Drawback refunds can take months. Accelerated payment puts most of the money in your account in weeks, with strings attached. How it works and who qualifies.
Duty drawback refunds what you paid in duties on imported goods that are later exported or destroyed, but the refund arrives on CBP's timeline, not yours. Standard drawback claims can take many months to liquidate, and for a brand filing regularly, the outstanding balance becomes a permanent receivable measured in the hundreds of thousands. The money is real, but it is locked in a queue.
That delay has a cost. Working capital tied up in pending drawback is capital not buying inventory or funding growth, and finance teams discount the receivable because the timing is uncertain. Accelerated payment exists to collapse that wait: CBP pays most of the claimed amount up front, typically within weeks, and settles the difference at liquidation.
The importer requests accelerated payment when filing the drawback claim, posting a bond that secures the advance. CBP reviews the claim for basic completeness and then pays the accelerated amount, commonly around 90 to 100 percent of the claimed duties depending on the claim type and the importer's standing. The payment lands in weeks rather than months.
The bond is the mechanism that makes CBP comfortable paying early. If the claim is later reduced or denied at liquidation, CBP collects the difference against the bond, so the government is never exposed. For the importer, the bond premium is the price of speed, and it is usually a small fraction of the cash-flow value of getting the refund months earlier.
Accelerated payment is a privilege, not a right, and CBP grants it based on compliance history. Importers with clean records, established drawback programs, and reliable brokers get it routinely; importers with enforcement actions, penalties, or sloppy filings may be denied or have it revoked. The program rewards the compliance investment it takes to qualify.
The bond requirement is the other string. The drawback bond must cover the accelerated amounts, and as claim volume grows, so does the bond amount and its premium. There is also the reconciliation risk: if CBP denies part of the claim at liquidation, the importer repays the difference with interest. Accelerated payment does not change what you are owed; it changes when you get it, and the when comes with obligations.
The math is a straightforward comparison: the bond premium and administrative cost against the value of months-earlier cash. For brands with large, regular drawback claims, the answer is almost always yes, because the working capital freed up dwarfs the premium. For occasional small claims, the setup cost may exceed the benefit.
The operational prerequisite is a clean drawback program: accurate claims, complete export documentation, and a broker experienced with accelerated filings. Brands that already run drawback well can usually add accelerated payment with modest effort. Brands whose drawback filings are messy should fix the program first, because accelerated payment on a shaky claim just accelerates the repayment demand.
Typically the large majority of the claimed duties, often in the 90 percent range or higher for qualifying claim types, paid within weeks of filing. The exact amount depends on the claim type and CBP's review; the remainder settles at liquidation.
The importer repays the accelerated amount attributable to the denied portion, with interest, collected against the drawback bond. This is why claim accuracy matters more under accelerated payment: the money is already spent when the denial arrives.
No, it has to be requested per claim, and the bond has to be in place first. Make it a standing instruction with your broker once you qualify, so every eligible claim requests it by default. Review the bond sufficiency annually as claim volumes change.