ACE Reports Data Dictionary: What Each Report Field Means

Key Points

• The ACE Reports data dictionary is CBP's published reference that defines each data object (field) available in ACE Reports, names the source record that populates it, and explains what the value actually means.
• It is not the CATAIR, which is the transaction specification filers code to, and it is not the ACE Transaction Details page in the portal.
• Analysts use the ACE Reports data dictionary to tell apart columns that look alike by label, such as entry summary date versus entry date, or line-level duty versus header-level duty, before a refund or reconciliation workbook keys on the wrong field.
• CBP posts the dictionary alongside ACE Reports training material on cbp.gov and revises it with ACE Reports releases, so the edition you downloaded last year may not match the report you ran this morning.
• As of October 2026, confirm the current dictionary edition, report availability and field definitions on CBP's ACE pages before relying on a saved mapping.

On this page

1. What the ACE Reports data dictionary is
2. At a glance
3. Where the ACE Reports data dictionary comes from and how CBP maintains it
4. Who uses the ACE Reports data dictionary and when
5. How to read a field entry and map it to a report column
6. Common ACE Reports data dictionary mistakes and what they cost
7. How the ACE Reports data dictionary relates to other ACE functions
8. Frequently asked questions
9. What importers and brokers should do
10. Key references

The ACE Reports data dictionary is CBP's published reference that defines each data object, or field, available in ACE Reports: what the field is called, which underlying entry, cargo, in-bond, quota or account record populates it, and what its values mean. Brokers, importers and their data analysts use it when building or interpreting an ACE report so that a workbook keys on the right column rather than on a label that merely sounds right. It sits outside the filing lifecycle itself: it is a reference for reading data back out of ACE after entries have been filed, not a specification for transmitting them.

The links in this article go to the primary documents: CBP's own ACE pages, the statute and regulation texts, and the official tariff schedule. Read the source.

At a glance

• Full name: ACE Reports data dictionary (CBP's field-level reference for ACE Reports data objects)
• Who prepares or uses it: CBP publishes it; customs brokers, importers, trade compliance managers and data analysts use it
• When in the lifecycle: after filing, when extracting and analyzing entry summary, cargo, in-bond, quota or account data
• System or channel: ACE Reports, accessed through the ACE Secure Data Portal; the dictionary itself is posted with ACE Reports training material on cbp.gov
• Governing authority: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, as the owner of ACE and of the report catalog
• Related terms: ES-001, ES-002, ACE Reports Modernized, ITRAC, proxy TAO
• Edition and revision date: varies; confirm the current version on CBP's ACE pages

Where the ACE Reports data dictionary comes from and how CBP maintains it

The ACE Reports data dictionary exists because ACE Reports exposes thousands of data objects drawn from different record types, and a column heading alone rarely tells an analyst which record produced the value. CBP maintains the dictionary as part of the ACE Reports documentation set and revises it with ACE Reports releases, adding objects when new report families or new data elements become available and marking objects that change meaning or go away. Because the dictionary tracks releases, a copy saved to a shared drive is a snapshot, not a standing truth; teams that treat it as permanent eventually find a column they are summing has been redefined underneath them.

The dictionary is organized around the ACE Reports report families: entry summary, cargo, in-bond, quota and account reporting, among others. Each family draws on a different operational record, which is why the same conceptual idea, a date or a party or a quantity, appears several times with different source records and different meanings. The dictionary's job is to make that distinction explicit.

Who uses the ACE Reports data dictionary and when

The ACE Reports data dictionary is used by whoever builds or audits a report, which in practice means the broker's reporting lead, the importer's compliance analyst, or the outside consultant running a duty recovery review. The typical trigger is a workbook that has to be defensible: a duty reconciliation, a refund claim schedule, a supplier-by-supplier classification audit, or a quarterly spend report that finance will tie to the general ledger. Before any of those are built, the analyst should look up each intended column in the dictionary and confirm the source record and definition.

Access to ACE Reports runs through the ACE Secure Data Portal account, so the practical gatekeeper is the Trade Account Owner or the proxy TAO, the ACE Trade Account Owner proxy, a user the Trade Account Owner designates to manage the account's users and permissions on the owner's behalf. The proxy TAO grants the reporting role; the dictionary then tells the newly enabled user what the data means. Both steps matter: portal access without field-level understanding produces confident numbers that are wrong.

How to read a field entry and map it to a report column

Each entry in the ACE Reports data dictionary pairs a data object with its definition and its source, and the mapping discipline is to work from the dictionary to the report rather than the other way round. Decide what business question you are answering, find the data object whose definition answers it, then place that object in the report. Reversing the order, dragging in a column because its label reads plausibly, is the single most common source of silent error.

Header versus line versus tariff level

Level is the distinction the dictionary makes most often. ES-001, the ACE Reports ES-001 Entry Summary Header Details report, returns one row per entry summary; ES-002, the ACE Reports ES-002 Entry Summary Line Details report, returns one row per line item. A duty amount on a header row and a duty amount on a line row are different objects with different definitions, and summing both in one pivot double counts. Our walkthroughs of ES-001 and ES-002 show how the levels differ in practice.

