Custom software for customs procedures and entry records
With a licensed declaration entered into the declarant's records, the customs debt arises the moment you enter something into your own system. Not when you send a message, but at the point of entry. That makes your records not a preparation for the declaration but the declaration itself, with all the requirements that come with it.
What the licence requires of your system
Authorisation is only granted for special procedures: customs warehousing, temporary admission, special destination, inward processing and outward processing. And only to those who already hold an authorisation for that procedure itself. So there are always two authorisations stacked on top of each other, and the conditions of both apply at the same time. This is where systems first fall short: they know the declaration but not the authorisation.
Lodgement is the legal moment. From that point the deadline for the supplementary declaration runs, which must be submitted no later than the tenth day after lodgement. In the Netherlands the reporting period is one calendar day, and the supplementary declarations for that period go out in one batch. A consignment lodged on the wrong day therefore sits in the wrong batch, and you only notice once the message has already been sent.
The requirement on the administration itself is explicit: it must be organised so that data is recorded correctly, on time and completely. In practice that means three things that are rarely all in order. The time of lodgement must be fixed and must not shift afterwards. What was lodged must be complete at the moment itself. And the authorisation conditions must be checked before anything is entered, not after.
Lodgement itself happens on the floor, at receipt or release, and that is where the time must be fixed. See the app for lodgement at receipt and release.
How we build this
Lodgement is the pivot point. Everything before it is verification and everything after it is accountability.
Each authorisation with its number, validity, goods types and conditions. As long as they sit in a PDF, nothing can be checked against them.
Does this goods type fall under the authorisation, is the procedure permitted, is the period still valid? After lodgement, an error means a correction with a notification, not an amendment.
All lodgements from one day belong in one supplementary declaration. The system closes the period and shows what is in it before it goes out.
The clock starts at lodgement, not when the supplementary declaration is drawn up. That is precisely the difference that goes wrong in diaries.
What the software actually does
The authorisation register together with the lodgement carries everything. What else you need depends on which procedures you run.
Authorisations with their conditions
Number, validity, permitted goods and the special conditions, as granted and not as an attachment. That is what must be checked before anything is lodged.
Verification in advance instead of correction afterwards
The system checks the goods type, the procedure and the validity before lodgement. After that point, an error means a correction with everything that comes with it.
The deadline from lodgement
The clock runs from the moment of lodgement. The system monitors that deadline per reporting period, so nobody needs a diary for it.
Closing and supplementing the period
All lodgements from a day brought together into one supplementary declaration, with a check on what is in it before it goes out.
Warehouse stock with the procedure attached
With a warehouse or processing operation, every consignment has a procedure and a deadline attached. Stock without that information is not stock administration as far as customs is concerned.
Connecting to your own systems
Receiving, stock and shipping flow in from your existing systems via integrations. A second point of entry creates a second version of the truth, and here that truth is the declaration.
Who we build for
The procedure determines where it pinches. Four situations.
Customs warehouse and storage
Many movements and long storage periods. Stock administration is the core here, because it must match at every moment what customs has recorded in its system.
Active processing and manufacturing
Material comes in under suspension and leaves processed again. The yield percentage and the discharge period are the points where things go wrong. For the transport around it there is transport software.
Import with simplified procedure
Large volumes of consignments and short lead times. What matters most here is that the period closes properly and the supplementary declaration goes in on time. See also customs declaration software for DMS.
Customs brokers and representatives
You act on behalf of multiple clients, each with their own authorisations. Checking the right conditions for each client is not a luxury but the core of your liability. For the air side, there is air cargo software.
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Authorisation conditions, message versions and deadlines change. All of these should be configurable and kept with a full history, because you must also be able to account for an earlier registration.
Why Appfront
The authorisation belongs in the system
We record conditions as data against which checks can be run. In a PDF, a condition does nothing.
Checking before the legal moment
We place the check before registration. Afterwards, an error is a correction with a notification, no longer a silent edit.
Your records are the declaration
That is why we build to the requirements that come with evidence: a fixed timestamp, no silent changes, full recording at the moment itself.
The clock starts earlier than people think
We let the deadline run from registration, not from the drafting of the supplementary declaration. That difference can otherwise result in a late declaration.
Security and privacy
Customs data affects your purchasing, your margins and your customers. For a representative, the data of different clients must also remain strictly separate. We set access per client and per authorisation, and log every instance of access.
On this subject, recording is not merely supportive but legal. The registration is the declaration, so a timestamp that shifts afterwards or a line that is quietly updated directly affects what you have declared. We therefore record registrations as unalterable, with time and person, and make any correction a visible amendment alongside the original line. In an audit, that is the difference between a record and an assertion. How we handle security ourselves is set out in our information security policy; reports from outside come through our vulnerability disclosure policy.
Frequently asked questions about DMS and authorisations
It is a simplification whereby you declare goods by placing them in your own records, rather than sending a declaration message for each consignment. The customs debt arises at the moment of that registration. A supplementary declaration for the period follows afterwards. The precise conditions are set out in your own authorisation.
For the special procedures: customs warehousing, temporary admission, special destination, active processing and passive processing. And only if you already hold an authorisation for that procedure itself. Two authorisations therefore always overlap, with conditions that apply at the same time.
No later than the tenth day after registration. In the Netherlands the period is one calendar day, and the supplementary declarations for that period are submitted in one go. An important detail: the clock starts at registration, not at the drafting of the supplementary declaration. Check the precise deadlines in your authorisation.
This page covers submitting declarations now that the old declaration system has been replaced: messages, statuses and declarations that get stuck. This page is about the layer before that: which permits you hold, what they allow, and the records that, under a simplified procedure, are themselves the declaration.
Probably on one point: the moment of registration must be fixed and must not be movable after the fact. Many stock systems post with a booking date that someone can change, which is unsuitable for this arrangement. The other data you need is set out in your permit and in the Customs guidance.
Yes, and for an intermediary that is the core requirement. Each client holds its own permits with their own conditions, and these must remain strictly separated. We set access and checks per client, so an employee cannot accidentally register under the wrong permit.
Then it is a correction, not an amendment, because the legal moment has already passed. Your system must be able to record that correction alongside the original entry, with the reason and time. How you handle the correction with Customs depends on the case; agree that with your customs adviser.
That depends on which arrangements you operate, the number of licences, and whether integrations are needed with your stock and shipping systems. The licence register with upfront checking is usually quick to become useful and removes the biggest risk; the supplementary declaration per period costs more. We give you a reasoned estimate after the discovery phase.
Do you know whether your registration is final?
Look up a registration from last month and check whether the time is still the original or a booking date someone has set. That difference determines whether you have a record or merely an assertion. We build this as a standalone application and as part of a broader custom software project.