The general timesheet doesn’t show the labour intensity of a shipment
The total number of hours worked by an employee doesn’t explain how much effort went into preparing documents, obtaining approvals, and correcting a specific shipment.
Without this connection, it’s difficult to compare the plan with the actual results or to assess the workload for a new order.
Work accounting for a shipment is needed for management analysis.
It doesn’t replace mandatory personnel forms, labour payment rules, or agreements with employees.
Let’s discuss your company’s foreign trade team operations
I’ll help you analyse your situation: work on different shipments is hidden under 'administrative tasks'.
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Keep only the fields that influence decision-making
Link the record to the shipment, stage, task, performer, actual time, and a brief result.
Indicate rework separately and the reason if it’s known.
Don’t require a detailed description of every minute: excessive detail itself becomes a cost.
The team must have a shared understanding of the task boundary.
Preparing a document draft and re-checking it are different actions; waiting for an external response doesn’t fully count as labour input.
Harvest is a foreign example of such project accounting, not a mandatory tool for foreign trade.
Minimum accounting line
All values are derived from actual work; the example is hypothetical.
| Field | Training record | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Shipment | Shipment P | To link costs to the order |
| Stage and task | Documents, specification check | To compare similar work |
| Performer and time | Actual employee record | To assess workload in hours |
| Result | Discrepancies sent for approval | To see the completed action |
| Rework | Correction after a change in the composition | To analyse the cause |
Don’t fill in the result with the phrase ‘worked on documents’ if you can specify the verified file, sent request, or resolved issue.
How to avoid incompatible figures
If one employee records only preparation work and another includes meetings and waiting time, comparing their hours will be misleading.
First, agree on the categories.
If hours are reconstructed from memory, mark them as estimates.
Don’t equate rework with an employee’s error: it may result from changes in the product or conditions.
Record the basis without assigning blame based on a single record.
Don’t introduce individual hourly ratings without considering the result and complexity.
Verify the usefulness of accounting on a completed shipment
Compare the records with the shipment stages: identify where rework occurred, which tasks weren’t included in the plan, and which categories were too general.
Remove fields that no one uses for decision-making.
Link the records to deal documents in CRM.
The outcome should be a more accurate plan for the next comparable shipment, not an increase in reporting time.
A practical management guide.
All examples are illustrative.
Check applicable requirements and terms for the specific product, country and contract.
Sources checked on 24 October 2026.
