Why we exist
Most software sold to small trading businesses is either an enterprise system scaled down badly, or a spreadsheet with a login. Neither helps the importer trying to decide, on a Tuesday afternoon, whether a container is worth buying. Our tools are built for that decision.
What we will always do
- Show the working, including every intermediate figure.
- Let you edit every rate, and record where you got it and when.
- Label estimates as estimates.
- Let you export your data as CSV or PDF, at any time, for free.
- Make the paid version a superset of the free version, never a narrower one.
What we won't do
- Publish live duty rates and imply they are authoritative. Rates change and depend on origin, rebates and exemptions.
- Advertise a feature before it is built and working.
- Hold your data hostage or make export a paid upgrade.
- Pad the site with generated articles to chase search traffic.
The first product
TrueCost Importer came out of a simple observation: importers know their supplier price and their freight quote, and almost nobody has a defensible number for what the goods actually cost by the time they can be sold. The free calculator handles one product. TrueCost Pro handles the whole container, saved, allocated and reconciled.
Who builds this
Cardinal Toolworks is built by James F. Kollie, Jr., PhD, CMA — an economist and management accountant, and the founder of Cardinal Toolworks.
He served Liberia as Deputy Minister for Revenue, then Deputy Minister for Fiscal Affairs, and then Minister of Finance and Development Planning, and later as Commissioner/CEO of the Liberia Maritime Authority. That is two decades spent on the side of the counter that sets duty, tax bases and port charges — which is why this tool insists on the correct order of calculation, records where every rate came from, and refuses to guess a duty rate on your behalf.
Honesty about scope
TrueCost is a costing and pricing tool. It is not customs software, it does not file declarations, and it is not tax or legal advice. Use it to decide, then confirm with your broker or revenue authority before you commit.