How to switch to AIS V2: get your team ready

If you've been handling all or part of your customs declarations by hand, you might have just about survived up till now. AIS V2, however, asks for more data on every import declaration. Revenue switched it on in September, and from 16 December 2026 AIS V1 will no longer be available for new declarations.

Those extra fields land on your declarants' desks, on every job, every day. That's also where you can save yourself some real time and money. Let me explain how.

Key Takeaways

• AIS V1 closes for new import declarations on 16 December 2026, and AIS V2 adds a significant number of new data elements to every declaration
• A professional declarant needs around 10 to 30 minutes for a straightforward declaration, and both time and error risk climb with every line on the invoice
• New fields at goods-item level are entered once per line, so a 100-line invoice grows far more than a one-line job
• Most of the new data already sits on the invoice, packing list or bill of lading, which means software can read it for your declarants to check

How long does a customs declaration take by hand?

A professional declarant needs around 10 to 30 minutes for a straightforward declaration, according to intermediaries responding to HMRC's consultation. There's no Irish figure, and the spread is wide: according to ICAEW (2023), a single-line declaration can take a junior 15 minutes, a complex one several hours, and costs can reach £100 per declaration.

For a brokerage filing hundreds of declarations a week, the cost sits in the number of lines your team keys, and in the chance of one going wrong.

What changes in AIS V2, and how much more work is it?

AIS V2 brings the import declaration in line with the revised Annex B of the Union Customs Code, with a new data set, new message types and new business rules.

According to Revenue, most of what you enter stays the same as in AIS V1, but there's a significant number of new data elements. Revenue's AIS V2 trader guide lists additions such as the place of loading and the exchange rate.

The declaration structure changes too: it now has three levels of detail: the declaration as a whole, the goods shipment and each goods item. Revenue also adds a new G5 data set for goods moving between temporary storage facilities.

How much longer a declaration takes depends on how many goods items it has.

Why long invoices take the hardest hit

The extra work grows with every line on the invoice. A field that applies to the whole declaration is typed once. A field that applies to each goods item is typed once per line, so on a 100-line invoice one new item-level field means 100 more entries.

That's why a one-line job barely feels the change, while your longest jobs can turn into an afternoon. Those jobs also carry the most risk: a value typed against the wrong line late in the day is the error that comes back at you weeks later.

Work out what the extra fields cost your team

You can put a number on AIS V2 for your own team with one calculation: lines per job × minutes per line × your hourly staff cost. Run it for your five longest jobs from last month, once with your V1 timing and once with a V2 test.

For example, if a declarant spends one minute per line, a 120-line job costs two hours of keying. At an hourly cost of €40, that's €80 per job before anyone has made a classification call. Multiply by the long jobs you handle each week and you have the figure to compare any option against.

Your AIS V2 readiness checklist for the weeks before 16 December

Getting ready is mostly a matter of checking your software and preparing your team. Revenue's eCustoms notification 14/2026 says everyone who lodges import declarations must be able to work in AIS V2 by 16 December. Before then, tick these off:

• Confirm with your declaration software provider that your system is on AIS V2 and that you've tested a live declaration
• Walk your declarants through the new data elements in Revenue's trader guide, starting with the ones at goods-item level
• Keep access to AIS V1 after the switch, because declarations lodged in V1 are amended or invalidated in V1
• Test your longest, most complex jobs first, since they show the real time cost
• Tell your importer clients which extra information you'll need from them, so missing data doesn't hold up a declaration

Let the documents fill in the new fields

Most of the extra data AIS V2 asks for is already on the paperwork you receive. Commercial invoices and packing lists carry the values and weights, and the bill of lading names the place of loading. The time goes into reading them and typing the data across.

With Doxis AI.dp, the documents arrive by email or upload as they do today. The software recognizes each document and reads it line by line, including the HS code on each invoice line, so every goods item on the declaration matches the supplier's invoice.

When the weight on the invoice differs from the packing list, your declarant sees it flagged before starting. The structured data then goes to your declaration software, such as Thyme, ready to review and lodge.

Your declaration software stays exactly where it is. The document processing works in front of it, so your team keeps the screens it knows and the extra AIS V2 fields arrive already filled in.

Your declarants keep the final say

Every field Doxis fills in is shown next to the original document, and your declarant checks it before anything goes to Revenue. Classification, origin and valuation remain your team's decisions.

The time you get back goes to that judgement work.

Manifests Ireland prepares its declarations with Doxis

Manifests Ireland is a Dublin customs brokerage that focuses only on customs declarations. Its volume grew from about 20,000 declarations before Brexit to 2 million a year. At that scale, one minute saved per declaration adds up to more than 33,000 hours a year.

Manifests kept its declaration software and put Doxis in front of it. Incoming invoices and packing lists are read and cross-checked automatically, and a broker reviews every declaration before it's lodged with Revenue.

"We didn't want to replace anything that already worked. What we needed was to stop asking our brokers to be data-entry clerks for half of every day. That's exactly the piece Doxis sits in."

Derek Dunne, Managing Director, Manifests Ireland

Handle AIS V2 without the extra keying, with Doxis

AIS V2 adds fields to every declaration just as Q4 volume peaks, and the cost lands hardest on your longest jobs. With Doxis, your declarants start from pre-filled, cross-checked data and spend their time on the decisions that carry legal responsibility.

Because Doxis is also a full document management platform, the invoices and transit documents behind each declaration can be stored in one place and found again when Revenue asks. Doxis already connects document workflows to customs systems for logistics companies.

• Fields read from invoices, packing lists and bills of lading, line by line
• Conflicts between documents flagged before your declarant starts
• Data delivered to your existing declaration software, with no change to how you lodge with Revenue
• Every field reviewed by your team before it goes on

Doxis is a Leader in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Document Management 2026. Try Doxis free for one month on 100 of your own jobs, with no commitment: get in touch with Doxis to set up your account.

FAQs on AISV2