Custom app development for goods flow and customs documents on site
Your administration must be able to show, in a straightforward way, where the goods came from and where they are going. That sounds like an accounting requirement, but it begins on the loading dock: which pallet came out of which container and where it was placed afterwards.
Where the trail breaks in practice
A licence holder must keep records in a form approved by Customs, showing the identification, customs status and movement of goods under the procedure. At an import or export check, it is the records that are examined: not what happened, but what has been recorded of it.
The audit trail rarely breaks in the system. It breaks on the warehouse floor, where a consignment is unloaded while the next lorry is already waiting, where a pallet is temporarily put down somewhere else, or where a document has arrived but is only entered the following day.
If you act as fiscal representative, this matters directly to you. Your liability for the client's VAT is capped per calendar year by the security provided, but that ceiling only helps if the file can trace the consignment. A gap in the trail is a gap in your defence.
The retention period is seven years. Records may be moved to other storage media, provided they remain accessible for supervision within a reasonable time. What begins on a paper list and ends in a folder rarely meets that standard, even if it has formally been kept.
How we build this
The core is the movement. Every time goods arrive somewhere, are moved or depart, a record is created with a time, a location and a person.
Container, seal, pallet or document: whatever carries a code is scanned, so the entry is accurate and quick.
Arrival, unloading, movement within the site and dispatch, each with time and location, even without a connection.
Damaged packaging, a discrepancy in quantity or a missing document: a photo taken at that moment saves a dispute later.
The movements are recorded in the file per consignment and per client, which is where the declaration and accountability rest.
What the app does in practice
Registration on the floor carries the whole process. What else you need depends on your procedure and on whether you manage a bonded warehouse yourself.
Scan container and seal
On arrival, record the number and the seal, including the moment the seal was broken.
Unload per pallet
What actually came off, set against what was on paper. The difference is exactly what will be asked about later.
Location within the warehouse
Where something was placed, and where it went next. Without this, the transfer cannot be demonstrated.
Photograph the document
Consignment notes and accompanying documents go into the file as images, at the moment they are received.
Works without signal
Warehouses, terminals and cold stores rarely have coverage. The app works locally and syncs as soon as there is a connection.
Escalating deviations straight away
A missing document or a difference in quantity goes straight to the declarant, with the image and time attached.
Who we build for
Who does the recording differs by location. Four situations.
Warehouse staff
They unload under time pressure. Anything taking more than a few actions is done at the end of the shift or not at all.
Bonded warehouse managers
They must be able to demonstrate the status and location of goods under the procedure, even months later.
Drivers
They are often the only ones who see what was actually in the loading space on arrival.
Declarants and customs agents
They make the declaration and do not want to phone around to find out what happened on the floor.
Test your idea first: a working prototype in 1 day
With OneDayBuild, we turn your idea into something tangible in one day for €1,150, so you can see whether further development is worth the investment. Decide to go ahead with the full build? Then we credit the full cost.
Explore OneDayBuild →Technology and integrations
Procedures differ, document types vary and locations are organised differently. Fields, codes and movement types should be configurable rather than fixed within the app.
Why Appfront
The audit trail breaks on the floor, not in the system
We build the registration where the movement happens, because what isn't recorded there never gets recorded anywhere else.
Scanning is faster than keying in
A scanned container number is not only entered faster, it is also entered correctly. That removes most corrections.
Seven years of access is more than storage
The requirement is that records are available within a reasonable period for supervision. A folder in an archive rarely meets that.
We do not file declarations for you
The customs judgement remains with your declarant. We make sure the facts he relies on are accurate.
Security and privacy
What is recorded on the floor touches the commercial data of your clients: suppliers, buyers and volumes. We set access by role and by location, show each employee only the consignments they work on, and log every view. What is stored locally on the device is encrypted and can be remotely wiped if a device is lost.
For this subject, the reliability of the moment is the crux. A discharge entered afterwards at a different time is, in an inspection, no longer a record but a reconstruction. We capture movements in an unalterable way with time, place and person, even when synchronisation happens later, and any correction appears as a visible correction alongside the original entry. How we handle security ourselves is set out in our information security policy.
Frequently asked questions about recording goods movements
Because the record is created at the container and the pallet, not at a fixed workstation. Anything entered only after the shift is a reminder.
The identification, the customs status and the transfer of the goods under the procedure. In practice that comes down to: which goods, which status, and where they have been.
Yes. Warehouses, terminals and cold stores rarely have coverage. The app works locally and syncs as soon as coverage returns, preserving the original timestamp.
The customs retention period is seven years. Data may be moved to another archive, as long as it remains accessible within a reasonable period for supervision.
In the file per consignment and per client. We describe that administration on our page about software for fiscal representatives.
Yes. The movements can flow through to your declaration or warehouse system. See our approach to custom app development.
Can you show where this pallet was three months ago?
Pick a single consignment from last quarter and trace the route: arrival, unloading, place in the warehouse, dispatch. If there's a gap, that gap will also be there during an inspection. We build this as a standalone app and as part of a broader custom app development project.