Staff Assignment
When the Companion creates a new Shipment in CargoWise via eAdaptor/Universal XML, CargoWise will typically attribute that action to a default operator (~AD) unless you configure CargoWise to allow the Companion to override the operator. You can learn more about setup of Staff Reference in the Deployment Guide.
This matters for:
Correct ownership, accountability, and proper workflow execution on newly created files
Correct department attribution (via the staff user’s Home Department)
Consistency across teams/branches/companies—especially when billing tabs and other company-scoped areas are involved.
The Process
When an operator uses the Companion to create files such as a Shipment, ISF, or Declaration we join the Companion user to that of CargoWise.
The Companion determines the
Operations Repfrom the configuredStaff Reference. The staff reference appears in the upper-left corner of Clockwork’s creation forms. That staff reference is what Clockwork sends to CargoWise as the operator context for the job.The
Departmentis derived from the operator’s CargoWise configuration The staff user’s Home Department is used as the Department value in CargoWise. This can be changed when creating new files.The Companion tries to auto-match the operator. Clockwork attempts to match the Microsoft user to a CargoWise staff reference when the Microsoft user name matches the CargoWise staff name.
If there is an exact match, the staff card is populated automatically.
If there is not an exact match, Clockwork shows a
No TMS User Setmessage so the operator can manually enter the staff reference.
Branch selection controls company context for billing. The Branch selected in the Companion is used to determine the company under which the billing tab is created, and it is used as the Branch field on the billing tab. Because CargoWise’s forwarding shipment billing invoice tab is scoped to a company, different companies have different “versions” of that tab.
Staff Reference Setup
You can learn more about setup of Staff Reference in the Deployment Guide.
What’s This Mean?
When creating files, if everything is configured correctly:
Shipments created by the Companion will have the correct
Operations Rep(the operator using Clockwork).The shipment will carry the correct
Dept(from the staff user’s Home Department).Billing context will align to the
companyimplied by the Branch used during creation.
If it’s not configured correctly:
CargoWise will often default the operator to ~AD for eAdaptor requests.¹
If no staff reference is assigned in Clockwork’s form, any files created will resolve to ~AD.
Workflows, and other automations may not function properly if they rely on the
Staff Reference,Dept, orBranch.
By January 2026 we will expand to support Staff References for eDoc uploads. However, today the document uploads will be attributed to ~AD rather than the operator.
Troubleshooting
Problem: Operations Rep is showing as something other than my staff user. This is likely because of these situations:
CargoWise proxy users registry is missing an entry.
If the CargoWise registry doesn’t include a line for the staff user creating the job, ~AD will be used by default.
Fix: Add the staff user to the relevant proxy user registry list (see Setup above).
Clockwork doesn’t have a staff user assigned on the form
If the staff card in the upper-left shows “No TMS User Set”, Clockwork will not send the correct operator reference. It will default to ~AD without proper registry settings.
Fix: Use the gear icon to enter the correct staff reference, and ensure the staff user is present in the proxy user registry.
You’re logged into the wrong CargoWise company, or staff user is something other than my own name.
We’ll utilize whatever Staff Reference code the user provides. Ensure that the code matches that of your user inside of CargoWise.
Fix: Update the Staff Reference in the Companion by reaching out to support.