Export documentation gets less attention than import documentation because the immediate financial consequence is smaller. The eventual consequence is not: an export that cannot be evidenced properly puts zero-rating at risk, and an incomplete audit trail on a controlled item is a compliance problem rather than an accounting one.
This is our annual reminder of what a complete export file contains.
The file
- The commercial invoice and packing list actually used for the declaration, not a later revision.
- The export declaration and the departure confirmation evidencing that the goods left.
- The transport document, and where the sale terms make the buyer responsible for carriage, whatever evidence of removal you were able to obtain from them.
- Any licence, authorisation or end-use documentation, together with the screening record that established none was needed where that is the conclusion.
- Proof of payment, which is not documentation of the export as such but is what an auditor asks for when the rest is thin.
Screening
Screening against restricted party lists is only useful if it is recorded and dated. A screen that was run and produced no hit but was not saved is, for audit purposes, a screen that was not run. Record the list version and the date. Rescreen when a transaction is repeated after a long gap rather than relying on a result from two years ago.
Retention
Keep the file for the full statutory period, which is longer than most accounting retention schedules assume, and keep it in a form that survives a change of freight forwarder or accounting system. We hand over complete files on request and we would encourage clients to ask for them periodically rather than only when they change provider.
The desk runs a documentation audit for retained clients each January. Slots for this year are open now.