Landed cost calculator
Freight and duty are part of what the goods cost — pretending otherwise flatters every margin report you will ever run. Landed cost per unit is the honest denominator.
Margin computed on goods cost alone overstates profit on every imported item — landed cost is the honest denominator.
The invoice is not the cost
Landed cost is what a unit actually costs on your shelf: the supplier price plus freight, duty, brokerage, insurance and any handling — divided across the units in the shipment. A $10 unit with $2 of freight and duty is a $12 unit, and pricing from $10 quietly gives away the difference.
For imported goods the gap is frequently 15–30%, which is enough to turn a line you believe is profitable into one that is not.
Allocating shared costs
Freight on a mixed container has to be spread somehow — by value, by weight or by volume. By value is simplest and usually acceptable; by weight or volume is fairer when a shipment mixes heavy cheap goods with light expensive ones.
Whichever you choose, apply it consistently, because switching methods between shipments makes margin trends meaningless.
Doing it once, in the books
A calculator tells you the number. Keeping it means the cost has to live on the goods rather than in the month the container cleared — otherwise every margin report is computed from the supplier price and quietly flatters itself.
SeroBooks records the charges against the bill and spreads them across its lines, by value or evenly per unit. Inventory is debited what the goods actually cost, the freight comes out of the expense it was booked to, and each sale relieves the supplier price plus its share — so what goes on the shelf comes back off it. Goods returned to the supplier give their share back, because nothing will ever sell to relieve it.
Frequently asked questions
Should landed cost go into my books?
Yes — cost prices in your inventory system should reflect landed reality, or your margins and stock valuation both drift optimistic.