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Australia
Why do Australian importers need a trading-focused ERP design?
Australian importers face long sea lead times, biosecurity holds, GST on imports and a currency that can move sharply between order and payment. A trading-focused ERP design tracks each container from vessel to interstate warehouse, puts inspection and storage charges into landed cost, keeps import GST out of stock value and separates FX results from margin. I map that journey and guide selection and implementation.
Last reviewed by Vikas Saroj
I work remotely with Australian trading businesses that import most of what they sell: hardware and building products, food and beverage lines, consumer goods and industrial parts. Many run MYOB or Xero with an inventory app, a forwarder's portal for vessel updates, and a spreadsheet that stitches the two together at month end.
Importing into Australia brings its own variables. Sea freight lead times are long, biosecurity inspections can hold containers and add charges, GST is payable on imports unless you defer it, and the Australian dollar can move a long way between order and payment. Then goods often travel interstate before they reach the customer.
Once that journey is on paper, choosing and configuring an ERP to cost and track it becomes a much clearer exercise, and I guide both.
What I Do
Australian importers tend to call me when container costs, exchange movements and interstate stock have become too much for the accounting package and an inventory app to hold together.
From supplier order through sea freight, clearance, biosecurity inspection and interstate delivery, I document each step, who owns it and where its data currently lives.
Ocean freight, duty, broker fees, inspection and storage charges and cartage allocated to items, with a defined method for charges that turn up after the stock has been sold.
GST paid or deferred on imports, input tax credits and BAS reporting configured from clean tax codes, with the treatment confirmed by your accountant before any configuration.
Purchases in US dollars, yuan or euros costed in Australian dollars, forward contracts recorded against the orders they cover, and exchange results reported apart from trading margin.
Warehouses or 3PL sites in several states, transfers and interstate freight costs, and availability by location so sales can promise from the right site to each customer.
Scripted demos on your shipments, including an inspection hold and a late broker invoice, then a fit-gap and hands-on follow-through with your implementer until the first BAS is lodged.
What to Measure
An ERP for trading should make these numbers available without a spreadsheet. I design the data model and reports around them from the start.
Platform Fit
How I Work
Shipments, sites and cash
Forwarder and broker walkthrough
Inspection and storage events
Warehouses by state
Current FX practice
Requirements and platform tests
Landed cost and GST rules
Hedging records agreed
Scenario-based demos
Fit-gap and owners
Implementation and first BAS
Implementer coordination
In-transit stock migrated
UAT on import scenarios
First BAS checked
Distance defines Australian trading. A container ordered from an Asian supplier may spend weeks at sea, then arrive at Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Fremantle or Adelaide, be cleared by your customs broker, and wait for a biosecurity inspection if the goods or packaging call for one. After release it goes to your warehouse or a 3PL, and part of it may then travel interstate by road or rail to a second site.
Each of those stages has a status and a cost, and most Australian importers I speak with track them outside the accounting system. The forwarder's portal shows the vessel, the broker emails the entry and invoice, the inspection outcome arrives separately, and storage or demurrage charges turn up later still. Sales cannot see when stock will really be available, and finance cannot finalize cost.
I bring those milestones into the ERP design: expected arrival, clearance, inspection outcome, release, receipt and transfer. Where the forwarder offers a data feed, I plan an integration; where not, a simple update routine works. Everything is documented in the process map with an owner for each step.
Australian landed cost has a few components that catch people out. Inspection fees, fumigation or treatment where required, extra storage while goods wait, and demurrage when containers are not returned in time are all real costs of the goods, yet they often land in general expense accounts. Margins then look healthier than they are on exactly the shipments that went wrong.
The requirements I write list every charge type, whether it belongs in inventory cost, how it is spread across a mixed container, and how charges arriving after the stock is partly sold are treated. Your accountant approves the policy; the ERP enforces it.
GST is the other piece. GST on taxable imports is either paid at the border or deferred to the BAS if you are approved for deferral, and in both cases it is normally claimed as an input tax credit rather than added to stock cost. I set up tax codes so import GST, domestic GST and GST-free sales each flow to the right BAS labels, then test a draft BAS on real transactions before go-live. My Australian ERP consulting page covers GST and payroll for other industries.
Because most stock is bought in US dollars or yuan, the Australian dollar has a direct effect on margin. A container priced when the AUD is strong can cost noticeably more by the time the balance is paid. Many importers manage that with forward contracts or foreign currency accounts arranged with their bank.
A list of forwards that nobody links to the purchases they cover gives an incomplete picture. I design the ERP to record supplier deposits and balance payments in the supplier's currency, link hedges to the purchase orders or periods they protect, and report three numbers separately: product margin at landed cost, realized FX on payments, and unrealized FX on open balances. Pricing decisions are then made on the first, while whoever runs treasury watches the other two.
On the sales side, most Australian traders invoice in AUD, but those exporting to New Zealand and Asia may bill in other currencies, adding receivables exposure. I capture both directions in the requirements and test them in UAT using real rates from past months. For a deeper look at the mechanics, see ERP for multi-currency.
MYOB and Xero run many Australian importers well, usually paired with an inventory app. Pressure builds when you add a second warehouse in another state, wholesale and online channels side by side, more containers than the team can cost by hand, or a bank wanting stock reporting it can rely on. At that point the question is whether a stronger inventory app is enough or a full ERP is due, and I help you answer it honestly.
For migration, the essentials are open purchase orders and deposits, containers on the water with costs to date, stock by site at landed cost, supplier and customer balances in each currency at agreed cutover rates, and any open forward contracts. Payroll and Single Touch Payroll may stay in a specialist tool connected to the ERP; that should be a deliberate choice, not a default.
I compare platforms on your scenarios and keep working with the implementer you select once the decision is made. Delivery is remote, with live sessions in your business hours and recorded walkthroughs for warehouse teams. See the Australia overview, the trading ERP page and wholesale ERP if you sell mostly to trade accounts.
Tell me about your business and current systems. I’ll suggest the most sensible first step.
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Not sure which ERP you need?
Share your business requirements with me and I will help you understand the right process, architecture and platform before implementation.
FAQ
In most cases they are part of what it cost to bring the goods in, so they belong in landed cost rather than general expenses. Your accountant sets the policy. I make sure each charge type is defined, linked to the container it relates to, and allocated to items, including when the invoice arrives after some stock has been sold.
Yes, provided tax codes are set up so deferred import GST appears correctly on the BAS and is matched by the corresponding credit. Whether you use deferral is a decision for you and your accountant. I define the treatment in the requirements and test a draft BAS with real import transactions before go-live.
Usually when costing containers by hand takes days, stock sits in more than one state, hedges live in a separate file and the bank wants inventory figures it can trust. None of those alone forces a change. I look at your volumes and pain points and give a straight answer on whether a better inventory app will do or a full ERP is justified.
Most mid-market ERPs can record foreign currency payments and bank accounts well, but formal hedge accounting varies. A practical approach is to record each forward contract, link it to the purchases it covers and report the outcome separately. I agree the method with your accountant and confirm the platform supports it.
Live workshops are scheduled in the part of your business day that suits your team, and work continues asynchronously between sessions through shared process maps, recorded walkthroughs and a decisions log. Teams in states with different daylight saving rules can review recordings when convenient.
Every business is different. Share where you are today and what you want to fix, and I’ll tell you honestly whether and how I can help.
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