Importer / exporter software, built around FDA, E&O and landed-cost allocator per shipment

Arkathos gives a importer a workspace tailored to how the work actually runs — This workspace is built around computing landed cost and producing customs paperwork for cross-border shipments. Arkathos tailors a importer workspace around 5 agents: Treasury, Sentinel, Armory, Scribe, Herald.

Compliance a importer can't afford to miss

Watchtower tracks every license, bond, insurance policy, and continuing-education requirement for a importer, with renewal cadences and staged reminders so nothing lapses.

• A importer must maintain a Business Operating License, which renews every year.
• A importer must maintain a CBP Importer of Record (IOR) number, through the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which has no fixed renewal cycle.
• A importer must maintain a CBP Continuous Customs Bond (Activity Code 1, Import Bond), through the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP); underwritten by a Treasury-listed surety, which renews every year.
• A importer must maintain a CBP Importer of Record Number, through the U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP), which has no fixed renewal cycle.
• A importer must maintain a Continuous Customs Bond, through the Surety / Insurance Provider (CBP-filed), which renews every year.
• A importer must maintain a Licensed Customs Broker License (individually licensed broker; conditional — only if the firm itself acts as a customs broker), through the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which renews every 3 years.
• The Licensed Customs Broker License (individually licensed broker; conditional — only if the firm itself acts as a customs broker) carries a continuing-education requirement of 36 hours every 36 months (36h General customs / trade-law continuing education).
• A importer must maintain a Customs Broker License (if self-brokering), through the U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP), which renews every 3 years.
• The Customs Broker License (if self-brokering) carries a continuing-education requirement of 36 hours every 36 months (36h Customs / trade compliance).
• A importer must maintain a FMC Ocean Transportation Intermediary (OTI) License — Ocean Freight Forwarder / NVOCC (annual FMC-48 surety bond required to maintain the license), through the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC); underlying FMC-48 bond underwritten by a Treasury-listed surety, which has no fixed renewal cycle.
• A importer must maintain a DDTC ITAR Registration (Form DS-2032, defense articles / USML), through the U.S. Department of State, Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC), which renews every year.
• A importer must maintain a Export License (EAR / BIS, commodity-dependent), through the Bureau of Industry & Security (BIS), which renews every two years.
• A importer must maintain a BIS / EAR Export License (Commerce-controlled dual-use items, as required), through the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), which has no fixed renewal cycle.
• A importer must maintain a ITAR / DDTC Registration (defense articles), through the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (State Dept), which renews every year.
• A importer must maintain a FDA Food Facility Registration (for regulated food/beverage imports), through the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which renews every two years.
• A importer must maintain a FDA Food Facility Registration (imported food), through the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA), which renews every two years.
• A importer must maintain a CTPAT (Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism) Membership, through the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which has no fixed renewal cycle.
• A importer must maintain a Seller's Permit / Sales Tax Permit, through the State Dept of Revenue, which renews every two years.
• A importer must maintain a General Liability Insurance, which renews every year.
• A importer must maintain a Marine Cargo Insurance (Ocean Marine Cargo / all-risk transit), through the Private insurer (state-admitted or surplus lines), which renews every year.
• A importer must maintain a Commercial General Liability (CGL) Insurance, through the Private insurer (state-admitted carrier), which renews every year.
• A importer must maintain a Marine / Cargo Insurance, which renews every year.
• A importer must maintain a Commercial Property Insurance, which renews every year.
• A importer must maintain a Cyber Liability Insurance, through the Private insurer (state-admitted or surplus lines), which renews every year.
• A importer must maintain a Workers' Compensation Insurance, through the State-regulated workers' compensation carrier / state fund, which renews every year.
• A importer must maintain a Professional Liability / Errors & Omissions (E&O) Insurance, through the Private insurer (state-admitted or surplus lines), which renews every year.

Everything Arkathos runs for a importer

These are the agents set up first for a importer — and because it's one platform, every plan includes all 16 Arkathos agents. Also included whenever you need them: Guardhouse, Quartermaster, Courier, War Room, Marshall, Mint Warden, Vault Keeper, Watchtower, Bulletin Board, Client Portal.

• Treasury — Invoicing & payment collection, Expense tracking, Accounting & bookkeeping, Business tax prep & filing, Recurring billing & subscriptions, Financial dashboards & reports.
• Sentinel — Contact & lead management, Deal / estimate pipeline, Task & follow-up tracking, SMS & email outreach, Pipeline reporting.
• Armory — Inventory & stock tracking, Supplier & purchase orders, Receipt scanning (OCR), Waste & shrink tracking, Low-stock alerts.
• Scribe — Document & contract templates, E-signature, Proposal & form builder, PDF / Word export.
• Herald — SEO & get-found content, Social media scheduling, Email & newsletter campaigns, Brand voice & content studio, Review & reputation growth, AI-overview & directory visibility.

Your tailored importer workspace

These are net-new, importer-specific capabilities — not a generic CRM bolted onto your industry.

