Commercial payments and accounts

: Page content under review

The CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management system (CARM) is now the official system of record for importers and other trade chain partners. If you have questions about the content on this page due to the transition to CARM, contact the CARM client helpdesk.

In this section

Main menu: Commercial payments and accounts Daily Notice and Statement of Account Payments Disbursements and offsetting Correcting transactions posted to an incorrect business number Electronic data interchange Support offices Third-party service providers

Resources

Customs notices Bulletins Electronic data interchange, Daily Notices and Statement of Account application forms
Subscribe to the Electronic Commerce Client Requirements Document email alert service
CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management Project

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) assesses and collects payments on imported commercial goods. The accounting and payment system we use to do so is called CBSA Assessment Revenue Management, or CARM (formerly known as the ARL, or Accounts Receivable Ledger).

With Release 1, effective , CARM simplified how we assess and collect payments. It offers:

During the transition between Release 1 and Release 2, the ARL support team is joining CARM client support. You will get all of the same services by using the Client support contact form.

Refer to the CARM Client Portal for more information about Release 1 services for importers, customs brokers and trade consultants.

What's new

Exceptions for 2024

Exceptions for 2023

Reminder of the payment requirements for importers D17-5-1

Standard account processing timelines

This document is also available in PDF (173 KB) [help with PDF files]

CARM Finance monthly activities are from the 25th of the previous month (start of the statement period) to the 24th of the current month (end of the statement period).

  1. CBSA receives payments
    From 25th to 31st
    CBSA receives the payments for amounts due on the SOA.
  2. Payment due
    Last day of the month
    Payments are due generally within 5 business days of the 25th of the month, with exceptions.
  3. Payment processing
    From 25th to 14th
    When a payment is posted to the account in CARM.
  4. Payment allocation
    From 25th to 14th
    The payments are applied to specific transactions. For example, a $550 cheque is applied to the following debt transactions – $200, $150 and $200.
  5. Clearing, reconciliation and offsetting
    From 15th to 24th
    Transactions due and paid on or before the past period due date are cleared or offset. Newest debt is the first to be offset.
  6. Disbursement and collection identification
    From 16th to 24th
    Identify credits to be disbursed as well as debts (amounts owed). Debts left unpaid get sent to collections. Credits are not disbursed in the period that they are approved and posted. They are considered for disbursement in the following period.
Date modified: