How to use iLab as an ASU department manager

Sign up for an iLab account

  1. Navigate to ASU’s landing page for iLab Solutions and click on the sign-up button in the upper-right corner.
  2. Select the option for “ASU user (with ASURITE ID)” and log in with your ASURITE credentials. 
  3. You will be prompted to select the PI/Advisor or Lab/Class name. Instead, look for the name of your department. It may be listed by its acronym, such as OKED Admin (ASU) Group.
  4. After you submit your registration, you will see a confirmation page indicating your account activation is pending approval. Another department manager must approve your request and add you as a financial manager to the department. For further assistance, contact iLab support.

Overall navigation

The hamburger menu (three lines at the top left of the screen) allows you to access the following features:

  • Home lists submitted service requests, messages, recently used cores and institutions.
  • Core Facilities lists all core facilities at your own institution, partner institutions, and other outside institutions using iLab as well as a search function.
    • My Reservations provides an overview of all current, upcoming and recent reservations in iLab.
    • Invoices lists all invoices from your department.
  • Manage Groups: Displays all groups in which you are a member, and allows you to request membership into another group at ASU or another institution.
    • My Group directs to the same page as clicking Manage Groups. Hovering your mouse reveals a sub-menu of your groups to display the names and contact information of everyone in the group.
    • My Departments displays the groups affiliated with your department at your institution.
    • People Search displays the names and contact information of everyone in groups for which you are a member.

The top of the screen provides access to various system functions

  • Search allows you to search for specific cores and services. Enter a key term or the first few letters and click ‘Go.’ Your results will display on the page.
  • Clicking your Username will reveal the following options:
    • My Profile, which allows you to view and edit your user profile.
    • System upgrades, which grants access to all messages regarding the system and updates/feature/bug fixes of the iLab software.
  • The Help link brings you to iLab’s customer support portal.
  • Sign Out logs you out of the system.

When you visit a specific core facility on iLab, you will see tabs at the top right that will allow you to:

  • Learn about the facility
  • Schedule equipment
  • Request services/training
  • View your requests
  • Contact the facility

Department management

View department settings

Open the hamburger menu (three lines) at the top left and hover over “My Department,” then click the department name when it appears. You can also click on the “My Department” link and then select “view” next to the appropriate department. 

Once you are listed as a financial manager of a department in iLab, you have access to add or remove research groups. Being a financial manager within a department allows you to view all group invoices, run reports, and manage group members and accounts.

Adding and removing groups

On the “Groups” tab of your department settings page, you may add and remove new research groups. To remove a group that is no longer affiliated with your department, click the red X. To add a group, enter the PI’s last name, class name or lab name into the “Search for a group” field, then click the arrow to search. After results appear, click the Add button to add a particular group. If you are unable to find the group you need, it is possible the group has not yet been added to iLab. Contact iLab support for assistance.

Adding and removing department managers

On the “Members” tab of your department settings page, you may add and remove new managers. To remove a manager that is no longer affiliated with your department, click the red X icon. To add a manager, enter their last name into the search field then click the “Search” button. After results appear, click the “Invite” button for the appropriate person. If you are unable to find the manager you need, it is possible they have not yet registered in iLab.

Managing research group members

To manage members of a research group:

  1. Open the hamburger menu at the top left side of your iLab window and hover over “My Groups.”
  2. Click on the group you want to manage.
  3. Select the “Members” tab on the group settings page. On this tab you can add or remove members, approve membership requests and set thresholds for automatic spending approval.

You can access requests that require financial approval by opening the hamburger menu (three lines) on the top left of your iLab window and selecting “View Requests.”

If you need additional help, see the following iLab help pages:


Grant and other account management

Programs and gifts may be added to a group for spending management as needed. Grants appear automatically in the group designated as the Lead PI role in ASU’s Financial System. All researchers delegated to spend on a grant must request membership into the Lead PI’s group, including the co-investigator. A grant’s expiration date is fed directly from ASU’s Financial System; if it is expired, researchers will not be able to request new services. Unbilled services rendered during the period of performance may still be charged within 60 days after the grant’s expiration.

Assigning spending permission

How to assign spending permission to a researcher within your lab or group:

  1. Open the hamburger menu (three lines) at the top left of your iLab screen. 
  2. Select the relevant group under “Manage Groups.”
  3. Click on the “Membership Requests & Accounts” tab, where the current members of the group will appear in a grid with checkboxes underneath each available account. 
  4. Assign spending permission by checking the box underneath an account for any given user. The box will highlight in green to signify the change is in effect.

Unassigning spending permission

To remove a person’s spending permission, follow the steps under “Assigning spending permission” above, but uncheck the box or boxes you want to unassign.

