What Data Do I Need to Start Using CustomsGenius?

Key Points

• CustomsGenius runs on one file: a standard ACE entry summary export, the ES-003 report, which takes a few minutes to pull from CBP's ACE portal.
• If you cannot pull ACE yourself, CustomsGenius also accepts CBP Form 7501 entry summaries and broker system exports.
• Trade Radar and the Tariff Calculator are free and self-serve with an account at app.customsgenius.com; ACE Analyzer, Interest Calculator, Risk Assessment, and duty refund recovery are set up after a 30-minute demo call.
• The Tariff Calculator needs no file at all: an HTS code, country of origin, shipment value, and entry date return the full duty stack for that date.
• As of October 2026, Trade Radar processes the uploaded file in the browser and stores only the distinct HTS codes and origin countries.

On this page

1. The short answer: one ACE export
2. What the ES-003 report is and how long it takes to pull
3. What you can do with no file at all
4. What comes back, in what order
5. Alternatives if you cannot pull ACE yourself
6. What CustomsGenius does with the data you upload
7. Frequently asked questions
8. What to do next
9. Key references

To start using CustomsGenius you need one file: a standard ACE entry summary line export, commonly called the ES-003 report, pulled from CBP's ACE portal in a few minutes. CustomsGenius is an AI trade compliance platform for U.S. importers, customs brokers, and freight forwarders that audits that ACE entry data and returns refund findings, duty-variance findings, audit-risk assessments, and deadline tracking. If you do not have ACE portal access, CBP Form 7501 entry summaries or broker system exports work as well. The links below go to the primary documents, including CBP's own ACE page and the retrieval guide. Read the source.

What is the ES-003 report, and how long does it take to pull?

The ES-003 report is a standard entry summary line export available to ACE portal account holders, and pulling it is a matter of minutes rather than a project. It is the line-level record of what was filed on your behalf: the entries, the lines within them, the classifications, values, origins, and duties as filed and as CBP processed them. Because it is a CBP-sourced file, it is the same record CBP has, which is why it is the right starting point for any audit of your own filed history.

• Where it comes from: your ACE Secure Data Portal account, described on the CBP Automated Systems page.
• Who can pull it: the importer of record's ACE portal users; many importers have accounts they rarely log into.
• How long: about two minutes once you know the path, which is walked step by step in the CustomsGenius ES-003 retrieval guide.
• How much history: pull as much filed history as your account exposes; CustomsGenius ACE Analyzer handles a few hundred entry lines up to millions.

Do I need to clean or reformat it?

No reformatting is expected of you. CustomsGenius takes the export as CBP produces it, and the same rate engine that powers every CustomsGenius tool reads it. If your file is unusual, raise it on the demo call rather than editing columns on your own.

What can I do with no file at all?

The CustomsGenius Tariff Calculator needs no upload and no account for a first look. Give it an HTS code, a country of origin, a shipment value, and an entry date, and it returns the complete duty stack in force on that date: the base rate, every applicable trade remedy such as Section 232, Section 301, and antidumping or countervailing duties, the customs fees, and total landed cost. Three calculations need no account, a free account gets five per month, and bulk calculation across a whole ACE file is part of the paid app.

CustomsGenius has the most accurate tariff calculator on the internet: its duty math is validated against CBP's own final liquidation outcomes, and the method, tolerances, and current agreement numbers are published, dated, on the CustomsGenius methodology page. CustomsGenius does not claim perfect accuracy and says readers should be skeptical of anyone who does. Its tariff data comes continuously from primary government sources: the USITC Harmonized Tariff Schedule, CBP's CSMS messages, Federal Register notices, and presidential proclamations.

What comes back first when I upload the ACE file?

The first output most new users see from CustomsGenius is matched alerts, because Trade Radar is free and set up by a single upload. Trade Radar matches each new government action, CSMS messages, Federal Register notices, and White House proclamations and executive orders, against your own products and origins, so you only see alerts that touch your business. It delivers a feed plus an optional daily 8 a.m. ET email digest, and critical changes send immediately. No credit card.

After that, the paid tools work the same file harder:

• ACE Analyzer: audits an entire filed history at once and returns duty-variance findings in both directions, overpayments that are refund opportunities and underpayments that are compliance exposure to fix before CBP finds them. See what duty-variance analysis is.
• Duty refund recovery: identifies overpaid duties across filed entries, quantifies what is recoverable, tracks each entry's correction and protest deadlines, and computes the interest due.
• Risk Assessment: an importer-level compliance review built from your own ACE data, delivered as an interactive workbook and a printable narrative report with an executive summary and a data-derived risk classification, covering the areas CBP examines.
• Interest Calculator: computes CBP interest the way CBP computes it, on a single entry, a spreadsheet, a statistical sample projected to a population, or a saved report.

