Electronic signature and approval system for test reports
Author-approver separation, active signatures, audit trails, parallel approval, and partial rejection — an e-approval system that protects the approval integrity of test reports as ISO/IEC 17025 requires.
Why report approval should be managed with e-approval
A test report is written by the responsible person and approved by the technical manager before issuance. When this approval flows through a paper folder or email, it is hard to trace who approved what and when, and an author may quietly finalize their own report. ISO/IEC 17025 requires authority and integrity in reporting results, so the approval flow itself must be controlled and recorded.
NeoLab QMS's e-approval meets this requirement by combining approval-line design, signature integrity, and audit trails.
Key features
1. Author–approver separation
Define author-review-approve lines per document and report type, and prevent authors from approving their own documents. Independent review is structurally guaranteed.
2. Active signature snapshot
The signature image valid at the moment of approval is fixed to the report as a snapshot. Even if the user later changes or deletes the signature, the signature on an already-issued report does not change, preserving the state at the time of issuance permanently.
3. Parallel approval and partial return
Supports parallel approval with multiple approvers at the same step, and partial rejection that returns only specific items without reverting the whole. It mirrors your organization's actual approval flow.
4. Audit trail
Every action — submission, approval, rejection, revision — is recorded in the audit trail with who changed what and when. On electronic-record edits, before/after values are preserved together, satisfying ISO/IEC 17025 7.5.2 and 7.11.3.
Approval flow at a glance
| Step | Action |
|---|---|
| Draft | The analyst writes the report and submits it with their signature |
| Review | Reviewer checks; partial return sends back only specific items when needed |
| Approved | Technical manager approves; the active signature snapshot is locked |
| Issue | After approval the report is issued and entered in the issue ledger |
Linked with reports and document control
Reports approved through e-approval flow directly into the issuance register of the Accredited test report issuing system, while revision and obsolescence control for approval-target documents is handled by ISO 17025 document management software. See the background and practice of e-signatures in more detail in the Test report e-signature blog article.
Frequently asked questions
Can e-signatures replace paper signatures and seals?
ISO/IEC 17025 requires report-approval authority and integrity but does not limit the signature method to paper. An e-signature that identifies author and approver and preserves change history can replace paper signatures and seals.
Why is separation of author and approver important?
If the person who wrote a report approves it themselves, no independent review takes place. NeoLab QMS enforces author-reviewer-approver separation in the approval line to block self-approval.
What is an active signature?
The signature snapshot valid at the moment of approval is fixed to the report. Even if the signature image is later changed or deleted, the signature on an already-issued report is preserved as is.
Can several people approve at once, or reject only part?
Yes. Parallel approval supports multiple approvers at the same step, and partial rejection can return only specific items. See it in a 14-day free trial.