If there are unbilled charges pending on an account, a popup window will appear summarizing these charges. To unassign spending permission on the account under this circumstance: 

  1. Make sure the researcher has permission to spend on another account, which will pay for the unbilled charges. 
  2. Select this new account from the “Account” dropdown menu. 
  3. Click the link to “Update all Service Requests / Reservations Listed Above.” The window will refresh with the account unassigned and the charges moved to the new account you selected.

Requesting an account

To add a program or gift to a lab or group:

  1. Open the hamburger menu (three lines) at the top left of your iLab screen. 
  2. Select the relevant group under “Manage Groups.”
  3. Click on the “Membership Requests & Accounts” tab.
  4. Click to expand the section labeled “Request Access to Additional Accounts.” Instructions will appear describing the proper format for the account along with a field in which to request it to your group. Pay close attention to the formatting, including the number and placement of dashes (-). If the format is not matched exactly, then you will receive an error.

Selecting payment information

When making a reservation or requesting services, you are required to provide a funding source to charge for services, which must be assigned on the lab or group settings page. Fund types available include Account and Center Fund. Distinguish between the two types from the first dropdown menu.

  • Account displays programs, grants and gifts. Additional options are available in the three dropdown menus below the account, including Department Reporting Roll, Department Reporting and Audit Reporting. These tags are optional and are not required to successfully submit a request or make a reservation. Check with your department financial manager to find out if a specific tag is required for your unit. 
  • Center Fund: If your group was awarded a balance toward use of a core facility, selecting Center Fund will allow you to select it from the next menu. Note: You must be assigned permission to spend on a Center Fund in the same way as any other account type.

Clicking on the “Split Charge” button in the lower-right corner of the “Payment Information” section allows you to split the cost of a reservation or any charge within a service request on multiple funds. Change the percentage of each split to the desired amount and make sure the total equals 100%.

Related topics

The links below redirect to the iLab Help Site on these related topics:

Approving requests

If the projected cost of a request exceeds the auto-approval threshold set for your group members, you will need to approve the request before work may begin. You will receive an email notification from [email protected] with the request details and a link to the core page to provide your approval. You may also view and approve all requests submitted by your group members. The links below redirect to the iLab Help Site on these related topics:

Reviewing invoices

Invoices are accessible from the hamburger menu on the top left of the iLab window. You will also receive a direct link by email whenever an invoice is generated. It is important to review the charges on an invoice right away to ensure it is accurate.

Modifying the charge account

The charge account listed for each service item on an invoice may be changed within three business days before it officially posts to the ASU Financial System. To do so, click on the dollar symbol to open a charge summary for the request, check the box for each service item requiring modification, select the new account from the dropdown menu, then click to save.

Note: The researcher/owner of the service items must have permission to spend on the new account prior to updating the invoice. See the “Grant and other account management” section above for further instructions.

Tip: Refresh your browser window to verify the new account has been successfully assigned as intended.

Disputing charges

You have three business days after the invoice is created to dispute a charge before it officially posts to the ASU Financial System. To dispute a charge:

  1. Hover your mouse over the charge’s total cost. A yellow flag will appear.
  2. Click on the yellow flag. A window will open that prompts you to select a reason for the dispute and to provide a note. Include a detailed description of the issue.
  3. Click on “initiate dispute.” Your message will be delivered to the Core Facilities Financial Office, which will work with the lab managers to verify your claim and apply any necessary changes.

Running reports

Reports are accessible from the hamburger menu and allow you to run reports on all billed and unbilled data in iLab for which you have manager or PI access. Learn more on the iLab Help Site “Reporting” page.

Reconciling in Workday

Once an invoice is generated in iLab, a countdown of three business days starts. During this time, charges may be disputed or modified to post to a different account. The invoice locks for additional editing after this period and posts as an Internal Service Delivery to the accounts listed through ASU’s Financial System, Workday.

The number of journal lines for a single invoice may vary depending on revenue/expense account combinations, as well as variations in optional worktags. When viewed from the Workday report, “Detailed Revenue Expense and Ledger Accounts,” an invoice’s journal lines display as the following (by report header):

  • Business focument: Internal Service Delivery Document ID, displayed as a hyperlink that redirects to the entire ISD (Note that viewing the ISD displays all charges processed by the facility, not just the transactions associated with the invoice)
  • Memo: Name of the Core Facility that rendered services
  • Line memo: URL to view the entire invoice online (copy/paste the URL into a new browser tab for viewing)
  • Actuals: The journal line subtotal for an invoice

FAQ

On the navigation panel, click on the Invoices link to view all invoices related to your department. You can use the filters to find invoices for a specific account, PI / Group, core facility, etc. If you do not see a PI / Group in the list of available invoices, then make sure the PI / Group is affiliated with your department.

