Getting Started with iLab

Account Registration Instructions: If this is your first time logging into the system, iLab will prompt you to register by asking you to select the appropriate lab group.

1. Open your home institution's iLab URL. Use your institutional credentials to access the application.  
2. Click the login button. Enter your credentials.
3. A registration page will display with some fields pre-filled. Complete any remaining fields.
4. Select the appropriate lab group in the "PI/Group" drop-down menu.
5. Click Register.
6. The Office of Research will review & approve within 48 hours. A confirmation email will be sent.
7. Once approved, you will be able to access and request services from VUMC cores and review invoice reports.

Lab Group Selection:

If you work with multiple investigators, please select one Lab Group to initially set up your account. Then contact VUMCcores@vumc.org with a list of other PI names. The Office of Research will update your iLab account and grant you access to the other PI Lab Groups.

Final invoices are generated once per month. The VUMC Office of Research creates invoices on the last business day of each month. The PI or PI delegate should review all core invoices each month.

REVIEWING INVOICES: 

The PI, PI Delegate (i.e., lab manager role), and department administration can view the PI's invoices.

1. Click on Invoices in the left-hand iLab Menu. A list of invoices will display.
2. Use the filter panel to reduce and sort the invoices that display. Click 'Apply Filters' to run filters.
   1. Example: Use the 'payment number' filter to drill down to a specific billing number. 
   2. Example: Use the 'keyword search' and type in the invoice number to find a specific invoice.
3. On the far right, click the magnifying glass to open the specific invoice. Invoices with a 'Final Invoice' status have been submitted to the Workday system. In Workday, use the department transaction report or similar reports to review invoices. Note, the invoices are transferred to Workday via an integration between iLab and Workday. The invoices will appear in Workday the next day after the overnight transfer.

To dispute an invoice, please contact the core manager. To correct the billing number, please submit a journal via the JET tool.

Billing number corrections must be handled by the investigator’s administrator using the JET journal tool. Core facilities cannot issue refunds or rebill charges to change the billing number when services are invoiced correctly based on the billing information provided by the investigator’s lab.

Invoice Disputes

For any questions or discrepancies related to core service charges applied to your worktag, please reach out to the core facility listed at the bottom of the invoice.  If a charge is incorrect, request a refund by contacting the appropriate core manager. The core will review the dispute. If appropriate, a refund will be issued next invoicing period.

View All Requests & Service Charges

To update billing number on pending charges, navigate to the open project request on the “view my requests” tab of the core’s iLab module. Use the payment change icon ($) to select a different billing number. 

The payment change icon displays as a dollar sign with a yellow pencil. 

If changing the billing number on the main project request, you must check the boxes for the service charge lines you want to split. After selecting the new billing number from the drop-down menu, click Save.

Instrument Calendars/ Reservations
To change the billing number on a reservation. 

Navigate to your reservation on the instrument’s calendar. Click the reservation to open it. 

In the payment information section, select your new billing number. Save your reservation.
 

Only VUMC lab groups can split an invoice between payment numbers (see the above instructions). 

Unfortunately, VU users are external users and are restricted to one payment number per reservation or request. Due to the Workday-iLab integration, VU users cannot split a charge across multiple payment numbers.

The reporting functionality within iLab allows users to generate reports to view spending across billing numbers, PI Lab Groups, and core facilities.

Reporting Instructions:

1. Click on Reporting in the left-hand iLab Menu.
2. Select the Load Default option to load the iLab default report template.
3. Enter the Report Settings:
   1. Select the date range for the report.
   2. Select the date field to Completion Date.
   3. Optional: Click Charts & Tables to adjust and modify the reports that will populate.
4. Click Run Report.
5. A high-level report will be generated.

Use the filter panel to refine the report and specify the data down to a certain PI, billing number, and/or core facility.

1. Using the left-hand filter panel, adjust the filters as needed.
2. Click Apply Filters
3. The report will update with data specific to those filters.

Export the report and download the detailed expense data.

1. Click Export.
2. Select Source data as CSV/XLS.
3. An excel document will download.
4. Report Export Notes:
   1. Billing Status column:
      1. ready_to_bill:  Charge has been completed for billing.
      2. billing_initiated: Charge has been completed for billing. Charge is included in a pre-invoice or final invoice. 
      3. not_ready_to_bill:  Activity requested by PI Lab Group. The activity has not yet been marked ready to bill by the core; therefore, the work has not yet been completed.
   2. Date columns:
      1. Purchase Date:  Date the service was requested or date of reservation.
      2. Completion Date: Date the reservation occurred or date the core completed the work.
      3. Billing Date:  Date the core finalized the charge by including it in a billing event.
      4. Date file sent to ERP: Date the iLab Invoice was created and sent to Workday.

Reporting Tutorial:   For additional details on available reporting tools in iLab, view the iLab reporting tutorial

Use the iLab Reporting Module, view a list of all charges in the system.

1. Enter the Report Settings:

   1. Select the date range for the report.
   2. Select the date field to Completion Date.
      1. You may want to set a wide date range especially if you request service projects in advance and the work may take several weeks to be completed.

    

2. Run Report and Export the ‘Source data as CSV/XLS”.

    

Review the downloaded excel file. 

1. Filter Billing Status field to (not-ready-to-bill) and (ready-to-bill).
   1. not_ready_to_bill:  Activity requested by PI Lab Group. The activity has not yet been marked ready to bill by the core; therefore, the work has not yet been completed.
   2. ready_to_bill:  Charge has been completed for billing, but not yet invoiced.
   3. billing_initiated: Charge has been completed for billing. Charge is included in a final invoice. 
2. Filter Invoice Number field to ‘no invoice’.
3. Review the results:
   1. This will generate a list of charges that have been entered into iLab, but not yet invoiced.
   2. Review the “Payment Information” field to verify what billing number will be charged.
   3. Note on the various date fields:
      1. If the ‘Completion Date’ field is blank, then the core has not yet completed this service. It may not be included in that period’s invoices.
      2. If the ‘Billing Date’ field is populated. Then that charge is included in a billing event and will likely be invoiced that invoicing period.
          

To update the billing number. 

In the export file, make note of the “Service ID”. 

Navigate to the core’s iLab module and open the ‘view my requests’ section. Use the filter panel to find your service project. Using the payment change icon ($) to update the billing number. For instrument reservations, navigate to the instrument calendar on the core’s iLab module. 

Find you reservation event and update the payment number in the reservation event.
Some core facilities may use an outside system to manage workflows. Please reach out to the core managers directly for assistance updating billing numbers. 
 

To Save a Report Template:

1. Enter the report settings.
2. Enter the Charts & Tables settings (optional).
3. Run the Report.
4. Click the Save... icon.
5. Enter a name for the report. Click Save.

To Run a Saved Report Template:

1. Click Load Saved.
2. Select the saved report.
3. Click Load.
4. Update the dates for this report.
5. Click Run Report!