Quantities change for different reasons, and Labsistant keeps them separate on purpose. Taking 5 mL for an experiment is not the same event as discovering the bottle was mislabelled, and the Audit Log is much more useful when those two do not look identical.
Where the actions live
- Go to Inventory.
- Click the item to open its detail panel.
- The Actions section lists what you can do with it.
Which actions you see depends on the kind of item, your role, and your plan.
Pick the right action
| You want to... | Use | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Take a portion for your own use | Pull to My Inventory | Creates a separate portion and lowers the source. |
| Record consuming some of a supply | Use supply | Lowers the quantity. |
| Correct a number that is wrong | Adjust Quantity | Sets the quantity to a new value, with a required reason. |
| Move it to a different location | Move Location | Changes where it lives, quantity untouched. |
| Hand it to someone else | Transfer Ownership | Changes who owns it. |
| Retire an empty or dead item | Close Item | Removes it from active inventory. |
Pull a portion
Pulling splits some of a container into a portion you control, leaving the rest in the source. Use it when you are taking material for your own work.
- Open the item and choose Pull to My Inventory.
- Enter the Quantity to Pull. The dialog shows the maximum available and what will remain in the source.
- Choose Pull To: the shared lab, yourself, or a group.
- Choose the Storage Location for the portion. This is where your portion will live, which is usually not where the source lives.
- Optionally add Notes.
- Click Pull Inventory.
If the source is sterile or RNase-free, the dialog offers Maintain Sterility and Maintain RNase-Free Status, both on by default. Leave them on if you pulled the portion under conditions that preserved the status. Turn one off if it did not, for example if you opened the container on the bench.
Pulling needs the Team plan or higher.
Use a supply
Supplies have their own simpler action, because there is no portion to create. See Add a supply for the steps.
Adjust a quantity
Use this when the recorded number does not match reality, not when you consumed something normally.
- Open the item and choose Adjust Quantity.
- Enter the New Quantity. The dialog shows the current quantity and the difference.
- Choose a Reason. This is required.
- Add Notes if useful. They are required if you choose Other.
- Click Save Adjustment.
The reasons
Reasons are grouped so the Audit Log can tell corrections apart from real losses and gains.
| Group | Reasons |
|---|---|
| Corrections | Physical count reconciliation, Measurement error correction, Data entry error, Unit conversion correction |
| Loss | Spillage or contamination, Expired and disposed, Failed quality check, Damaged container, Evaporation or degradation |
| Gain | Found unreported stock, Returned unused from experiment, Received donation or transfer |
| Other | Other (specify in notes) |
Pick the one that actually describes what happened. This is the field that makes the audit trail worth having.
Adjusting to zero
If you set the quantity to zero, the dialog offers two buttons:
- Save & Close Item marks it as depleted and removes it from active inventory.
- Save Only leaves it open at zero quantity, which is what you want if it is about to be refilled.
Move an item
- Open the item and choose Move Location.
- Pick the New Location. The current one is shown for reference.
- If the destination is a grid box, pick the slot. Occupied slots are marked, and the dialog will not let you pick one that is already taken.
- Optionally add a note about why.
- Click Move.
See Grid boxes and numbered slots.
Close an item
Closing retires an item from active inventory. Use it for an empty container, or one that is no longer usable.
The Close Item action only appears once the item is already at zero, or if the item is a sample. A reagent or supply that still has something in it does not offer it, which is deliberate: closing is not a way to make stock disappear without saying where it went.
So there are two routes:
If the item is already at zero, or it is a sample:
- Open the item and choose Close Item.
- Optionally add Notes.
- Click Close Item.
If the item still has stock in it, use Adjust Quantity instead. Set the new quantity to zero, pick the reason that describes what happened to the remainder, and click Save & Close Item. That closes it and records where the material went in one step.
For supplies there is a third route: Use supply for the full remaining amount, then click Use & close item.
Closed items cannot be reopened. The dialog says so, and it means it. If the container is going to be refilled, adjust the quantity instead and leave the item open.
Closed items are still in the record. Turn on Show archived on the Inventory page to see them.
Everything is recorded
Every one of these actions writes to the Audit Log with who did it, when, and the reason or note you gave. That is the point of asking for a reason on adjustments. How far back the log goes depends on your plan. See Plans and limits, or the plan comparison for how far each one keeps.