Picture this…
Daniel, a management consultant at a Sydney firm, having sat down for his end-of-month review realised his team was losing nearly $50,000 monthly in unbilled hours between sips of his single-origin Nespresso.
Sound familiar?
You may have a nicer coffee machine than Daniel, but the challenge remains.
For Australian consulting firms, billable hours directly fuel revenue, yet many businesses still rely on generic time tracking software that leak profits like that 12 year old Bunnings umbrella you’re stopping your wife from throwing away.
The reality hits hard.
Without streamlined billable hours tracking, consulting teams face:
- revenue leakage
- inefficient resource allocation
- strained client relationships
- inaccurate invoices & reports
But here’s the good news: modern PSA (Professional Services Automation) software transforms time tracking from a tedious chore into a strategic business function.
Drum is Australian-based PSA software with world-class Xero integration.
We worked closely with professional service firms from our conception to ensure our system matched their internal workflows as much as possible.
Book a Discovery Call With The Drum Team Today!
The True Cost of Poor Time Tracking
Let’s start with a sobering statistic: the top challenge for North American project management is manual business processes causing timesheet and billing errors, affecting 33.3% of all professional services firms surveyed.
In Australia, where the management consulting industry reached $45.5 billion in 2025, even small tracking errors translate to significant revenue loss.
Consider what happens when consultants forget to log their hours.
- Those strategy sessions during commutes?
- The after-hours client calls?
- The quick email responses that turn into hour-long problem-solving sessions?
They all vanish into the ether, taking your profits with them.
Manual time tracking or time-tracking OUTSIDE of the context of your clietn projects creates a cascade of problems.
First, consultants spend valuable billable time filling out timesheets—ironically reducing the very hours they’re trying to capture.
Second, human error creeps in when tired consultants try to reconstruct their week on Friday afternoon.
Third, project managers lack real-time visibility into actual versus budgeted hours, making course corrections impossible until it’s too late.
The impact extends beyond immediate revenue loss.
When invoices don’t match client expectations due to poor tracking, trust erodes.
Projects run over budget and profitability metrics become guesswork rather than data-driven insights.
Modern Solutions That Actually Work
Today’s leading PSA platforms solve these challenges through intelligent automation and seamless integration. Take Drum, for instance, a comprehensive solution that consolidates projects, resources, finances, and collaboration into one system.
What makes these modern PSA solutions game-changing? Real-time tracking capabilities allow consultants to start and stop timers with just a few clicks on any device. No more Friday afternoon guesswork.
Time tracking also takes place in the same platform where directors and project managers are:
- Managing project budgets
- Creating progress claims or monthly invoices
- Reporting on billable utilisation and staff performance.
These tools should easily allow staff to allocate time to both billable and non-billable tasks, allowing the management team to easily report on potential internal efficiency issues.
Implementation Strategies for Australian Firms
Successfully implementing billable hours tracking requires more than just selecting software. Start by auditing your current time tracking processes.
- Where do hours slip through the cracks?
- Which projects consistently run over budget?
Understanding these pain points helps you configure your chosen PSA solution effectively.
The benefit of a “built-for-purpose” PSA is that it will answer these questions for you! Project budget tracking is real-time and it’s clear what is over or under-performing at any time.
Next, focus on user adoption.
The most sophisticated tracking system fails if consultants don’t use it.
Choose solutions with intuitive interfaces that work across devices. This ease of use drives adoption rates and ensures accurate data capture.
Integration proves crucial for Australian firms. Your PSA should connect seamlessly with existing systems like Xero or MYOB for accounting. This integration eliminates duplicate data entry and creates a single source of truth for project financials.
Not all Xero integrations are equal! Ensure that your PSA syncs seamlessley to your financial system without needing manual “syncing” or user prompts.
Consider industry-specific needs too. Australian consulting firms often work on fixed-fee and time-and-materials projects simultaneously. Your tracking solution must handle both models, with features like custom rate cards and robust timesheets-to-WIP-to-billing processes.
Don’t overlook compliance requirements. Under the Fair Work Act, Australian employers must maintain time and wage records for seven years. Electronic tracking systems automatically archive this data, ensuring compliance while reducing administrative burden.
Measuring Success and ROI
The numbers speak volumes about PSA adoption success. Business leaders report an 8.2% absolute improvement in employee billable utilisation and 6.1% improvement in project margins after implementing PSA solutions.
But success extends beyond financial metrics.
With accurate billable hours tracking, firms gain unprecedented visibility into project health. They can identify which clients provide the best margins, which service lines prove most profitable, and where to invest for growth.
Real-time dashboards transform decision-making. Instead of waiting for month-end reports, managers spot utilisation issues immediately. If a senior consultant’s billable hours drop below target, interventions happen quickly. If a project approaches budget limits, teams adjust scope proactively rather than explaining overruns retroactively.
The cultural shift proves equally valuable. When consultants see their time valued and tracked accurately, engagement improves. They understand how their contributions drive firm success. Transparent tracking also supports fair performance evaluations, linking individual efforts to measurable outcomes.
Looking ahead, AI-powered features promise even greater optimisation. Predictive analytics will forecast resource needs, while machine learning algorithms suggest optimal project staffing.
For Australian consulting firms competing in an increasingly sophisticated market, these capabilities provide crucial competitive advantages.
The path forward is clear. Australian consulting firms can no longer afford revenue leakage from poor time tracking.
With PSA adoption experiencing 50% year-on-year growth globally, the question isn’t whether to modernise your billable hours tracking—it’s how quickly you can implement solutions that transform time into profit. Start by evaluating your current processes, selecting a platform that fits your firm’s needs, and committing to the cultural change that drives adoption. Your bottom line will thank you.
