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Laboratories

Get paid for the work your lab has already done

Every analysis lands on a billable list at the point you choose, and a report can wait until the customer pays. Food, feed, water, and environmental labs set up IWB with their own sample catalog, analyses, and limit sets.

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Runs in your browser. In the cloud or on your own server, it's the same IWB.

01Document flow

Trace each sample from quote to payment

An accepted quote goes to the lab as a new intake, and the consumables for each analysis come out of stock. Once the report is approved, the analysis joins the billable list, and you open a draft invoice from that list in Sales. If the report release lock is set to "After payment," the customer gets the report only after the payment arrives.

  1. QuoteTEK-2026-00214
  2. SampleNUM-2026-01828
  3. Consumption entryFIS-2026-00497
  4. Analysis reportRAP-2026-00412
  5. InvoiceFTR-2026-00234
  6. PaymentTAH-2026-00311

02

Hold the report until the work is invoiced or paid

Decide for each customer when a report can go out. The invoicing point, report release lock, and payment term live on the customer's contact record. When the invoicing point you chose is reached, each analysis goes on the billable list. You open the draft invoice from that list in Sales. If you set a lock, the report isn't sent until the invoice is issued or the payment arrives.

  • Invoicing point: sample acceptance, sample approval, analysis completion, report approval, or manual
  • The moment an invoice is canceled, its items go back to "Pending"
  • Open lab work counts toward the customer's credit exposure and shows in cash flow

You choose whose reports wait

You choose one of three options for each customer: unrestricted, after invoicing, or after payment. Only an authorized user can override the lock.

03

Keep result entry and approval in separate hands

Accreditation calls for segregation of duties, so entering results, approving them, printing reports, and seeing prices are separate permissions. Approval runs in three stages: the analyst requests it, then the Laboratory Unit Supervisor and finally the Laboratory Manager approve. By default, whoever entered a result can't approve it from the second stage on. If you turn the rule off for a lab, the decision shows a "Segregation of duties exemption" badge in the approval trail. Sending a result back or rejecting it requires a reason.

  • Assign deputies for the Laboratory Unit Supervisor and Laboratory Manager
  • Unit cost and price fields are hidden by role
  • Every field change on master records is logged with the old value, the new value, and the user

04

Block results from out-of-calibration instruments

You see instruments past their calibration date on a separate card on your lab dashboard, and with the setting on, their results aren't accepted. Results from instruments under maintenance or out of service aren't accepted either. Each instrument record holds the make, model, serial number, and calibration due date, and links to its record in Fixed Assets.

  • Service log: calibration, intermediate checks, maintenance, and repairs
  • Only a "passed" calibration record renews the due date
  • Rows imported from an instrument file are flagged if calibration is invalid

05

Send out analyses without losing track of them

Send an analysis your lab doesn't run to the suggested subcontractor or a collaborating lab, or transfer it to your lab at another branch. When you transfer to a branch, the intake and sample open there automatically. The other lab's report number and a copy of its report come back to your lab. You enter the result by hand, and it's marked "From subcontractor."

  • The other lab's accreditation number prints on the report
  • Subcontractor and collaboration footnotes on the report are locked
  • Overdue subcontract shipments get a badge in the menu

06

Dispose of samples on time, with a record to show

Know what each analysis consumes and when each sample is due for disposal. The consumables in an analysis definition are multiplied by the number of replicates and written to a stock entry in Inventory. If you turn on custody stock, customer samples marked for custody sit in the custody warehouse without being valued. Retention and objection periods (the time a customer has to dispute results) set a disposal date for each sample. You choose the method on the disposal entry, and the disposal record prints as a PDF.

  • Default retention of 15 business days and a 7-day objection window
  • Disposing of a sample early needs a separate permission and a reason
  • A stock entry that fails can be rerun with "Try again"

07Connected modules

They share the same database and permission model

08

Frequently asked questions

Is there a separate version of IWB for laboratories?

No. Laboratory (LIMS) is one of IWB's modules and works alongside Sales, Finance, Inventory, and Accounting. You define your own sample catalog, analyses, and limit sets, and add methods from an optional library of 54 standard methods. The only ready-made setup template covers coal analysis.

Can water and environmental labs track field samples?

Yes. You link each sampling plan to a customer, site, date, and person in charge. Field readings of pH, conductivity, temperature, and flow rate go on the sampling record, along with the seal and the witness count. You define sites, units, stacks, and measurement points, and the limit is chosen by sampling type.

Can a quality control lab that tests its own production use IWB?

Yes. A sample type's purpose can be service, quality control, proficiency testing, or R&D. Quality control samples open in an internal intake with no customer, get their own number series, and aren't invoiced.

Where are lab quotes prepared?

In Sales. Each line carries the analysis or profile, sample type, number of replicates, and limit set, plus a subcontractor if needed. Once the customer accepts, you send the quote to the lab's intake. Lab lines don't turn into sales orders.

Can my customers follow their results in a portal?

No. The customer portal has no laboratory screens. You email the archived PDF of the report, or mark it as delivered in person or by courier. Your customer verifies the printed report's details by scanning its QR code.