Before You Start

This guide assumes you have QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise with the Advanced Inventory module enabled. Familiarity with inventory workflows is recommended.

Overview

50 min
Setup Time
Expert
Difficulty
Per Shipment
Maintenance

What You’ll Learn

  • How to prep your QuickBooks Enterprise accounts for landed costs
  • Defining and configuring landed cost items and categories
  • Applying various landed cost components to inventory items
  • Understanding the impact on inventory valuation and COGS

1. Preparation Steps

You’ll need these accounts and settings configured in QuickBooks Enterprise:

Required Accounts (COGS/Expense)

  • Freight In (Cost of Goods Sold)
  • Import Duties (Cost of Goods Sold)
  • Insurance In (Cost of Goods Sold)
  • Customs Broker Fees (Cost of Goods Sold)

Required Settings

  • Advanced Inventory module enabled
  • Landed Cost functionality enabled in Advanced Inventory settings

2. Understanding Landed Cost Components

Landed cost includes all expenses incurred to get a product from the supplier to your warehouse.

Category A: Direct Item Costs

These are the costs directly paid for the items themselves.

Included:
  • Purchase Price
  • Supplier Discounts
Excluded:
  • Freight
  • Duties
  • Insurance

Category B: Indirect Landed Cost Components

These are additional costs allocated to inventory items after initial purchase.

Expert Tip: For accurate valuation, ensure all relevant indirect costs (freight, duties, insurance, handling fees, customs broker fees) are captured and properly allocated to your inventory items. This provides a true Cost of Goods Sold.

3. Step-by-Step: Landed Cost Workflow

Here is the high-level workflow for incorporating landed costs into your inventory valuation in QuickBooks Enterprise. This process ensures that the total cost of acquiring inventory is reflected in your item costs, leading to accurate COGS.

When a bill for landed costs is created, it’s allocated across the inventory items on a corresponding purchase order. This allocation can be done by quantity, percentage, or value.

Here is a sample code block to show how a landed cost allocation entry might be structured (conceptually, QBE handles this internally).

{
  "landed_cost_bill_id": "LC-2025-001",
  "vendor": "Global Freight Inc.",
  "amount": 500.00,
  "cost_type": "Freight In",
  "allocated_to_po": "PO-2025-010",
  "allocation_method": "By Quantity",
  "line_items_impacted": [
    { "item_sku": "PROD-A", "quantity": 100, "allocated_cost": 250.00 },
    { "item_sku": "PROD-B", "quantity": 50, "allocated_cost": 250.00 }
  ]
}

4. Configuring Landed Cost in Enterprise

  1. 1

    Enable Landed Cost

    Go to Edit > Preferences > Items & Inventory > Company Preferences. Click “Advanced Inventory Settings” and enable “Landed Cost”.

  2. 2

    Define Landed Cost Items

    Create new “Other Charge” type items for each landed cost component (e.g., Freight In, Duties). Link these to the appropriate COGS accounts.

  3. 3

    Create Vendor Bills for Landed Costs

    When you receive a bill for freight, duties, etc., create a Vendor Bill. Link the line items to your defined Landed Cost items and then allocate them to the relevant Purchase Orders.

Common Error: Not Allocating to PO

Landed costs must be linked to a specific Purchase Order during the bill entry. If not, the costs will not be properly applied to your inventory items, leading to inaccurate valuation.

5. Testing Your Setup

Test Landed Cost Checklist

  • Create a test Purchase Order with multiple inventory items
  • Record a test bill for freight/duties and allocate it to the PO
  • Verify the inventory item’s average cost now includes the allocated landed cost
  • Run a Profit & Loss (P&L) report and confirm COGS reflects true item costs

Need Help?

Get Expert Landed Cost Support

Struggling with complex landed cost scenarios or advanced inventory settings? Our QuickBooks Enterprise specialists are here to help.

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