K&A is a premier provider of duty drawback and import compliance solutions.  
     
 
  Company History  

 

 Early in the founders’ careers, even before they managed the customs practice at the world-wide accounting and management consulting company of Ernst & Young, it was concluded that there was a need for stringent procedures to ensure data accuracy for drawback purposes. This resulted in the implementation of import compliance measures and the development of in-house software. With the implementation of the Customs Modernization Act in December 1993, K&A moved away from the “canned software-one size fits all” approach to a systems data integrity verification process. This approach combines our decades of experience and customs knowledge with our in-house software to perform multifaceted data checks and balances between our client and third party (i.e., broker, ACE, etc.) data systems. This allows us to provide one of the most comprehensive, complete and detailed reporting formats for import transactions. Furthermore, our systems approach can determine whether or not a company is import compliant, and if not, exactly where there is an issue and most importantly, how to fix it, before pursuing drawback opportunities.  
  Key Personnel  
The team's diverse background (accounting, science, informational systems, manufacturing, engineering, customs, administration and general executive business experience) results in a richness of experience that is extremely valuable to our clients.
Our core team includes licensed customhouse brokers, a former partner of Ernst & Young, a former Principal of Ernst & Young, and a former CBP Drawback Chief. These individuals have approximately 100 years cumulative hands-on experience with Duty Drawback and customs related issues – valuation, classification and regulatory compliance.  
 
 
   
 
 
Our Mission
To maximize the drawback opportunity for companies and achieve import compliance through the reconciliation of import data across multifaceted data systems and trade requirements.
 
 
 
 
 
 
     
 
Eveline D. Koot   Charles A. McCue   Thomas D. Valenzuela
         

Vice President, a licensed Customs Broker, with approximately 30 years of experience in the customs field. Eveline was a Principal with Ernst and Young’s National Customs Practice (1987-1992) and is the founder of Eveline D. Koot and Associates, a successful Duty Drawback Consulting firm in business for the past fifteen years. Her primary expertise is import compliance, third party drawback services and software development. Her experience includes preparing ABI value reconciliations and prior disclosures for both import and drawback violations, performing third party customs compliance (ISA) and drawback reviews, as well as providing third party drawback services. Eveline is a graduate of the University of Santa Clara and before commencing her professional career she served 4 years as a volunteer in Africa with the Peace Corps.

  

President, a licensed Customs Broker, with over 35 years of experience in the domestic and international customs field. Charles was the Partner in charge of Ernst and Young’s National Customs Practice (1987-1993) and owned his own customs business for approximately 20 years. His primary focus is in drawback services and valuation. His work experience includes consulting internationally for the World Bank and the Agency for International Development on customs projects. Charles also was the CEO for an Internet start-up company. Charles has engineering credentials from Scotland and Canada, an MBA from San Jose State University and he has completed the course work in a PhD program for International Business.

  

Vice President, a former CBP Drawback Chief, San Francisco Area Port, and former Drawback Chief of the CBP Area Port of San Francisco, with a total of 35 years of drawback experience with CBP. Tom brings an impressive level of expertise to the K&A team. Some of his accomplishments include but are not limited to co-authoring in 1991 the CBP instruction manual “Drawback in the Pacific Region” for Customs Employees and the Trade Community; making the San Francisco Drawback Center one of the recipients of the Unqualified Opinion from the Office of Finance, for successful financial accomplishments recognized in the 1996 USCS Annual Report; participating on the CBP committee that created the internal CBP Drawback handbook and the current drawback forms; and educating drawback specialists at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Brunswick, Georgia. Tom will use his expertise to maximize our client’s drawback opportunities, to facilitate the CBP approval process, and to ensure compliance with the drawback regulations.