ERP for cross-border trade. Export paperwork, landed cost and FX in one set of books.
Landed cost, month-end FX and the export papers Kinnow supports, in one set of sterling books. Invoicing in a foreign currency is not built. The United Kingdom edition opens in early 2027, and this page keeps its claims narrow.
From early 2027 · configured with you, no ready packHow does Kinnow help a cross-border trader? Imported goods carry their real landed cost into stock value, foreign-currency balances are revalued at month-end on rates you control, and the export papers Kinnow supports are prepared for your adviser. Invoicing in a foreign currency is not built; invoices are in pounds sterling. Nothing is filed, paid or posted without a person.
Your business in one paragraph
A trader who imports and exports lives between two sets of books: the sterling books HMRC reads and the dollar or euro reality of the deal. Goods arrive with freight, duty and clearing bills that land weeks after the stock is sold. Receivables and payables sit in another currency, and their sterling value changes every day. The export side needs a different VAT treatment from a domestic sale, and goods moving to or from Northern Ireland are reported in different boxes of the VAT return again. Three things keep the owner awake.
Margin on imported stock is a guess
Landed cost is added to a spreadsheet later, and the item margin reported last month was wrong.
Month-end FX is a manual exercise
Open balances are revalued by hand, and the gain or loss reaches the books late or not at all.
Export papers live in mail
Unpaid invoices to overseas customers and remittance details are scattered across people.
Bring last quarter's import file and see the landed cost land in your item margin.
How your month runs on Kinnow
Cross-border trade runs on the buying, selling and accounting spine, with landed cost and FX added around it. Where a step is not built, the table says so.
| # | Step | Who | Application | Where a person signs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Purchase order raised to the overseas supplier; large orders go for approval | Procurement officer | Buy | A purchase order above the limit you set needs approval |
| 2 | Supplier invoice captured, with the amount checked before anything is saved | Data-entry operator | Account | Bill matched to order and receipt before it is paid |
| 3 | Goods received; freight, duty and clearing bills raised as a landed-cost voucher and allocated | Accounts executive | Buy, Stock & Ship | Voucher posted by a person |
| 4 | Landed cost added per unit to the stock value; the journal reaches the ledger | Automatic | Stock & Ship, Account | Journal above the limit needs approval |
| 5 | Proforma invoice for an advance to an overseas customer | Sales executive | Sell | Proforma approved before it goes out |
| 6 | Sales invoice raised in pounds sterling; a supply to a business customer outside the UK is zero-rated for VAT and marked for reverse charge | Accounts executive | Sell | Invoice approval; a foreign-currency invoice is not built |
| 7 | Invoices to overseas customers still unpaid appear in receivables ageing | Accounts executive | Account | Accounts executive decides the chase |
| 8 | Exchange rates kept up to date; FX Rate Watch flags missing or stale ones | Finance manager | Account | Rates entered by a person |
| 9 | Month-end: open foreign-currency balances revalued at the closing rate | Finance head | Account | Preview reviewed; journal visible |
| 10 | VAT return including import VAT and any Northern Ireland boxes (groundwork completed before launch); close | Adviser, finance head | Comply, Account | Adviser confirms and files; finance head signs the close |
What we set up with you
Cross-border trade has no ready-made industry setup (we call it an industry pack) of its own in the app, so we do not claim ready-made limits or reports for it. What exists:
- Extra rules for export and import that can be added on top of the Manufacturing, Distribution or Capital goods industry setup. It adds one rule: a sales order above a limit set with you in pounds needs commercial-manager approval, because an export order priced before the forex view is a margin decision taken by accident.
- The industry setup you start from carries the rest of the approvals, reports, ready-made routines and Ask starters for your trade.
- How landed cost is shared out (value, quantity, weight or volume) per voucher.
- Your exchange-rate table and refresh interval.
- Country rules for each company: a United Kingdom company runs the GB country setup, and a group with companies elsewhere keeps separate books for each.
Processes, built in
A full set of best-practice processes for your industry come switched on: who owns each step, which steps Kinnow enforces, and a clock on every hand-off between departments. Print any of them as an SOP.
Ask us to run one imported consignment through landed cost on your own bills.
Agents for cross-border trade
FX Revaluation
Revalues open foreign-currency balances at the closing rate. A preview shows what it would post, and a period already done is not posted twice.
FX Rate Watch
Flags a currency in use with no rate on file, a rate older than your refresh interval, and an automatic rate source that was asked for but is not connected.
3-way match
Matches the purchase order (PO), the goods receipt and the supplier's bill line by line, and holds the bill until any difference is sorted out.
AccountAI Invoice Extractor
Reads the text of a supplier invoice and fills in the bill for you, checking that the amounts add up before anything is saved.
Account / KnowCash-flow Forecaster
Builds a rolling cash forecast for the next 30, 60 and 90 days from post-dated cheques, bills due and how customers have paid in the past, with a range around each figure to show how sure it is.
KnowAnomaly Detector
Checks nine business figures for unusual movements whenever an administrator or your scheduler starts a scan, and lists them in the Anomaly Feed, most serious first.
Each agent is validated with each client before it works on their books, and every output waits for a person.
Statutory and compliance calendar for a cross-border trader (United Kingdom)
Kinnow prepares; a person confirms and files. Dates are not printed here because the authority sets them and they change; Comply carries your calendar.
| Obligation | What Kinnow prepares | Who confirms |
|---|---|---|
| VAT return | The groundwork to build the nine-box VAT return figures from the sales and purchase records for the period, as a file to download, is completed before launch. Kinnow does not submit to HMRC: a person files through HMRC-recognised software or the HMRC portal, once your adviser has confirmed the box mapping. | Accounts executive, adviser |
| Sales to customers outside the UK | Kinnow zero-rates a supply to a business customer outside the UK and marks it for reverse charge by the customer. Your adviser confirms the treatment of each kind of supply. | Accounts executive, adviser |
| Import VAT | Carried into the VAT return when import tax is on the purchase records. Your adviser confirms how it is accounted for. | Adviser |
| Northern Ireland goods | When the return groundwork is completed before launch, boxes 2, 8 and 9 are filled only when the company is declared under the Northern Ireland Protocol; otherwise they are zero and a warning is shown if import VAT is present. | Finance head, adviser |
| Customs duty and declarations | Not filed by Kinnow. Duty paid is recorded as a landed-cost line. | Customs agent, adviser |
| Companies House, corporation tax and ICO fee | Confirmation statement, annual accounts, corporation tax return and ICO fee are tracked with a due date and a reminder. Kinnow files none of them. | Finance head, adviser |
What the owner sees
Questions you can type into Ask Kinnow, answered from the records behind your starting industry setup, with the source and cost shown before it runs. Examples from the setups it sits on:
- What did we sell by product line, domestic and export? (Sales register)
- Which customers are over their credit limit? Which receivables are more than 90 days old? (Receivables ageing)
- What is my stock worth right now? (Stock valuation)
- Which orders are booked but not yet despatched? (Pending sales orders)
Illustration · sample data
| Currency | Open balance | Rate on file (£ per unit) | Sterling value (£) | Watch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | 3,200 | 0.7900 | 2,528.00 | Revalued at 0.7950 (+16.00) |
| EUR | 11,000 | 0.8600 | 9,460.00 | Rate 9 days old |
| CNY | 18,000 | 0.1090 | 1,962.00 | Within refresh interval |
Numbers that matter
| Number | Where you read it | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Landed cost per unit against purchase price | Landed-cost vouchers and stock valuation | The real margin on imported stock |
| Open foreign-currency balances and their revaluation | Revaluation run and exposure | What a rate move did to the books this month |
| Currencies with no rate or a stale rate | FX Rate Watch | Postings that were booked unconverted |
| Overseas receivables unpaid | Receivables ageing | Cash you are waiting on from abroad |
| Receivables over 90 days | Receivables ageing | Whether large invoices are being collected |
See open foreign balances and a revaluation preview on your own ledger.
Applications switched on
| Generic term | In your Kinnow |
|---|---|
| sale to an overseas business | zero-rated, reverse charge by the customer |
| import cost | landed cost |
| advance bill | proforma invoice |
Questions
Can I invoice in USD?
No. Multi-currency invoicing is not built. Sales invoices are raised and held in pounds sterling. What Kinnow does cover is the cost side and the books: landed cost on imports, exchange rates you keep, and the revaluation of open foreign-currency balances. If your buyers are billed in dollars or euros, that invoice is prepared outside Kinnow for now.
Does Kinnow handle landed cost?
Yes. A landed-cost voucher takes freight, duty, clearing and insurance, spreads them across the lines of a receipt by value, quantity, weight or volume, and adds them per unit to the stock value when the voucher is posted. Item margins then reflect what the goods really cost.
Where do exchange rates come from?
You keep them. There is a rate table the company maintains day by day, and no automatic rate source is connected. FX Rate Watch tells you when a currency in use has no rate, or the rate is older than your own refresh interval, so postings are not quietly booked one-for-one.
What does the month-end FX revaluation do?
It revalues open foreign-currency balances at the closing rate and posts the gain or loss. It runs in the first days of the month, skips a period already done, will not post on a rate more than 5 days old, and leaves closed periods alone. A preview shows what it would post before you apply it.
How is VAT treated on sales to customers abroad?
Kinnow zero-rates a supply to a business customer outside the UK and marks it for reverse charge, so the customer accounts for the tax. Your adviser confirms the treatment of each kind of supply during set-up. Kinnow does not handle customs declarations.
How does the VAT return treat Northern Ireland?
Boxes 2, 8 and 9 of the return apply to goods moving to or from Northern Ireland. Kinnow fills them only when the company is declared under the Northern Ireland Protocol; otherwise they are zero, and a warning is shown if import VAT is present. The groundwork to build the return as a file is completed before launch; Kinnow does not submit it to HMRC.
Can a UK company and an overseas company run in one account?
Each company follows its own country's setup and keeps its own books. Consolidating companies that report in different currencies is not built, so a group view across currencies means asking about each company, not reading one consolidated statement.
How long to set up?
About two weeks to first results for one company. There is no ready-made industry setup for cross-border trade; we set it up with you on whichever of Manufacturing, Distribution or Capital goods is closest to your business.
Show me Kinnow for cross-border trade.
Answer three questions. Get the applications, the agents and a two-week plan for your business.