Periodic Monthly Statement (PMS): Eligibility, Bonds, and Deadlines

The Periodic Monthly Statement program lets a U.S. importer or licensed customs broker consolidate a full month of duties, taxes, and fees into a single payment to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, due by the 15th working day of the following month. It runs inside the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) and replaces entry-by-entry payment with one predictable monthly settlement.¹

Who Can Use PMS and the Bond You Need

Any importer of record or licensed customs broker can participate. Two things gate entry: an active account on CBP’s ACE Secure Data Portal, and a continuous customs bond large enough to cover the deferred duties. If an importer has no portal account, a broker with one can file and pay on the importer’s behalf.²

Because CBP is effectively extending credit until the following month, the bond has to be sized to what you owe. The standard formula sets the bond at 10 percent of the duties, taxes, and fees paid in the prior calendar year, rounded to the nearest $10,000, or the nearest $100,000 if annual duties exceed $1 million. The floor is $50,000 regardless of import volume.³ A new importer with no prior-year history gets a bond based on estimated annual duties, but not below $50,000.

The bond condition at stake is the obligation to deposit duties within the time prescribed by regulation.⁴ If your bond lapses, becomes insufficient as your volume grows, or CBP finds you out of compliance, you can lose PMS access and revert to paying each entry individually.

Setting Up ACE and Choosing a Payment Method

Setup happens inside the ACE portal. You designate which importer of record numbers and filer codes belong on the monthly statement. Any IOR number that isn’t properly linked falls outside the monthly cycle, and CBP will expect individual payment on those entries.

Payment authorization runs through CBP Form 400, which enrolls you in Automated Clearinghouse (ACH) transfers. The form asks for your bank name, account number, and the bank’s nine-digit ACH routing number, which must begin with 0, 1, 2, or 3.⁵ Confirm with your bank that the account can accept ACH debit originations from the federal government before submitting. Authorization typically takes several business days while CBP verifies the credentials.

There are two ACH options, and the difference is operational:

ACH Debit. You authorize CBP to pull funds. When the statement is finalized, your payment authorization goes through the Automated Broker Interface, and CBP debits your account roughly two business days later. CBP will reject the authorization if your statement total doesn’t match its records.
ACH Credit. You push funds from your bank to CBP’s Treasury account. You control timing but must include specific reference data: CBP routing number, payer identifier, document number, and payment amount. A mismatch forces manual reconciliation at CBP and delays posting.

You cannot mix methods on a single statement; each statement is entirely ACH or entirely check.⁶

How the Monthly Cycle Works

Every qualifying entry filed during the calendar month accumulates as a pending balance in ACE. Entries roll up under Periodic Daily Statements, which then consolidate into the monthly statement at period end.

On the 11th working day of the following month, CBP generates a preliminary statement listing each entry along with the duties, Merchandise Processing Fees, and Harbor Maintenance Fees accrued during the previous month. Review the totals, catch errors, and flag discrepancies before the balance goes final. CBP publishes a calendar of these dates each year; the 2026 schedule is on the CBP website.⁷

If nothing needs changing, the preliminary statement becomes final on the 15th working day. At that point the total is fixed and the ACH transfer is initiated.

The Deadline Depends on Your Payment Method

The 15th-working-day deadline applies to ACH Debit users. CBP transmits the debit authorization on that day, so funds must be available in the account by then.¹

ACH Credit users face an earlier cutoff: the 15th calendar day of the following month, not the 15th working day. If that calendar date falls on a weekend or federal holiday, the payment must arrive on the business day immediately before it.¹ In most months that costs ACH Credit users roughly a week of float compared to ACH Debit users.

What PMS Won’t Cover

A few categories sit outside or on the edge of the program, and assuming otherwise causes trouble.

Reconciliation entries (Type 09) are excluded from PMS entirely. If you use CBP’s reconciliation program, those entries require separate payment outside the monthly cycle.⁸

Quota-class merchandise and other special categories designated by CBP headquarters can be included, but only if you also use statement processing for the largest possible portion of your regular non-special-class entries. Any statement containing quota-class entries must be paid through ACH; checks and cash are not accepted.⁶

Post-Summary Corrections carry a timing wrinkle. CBP treats a PSC as a new entry summary and won’t process it until the original entry has been “truly paid,” meaning the monthly statement is finalized and the funds collected. Because it can take up to 45 days after the entry date before CBP actually receives the PMS payment, a PSC may take longer to clear than you’d expect.⁹

What Happens If You Pay Late

Missing a PMS deadline is a breach of the continuous bond condition requiring timely deposit of duties,⁴ and the consequences escalate quickly.

CBP issues liquidated damages against both the bond principal and the surety, jointly and severally. The amount is two times the unpaid duties and fees or $1,000, whichever is greater, capped at the bond’s limit of liability.¹⁰

Before issuing that claim, CBP notifies the statement filer electronically or on paper on or before the first day of the month after the payment was due. You then have two working days to pay or correct the problem. Paying inside that grace period avoids the liquidated damages claim for nonpayment, but it does not necessarily shield you from a separate claim for late payment.¹⁰

Delinquent amounts also accrue interest. The rate is set quarterly based on the IRS underpayment rate under 26 U.S.C. §§ 6621 and 6622 and compounds in 30-day periods. When a late payment finally lands, CBP applies it first to accrued interest and only then to outstanding principal.¹¹ On a large delinquent balance, interest can consume payments for a while before the principal starts moving.

An ACH transaction that bounces for insufficient funds triggers the same consequences and can also suspend your monthly statement privileges. Your surety hears about it too, which often means higher bond premiums or nonrenewal. The safest habit is to treat the preliminary statement on the 11th working day as the real deadline: review it that day, resolve discrepancies within a day or two, and confirm funds are available well before the 15th working day.

1
Federal Register. Modification of the National Customs Automation Program Test Regarding Periodic Monthly Statements
2
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. ACE Periodic Monthly Statement
3
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Monetary Guidelines for Setting Bond Amounts
4
eCFR. 19 CFR 113.62 – Basic Importation and Entry Bond Conditions
5
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. CBP Form 400
6
eCFR. 19 CFR 24.25 – Statement Processing
7
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Periodic Monthly Statement Due Dates for 2026
8
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. ACE CATAIR – Reconciliation Entry Summary Create/Update
9
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Post Summary Corrections
10
Federal Register. Assessment and Mitigation of Claims for Liquidated Damages for Nonpayment or Late Payment of Estimated Duties Under the ACE Periodic Monthly Statement Payment Process Test
11
GovInfo. 19 CFR 24.3a – CBP Bills; Interest Assessment on Bills; Delinquency