Building an import order calendar: lead times, shutdowns, BAS dates and cash

Most importers plan orders one at a time: the stock’s running low, so it’s time to reorder. That works until two orders overlap, a factory closes for a holiday nobody mentioned, or a balance falls due in the same fortnight as a quarterly BAS. An import order calendar replaces reacting with planning — and it shows your cash pressure months before you feel it.

Why plan backwards?

The date that matters is when stock needs to be ready to sell: on the shelf, at the fulfilment centre, or delivered to trade customers. Everything else is counted back from there. Planning forwards from “we’ll order next week” hides the question that matters: will it arrive in time?

Step 1: When must stock be ready?

For each product line or order, set the ready-to-sell date. For seasonal products, it’s the start of the season; for continuous lines, it’s when current stock will run out, based on sell-through. Add a margin — running out for two weeks costs sales and customers.

Step 2: Subtract the lead times

Work back through each stage. Use your actual history where you have it.

Stage	Typical elements	Your estimate
Delivery and unpacking	Truck from port, unpack, check, shelve	days
Clearance	Declaration, duty and GST, any inspection	days to weeks
Transit	Ocean or air time, plus transhipment	weeks
Booking and loading	Waiting for space, cut-off, loading	days to weeks
Inspection and balance	Pre-shipment check, balance payment	days
Production	Materials, manufacturing, packing	weeks to months
Samples and approval	Pre-production samples, sign-off, deposit	weeks

Add a buffer of one to three weeks, depending on how reliable the supplier and route have been. The import cash timeline planner does the date maths for you.

Step 3: Mark the dates you can’t move

Some dates are fixed, and they change the maths:

Supplier-country holidays. Many manufacturing countries have extended festival periods when factories close and staff travel home. The best-known is the Lunar New Year period in several Asian manufacturing countries, but it’s not the only one. Production before the break is often rushed, and restarting afterwards can be slow. Ask every supplier for their closure dates at the start of the year.

Peak shipping periods. Demand for shipping space tends to build ahead of the Christmas retail season. Bookings can get tighter and some routes slower. Your forwarder can tell you when to book to be safe.

Australian public holidays and your own closures. Ports, brokers and transport run on reduced schedules around Christmas, New Year and Easter. Your own warehouse may close too.

Tax and payroll dates. BAS due dates, PAYG instalments, super guarantee contributions and payroll. These compete with import payments for the same cash.

Step 4: Plot the payments

For each order, mark when money leaves:

• Deposit — at order confirmation.
• Balance — at the end of production, before shipment or against documents.
• Freight and insurance — if yours to pay, around shipment.
• Border costs — duty, import GST, broker, port and cartage, at arrival.

Then mark when money comes back:

• Sales receipts — as stock sells, allowing for customer terms.
• GST credits — when the BAS covering the import is lodged and processed.

Put all of it on one page, month by month, alongside your tax and payroll dates.

Step 5: Find your peaks

Add up cash out and cash in by month. The months where cash out runs well ahead of cash in are your peaks. Typically they’re:

• just before a major season, when stock has been paid for but not yet sold
• when two orders overlap — one still selling, the next balance due
• when a large border bill coincides with a BAS payment

Illustrative only. A homewares importer plots the year and finds that in August a spring-summer order’s balance, a Christmas order’s deposit, and the quarterly BAS all fall within three weeks — around $185,000 out with only $70,000 of sales expected in. Seeing it in February, the owner moves the Christmas deposit forward by two weeks after negotiating with the supplier, and arranges a revolving facility to cover the rest well before August.

How does the calendar help with funding?

It gives you two numbers every lender cares about: the peak amount of cash tied up and how long it stays tied up. That’s the basis for sizing an import line of credit, deciding whether a one-off loan suits a big seasonal build, or whether property-secured funding makes sense for a step change.

It also changes the conversation from “we need money now” to “here’s our plan for the year” — a far stronger position. If you’d like to talk through your calendar, send a short enquiry — no credit check to ask.

What habits keep the calendar useful?

• Review monthly. Update production and shipping dates as suppliers confirm them.
• Track actual lead times. After each order, record how long each stage really took. Next year’s calendar gets more accurate.
• Flag slippage early. If production is running late, move the downstream dates immediately and check whether a season is at risk.
• Include the GST refund. Import GST paid at the border comes back later as a credit. If you’re eligible, deferred GST removes it from the border altogether.
• Keep a buffer month. Leave some slack in the busiest part of the year for the order that goes wrong.

What can go wrong, and how does the calendar help?

Problem	What the calendar shows	Response
Factory closes unexpectedly for a holiday	Downstream dates slip	Ask for closure dates up front; order earlier
Vessel rolled to a later sailing	Arrival and border payment move	Keep funding flexible; check free time
Container held for inspection	Storage charges; delayed sales	Allow buffer; fund border costs in advance — see port delays
Stock sells slower than planned	Next order’s deposit arrives before cash is back	Consider a smaller or later next order
Two orders overlap unexpectedly	A new peak appears	Adjust timing or increase a revolving limit

A simple template to start with

Create a spreadsheet with months across the top and these rows down the side:

1. Orders — ready-to-sell date for each
2. Deposits
3. Balances
4. Freight and insurance
5. Border costs (duty, import GST, broker, port)
6. BAS, PAYG and super
7. Sales receipts expected
8. GST credits expected
9. Net cash for the month
10. Running cash position

Fill it in for the next twelve months. The lowest point on row 10 is the number to plan around.

Who should see the calendar?

A calendar kept in one person’s head isn’t a calendar. Share it with the people whose work depends on it:

• Your bookkeeper or accountant — so BAS, GST credits and cash-flow forecasts line up with import payments.
• Your freight forwarder and customs broker — so they can warn you about booking pressure, free time and documents before they become problems.
• Your sales team or key customers — so promotions and trade orders match when stock actually lands.
• Your lender, if you have a facility — so a planned peak doesn’t look like an unexpected problem.

A one-page summary each quarter is usually enough. The aim is simple: nobody should be surprised by a payment, an arrival or a shortage that was visible on the calendar months earlier.

Plan the year, then fund the peaks

A calendar won’t make lead times shorter, but it will stop them catching you out. Once you can see your peaks, talk to Trade Loan about covering them. It’s a quick enquiry with no credit check, and it stays with one person rather than being fanned out to a list of lenders. They’ll call to understand your orders and timing. Please be accurate with your order sizes, supplier terms and turnover so we can suggest the right structure first time. For more on the busiest time of year, see seasonal import orders.