Kiwifruit Bin Count Excel - Free Template

1. Open the Bin Count Log and start with one row per picking record. Enter the date, block code, variety and contractor or picker.
2. Enter the actual Bins Picked, Target Bins/Ha and Hectares. Check the Target Bins (Total) and Variance figures before moving to the next row.
3. Record the Avg Bin Weight (kg) and Quality Grade supplied by your orchard or packhouse process. The Total kg column gives you the resulting crop weight.
4. Enter the agreed Rate per Bin ($). Review Total Payment ($) against the contractor tally or payroll support records.
5. Set the Status for the row so the team can distinguish current, completed or attention-required work. Keep wording consistent across entries.
6. Review Block Summary for the block-level picture and Dashboard for the visual overview. Image 2 shows the summary layout, while image 3 shows the dashboard view.
7. Read the Instructions sheet in image 4 before changing headings or formulas. Save a dated copy after each significant harvest update.

Harvest managers, orchard supervisors and contractor coordinators can use this workbook during the daily pick. A Bay of Plenty orchard might have the office manager entering tally sheets after the morning run, while the foreman checks block progress before moving crews to the next row.

Image 1 shows the Bin Count Log with one record per date and picking assignment. The visible fields run from Date and Block Code through Variety, Contractor / Picker, Bins Picked, Target Bins/Ha and Hectares, then into target, variance, weight, grade, payment and status information.

Record the pick while the numbers are fresh

Suppose block B2 is 3.4 hectares of SunGold with a target of 50 bins per hectare. The target is 170 bins; if the crew picks 148, the variance is -22 bins. That is much more useful at 3.30 pm on 6 April than trying to reconstruct the figure from text messages at the end of the week.

For a Christchurch-based orchard business managing contractors remotely, the same row can support a phone check-in: 210 Hayward bins from block A1, an average weight of 3.3 kg and the agreed rate per bin. The result is a clear production and payment conversation rather than a pile of handwritten tallies.

Use the workbook at the handover

Enter each block separately, even when the same contractor works several blocks in one day. This lets you compare varieties and locations instead of hiding everything in one daily total. Review the Block Summary after the last tally and use the Dashboard in the harvest meeting to decide where another crew or a quality check is needed.

The same block-by-block review also sets up a milk solids tracker for comparing output by variety, location, and crew before the harvest meeting.

A bin tracker is an operational record, not a substitute for your contractor agreement, packhouse statements or tax records. If the orchard business is GST-registered, the standard GST rate is 15%, and GST registration is compulsory once taxable turnover exceeds $60,000 in any 12-month period.

Picking payments need to be classified correctly. A contractor invoice may be a business expense with taxable supply information, while an employee’s pay belongs in payroll with PAYE, KiwiSaver and employment records. Do not use the Total Payment ($) column as a PAYE calculation: it is a bin-rate calculation, for example 500 bins at $8.50 equals $4,250.00 before any separate accounting treatment.

Keep evidence that agrees to the spreadsheet

Inland Revenue requires business records to be retained for 7 years. Keep the dated tally sheet, contractor invoice or timesheet, agreed rate, block allocation and packhouse or weighbridge evidence with the workbook. A row saying 148 bins is far stronger when it can be matched to a signed tally or electronic delivery record.

The normal New Zealand balance date is 31 March. Before closing the year, reconcile the log to invoices and consider whether unpaid contractor costs, crop inventory or other accruals belong in the profit and loss. The bin log itself does not calculate depreciation, provisional tax, GST or an IR3 or IR4.

Use consistent orchard definitions

Agree whether a bin means a completed orchard bin accepted for dispatch, and define how rejected, damaged or part-filled bins are treated. For example, counting 12 rejected bins as picked in one report but excluding them from the contractor invoice creates a 12-bin, or $102.00 at $8.50 each, dispute. Put the agreed treatment in the Instructions sheet and apply it every day.

The expensive mistakes are usually small at the time: a block code typed as B2 one day and B-2 the next, a missing variety, or a rate copied from last season. Once 15 crews have submitted tallies, those inconsistencies make a block summary unreliable and can take several hours to untangle.

Wrong targets create false alarms

Target Bins/Ha must match the block and variety being picked. If a 3.4-hectare SunGold block is accidentally given a 40-bin target instead of 50, the target falls from 170 to 136 bins. A crew picking 148 then appears 12 bins ahead when it is actually 22 bins behind. That is a management decision based on a 34-bin error.

Check the hectares as well. Entering 4.3 instead of 3.4 changes a 50-bin target from 170 to 215 bins, producing a 45-bin swing. Review unusual variances against the orchard map before telling a contractor that performance has dropped.

Payment and weight errors travel quickly

A rate of $8.50 entered as $85.00 turns a legitimate 210-bin payment of $1,785.00 into $17,850.00. Conversely, a missing zero can underpay a crew and damage trust before the error is noticed. Reconcile a sample of rows to the signed tally and invoice, especially where the contractor or rate changes.

Average bin weight is another trap. If 160 bins are recorded at 3.4 kg, the workbook reports 544 kg; entering 34 kg produces 5,440 kg. Compare exceptional weights with packhouse data, and do not treat an estimated average as a certified weighbridge result. Grade and status should also be completed before the row is considered final.

Once grade and status are finalized, a supplier register keeps those rows tied to the right contractor and rate history.

The spreadsheet works best when it is attached to an existing harvest handover rather than treated as an extra admin job. Set one fixed entry time after the final tally each day, then have the supervisor check the totals before the next morning’s crew allocation.

Use a short daily close

• Match each paper or phone tally to a date, block code and contractor.
• Check that Bins Picked, Hectares and Rate per Bin ($) are not blank.
• Investigate a large negative variance, an unusual average weight or a payment that does not match the agreed rate.
• Save a dated backup, such as Harvest_2026-04-16.xlsx, before making corrections.

Use the pale-yellow cells for entry and leave calculated or summary areas alone. Copying a previous workbook can save time, but clear old picking rows first; retaining last week’s 220 bins in a new file is an easy way to overstate the crop.

Review the right view at the right time

Use the log for corrections, Block Summary for the daily supervisor review and Dashboard for the weekly harvest meeting. With 10 blocks and 6 picking days, a five-minute review of 60 rows is manageable; waiting until the end of the season makes the same reconciliation far harder.

Once several users are editing at once, you have more than 10,000 rows, or contractor payments need approvals and audit trails, move the process into Xero, MYOB or a dedicated orchard system. Keep this Excel file as an export or review tool, not as the only source of truth.