Reading audit findings and picking an amendment lane

Reading audit findings and picking an amendment lane

An audit finding is the engine's flag that a filed entry contains a duty gap. Each finding carries a severity, a dollar impact, a citation to the underlying rule, and a recommended amendment lane. The recommendation is not a suggestion; it is the only lane that will process the correction within statutory windows and under the correct authority.

For US entries the four primary lanes are Post-Summary Correction (PSC), 1520(d) reconciliation, 19 CFR 174 protest, and duty drawback. Every non-US jurisdiction has its own equivalents; see the individual upload guides.

How to read a finding

1. Open the audit results view on the entry you uploaded.
2. Look at the severity column. High severity is anything above five percent of entered value.
3. Read the finding title. Titles are worded so a broker can read one and know what to file.
4. Click into the finding for the citation and the recommended lane.
5. Cross-check the citation against your broker's file. Every citation is either a HTSUS revision, a CBP CSMS message, a CROSS ruling, or a CFR reference.
6. Decide: file yourself (if you are the importer of record and comfortable with the lane), or share the finding with a broker via the broker workspace.
7. Move findings to your tasks list from the actions menu so you have an audit trail of what was actioned.

The four US amendment lanes

Post-Summary Correction (PSC)

Window: 300 days from entry summary date. Authority: 19 CFR 174.24. Use when the entry has not liquidated yet and the correction fits inside the 300-day window. PSC is the fastest and least contentious lane. Nine out of ten findings that reach a broker route here.

1520(d) reconciliation

Window: one year from entry summary. Authority: 19 USC 1520(d). Use for missed FTA preference claims (USMCA, KORUS, CPTPP, and the rest). Requires an accepted certificate of origin at the time of filing. The engine flags the specific rule of origin the preference claim needs to satisfy.

19 CFR 174 protest

Window: 180 days from liquidation. Authority: 19 USC 1514 and 19 CFR 174. Use when the entry has liquidated and PSC is no longer available. Protests can address classification, valuation, or origin. Higher effort than PSC because CBP treats a protest as adversarial.

Duty drawback

Window: five years from importation. Authority: 19 USC 1313. Use when the imported goods are re-exported, destroyed, or substituted with commercially interchangeable goods. Drawback is the longest window in the product but the highest documentation burden. See the duty drawback guide for the mechanics.

Deciding between PSC and 1520(d)

For missed FTA preferences under 300 days, both PSC and 1520(d) can process the correction. PSC is generally simpler; 1520(d) is required when the entry has liquidated but the one-year window remains open, or when the CBP-specific reconciliation account is already established. The PSC vs 1520(d) vs 174 protest decision tree walks through the branches.

Frequently asked questions

What if a finding's severity is low, is it worth filing

Depends on the volume. A low-severity finding across a thousand entries becomes a large recovery. Findings under 100 USD per entry may not clear the internal cost of filing, unless you file in bulk.

Are the amendment windows counted from entry date or liquidation date

PSC and 1520(d) run from entry summary date. Protests run from liquidation date. Drawback runs from importation date. The finding memo shows the exact date the clock started on.

Can I file more than one lane on the same entry

Yes, but not for the same finding. If PSC failed and the entry liquidated, the finding moves to the protest lane. Drawback is separate and does not compete with PSC or 1520(d).

Where does the engine get the citation data from

CFR: eCFR public API. HTSUS: US ITC published revisions. CROSS: CBP's public CROSS repository. CBP CSMS: CBP's public CSMS feed. All citations link back to the primary source.