2025 State of Labor Cost Management
Finance leaders are under relentless pressure to manage labor costs with accuracy and speed. Yet many still don’t trust the data behind their biggest expense line. In this report, we analyze responses from finance executives across SaaS, Retail & eCommerce, and Financial Services to reveal what’s working and what’s breaking in labor cost management today.
Key findings
- 31.8% still rely on spreadsheets for complex labor tracking
- ~25% have lost R&D tax credits due to inadequate documentation
- 23% have faced audit failures tied to poor labor cost records
- Only 47% can forecast future project costs effectively
What you’ll learn
- Why organizations struggle to track and allocate labor costs accurately
- The most common pitfalls finance leaders encounter (and how to avoid them)
- How leading firms build integrated, audit-ready time and cost workflows
- