Contact Info
United Kingdom
How does an ERP consultant help UK trading companies?
For UK importers and exporters, an ERP consultant designs a system that holds customs data on items and suppliers, separates duty from recoverable import VAT, costs euro and dollar purchases in sterling and enforces credit limits. I map your consignments with your customs agent's handoffs in view, test platforms on real EU and rest-of-world trades, and oversee implementation through to the first VAT return.
Last reviewed by Vikas Saroj
I work remotely with UK trading businesses: importers bringing goods in from Asia and Europe, exporters selling into the EU and further afield, and merchants who do both from one warehouse. Many still run Sage or Xero for the books, a separate stock tool, and a folder of spreadsheets that follow containers, duty and currency.
Brexit turned every European consignment into a customs event, with declarations, commodity codes and origin questions that a UK merchant once ignored. That paperwork is usually filed by a customs agent or forwarder, but the data behind it lives in your purchasing and sales records. When those records are thin, every declaration turns into a round of emails.
My job is to map that trade properly, then help you choose and run an ERP that holds the data once and reuses it on every consignment.
What I Do
UK traders usually call me when customs queries, import VAT reconciliation and currency swings are eating more of the finance team's week than the actual trading.
I document how goods arrive from and leave for the EU and other markets, who files each declaration, and which documents your agent needs from you for every consignment.
Commodity code, country of origin, weights and preference evidence held against items and suppliers, so agents receive consistent data and declarations stop depending on one person's memory.
How import VAT is recorded, whether postponed accounting is used, and how the monthly statements are reconciled to the ledgers, agreed with your accountant before configuration starts.
Euro and dollar purchases costed into sterling stock, with exchange differences kept apart from product margin, so pricing decisions rest on what goods really cost to land.
Customer limits aligned with your credit insurer's decisions where you have cover, stop rules for overdue accounts, and invoice finance reporting in the shape your lender expects.
Scripted demos built on your real consignments, a fit-gap reviewed with process owners, then oversight of the implementer through UAT, cutover and the first VAT return on the new system.
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
Consignments, agents and ledgers
Import and export walkthroughs
Customs agent handoffs
VAT and MTD workflow
Margin and FX method
Requirements and fit-gap
Customs data requirements
Landed cost and VAT rules
Scripted platform tests
Signed-off fit-gap
Implementation and first returns
Implementer coordination
Open orders and stock migrated
UAT on EU consignments
First MTD return checked
When the UK was inside the EU, buying from a German or Italian supplier felt much like a domestic purchase. Today the same consignment needs an import declaration, a commodity code, an origin claim if you want preferential treatment, and a decision on how import VAT is accounted for. Exports to EU customers need export declarations, and depending on the Incoterms you agree, someone has to handle import formalities and VAT on the other side.
Most UK traders rely on a customs agent or forwarder to file declarations, which is sensible. The weak point is the data supplied to that agent. Commodity codes sit in a spreadsheet, origin evidence in an inbox, weights are missing from item records, and each consignment triggers questions. Errors then flow straight into duty and VAT figures.
A well-designed ERP keeps customs attributes on item and supplier records, prints them on commercial invoices and packing lists, and links the agent's entries and charges back to the purchase order. Movements to or from Northern Ireland follow their own arrangements, so if you trade there I capture that as a separate flow. What applies to your goods is for your agent and advisor to confirm; my focus is a system that carries the right data.
One consignment produces three kinds of cost that behave differently in the books. Customs duty is part of what the goods cost and normally belongs in landed cost. Import VAT is usually recoverable, so it should not inflate item cost; how it is recorded depends on whether you use postponed VAT accounting or pay at the border. Agent fees, port charges and haulage fall in between, depending on your costing policy.
In many UK traders I find all of this posted to one freight account, margins estimated, and the VAT return relying on a manual tie-up of statements against purchases. The requirements I write separate the elements, define how each is allocated across a mixed consignment, and specify the reconciliation report your accountant needs each quarter.
Currency adds a layer. Buying in euros or dollars and selling in sterling means the rate on the order date, the payment date and the period end all matter. I keep FX gains and losses out of product margin so buyers see the true cost of what they bought. VAT figures must also reach HMRC through software that supports Making Tax Digital, which I test before go-live, as described on my UK ERP consulting page.
UK trading companies often sell on account to merchants, retailers and contractors, and many protect that ledger with credit insurance or fund it through invoice finance. Both create requirements an ERP should meet directly instead of leaving them to a credit controller's spreadsheet.
None of this is exotic, but it is exactly where generic implementations cut corners. I put these scenarios into UAT scripts so they are proven before the old system is switched off, rather than discovered when an insured customer goes over limit in the first busy month.
The common UK starting point is Sage or Xero for accounting, with an inventory add-on or a separate warehouse tool. That combination can run a small importer well. It starts to strain when you add a second warehouse, an EU entity or fulfilment partner, an online channel, or enough consignments that landed cost and import VAT reconciliation take days each month.
A full ERP is not automatically the answer. Sometimes a stronger inventory tool connected to the existing ledger is enough. When it is not, I compare platforms on the scenarios that decide your trade: a mixed consignment from the EU with duty on some lines only, an export to an EU customer on delivered terms, a sale invoiced in euros, an insured customer sitting at their limit.
For migration, I bring across open purchase orders, stock in transit with costs to date, open sterling and foreign-currency balances at the right rates, customer credit limits, and item customs attributes once they have been cleaned. That clean-up is often the most valuable part of the project. See the UK overview, the main trading ERP page and my vendor selection service for how the evaluation runs.
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
Usually not directly. Most UK traders keep a customs agent or forwarder for declarations. The ERP's role is to hold accurate commodity codes, origin, weights and values, produce documents from them, and record the agent's entries and charges against the right purchase order. A direct link to customs software is possible on some platforms, and I check it only if it is a real requirement.
Import VAT is normally recoverable, so it should sit in a VAT account rather than in stock cost. The exact entries depend on whether you use postponed VAT accounting or pay at the border, which your accountant decides. I make sure the ERP records it consistently and gives you a report that reconciles to the official statements.
Yes. Most mid-market ERPs support credit limits and order holds. The design work is deciding how insurer limits are updated, what happens when an order exceeds one, who can release it and how that decision is recorded. I write those rules into the requirements and test them during UAT with real customer examples.
For many small importers, yes. It becomes harder once you need landed cost across mixed consignments, multiple warehouses, several currencies and detailed margin reporting. I review your volumes and processes and give you an honest view on whether to strengthen the current setup or move to a full ERP.
Yes. Workshops, requirement sessions and design reviews run online within the UK working day, with recorded walkthroughs for warehouse and finance staff who cannot join live. Groups with teams in Europe can join the same sessions comfortably. On-site visits are possible by arrangement but are rarely needed.
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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