Being a manager at the department level gives you the ability to retrieve invoices for all groups affiliated with your department and manage the groups, including researcher memberships and account permissions. However, it does not place you on the email distribution list when invoices are delivered. To ensure you are on the email distribution for invoices for a PI / Group, follow these steps:

  1. Click My Departments, found on the navigation panel, and click on the group name when it appears
  2. Click the “link existing user” icon below the list of members.
  3. Type your name; when it appears click it
  4. Indicate your role as “manager”, then click “invite” (skip the start/end dates)
  5. When your name appears in the list, click the pencil icon.
  6. Check the box to indicate you are the core financial contact then save. 

You may link a researcher to a group and assign them permission to spend on an account(s) by following these steps (if the researcher is already in the group, follow steps 1, 5, and 6):

  1. Open the hamburger menu (three lines) at the top left of your iLab screen. 
  2. Hover over “My Departments” and select the department name when it appears.
  3. On the “Members” tab, click the “link existing user” button below the list of current members and type the researcher’s name (last name preferred).
  4. When the researcher’s name appears, click on it
  5. Indicate their level of membership in the group (Member is standard), then click “invite.” The start/end dates are not required. The researcher will now appear in your list of current members.
  6. Go to the “Membership Requests & Accounts” tab and refresh your web browser
  7. Check the box(es) by the researcher’s name that appears under the account(s) on which you wish to give them spending permission; the box(es) will highlight green signifying the changes have been saved.

If you tried searching for a researcher’s name but they did not appear as a search result, either their name in iLab does not match what you entered, or they have not yet registered for an iLab account. Have the researcher request membership into the group.

If you found the researcher’s name and tried to invite them but nothing happens, check to see if they were once a member of your group but their membership expired. A link “Show Expired Memberships” is visible on the top-right of the list of current members on the Members tab. Click on it, and expired members will appear highlighted pink. If the researcher’s name is in the list, click the pencil icon to modify their membership start/end dates.

Check the dates and facilities listed in this popup window. If the dates are within the past six months, check to confirm with the facilities whether the researcher has unbilled charges. If so, then you may remove the researcher from your group after the charges are billed and post to the ASU Financial System.

If the dates are older than six months and the facilities confirm there are no unbilled charges for that researcher, then modify the researcher’s membership end date to yesterday’s date by clicking on the pencil icon by their name.

A grant may not be visible in a group for these reasons:

  • The PI of the group is not listed as the Lead PI on the grant in ASU’s Financial System. Anyone needing to request services or make reservations on the grant should request membership into the Lab or group of the Lead PI. If the PI is supposed to be listed as the Lead PI, contact the Grant Contract Officer to update the ASU Financial System and the grant will appear in the iLab group the day after the change is effective.
  • The grant is expired or not yet active according to ASU’s Financial System. Contact the Grant Contract Officer to update the ASU Financial System and the grant will appear in the iLab group the day after the change is effective.

If you wish to charge a different account than the one listed, you can modify the account so long as the invoice was generated within 3 business days and has not posted to the ASU Financial System. 

To change the account:

  1. Click on the dollar symbol icon for the request whose charges need a new account. A summary window will appear.
  2. Check the box(es) for each charge you wish to update.
  3. Select the new account from the dropdown menu. Note: The researcher who is listed as the owner of the request must first have permission to spend on the new account. See below links for further instructions if necessary.
  4. Click the save icon to set your changes. Tip: Refresh your web browser to see an updated version of the invoice to ensure the changes were made as intended.

If a charge on an invoice seems incorrect, dispute the charge directly on the invoice ASAP. You only have three business days to make any changes to the charge before it is processed in ASU’s Financial System. 

  1. Open the invoice in iLab via the link provided at the bottom of the notification email or find it on the Invoices page in iLab.
  2. For each charge in dispute, hover your mouse over the total cost to reveal a yellow flag, then click on it.
  3. After clicking this flag, a popup window will appear. Select the reason for your dispute and provide a detailed description in the dispute notes section. Click the Initiate Dispute icon.
  4. Your dispute(s) will be delivered to the facility’s finance office for review. They will follow up with the lab managers to verify how the charge should be modified and make any applicable changes directly on the invoice.

You must ensure any reservations or service requests occur prior to the account’s expiration date (a.k.a. the period of performance). Many core facilities generate invoices after the service month has closed, meaning the account may not be charged until after the account has expired, which is not problematic. The billing workflow is not tied to this expiration date and has a longer administrative window to close out any final expenses, so long as they occurred during the period of performance.

For issues related to: