What does unresolved import follow-up cost your team?

What does this calculator measure?

It estimates the monthly staff time spent sending repeat requests, rebuilding shipment context, and handling escalations. It annualizes only that labor amount. Separately, it inventories the value of documented exposure incidents entered by the user.

The model does not claim that every unanswered request causes a fee, that software removes all follow-up, or that the exposure inventory will be recovered. Zero is a valid observed value.

Can this worksheet be used outside the United States?

Yes. The arithmetic uses your own monthly request volumes, handling times and loaded hourly labor rate. It contains no U.S. labor benchmark or country-specific cost assumption, so teams in other markets can use it for indicative coordination-cost estimates.

Keep every monetary input in the same currency. USD, CAD, EUR, GBP and TRY are available as display labels; choosing a currency does not convert the values. The worksheet does not calculate duties, taxes or total landed cost, or determine local customs requirements.

The FMC and CBP references below describe U.S. operating context only. They do not supply the formula inputs or establish rules for other countries. Use your own local records; this standalone worksheet does not depend on the market rollout of Tyllus software.

How should you establish defensible inputs?

Sample a defined period of closed shipments. Count distinct unresolved requests, repeat touches, time spent reopening context, escalations, and documented charges or expedite amounts linked to the missed handoff. Mark an input measured only when a retained record supports it.

FMC demurrage and detention billing rules establish time-bound invoice and mitigation processes, while CBP recordkeeping guidance reinforces the value of retrievable entry evidence. Those sources provide operating context—not a universal cost assumption for this calculator.

• Use one consistent monthly observation window.
• Separate request volume from the number of follow-up touches.
• Use a loaded hourly rate approved by finance or HR.
• Count an exposure incident only when a record supports the amount.
• Re-run the worksheet after the same measurement window; do not compare unlike periods.

Why are labor and exposure not added together?

Labor is a recurring coordination estimate. Exposure is an inventory of amounts associated with documented incidents. Adding them would imply that both are equivalent, preventable, and recoverable. The page deliberately displays them in separate result cards and preserves that boundary in the downloaded worksheet.

Use the result to choose where to measure next: the least evidenced, highest-leverage input is usually a better next investigation than the largest headline number.

Where can workflow software help?

A shipment-linked follow-up workflow can make the request, expected evidence, due state, response, and escalation owner visible. Tyllus supports that operating control, but it cannot force a partner to respond, determine a customs decision, prevent every charge, or guarantee a financial outcome.