In accordance with the changes to Trade Sample regulations, effective April 2025, and clarification from the LCB, the workflow for creating Employee Samples in GrowFlow has been updated. We have confirmed with the LCB that Employee Samples are to be reported to CCRS via an inventory adjustment.
⚠️ As of May 7th, 2025, please discontinue using the legacy Employee Samples tool in GrowFlow for creating new employee samples and follow the steps below.
For information regarding WAC rules on employee samples, also known as “Internal Quality Control,” please consult WAC 314-55-096. While GrowFlow provides the tools to help you manage this process, understanding and ensuring ongoing compliance with these regulations ultimately rests with you.
Creating Employee Samples
This workflow simplifies the process by creating all sub-lotted samples at once and then adjusting each individual sample to zero out the inventory once it's provided to the employee.
1. On the Inventory Overview, locate the parent inventory to take the Employee Sample(s) from
2. On its line item, click Edit > SubLot
3. In the Units/Weight to Deduct field, enter the total amount you will use for all Employee Samples you are creating from this parent inventory
4. In the # of New Inventory field, enter the number of individual Employee Sample inventory items you need to create
Example: Enter "1" for one sample, "3" for three separate samples.
5. Confirm the correct Product and Room assignments, then click Split
6. The newly created Employee Sample inventory item(s) will appear on the Inventory Overview, linked as children to the original parent inventory
7. Click the Printer icon to print labels for the Employee Sample(s) before proceeding to the next steps
Note: Use the GrowFlow default label 1.25x2.25 Employee Sample. To customize this label, go to Admin > Labels/Templates, find the default label, click Copy, and edit the copied version.
Reporting Employee Samples to CCRS
1. To record the distribution to an employee in CCRS, click Edit > Adjust on one Employee Sample line item at a time
2. Ensure only the Child Item (the Employee Sample) is selected in the Adjust window, then enter "0" as the New Qty
3. Select Other as the Adjustment Reason
4. In the Adjust Explanation field, enter "Provided [employee name] with Quality Control Sample"
Best Practices:
Click Save to store this Explanation for future Employee Sample adjustments.
For easy tracking and organized Employee Sample history logs, be sure to use a consistent phrase format in the Adjustment Explanation field, such as "Provided [employee name] with Quality Control Sample," updating only the employee's name for each sample.
5. Click Confirm
6. Repeat these steps for each additional Employee Sample you created
Employee Sample History Logs
As the LCB still requires you to maintain a separate log of the samples provided and to whom, we will not be deprecating the original Employee Samples tool in GrowFlow at this time. You can still access this tool for the purpose of viewing your historical records of Employee Samples created prior to May 7th, 2025.
All new Employee Samples created on or after May 7th, 2025, must follow the new inventory adjustment workflow outlined in the section above.
To access the history of Employee Samples created using the new inventory adjustment workflow (on or after May 7th, 2025):
1. Go to Insights > Reports
2. Navigate to the Changes > Inventory Adjust
3. Adjust the date filter as needed
4. In the search bar, type "Quality Control" (or the phrase you used in the Explanation field during the adjustment)
5. This will display a list of all inventory adjustments made for Employee Samples following the new workflow. Click the Export button to download this data outside of GrowFlow for any external record-keeping requirements you may have.
