Customs information system with assist calculation engine

A method for a broker of a customs brokerage to generate customs documents to be submitted to a customs authority in the support of a transaction wherein a buyer imports purchased goods from a seller, comprising:

• retrieving information, including both transaction information identifying the purchased goods and assist information identifying a value for assistance provided by the buyer to the seller as part of the transaction, from a customs information system database having a first set of records containing the transaction information and a second set of records containing the assist information;
• and
• generating customs documents from the transaction information and the assist information retrieved in the step of retrieving;
• wherein the database is configured to be in electronic communication with the buyer such that the buyer can enter assist information into the second set of records.

A method for a buyer to provide information to a broker of a customs brokerage such that the customs broker can generate customs documents to be submitted to a customs authority in the support of a transaction wherein the buyer imports purchased goods from a seller, comprising:

• identifying a value for assistance provided by the buyer to the seller in support of the sellers production of the purchased goods as part of the transaction;
• and
• submitting assist information, including the identified value for assistance provided by the buyer to the seller, to a customs information system database configured with a first set of records configured to store transaction information and a second set of records configured to store the assist information;
• wherein the database is configured to be in electronic communication with the broker such that the broker can retrieve transaction information from the first set of records and assist information from the second set of records.

A method for a buyer and a customs broker to cooperatively generate customs documents to be submitted to a customs authority in the support of a transaction wherein the buyer imports purchased goods from a seller, comprising:

• identifying a value for assistance provided by the buyer to the seller as part of the transaction;
• submitting transaction information, including an identification of the goods purchased in the transaction to a customs information system database, the database having a first set of records configured to contain transaction information;
• submitting assist information, including the identified value for assistance provided by the buyer to the seller, to the database, the database also having a second set of records configured to contain assist information;
• retrieving both the transaction information and the assist information associated with the transaction from the database;
• and
• generating customs documents from the transaction information and assist information retrieved in the step of retrieving.