International Shipping in Helm

International shipping is where precision meets pageantry. This panel lets you define how export data is composed, ensuring customs, compliance, and costings are immaculate across borders while keeping your operations brisk and elegant

Purpose

This section customises how your export processes are managed, with specific attention to how grouped items are represented and costed on export documents

Key Rule: Split Group Items on Export

• What it does: When enabled, each item within a product group is listed separately on export documents

• Why it matters: Many customs regimes require item‑level detail: distinct HS codes, quantities, and values per line. Splitting groups produces clean, compliant lines for each constituent item, reducing clearance delays

• Cost logic: If group items lack individual cost prices, Helm will automatically distribute the group’s total cost across items. This ensures each line has a valid unit value for customs and declarations

When to Enable Splitting

• Compliance: You need itemised lines for customs, tariff classification, or preferential origin checks

• Transparency: Operations and finance want to trace cost per item across borders

• Analytics: You report international sales or margins at SKU level, not bundle level

When to Keep Groups Intact

• Bundled offers: Your destination accepts bundles as a single commercial line and you prefer faster invoice reads

• Simple regimes: Low‑value shipments where item granularity isn’t required and paperwork volume matters

Best Practices

• Verify costs: Populate per‑item cost prices wherever possible to avoid unexpected proportional distribution

• HS codes and origin: Maintain accurate HS codes and country of origin for each item; splitting only helps if metadata is correct

• Descriptions: Use clear, non‑poetic item descriptions that match tariff expectations: concise, specific, and non‑ambiguous

• Documents: Align this setting with your Document Rules to ensure packing lists, commercial invoices mirror the chosen structure

Operational Tips

• Edge cases: Test exports with long descriptions, mixed VAT treatments, and items missing line 2 to confirm formatting

• Consistency: If warehouses scan at line level, split groups and pair with barcodes per item to avoid mis‑picks

• Audit trail: Keep a note in Order History when toggling this rule for traceability

Outcome

With thoughtful configuration, International Shipping in Helm produces export documents that are compliant, auditable, and crystal‑clear: reducing friction at the border and keeping your operations delightfully swift