# What is all-in-one lab management software, and what should it cover?

> What all-in-one lab software should cover, how it compares with an ELN, a LIMS and spreadsheets, and how to test it before you buy.

- Source: CCA Bio (Cell Culture Automation Ltd), Cambridge, UK
- Canonical URL: https://cca.bio/articles/all-in-one-lab-management-software
- Published: 2026-09-27
- Topic: Getting started
- Tags: lab software, lab management, LIMS, ELN, CCA Labs guide
- Series: One cell bank, from the budget to the bench and back (overview)

## Short answer

All-in-one lab management software runs a lab from one connected record: money, stock, experiments, samples, equipment and the audit trail. The links make it all-in-one: an experiment knows what it used and cost, and a sample knows where it came from. CCA Labs works this way, for cell culture labs, biotechs, academic groups, biotech incubators and CROs.

All-in-one lab software should be judged on one thing: can you follow a single piece of work from the budget to the bench and back without retyping anything? The feature list matters a lot less than people think.

So this guide is mostly tables. Each one answers a question you'd ask before buying, and the text around it explains the reasoning.

## At a glance

| Question | Short answer |
| --- | --- |
| What is it? | One system, and one record, for a lab's money, stock, experiments, samples, equipment and audit trail |
| What does it replace? | The grant spreadsheet, the ordering inbox, the freezer spreadsheet, the notebook, the SOP drive and the booking sheet on the door |
| Who is it for? | Labs where the same few people order, run experiments and report to a funder |
| Who isn't it for? | A lab with one job to do: one researcher with a notebook, a clinical diagnostic lab, a site already run on an ERP |
| How do you test it? | Follow one piece of last month's work from the budget to the bench and back, and count the times a number is copied by hand |
| What does CCA Labs cost? | Teams from £110 per seat per month. Enterprise is a custom package, by workspaces |

## What jobs should it cover?

A research lab has six jobs that need a record, and software that calls itself all-in-one should cover every one of them.

| Job | The question it answers | What to look for |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Money | Where does each grant stand, and how long will it last? | Funds split across projects, money held for open orders, runway from actual spend |
| Ordering and stock | What do we have, and what's on order? | Stock by lot and expiry, reservations for planned work, partial deliveries |
| Protocols and experiments | What did we do, and with which version of the method? | Versioned protocols, step-by-step run records, calculators beside the work |
| Samples and cell lines | What's in this tube, and where did it come from? | Generated IDs, scannable labels, chain of custody, lineage |
| Equipment and space | Is the instrument available, calibrated and in range? | Bookings, calibration and service records, environmental monitoring |
| The record | Who did what, when, and can we show it? | An append-only audit trail, electronic signatures, roles and permissions |

Most tools have a screen for each job. Far fewer connect them, and the connections are where the time goes.

## How does it compare with an ELN, a LIMS or spreadsheets?

An ELN and a LIMS each do one or two of the six jobs well, while all-in-one software covers all six and links them. Here's the typical picture for each kind of tool.

| What you need | Spreadsheets | ELN | LIMS | Inventory app | CCA Labs |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Money** | | | | | |
| Grant budgets split across projects | Partly | No | No | Partly | Yes |
| Money held for open orders | No | No | No | Partly | Yes |
| Runway from actual spend | Partly | No | No | No | Yes |
| **Ordering and stock** | | | | | |
| Purchase orders, received line by line | Partly | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Stock by lot and expiry | Partly | Partly | Partly | Yes | Yes |
| Stock reserved for planned experiments | No | No | Partly | No | Yes |
| **Protocols and experiments** | | | | | |
| Versioned protocols | Partly | Yes | Partly | No | Yes |
| Step-by-step run records | No | Yes | Partly | No | Yes |
| **Samples and cell lines** | | | | | |
| Sample IDs and QR labels | Partly | Partly | Yes | Partly | Yes |
| Lineage from the vial to the result | No | Partly | Yes | No | Yes |
| **Equipment and space** | | | | | |
| Instrument bookings | Partly | No | No | No | Yes |
| Calibration and service records | Partly | No | Partly | No | Yes |
| Incubator and freezer monitoring | No | No | No | No | Yes, with Pebble |
| **The record** | | | | | |
| Append-only audit trail | No | Yes | Yes | Partly | Yes |
| Electronic signatures | No | Partly | Yes | No | Yes |
| **The links** | | | | | |
| Receiving an order updates stock and budget together | No | No | No | Partly | Yes |
| A run records the lots it used and what it cost | No | Partly | Partly | No | Yes |
| A result traces back to the budget that paid for it | No | No | No | No | Yes |

Yes means built in. Partly means possible, but by hand, with an add-on module, or only in some products. No means it isn't what that kind of tool is for.

