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Does your business sell or plan to sell its products internationally? When shipping products to another country, you may want to use Harmonised System (HS) codes. Doing so will allow you to classify your business’s products using a universal system. What are HS codes exactly, and how do you create them?

Overview of HS Codes

Developed by the World Customers Organization (WCO), HS codes consist of multi-digit numerical codes that are used to classify internationally shipped products. Custom authorities, of course, will often inspect imported products to determine how much duties and taxes should be applied to them. Rather than using their own classification system, most custom authorities use the HS system. The HS system is a universal classification system that’s designed to classify products so that customs authorities can identify more easily.

How to Enable HS Codes in Quickbooks

You can enable HS codes in Quickbooks. When enabled, HS codes will automatically show on all eligible documents. To enable HS codes in Quickbooks, click the “Settings” menu and choose “Brands and Documents.” You can then choose a theme to edit, followed by “Document Settings” for that theme. Next, choose the document that you want to display the HS code. You should notice a box labeled “HS Code” on the document. Clicking this bark will place a checkmark it, thus enabling it. To complete the process, click “Save and close.”

You can also add HS codes to product variants. A product variant, of course, is a variation of a product. You may want to create a different product variant for each country to which you intend to ship a given product. Quickbooks supports HS codes for product variants such as this.

Start by creating the product variant. Clicking the “Inventory” menu, followed by “Products” and then “Add a variant” will allow you to create a product variant. Once the product variant has been created, pull it up in Quickbooks. It should feature several fields, including a field for the HS code. You can enter the HS code for the product variant in this field.

In Conclusion

HS codes are used to classify products that are shipped internationally. When products are shipped internationally, they must be inspected by customs. Fortunately, most custom authorities use the same system. Known as the HS system, it consists of codes that designate the type of product.

Have anything else that you’d like to add? Let us know in the comments section below!