I stumbled across yet another announcement of a new distribution center opening in Southern California to house goods imported from China. Many companies today are importing and exporting their goods. In general some of the issues include container tracking, bills of lading, forgeign currencies, and others. I’ve got some expanded thoughts over at our corporate site regarding

When you are considering an ERP system for your import/export business, consider the following - how will you track the product once it hits the water? How will you enter P/O receipts from containers that have multiple P/Os? Does the software have the ability to enter exchange rates and track multiple currencies?

Be wary of industry-specific software as it may not have the solid accounting foundation that you need. But also check into the accounting software, to see how you will handle the nuances of an import/export business. Note - if you buy anything from other countries and export to other countries, you may have the same issues as an import/export business.

For some expanded thoughts - check out “ERP Considerations for Importers” in the resources section at our main website at www.ACIconsulting.com.