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How to Set Up the Labor Cost Dashboard

This article covers how to complete the Labor Cost Dashboard onboarding process, enter your labor costs, and manage settings.

New to the Labor Cost Dashboard? See Overview: ShipHero's Labor Cost Dashboard for a summary of what the dashboard shows and common use cases.

Table of Contents

Labor Cost Dashboard Preview Mode

When you first navigate to the Labor Cost Dashboard, you will be in preview mode. A flag at the top of the screen will alert you to this.

Preview mode flag at the top of the Labor Cost Dashboard

In the Overview widget, a warning symbol indicates that data is not fully accurate. Data is approximate in preview mode because you have not entered your actual labor costs yet. You can still see which clients are more expensive relative to others.

How to Set Up the Labor Cost Dashboard

The first time you access the dashboard, you will be guided through an onboarding process to enter your labor information.

Why is this required? ShipHero automatically tracks certain jobs such as picking and packing, but not all warehouse processes. Entering your labor information ensures accurate cost calculations.

The onboarding process can only be completed by users with admin permissions.

Navigating to the Labor Cost Dashboard

  1. Log in to your ShipHero account.
  2. At the top of the screen, click New & Updated Features.
  3. This redirects you to the Shipping.ShipHero.com interface. On the left side of the screen, click Cost Dashboard.

Onboarding Steps

In the flag at the top of the screen, click the highlighted Update Labor Information link to begin the setup.

Update Labor Information link in the preview mode flag

The onboarding process varies slightly depending on whether your account has more than one warehouse.

Set Pay Period

Select the pay period you want to analyze and the warehouse(s) to include in calculations.

Pay period selection screen during Labor Cost Dashboard onboarding

Set Labor Cost by Warehouse

For each selected warehouse, complete the following labor cost fields:

  • Full-Time Payroll: Total actual payroll for full-time employees.
  • Temp Payroll for that Specific Week: Total actual payroll for temp employees.
  • Billed Labor to be Deducted from the Total Labor Cost: Labor related to special projects tracked and billed separately. Deducting this improves the accuracy of dashboard calculations.
  • Average Hourly Wage: The average cost for all warehouse employees who work shipping or inventory-related jobs.
Labor cost entry fields per warehouse during onboarding

All costs and rates must be in the same currency.

ShipHero uses this information to calculate actual costs for specific weekly periods and compare them to tracked jobs. If no information exists for a given week, ShipHero uses the most recently configured labor cost.

If a warehouse is new or has no labor information entered, its data will not appear on the dashboard until labor cost information is completed.

Set Bulk Ship Time

Enter how long your team takes to ship a bulk order. You can set different times per client rather than using an average.

Bulk ship time entry screen during onboarding

After setting your labor information, allow up to 15 minutes for costs to update. Once complete, you will be redirected to the Cost Dashboard.

Labor Cost Dashboard Settings

From the Settings page, admin users can update bulk ship time per order, hourly wage, and labor costs — the same fields covered during onboarding.

Important

Updating Bulk Ship Cost Per Order or Hourly Labor Cost will affect all historical data calculations. Updating only labor costs applies to the selected time period only and does not affect past data. Updates can take up to 15 minutes to be reflected.

Labor Cost Dashboard Settings page

How to Delete Labor Cost Entries

  1. Navigate to the Settings page.
  2. Scroll down to the labor costs table and highlight the entry you want to delete.
  3. Click the trash can icon that appears, then click Delete to confirm.

Important

Deleting a labor cost entry cannot be undone. To edit an entry, you must delete it and re-enter the correct information.

Delete button on a labor cost entry in the settings table

More Resources

  • ShipHero Public API

    Connect your tools and AI agents directly to ShipHero with the Public API. Build powerful integrations, automate workflows, and tap into real-time data using the AI tools you prefer, with the option for secure, read-only access for AI-driven insights without added risk.

  • ShipHero Academy

    Explore ShipHero Academy for certifications, deep-dive training, and expert-led courses on WMS and fulfillment. Build your expertise and help your team operate at a higher level.

  • Change Log

    Stay up to date with the latest improvements across ShipHero. The Change Log gives you a clear view of new features, enhancements, and fixes as they roll out—so you always know what’s new and what’s better.