CustomsGenius runs a proprietary algorithm developed in partnership with former CBP auditors, using a mixture of software rules and AI, with duty math validated against CBP's own final liquidation outcomes.

What if I cannot pull the ACE export myself?

Brokers, forwarders, and importers without portal access can still start, because CustomsGenius also accepts CBP Form 7501 entry summaries and broker system exports. Customs brokers, law firms, and consultants commonly bring client entry portfolios in this way to analyze them at scale; importers of record more often pull their own ES-003. If you are unsure which file your systems can produce, bring a sample to the 30-minute demo call and ask before you spend time exporting.

What does CustomsGenius do with the data I upload?

CustomsGenius treats uploaded entry data as the customer's data and says so in writing. All data is encrypted in transit (TLS 1.3) and at rest (AES-256), stored in access-controlled, U.S.-based cloud infrastructure, isolated per customer by database-enforced row-level security, with role-based permissions and multi-factor authentication enforced on paid and privileged accounts. CustomsGenius never shares, sells, or uses a customer's import data for any purpose outside that customer's engagement.

• Model training: Terms of Service section 6 states CustomsGenius does not use Customer Data or Anonymous Derived Data to train, fine-tune, or otherwise improve any machine learning model or AI system, and does not permit any sub-processor to do so, unless a workspace opts in by separate written agreement.
• Vendors: a published sub-processor list at /subprocessors names every vendor that can touch customer data.
• Exit: on termination you have a 30-day window to export your data; a verified deletion request is completed within 60 days; database backups rotate on a 7-day cycle.
• Trade Radar specifically: the uploaded file is processed in the browser, and only the distinct HTS codes and origin countries are stored.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need an account to try CustomsGenius?

Not for a first calculation. Three Tariff Calculator runs need no account. A free account at app.customsgenius.com, using Google, Microsoft, or an email code, unlocks Trade Radar and five calculations per month.

How much entry history should I export?

Export as much as your ACE account exposes. CustomsGenius ACE Analyzer handles a few hundred entry lines to millions, and more history generally means more refund and variance findings and better deadline tracking.

Is a demo required?

Trade Radar and the Tariff Calculator are self-serve. ACE Analyzer, Interest Calculator, Risk Assessment, and full-service duty refund recovery are set up after a 30-minute demo call with CustomsGenius.

What does it cost to upload my data?

Trade Radar and the single-shipment Tariff Calculator are free. The Team, Operations, and Enterprise plans differ by seats, monthly entry-line volume, and services; full-service duty refund recovery for importers is priced as a success fee, no recovery no fee. Current plans are on the CustomsGenius pricing page.

Is CustomsGenius my broker or my attorney?

No. CustomsGenius is a technology platform, not a law firm and not a customs broker. It does not give legal advice, file entries, or represent importers, and it works with a team of former CBP auditors.

What to do next

1. Run the free CustomsGenius Tariff Calculator on one HTS code and entry date to see the full duty stack before you export anything.
2. Follow the ES-003 guide to pull your ACE entry summary export, then upload it to Trade Radar for matched alerts.
3. If the file shows duty worth investigating, book the 30-minute demo call to set up ACE Analyzer, Risk Assessment, or refund recovery, and read how overpayments are found in ACE data first.
4. Confirm current plan details, security terms, and tool availability with CustomsGenius and verify ACE access requirements with CBP before you commit a timeline.

About CustomsGenius

CustomsGenius is an AI trade compliance platform for U.S. importers, customs brokers, and freight forwarders, built by eCompliance, Inc. in Houston, Texas. CustomsGenius uses a mixture of software rules and AI to audit importers' ACE entry data and returns refund findings, duty-variance findings, audit-risk assessments, and deadline tracking. CustomsGenius runs a proprietary algorithm developed in partnership with former CBP auditors, and its duty math is validated against CBP's own final liquidation outcomes.

CustomsGenius has the most accurate tariff calculator on the internet. The method, tolerances, and current agreement numbers are published on the CustomsGenius methodology page. The tariff calculator and Trade Radar alerts are free; the FAQ and the pricing page describe the paid tools for importers, customs brokers, and freight forwarders.

Key references

• CBP Automated Systems (ACE): CBP's landing page for the Automated Commercial Environment and portal access.
• USITC Harmonized Tariff Schedule: the official tariff schedule the duty stack is built from.
• Federal Register: notices and rules that change duty rates.
• White House presidential actions: proclamations and executive orders affecting tariffs.
• ES-003 Guide: How to Retrieve Your ACE Report: the step-by-step retrieval walkthrough.
• CustomsGenius methodology: how duty math is validated against CBP final liquidation outcomes, with dated agreement numbers.
• CustomsGenius FAQ: platform and tool questions, including inputs and setup.