Customs brokerage operations in one traceable flow.
A customs brokerage firm's work is built around deadlines that do not move and documents that must be exactly right. Miss a step, lose a certificate, or let a shipment sit past its warehouse dwell time, and the client pays — and then looks for a new broker. Tenderely BPM ties every declaration file, document check, approval and deadline into one structured record, without code, so nothing slips through because it was sitting in someone's e-mail.
What does a customs brokerage firm repeat every day?
01
Opening a declaration file
Every shipment starts a file: client, power of attorney, commodity, origin, value, tariff code. If that opening step is free-form, the file is already incomplete before it begins.
02
Document collection and checking
Invoice, packing list, certificate of origin, permits, test reports — each document has to be present and correct before the declaration is submitted. A missing document does not surface until the worst moment.
03
Duty and tax calculation
The right tariff code determines the rate; the rate determines the duty; a wrong code means an underpayment or an overpayment and either one has consequences.
04
Declaration submission and registration
The broker checks the file, approves it and submits. If the inspection channel is red or yellow, an additional process begins. Each stage has its own deadline.
05
Bonded warehouse and dwell time
Goods waiting in a bonded warehouse or at the port accumulate storage costs by the day. Knowing exactly when each shipment enters and when it must leave is not optional.
06
Penalties, corrections and appeals
When a penalty is issued, the firm needs a record of what happened, by when the response is due, and what was submitted. An appeal without a paper trail is an appeal that is hard to win.
Where does this break down today?
The file lives across five places
Documents in e-mail, notes in a chat group, deadlines in a personal calendar, fees in a spreadsheet, and the declaration status in a government portal. The person who holds all five together is irreplaceable — and that is a risk.
Document gaps show up too late
The missing permit or the outdated certificate is discovered at submission, not at intake. By then the goods are already at the border and the client is already on the phone.
Deadlines depend on who remembers them
Dwell-time limits, appeal windows and payment deadlines are tracked by people, not systems. When the person is busy, the deadline passes quietly and the costs land on the client's invoice.
File costs are assembled after the fact
Port charges, translation fees, inspection costs and penalties are collected from memory or from scattered notes when the invoice is being prepared, not as they occur. What gets forgotten does not get billed.
What changes with Tenderely BPM
01
Every file is a structured record
Client, power of attorney, tariff code, shipment details and all attached documents live on one record. Anyone with access sees the full picture without asking.
02
The document checklist enforces itself
Required documents are listed as fields on the file. A step in the flow cannot advance until the checklist is complete, so gaps are caught at intake, not at the border.
03
Approval is a step, not an e-mail
The broker's review and sign-off is a named step in the flow. Conditional branching handles inspection channels: a red-channel result opens additional steps automatically, without anyone having to remember to do it.
04
Deadlines remind themselves
Give a step an SLA and Tenderely warns when the deadline approaches and again when it passes. Dwell-time limits and appeal windows stop depending on a person's memory.
05
Clients can submit from outside
Send a client a public form link to upload their documents. What they submit lands directly on the file record. They need no account and no access to your internal system.
06
File costs and fees are visible as they happen
Costs recorded on the file throughout the process — not assembled from memory at billing time. Dashboards and reports show which files are open, which are overdue and what has been collected.
FAQ
Can we set up different flows for import, export and transit?
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Yes. Each declaration type can have its own flow with its own document checklist, approval steps and deadline rules. Conditional branching means a step that applies only to, say, controlled goods can be included only when the relevant field is filled in a certain way.
Can clients see the status of their own shipments?
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Yes. A client can be given access as a linked external user who sees only their own files and the steps awaiting their input — never other clients' records or your internal data. You can also send them a public form link for document submission without giving them any system access at all.
How do we track bonded warehouse deadlines across many shipments at once?
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Each shipment record carries its own entry date and deadline. SLA settings on the relevant step trigger warnings before and after the limit. A dashboard built from those records shows all shipments and their remaining dwell time in one view, without anyone having to compile it.
Can we record and track penalties and appeals inside the same system?
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Yes. A penalty can open a new linked record — or a new stage on the existing file — with its own steps, deadlines and document attachments. The connection between the original declaration and the appeal is preserved, so the full history is in one place.
Is there a ready-made setup for a customs brokerage firm?
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Yes. The Customs Brokerage package installs with flows, document grids, deadline tracking and a dashboard already in place. You then adjust each form to match your own firm's working style and publish it. The package is a starting point, not a constraint.