Top 5 Challenges in Export Documentation for Indian Exporters

As an exporter, it is easy to get lost competing with other businesses abroad to get the best orders at the best rates. However, an exporter’s job does not end there. If anything, getting your house in order is a priority for growing sustainably. You must streamline the export process, ensure that when you accept international payments to India, all the documents are in order, and ensure export compliance.

After reviewing all these aspects, you realize it boils down to efficient document management. As we pointed out in our earlier article about export documentation, the export process involves repeatedly producing multiple documents. Moreover, the documentation process lacks streamlining, involves numerous people, and often lacks a system for saving and sharing documents.

Let’s look at the top five challenges around export documentation and how we can solve them.

Top five challenges

Challenge #1: Lack of tracking

When an exporter acquires a customer, they onboard them by signing the deal and collecting necessary documents throughout the export process. However, without an export document management solution, an exporter may be unable to track which documents are available and which are missing. Moreover, there is no control over who has access to which document, which can result in misuse or even unauthorized modifications. This, in turn, will lead to a disjointed customer experience, penalties over wrong documentation, and missing documents.

Challenge #2: Not integrated

During the export process, various teams access and use related documents. For instance, the shipping, finance, and customer liaison teams require an insurance policy. Without a system for document management, each team must follow up with one another to understand where the document is and how to find it on time.

A smart and innovative document management solution will help with integration and cloud-based control access to ensure on-time availability for all the stakeholders.

Challenge #3: Security concerns

Dealing with international entities like the customer teams, the banking system, and the regulatory authorities requires you to ensure the secure and controlled storage and sharing of documents. Without a proper documentation management platform, this may not be possible. With the right solution, the documents will be encrypted and secured.

Role-based access controls will ensure you can trace who has accessed the records, whether they have been modified, and the time stamps, making it easy to secure the documents.

Challenge #4: Time-consuming

During export, data and documents about a particular transaction must be integrated into the Export Data Processing and Monitoring System (EDPMS) and the banking system. If your organization does this manually, there is a chance of slowdowns, errors, and inconsistencies. Timely and correct documentation ensures that all the dependencies are addressed and the requisite information is shared with the proper agency.

Challenge #5: Repetitive steps

The lack of a proper document management solution also increases the chance that you are repeating several steps for every new transaction. For instance, once you have collected base documents about the customer’s identity, such as registration, license, and other business-related documents, you need not repeat them.

With a document management solution, you can retrieve these documents by entering the customer ID in your system, eliminating repetitive steps. The centralized documentation platform will auto-populate the details, making the process quicker and simpler.

Why a document management system is essential

Implementing a document management system like LeDocs will simplify managing customer interactions at various transaction stages. For instance, if you have sent goods to a customer, you have likely logged in documents like the purchase order and invoice date.

You can access documents like the proforma invoice (shared during the initial stages) and the commercial invoice (generated while shipping), making it simple to look up the details to streamline your collection process. Once the shipping has taken place, the collections team can create alerts to contact the customer for payments. If there’s a letter of credit (LC), this can be leveraged in various ways.

The possibilities and advantages of an integrated and innovative document management solution are endless. Want to learn how to customize one for your business? Click here to contact our team!