Get Started with COO Studio: Your First Certificate

Generating compliant CUSMA/USMCA Certificates of Origin can be a tedious, error-prone process. COO Studio is a secure web application built to solve this problem by turning your existing order data into professional, compliant PDFs.

This guide will walk you through the core workflow, from initial setup to generating your first certificate.

The COO Studio Workflow: A High-Level View

At its core, COO Studio simplifies your work by following a logical, repeatable process:

Set Up Your Catalogs: You’ll add your Products (with compliance data like HS codes) and Manufacturers to the app’s secure, local database. This is the foundation for automation.
Import Your Orders: Connect your e-commerce store or upload a CSV of your recent orders.
Resolve Unmatched Products: The app will flag any products from your orders that aren’t in your catalog yet. You’ll quickly add them or link them as variants.
Generate Your Certificate: Use the guided wizard to select an order, review the auto-populated data, and generate a print-ready PDF.

Let’s walk through this step-by-step.

Step 1: Secure Setup & Onboarding

When you first launch COO Studio, you will be prompted to create a passphrase.

This is your master key. All your data is encrypted with it, and it never leaves your computer. If you lose it, your data cannot be recovered. Please store it safely.

After setting your passphrase, the Onboarding Wizard will help you enter your Merchant Profile (your company’s details, which become the default Exporter/Certifier) and add your first Manufacturer and Product.

Step 2: Add a Product to the Catalog

Navigate to the Products page and click “Add Product.” The most important fields for CUSMA compliance are:

SKU: The unique identifier for the product.
HS Code: The 6-10 digit tariff classification code.
Country of Origin: The two-letter country code (e.g., US, CA, MX).
Origin Criterion: The CUSMA rule the product qualifies under (e.g., A, B, C).

Why is this important? By storing this information in the catalog, you only have to enter it once. Every time you import an order with that product's SKU, COO Studio will automatically pull in the correct compliance data, eliminating manual entry and reducing errors.

Step 3: Import an Order

Go to the Import Data page. You have two primary options:

Direct Connection: Connect your WooCommerce or Shopify store for automated syncing.
CSV Upload: Upload a CSV of your orders. Use the Column Mapper to match your spreadsheet’s columns to the app’s fields.

Once imported, your orders will appear on the Orders page, where the app will automatically check their CUSMA eligibility based on the products in your catalog.

Step 4: Generate Your First Certificate

From the Dashboard or Certificates page, click New Certificate to launch the wizard.
Select the CUSMA/USMCA template.
Choose your certificate type (Single, Batch, or Blanket) and select an eligible order.
Fill in the details. Most of the information (Exporter, Importer, Products) will be auto-populated from your settings and the order data.
Review and Generate. On the final screen, review all the information for accuracy. Click Generate & Download to get your professional, compliant PDF.

That’s it. You’ve just replaced a time-consuming manual process with a secure, repeatable, and efficient workflow.

Getting Started with COO Studio: From Setup to First Certificate