See the importance of an accountant for import companies

See the importance of an accountant for import companies

Companies that work with foreign trade and are not prepared to deal with the requirements and regulations for the market in which they operate are very likely to face operational difficulties. These regulations vary greatly in relation to the object being traded and not all companies have qualified professionals to deal with such complexity. This is why the expertise of an accountant for an importing company is crucial.

We'll go into this problem in more detail below. Read on and understand the main difficulties faced by companies in the import and export sector, how outsourcing accounting can contribute to efficiency, common problems for accounting in this sector and how outsourcing can be a solution. 

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Difficulties in the import and export sector: legislation, bureaucracy, technology

Although it is an opportunity for growth for some companies and a necessity for others, working in foreign trade is generally synonymous with a lot of work. Some factors in particular contribute to this.

Firstly, it should be borne in mind that resolutions and regulations from different countries can affect import and export methods and procedures, so companies need to keep up to date and monitor any forecast changes. It's very common for companies operating in the sector to experience problems related to legislation, such as products being held up at customs and tax issues.

These issues are usually caused by irregularities in the documentation.

Any problem of this nature can have a major impact on a company's accounting. Bureaucracy in foreign trade transactions is relentless, so the accountant for importing companies needs to be as careful and attentive as possible in these matters. 

The use of technology to help with some of the most common problems is still neglected by companies. However, it is possible to optimize foreign trade operations by automating certain stages of the process. These tools can offer advantages that companies should always be aware of.

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Why outsource accounting: cost and efficiency and how an accountant for an importing company can help

Regardless of the size of your company or the sector in which it operates, efficient management is always associated with a balance between saving resources, working efficiently and achieving quality results. That's why, when it comes to accounting, companies often have to decide whether to appoint a professional in charge, create their own department or outsource the service. 

Naturally, any decision will depend on the size of the company, its segment, market trends and other variables. However, for many companies, outsourcing is the right solution. The exceptions are usually large companies and corporations.

They have the capacity to set up their own accounting departments, and small companies that don't depend so much on accounting for business management.

To understand the advantages of outsourcing the sector, it's enough to consider that hiring an accountant for an importing company is usually more expensive than outsourcing the service to a specialized company, which can also offer a whole structure of human resources and technical apparatus geared towards a specific market segment.

In addition, any outsourcing of strategic sectors has the natural effect of allowing time that was previously spent on outsourced activities to now be dedicated to other activities that are central to the company.

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Accounting and foreign trade: the difficulties of an accountant for an importing company

The main difficulties in these activities are due to the professionals' lack of experience in keeping up with the demands of this type of business relationship.

In import and export negotiations it is necessary to deal with systems, procedures and documents such as:

• Integrated System for Trade in Services, Intangibles and Other Operations that Produce a Change in Equity (SISCOSERV);
• Integrated Foreign Trade System (Siscomex); 
• Exchange variation records; 
• Foreign exchange contracts;
• Issuing import invoices.

Thus, working with foreign trade requires skill and experience in dealing with all these particularities. This is why more and more companies in the sector are looking to outsource their accounting services.

Specialized companies like CLM Controller offer a unique service for importing companies. In addition to taking care of all the company's accounting management, we offer the necessary support for strategic issues, such as closing foreign exchange deals, requesting Siscomex/Radar registration and issuing invoices to international standards.

All this is done with the due care of an organization with more than 30 years' experience in the market.

We work from aligning expectations and goals to designing a strategic plan for scalable and healthy performance for the company.

If you need to rely on experienced accounting advice, capable of providing the best strategies for your company to improve its financial performance, get to know CLM Controller's solutions now.