Dates that are not the same date

Entry summary date, entry date, release date and liquidation-related dates all appear as separate objects with separate definitions. A refund workbook filtered on the wrong date object will pull the wrong population of entries, which is the sort of error that surfaces only after a claim has been filed.

Common ACE Reports data dictionary mistakes and what they cost

The most expensive mistakes with the ACE Reports data dictionary are mapping errors that never throw an error message. Three recur:

• Mapping by label alone. Two objects can carry near-identical display names and come from different records. The dictionary definition, not the label, is the authority.
• Mixing legacy ACS objects with ACE objects. Older reporting artifacts and older documentation can reference objects that predate ACE. Blending them with current ACE objects in one workbook produces totals that reconcile to nothing.
• Building on a retired report. Report catalogs change with releases. A saved report that still runs is not proof that the underlying objects still mean what the old mapping assumed.

The cost is rarely a penalty; it is rework, a refund schedule that has to be rebuilt, or a management report that finance cannot tie out. Validating a handful of rows against the entry summary itself, and against the applicable Harmonized Tariff Schedule classification, catches most of it early.

How the ACE Reports data dictionary relates to other ACE functions

The ACE Reports data dictionary describes output; several neighboring ACE functions produce the input or consume the result. Keeping them distinct avoids a lot of confusion.

The CATAIR is the transaction specification that tells a filer how to transmit an entry; the ACE Reports data dictionary tells an analyst how to read what came back. The ACE Transaction Details page in the portal shows a single transaction; the dictionary describes bulk report objects. ACE Reports Modernized, the rebuilt ACE Reports platform CBP is rolling out to replace the legacy reporting tool, presents the same trade data on a new interface, so the dictionary remains the field reference even as the front end changes.

Downstream, reports built with the dictionary feed ACE Reconciliation (entry type 09), the program under which an importer flags an entry summary for later reconciliation of undeterminable value, classification, 9802 or FTA issues and then files a reconciliation entry to close them. They also support protest work in the ACE Protest module, the portal function through which importers, brokers and attorneys file, amend and track protests, the electronic CBP Form 19, under 19 U.S.C. 1514 and 19 CFR part 174. Antidumping and countervailing duty columns should be read against ACE AD/CVD case management, the ACE function with its public ADCVD Search that publishes Commerce's case numbers, company suffixes, cash deposit rates, effective dates and liquidation instructions. Cargo and in-bond report objects trace back to filings such as the ACE truck eManifest (ACE e-Manifest: Trucks), the electronic truck manifest highway carriers transmit before arrival at a U.S. land border port, and document objects may reference images sent through DIS, the Document Image System, CBP's ACE channel for transmitting invoices, certificates, permits and similar documents tied to an entry, in-bond or PGA line.

Historically, importers who wanted their own transaction data requested Importer Trade Activity (ITRAC) data, the importer-specific entry data extract obtained from CBP under the Freedom of Information Act, and used it to audit their brokers' filings. ACE Reports and its data dictionary now serve most of that need directly from the portal.

Frequently asked questions

Is the ACE Reports data dictionary the same as the CATAIR?

No. The ACE Reports data dictionary defines report output objects and their source records; the CATAIR defines the message formats filers use to transmit data into ACE. A developer coding an ABI transmission needs the CATAIR; an analyst building a refund workbook needs the ACE Reports data dictionary.

Where does CBP publish the ACE Reports data dictionary?

CBP posts the ACE Reports data dictionary with the ACE Reports training and reference material on cbp.gov. Because CBP revises it with ACE Reports releases, check the posted version rather than a saved copy before you rely on a definition.

Does the ACE Reports data dictionary change under ACE Reports Modernized?

ACE Reports Modernized is a new interface over the same trade data, not a new data source or a new report family, so the ACE Reports data dictionary continues to be the field-level reference. Confirm on CBP's ACE pages which dictionary edition corresponds to the platform you are using.

Can the ACE Reports data dictionary tell me which report to run?

Indirectly. The ACE Reports data dictionary tells you which objects exist and what they mean, which usually points you to the right report family and the right level, for example ES-001 for header-level questions and ES-002 for line-level questions.

What importers and brokers should do

• Download the current ACE Reports data dictionary from CBP's ACE pages and record the edition you used next to every saved report mapping.
• Document, for each column in a production workbook, the dictionary object name, its source record and the level (header, line or tariff), and re-verify after each ACE Reports release.
• Have the Trade Account Owner or proxy TAO review who holds reporting permissions, so the people building duty and refund schedules are the ones trained on the dictionary.
• Validate new reports by tracing a sample of rows back to the underlying entry summary before any figure reaches a refund claim, a reconciliation entry or a protest.

Key references

• CBP Automated Systems (ACE): CBP's ACE hub, including ACE Reports training and reference material where the data dictionary is posted.
• Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States: the official tariff schedule used to validate classification data appearing in ACE reports.
• 19 U.S.C. 1514: the statute governing protests filed through the ACE Protest module.
• 19 CFR part 174: CBP's protest regulations.
• ES-001 Entry Summary Header Details and ES-002 Entry Summary Line Details: how the header and line report levels differ in practice.