How Biotech CFOs Can Uncover Hidden R&D Value Through Time Tracking

A few quarters ago, the CFO of a top-10 biotech company asked a deceptively simple question:

“Can we tie our research labor to specific compounds—and quantify the ROI?”

That one question triggered a months-long exploration—and a quiet revolution in how finance and R&D work together.

The results were striking:

• Recovered 15% of research employee costs
• Tracked and billed 1,500 hours per researcher
• Reshaped R&D staffing with 6-month forecasts

What unlocked this?

Not a new AI model. Not a better ERP.

Just one overlooked lever that changed everything: time tracking.

How Is Finance Powering Biotech’s R&D Modernization?

In biotech, R&D is the heart of innovation—and the biggest line item on the P&L. It’s where capital meets uncertainty. It’s where CFOs are asked to defend spend that may not yield returns for years.

You invest in people. You back science.

But can you trace how time is spent—and what that time returns?

For too many organizations, the answer is still “sort of.”

Most CFOs don’t have a clean view into how labor flows through R&D pipelines. They have cost centers, not clarity. They have burn rates, not burdened cost by compound.

But that’s starting to change.

What Do Large and Small Biotechs Have in Common? Time Blindness.

The 2024 Benchling report highlights a growing divide in how biopharma companies approach digital transformation. But whether you’re running a lean Series B startup or a multinational R&D engine, the challenge is the same:

How do you connect R&D time to cost, risk, and ROI?

Large Biopharma: Scale Brings Complexity—and Opportunity

In global biotech firms, research is sprawling, timelines are aggressive, and internal cost sharing is routine. These organizations are investing in automation, AI/ML, and orchestration platforms to speed up discovery.

But it’s not just about speed.

It’s about visibility.

• 72% of large biopharma cite milestone acceleration as their top R&D goal
• But acceleration without transparency risks budget overruns and headcount mismatches

Time tracking unlocks:

• Internal chargeback consistency
• Stronger R&D tax credit documentation
• More accurate effort-based forecasting

That’s what happened at the global biotech mentioned earlier. Once they linked time to compounds, products, and teams—they gained more than efficiency.

They gained a financial lens into the engine room of innovation.

Small Biopharma: Lean, Scrappy, and in the Dark

At smaller biotechs, every dollar is scrutinized. Budgets are tight. Teams are small. But expectations are just as high.

The problem isn’t volume—it’s visibility. Finance is flying blind.

You can’t:

• Recover R&D tax credits without time documentation

• Justify grant disbursements if you can’t trace labor

• Hire confidently without knowing how current staff spend their hours

Despite strong adoption of R&D data platforms—89% of small biopharma, per the same report—many still lack time tracking practices that tie labor to outcomes.

For these companies, time tracking isn’t red tape.

It’s the map to funding, compliance, and survival.

The Cost of Disconnection

Across the board, a common risk is hiding in plain sight: fragmentation.

Many R&D organizations—large and small—still rely on siloed tools, spreadsheets, and manual inputs. According to the report, only 37% of small biopharma have automated more than 60% of lab instruments. Integration is still the exception, not the rule.

This disconnection hides labor costs, delays internal reporting, and makes it nearly impossible to burden R&D expenses accurately.

As a result:

• Tax credits go unclaimed
• Resource planning becomes reactive
• Audits become painful

Time tracking—when integrated with project, product, and portfolio systems—becomes the connective tissue across systems finance leaders need.

From Cost Control to Cost Intelligence

Here’s the big shift:

• Time tracking isn’t a compliance tool.
• It’s a financial intelligence system.

It tells you:

• Where research effort is going
• What that effort is worth
• How to optimize the cost of discovery

And as CFOs become more central to innovation planning, this kind of clarity is no longer optional.

What’s Your Time Worth?

The CFO at that top biotech didn’t set out to revolutionize R&D.

He just wanted cleaner data.

But that data helped his organization:

• Allocate resources smarter
• Forecast staff needs by quarter
• Recover seven figures in research cost
• Reinforce confidence at the executive and board level

And it all started with a single question:

Can we measure our time better?

Let’s Measure What Matters

Time tracking isn’t about clocks.

It’s about clarity—and recovering value your team is already creating.

Let’s make sure you’re not leaving that value on the table.

Want to see how one research org turned time into insight—and 7 figures in cost recovery?

Read how OHSU did it →