock.
Open the shipment from the proforma
Enter the supplier, items, quantities and currency so every later cost has a home.
Post every cost as it arrives
Bank charges, freight, insurance, duties, clearing and transport go against the shipment, not into general expenses.
Choose how each cost is spread
Pick value, weight, volume or quantity for each cost type, as agreed with your accountant.
Receive the goods
Record what actually arrived, including any short or damaged cartons.
Review and close
Check the landed cost per item, then close the shipment so the cost flows to stock and pricing.
For exporters: orders, packing and documents
Exporters work the other way round. A buyer's order arrives, often by email, and has to be turned into purchases or production, a packing list, invoices and shipping documents, then followed until payment comes back. The software should link each export order to its costs so you can see the margin per order, not only per month. Sialkot and Faisalabad exporters have their own patterns; our guides on software for Sialkot exporters and textile ERP in Pakistan cover them.
A Karachi example
Our work for Sea Keepers, a marine supplier in Karachi, follows a similar chain on the supply side: email enquiries become quotations, quotations become purchase orders, and purchase orders end in delivery documents. Each step is linked to the one before it, which is the same discipline an import shipment needs.
Tax, banks and what to confirm
FBR collects sales tax on goods, and duties and taxes at import are part of your landed cost. The exact treatment of each tax in your books, and which ones you can claim back, is a question for your accountant: confirm with your tax adviser. The software's job is to record each amount against the right shipment so your adviser has clean figures.
If you import a few times a year and sell straight from the container, a good accounting package may be enough. A shipment-based system pays off when you run several shipments at once and price from landed cost.
Working with Operix
Operix Systems builds ERP software for Pakistani businesses from Old Clifton, Karachi, close to the port and the clearing offices. We design each screen with you before building it and release weekly on your own shipments. If you also need the clearing side, see freight forwarder and clearing agent software. Importers who then sell from Bolton Market may want wholesale software for the selling side. To discuss your shipments, contact us.
Questions people ask
Can the software track LCs and containers together?
Yes. Each shipment holds its payment details, including the LC, and its containers and arrival dates. You see in one place which shipments are paid, at sea, at the port or received.
How is landed cost calculated?
Every cost of the shipment is added to the invoice value and spread across items by a rule you choose, such as value, weight or quantity. Your accountant should agree the rules before go-live.
Does it handle foreign currency?
Yes. Orders can be in the supplier's currency, with the rate recorded when payment is made. The landed cost is then shown in PKR.
Do you have an office near the port?
Our office is in Old Clifton, Karachi, and Karachi clients get on-site discovery, go-live and training. Importers in other cities are served online.