• Landed-cost allocator per shipment (Treasury): Build per-shipment landed cost = goods + freight + insurance + duty + brokerage + tariffs, allocate it across SKUs by weight or value, and roll the result into each item's inventory cost and COGS. There is no current tab that computes true landed cost.
• Duty/tariff & HTS classification ledger with drawback (Treasury): Store the HTS/Schedule-B code per product, look up the duty rate, flag anti-dumping/countervailing exposure, and track duty-drawback recovery on re-exported goods. Drives the landed-cost number and the customs filing.
• Multi-currency invoicing + FX gain/loss (Treasury): Record POs and invoices in their native currency, capture the FX rate at booking vs settlement, and post realized/unrealized FX gain or loss automatically. Core to any importer/exporter and unsupported by the single-currency sheet today.
• Customs document set generator (Scribe): One shipment record merges into a full templated set — commercial invoice, packing list, certificate of origin, BOL, and an ISF (10+2) worksheet — with e-sign. Replaces re-typing the same data across five forms per shipment.
• Incoterms + Letter-of-Credit milestone tracking (Sentinel): Per-deal Incoterm selector (FOB/CIF/DDP/etc.) that drives who bears freight, duty, and insurance, plus L/C milestone tracking (documents-against-payment, presentation deadlines) so a deal can't slip past a banking cutoff.
• Denied-party / OFAC / export-license screening (Sentinel): Screen every supplier and buyer against OFAC and denied-party lists before a deal is booked, and flag commodities that need an EAR/BIS export license or ITAR review. Keeps the trading desk out of sanctions trouble at the point of counterparty entry.

The agents and tabs you get

Treasury for a importer surfaces Financial sheet, Transactions, Invoices, Integrations, Chat. Sentinel for a importer surfaces Overview, Contacts, Tasks, Chat. Armory for a importer surfaces Overview, Items, Suppliers, Chat. Scribe for a importer surfaces Overview, Documents, Templates, Chat. Herald for a importer surfaces Get found, Directories, ✦Studio, Schedule, Chat, Brand voice.

Frequently asked questions

best software for import export business

Depends on need: ERP tools (VISCO, Blue Link) handle landed cost and inventory; IncoDocs/Shipping Solutions handle export docs. For the business side — CRM, invoicing, payroll, marketing — Arkathos runs it under one flat-priced platform.

how much does import export software cost

Widely variable: ERP suites run roughly $500–$3,500/month or $75–$180 per user/month; some charge $10–$50 per shipment. Arkathos uses flat pricing with no per-seat or per-shipment fees.

import export software for small business

Small importers often start with IncoDocs (free doc tool), Acctivate, or Zoho Inventory. Arkathos suits small trading firms by bundling CRM, finances, scheduling and compliance reminders without per-seat pricing.

how to calculate landed cost of imported goods

Landed cost = product cost + freight + customs duties/taxes + insurance + fees, then divided by units. Duties depend on the HS code and FOB or CIF valuation; a customs broker can confirm the rate.

do I need denied party screening software

Effectively yes — it's illegal to ship to anyone on U.S. sanctions/denied-party lists, with penalties up to $1M per violation. Dedicated screening tools check 140+ lists automatically at onboarding and before each shipment.

best crm for import export trading company

Options include CentraHub, Dquip, monday.com and ClickUp templates to track suppliers, buyers, quotes and follow-ups. Arkathos's CRM does this plus ties contacts to invoicing, scheduling and marketing in one platform.

what documents do I need to export goods

Core export documents are the commercial invoice, packing list, and bill of lading, plus a customs declaration with HS codes. Some goods need an export license (ECCN via BIS SNAP-R).

how do I stay compliant with import export regulations

Classify goods (HS/ECCN codes), screen all parties against restricted lists, manage licenses, and keep documentation. Arkathos handles the surrounding compliance calendar, recordkeeping and financial filings; pair it with dedicated customs/screening tools.

software to manage multi-currency invoices and payments for exporters

Trade ERPs like Blue Link and VISCO offer multi-currency invoicing and accounting. Arkathos also handles multi-currency invoicing, payments, bookkeeping and payroll for trading businesses under one flat subscription.

What licenses and insurance does a importer need?

Arkathos tracks 24 items for a importer, including Business Operating License, CBP Importer of Record (IOR) number, CBP Importer of Record Number, Licensed Customs Broker License (individually licensed broker; conditional — only if the firm itself acts as a customs broker). Each renewal and expiration is monitored in Watchtower with staged reminders.

What continuing education is required for a importer?

The Licensed Customs Broker License (individually licensed broker; conditional — only if the firm itself acts as a customs broker) carries a continuing-education requirement of 36 hours every 36 months (36h General customs / trade-law continuing education). The Customs Broker License (if self-brokering) carries a continuing-education requirement of 36 hours every 36 months (36h Customs / trade compliance). Watchtower logs hours by category and flags shortfalls before the deadline.

Which Arkathos agents does a importer get?

Arkathos tailors a importer workspace around 5 agents: Treasury, Sentinel, Armory, Scribe, Herald.

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