Import Duties & Customs (International Purchases)

IsleBooks includes built-in support for managing import purchases, customs duties, Revenue Stamp Fee (RSF), clearance charges, demurrage, freight, and other import-related costs.

The system supports both:

Single-purchase imports (one shipment contains one purchase)
Multi-purchase shipments (one shipment contains multiple purchase invoices)

Step 1: Enable the Import Duties Module

Go to:

Settings → Business Settings → Modules

Enable Imports & Customs Duty.

This adds import duty fields to international purchases and enables the Import Shipments and Import Charges screens.

Step 2: Create an International Purchase

Go to:

Purchases → Add Purchase

Select a supplier whose country is not Maldives.

IsleBooks automatically detects that the supplier is international and enables import duty features for that purchase.

Step 3: Choose Who Pays the Customs Charges

When importing goods, choose one of the following accounting methods:

Option 1 — Clearing Agent Collects Everything

Choose this if your clearing agent collects:

Customs Duty
RSF
Customs charges
Clearance fees
Demurrage
Freight
Any other import-related costs

You only make one payment to the clearing agent.

Option 2 — Customs Paid Directly, Agent Separately

Choose this if:

Customs Duty and other Customs Portal charges are paid directly to Customs.
The clearing agent only invoices you for their own fees (clearance, transport, demurrage, etc.).

This option only affects accounting and liability tracking.

Step 4: Enter Import Costs

If this purchase represents an entire shipment by itself, you can enter all import-related costs directly on the purchase.

Examples include:

Import Duty
Revenue Stamp Fee (RSF)
Clearance fee
Demurrage
Freight
Other import charges

These costs are capitalised into the inventory cost automatically.

Multiple Purchase Invoices in One Shipment

If one container or shipment contains multiple purchase invoices, do not enter shipment-level charges on each purchase.

Instead:

Enter only line-specific duty information if available.
Leave shipment-level costs for the Import Shipment.

Then continue to Import Shipments.

Step 5: Create an Import Shipment

Go to:

Purchases → Import Shipments

Click New Shipment.

Enter:

Bill of Entry (BOE) / Reference Number
BOE Date

Save the shipment.

Step 6: Attach Purchases to the Shipment

Open the shipment and attach every purchase invoice belonging to that shipment.

Then choose who receives the duty payments:

Clearing Agent collects everything
Customs paid directly, agent separately

The shipment automatically loads:

Purchase lines
Import duty totals
Revenue Stamp Fee (RSF) per line

Step 7: Add Shared Shipment Charges

Some import costs apply to the entire shipment rather than individual purchase lines.

Use the Shared Charges section to enter costs such as:

Clearance agent fees
Freight
Demptty container charges
Demurrage
Port handling charges
Warehouse charges
Any other shipment-wide expenses

IsleBooks automatically distributes these shared costs across all attached purchases based on inventory value, ensuring accurate stock costing.

Step 8: Apply the Bill of Entry

Once all information has been entered:

Click Apply Bill of Entry.

IsleBooks will automatically:

Allocate shared costs across purchases
Finalise import duty values
Apply RSF calculations
Capitalise import costs into inventory
Update stock valuation

Step 9: Record Payments

Go to:

Purchases → Import Charges

This screen tracks outstanding amounts payable separately to:

Customs
Clearing agents

From here you can record payments as they are made and keep both liabilities up to date.

Image: Import Charges

Summary

For a single purchase shipment, enter import duties directly on the purchase.

For multiple purchase invoices within the same shipment, create an Import Shipment, attach all purchases, enter shared costs once, and let IsleBooks automatically distribute the costs across all purchases for accurate inventory valuation and accounting.