"There was not one thing missing from My Hours and not one thing we had to compromise on."
Kellie Watchman, Finance and Accounting Manager
Biggest Insecurity
Insecurity: Would busy chemists and scientists actually track time, or would it feel like extra admin that slows them down?
After implementation: My Hours turned out to be easy to learn and quick to use. The rollout went smoothly and users adopted it without real issues.
Company introduction
IDT Australia Limited is a CDMO pharmaceutical company. They manufacture commercial products and prepare drugs for clinical trials, scaling work from lab tests to full clinical and commercial manufacturing.
The Problem
Before My Hours, IDT did not use any structured time tracking tool. Leadership kept asking why projects turned out a certain way, and there were no clear answers without proper time data.
Situation Before Using My Hours
1.
No clear view of project effort: They could not see how many hours each project required or which activities took the most time.
2.
Growth without data: The company was in a growth phase with more projects and clients, but no numbers to answer basic questions about effort or profitability.
3.
Decisions based on gut feeling: Many management decisions were made on instinct rather than measurable data.
4.
Hidden, unbilled work: People were doing important activities for clients that never appeared on an invoice, simply because the work was not clearly captured.
5.
Unstructured R&D time for tax purposes: They needed reliable tracking of R&D hours for the R&D tax incentive, but had no consistent way to record that time.
How My Hours Solved the Problem
1.
From no view to a full picture of project effort: Everyone now tracks time in My Hours. Hours are recorded against specific projects and activities, so IDT can see exactly how much effort each project requires and which steps take the most time.
2.
From growth without data to growth with numbers: As new projects and clients come in, they are set up as clients, projects and tasks in My Hours. Time entries build a history that shows how long similar work has taken before, which helps with planning and pricing.
3.
From gut feeling to evidence based decisions: Management can now look at reports by project, department or activity. When leadership asks why something did or did not work, there are concrete time figures instead of guesses.
4.
From hidden work to visible, billable activities: Detailed activity tracking shows which tasks are being done for clients. IDT has identified work that was previously not charged and can now adjust pricing, scopes and internal processes so important activities are not missed.
5.
From scattered R&D time to clean R&D records: R&D work is tagged and tracked in My Hours. Finance can export R&D hours in a structured way, which makes preparing information for the R&D tax incentive easier and more reliable.
Key Benefits
- Clear view of time spent on each project and activity
- Company wide adoption, including around 100 chemists and scientists
- Better checks on project pricing and profitability
- Structured tracking of R&D hours for the R&D tax incentive
- Ability to spot hidden, unbilled work and process gaps
Why My Hours?
IDT Australia compared eight different tools, including well known options like Harvest, Jibble, TrackingTime and Toggl.
Many products they tested were built mainly for payroll. IDT wanted a project and activity tracker that supported project management, not a payroll system.
Their criteria included:
- Easy time entry for around 100 users
- Strong reporting
- Clear project hierarchy
- Reminders and approvals
- Manual entry and timers
- Desktop and mobile access
- Good exports for internal analysis
My Hours matched these requirements without forcing compromises and was confirmed as easy to use during the trial.
"My Hours gives us the data to make good decisions. Before, a lot of management decisions were made on gut feeling."
Kellie Watchman, Finance and Accounting Manager
Recommendation
"Absolutely. If you are looking for activity tracking and not just a payroll tool, I would recommend My Hours without hesitation. It has been great for us."
