Understanding billing, invoicing, returns and refunds for Zonos Verified Accounts

Your Zonos invoice is a detailed record of how your U.S. shipments, duties, and fees are being calculated and charged to your Zonos Verified Account. Understanding these invoices allows you to maintain financial records and gain operational insights into your cross-border sales.

What is a Zonos invoice?

Your Zonos invoice provides a detailed breakdown of all the charges that apply to your Verified Account. You’ll only see charges that are relevant to your Canada Post shipments.

The total amount on your invoice is always displayed in Canadian dollars (CAD).

Each invoice summary report includes the following details:

• Tracking number: The Canada Post tracking number for the shipment.
• Invoice ID: The unique ID assigned to your invoice.
• Invoice date: The date you were invoiced.
• Batch date: The date the shipment was sent to Zonos.
• Currency: The currency used for the transaction (e.g. CAD).
• Duty: The duty amount collected on the shipment.
• Clearance fee: The fee charged for customs clearance services.
• Total: The total amount billed for this shipment, including duty and clearance fees.
• Transaction type: The type of transaction (e.g., original order, order cancellation, charge, credit, or invoice refund – issued when an entire invoice is refunded).
• Memo: Additional notes related to the invoice charge.
• Shipment details: A link to your Zonos Dashboard to review the shipment details.

How Zonos invoicing works

As an approved and qualified third-party with U.S. Customs Border Protection (CBP), Zonos will invoice you directly to collect the duties and postal clearance fees for all your U.S.-bound postal shipments valued under US$800.

Zonos will invoice you after a shipment has been cleared by U.S. Customs for delivery. As a result, there will be a delay between the time you ship a package and when you receive an invoice. Once an invoice is generated, your payment method on file (credit card) will be charged within 24 hours.

CBP will be reviewing shipments at the border. If CBP reassesses a shipment and charges additional duties, you will be invoiced these additional duties on your next invoice. These charges will be listed as a "CBP adjustment" in the memo field of the invoice and the Transaction Type will be a charge.

If you created a shipping label and a Declaration ID is generated, but you decide not to use that label or cancel the shipment, your credit card will not be charged. Zonos only bills when a package is dispatched for delivery.

View, download and filter invoices

To view your invoice in your dashboard:

1. Go to Dashboard and select Invoices.
2. Select the invoice.

To export your invoice as a CSV:

1. Go to Dashboard and select Invoices.
2. Select the invoice.
3. Select Generate report in the top right of the page.

To export your invoice as a PDF:

1. Go to Dashboard and select Invoices.
2. Select the invoice.
3. Select Invoice PDF in the top right of the page.
4. Find the invoice in your Downloads folder.

Note: PDF invoices currently display only the total invoice amount, not a breakdown by shipment. Improvements are currently underway.

To view any pending shipments that have not been invoiced:

1. Go to Dashboard and select Invoices.
2. Select the Generate pending shipments report in the top right of the page to export a CSV of shipments that have not yet been invoiced.

To filter invoices, you can toggle between different statuses (Paid, Open, Past due, and Void) and apply additional filters by total amount and date.

Outstanding payments

If the credit card connected to your Zonos Dashboard account is expired or invalid, and you have shipped packages on your account, you will receive an email notification requiring payment of your duties and postal clearance fees. That email will include a secure link where you can complete your payment.

Failure to pay outstanding invoices after 1 to 3 days will result in your Account Key being deactivated. While deactivated, you will be unable to create a Declaration ID or ship with Canada Post to the U.S. until all overdue duty invoices have been paid.

How to match shipping and duty invoices

To understand the total landed cost of your U.S. shipments, you can compare your Zonos invoice (duties and applicable fees) with your Canada Post invoice (shipping charges) in a few simple steps.

1. Locate the tracking number
   • On your Zonos invoice, find the tracking number listed for each shipment
   • This number identifies the same shipment on your Canada Post invoice
2. Match shipments across invoices
   • Use the tracking number to match each line item between your Zonos and Canada Post invoices
   • This ensures you’re comparing the same shipment in both systems
3. Add up to the totals
   • Combine the shipping costs from your Canada Post invoice with the duties and fees from your Zonos invoice
   • The combined number amount represents your total landed cost for that shipment

Note: Small timing differences can occur if a shipment clears or bills on a different date.

Tip: Keeping a simple spreadsheet to log tracking numbers, shipping costs and duty amounts can help make reconciliation clear and consistent each billing cycle.

Handling ecommerce returns to the U.S.

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. postal returns are not duty-free and require duties to be paid. However, there a few exceptions where no additional duties or fees will apply:

• Un-deliverable items with the original U.S. S-10 Bar code and the package intact
• Refused items with the original U.S. S-10 Bar code and the package intact

Updating your return policy

It’s important for your business to clearly communicate your return policy and be transparent about the return location:

• If returns are sent within Canada: Your current process with Canada Post and customer experience will stay the same.
• If returns are sent to the U.S. with Canada Post: A new Declaration ID will be required to generate the return label, since the item is crossing the border again.

U.S. return options for merchants

As the merchant, you have two ways to manage U.S. returns:

1. Provide a prepaid return label to your customer and prepay any applicable duties and fees. This simplifies the return process for your customers and gives you the flexibility to decide how costs are handled. You can:
   1. Cover the full cost: Pay the return shipping and any applicable duties and fees, or
   2. Share or pass on the cost: Charge part or all the shipping, duties/fee costs back to the customer.
2. Have your customer use the Zonos Prepay App to initiate their return. They’ll need to:
   1. Select “Is a return” in the app
   2. Specify where the item was made
   3. Pay any applicable duties and fees
   4. Obtain a Declaration ID, which they’ll need to present when dropping off the package at a Canada Post retail location.

Duty refunds for return to sender shipments

If a package is returned to sender by Canada Post before leaving Canada, no refund is needed, as duties were never charged.

If a shipment left Canada but was returned at U.S. Customs, duty refunds are not currently available with Zonos.

If a package clears U.S. Customs but is later returned after a delivery attempt was unsuccessful (for example, if it was unclaimed, refused or the address was invalid), duties cannot be refunded, since the shipment has already been processed and cleared by U.S. authorities.

Help and support

Zonos and Canada Post are here to help.

For questions about your invoices, please contact support@zonos.com. Please do not open a charge back. If you open a charge back, your Verified Account will be immediately deactivated by Zonos.

For questions about invoice reconciliation, tracking and delivery, lost or damaged packages and customs clearance delays, please reach out to your Canada Post sales representative or call 1-800-267-1177.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)