That said, products vary a lot, and plenty of ELNs and LIMS sell extra modules, so treat every Partly as a question for the vendor. And a Yes on its own doesn't tell you much. A good LIMS and a good inventory app can both score well and still leave you copying numbers between them. The last block of rows is the one I'd look at first.

## What does the end-to-end test look like?

Take one piece of work and follow it through every job, counting how often a number is copied by hand. Here it is for the working cell bank our home page follows, with a guide for each step.

| Step | What the software should do | In the example lab | Guide |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1. The lab lead funds it | Allocate money from a grant to a project | £2,500 for 40 vials of HEK293 at passage 5 | [Lab budgets](/articles/lab-budget-tracking) |
| 2. Operations orders it | Hold the money when ordered, charge it when received, create the lots | One order for £688.10, received as five lots | [Purchase orders](/articles/lab-purchase-order-process) |
| 3. Operations shelves it | Reserve stock for the scheduled run and flag what will run short | 40 of the 50 cryovials reserved, so the item shows Low Stock | [Lab inventory](/articles/lab-inventory-management) |
| 4. The scientist runs it | Record each step, draw the stock, label every vial | 40 vials at 96.6% viability, traceable to one master vial | [Sample tracking](/articles/sample-tracking-vial-to-result) |
| 5. The cost comes back up | Put materials and bench time on the project | £510.39 in all, or £12.76 a vial | [Lab budgets](/articles/lab-budget-tracking) |

Nobody copies a number from one screen to another anywhere in that chain. That's the test I'd apply to any product that calls itself all-in-one, including ours.

## What should you ask a vendor?

Ask to see one link working live, and ask what the product doesn't do. The rest of the demo matters less.

| Ask | A good answer | Be wary of |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Show me one order being received | Stock and budget update from that one action, and the new lot knows which order it came from | "We export a file and import it into the other module" |
| What does "compliant" mean here? | Built to support 21 CFR Part 11 / SOC 2 controls, then the specifics: an append-only audit trail, server timestamps, signatures with a fresh sign-in and a stated meaning | "The software makes you compliant" |
| How do we get our data out? | CSV and Excel export as standard, and an API | Export on request, or at a charge |
| Who sets it up, and what does that cost? | A clear answer with a number | An implementation project, scoped after you sign |
| How does the price change as we grow? | A model that fits your shape: per seat for a team, something else for a biotech incubator | One model stretched over both |
| What doesn't it do? | A specific list | "Nothing, really" |

The compliance question deserves a word. No software makes a lab compliant, because compliance depends on how the lab works. A careful vendor shows you controls, not a certificate.

## What does CCA Labs cost?

CCA Labs Teams starts at £110 per seat per month, and Enterprise is a custom package based on workspaces and how much the facility manages.

| | Teams | Enterprise |
| --- | --- | --- |
| For | Small biotechs and academic groups | Biotech incubators, CROs and organisations with several teams |
| Price | From £110 per seat per month | Custom, by workspaces and management scope, never per seat |
| Setup | You create your lab and set it up yourself | The same, with White-Glove Onboarding when hardware needs rewiring |
| Onboarding cost | Zero: upload your protocols and spreadsheets, and the AI drafts the lab for you to review | Zero for the software; hardware work is quoted |

Both are compared in more detail in [plans](/#cl-plans).

## What doesn't CCA Labs do?

It doesn't send orders to suppliers, it isn't an accounting system, and it isn't built for clinical samples.

| It does | It doesn't |
| --- | --- |
| Flag low stock and build the purchase order | Send the order to the supplier. A person does |
| Track spend, holds and runway for each fund | Replace your accounts: there's no general ledger, accounts payable or invoice matching |
| Track research samples and cell lines | Handle clinical or patient samples |
| Offer read-only API keys, and CSV and Excel export | Accept changes through the API |

The hardware is optional. Your existing instruments go into the Virtual Lab for bookings, calibration and service records either way.

| Hardware | What it is | Status |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pebble | An incubator sensor for CO₂, O₂, temperature and humidity | Available |
| Tessera | An incubator microscope | Early access |
| dALI | An automation platform | In development |

## When is all-in-one the wrong choice?

It's the wrong choice when your lab only does one of the six jobs, or when another system already owns most of them.

| If your lab is | A better fit | Why |
| --- | --- | --- |
| One researcher who needs a notebook | An ELN | The other five jobs don't exist yet |
| A clinical diagnostic lab | A clinical LIMS | It's built around patient samples and your accreditation scheme |
| A manufacturing site with an ERP and a QMS | A LIMS that plugs into them | Money and stock already live in the ERP |
| A research lab where a few people order, run and report | All-in-one | Their questions cross every job |

Most research labs are the last row. The same few people do several of the jobs, and a question like "was it the serum?" crosses all of them.

## How does CCA Labs cover each job?

CCA Labs covers all six jobs from one record, and it was built for cell culture labs first.

| Job | In CCA Labs | Read more |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Money | Funds, project budgets, holds for open orders, burn, runway and forecast | [Tracking a lab budget](/articles/lab-budget-tracking) |
| Ordering and stock | Purchase orders received line by line, lots with expiry and QC release, reservations | [Purchase orders](/articles/lab-purchase-order-process), [inventory](/articles/lab-inventory-management) |
| Protocols and experiments | Versioned workflows, step-by-step runs, signed batch records, 21 bench calculators | [ELN vs LIMS](/articles/eln-vs-lims-cell-culture-lab) |
| Samples and cell lines | IDs, QR labels, aliquots, chain of custody, lineage, a cell line registry | [Tracking a sample](/articles/sample-tracking-vial-to-result), [the freezer spreadsheet](/articles/freezer-inventory-spreadsheet-fails) |
| Equipment and space | A floor plan of the lab, bookings, calibration, Pebble monitoring | [Facility](/all-in-one-lab#facility) |
| The record | Append-only audit trail, electronic signatures, roles and permissions, multi-factor sign-in | [The record](/all-in-one-lab#record) |

Every capability is listed on the [all-in-one lab page](/all-in-one-lab). To see it with your own lab in it, [create your lab](https://lab.cca.bio/) and upload a protocol and your stock spreadsheet.

At the end of the day, the test is simple. Pick one thing your lab did last month and try to follow it, from the money to the bench and back. If you can do that without opening a second tool or asking anyone, the software is doing its job.

## Part of: One cell bank, from the budget to the bench and back

One example project, followed through a lab: a working bank of HEK293 cells. The lead funds it, operations orders and stocks what it needs, the bench runs it and banks 40 vials, and the cost comes back up to the project the lead funded. Each part is written for the people on that floor.

- (this article) [What is all-in-one lab management software, and what should it cover?](https://cca.bio/articles/all-in-one-lab-management-software) (Overview)
- [How do you track a lab budget across several grants and projects?](https://cca.bio/articles/lab-budget-tracking) (Leadership, for lab leads, PIs and whoever holds the grants)
- [What should a purchase order process look like in a research lab?](https://cca.bio/articles/lab-purchase-order-process) (Operations, for lab managers and whoever places the orders)
- [How should a lab manage its reagent and consumable inventory?](https://cca.bio/articles/lab-inventory-management) (Operations, for lab managers and whoever keeps the shelves)
- [How do you track a lab sample from the vial to the result?](https://cca.bio/articles/sample-tracking-vial-to-result) (Lab, for scientists at the bench, and QA)

## Frequently asked questions

### Is all-in-one lab software the same as a LIMS?

No. A LIMS tracks samples and the tests run on them, and an ELN records experiments. All-in-one software covers both and adds the parts of running a lab that neither usually does, such as grant budgets, purchase orders, instrument bookings and calibration.

### How much does lab management software cost?

Prices vary widely, and setup is often charged separately. CCA Labs Teams starts at £110 per seat per month, with no onboarding charge because you set up the lab yourself from your own documents. Biotech incubators, CROs and organisations with several teams get a custom Enterprise package based on workspaces and management scope, not seats.

### Can we move from spreadsheets without retyping everything?

In CCA Labs, yes. Upload your protocols and stock spreadsheets and the AI drafts your workflows and inventory in minutes. Everything arrives as a draft for your team to review, and nothing is saved into the live lab until you accept it.

---

Cite as: CCA Bio. "What is all-in-one lab management software, and what should it cover?". 2026-09-27. https://cca.bio/articles/all-in-one-lab-management-software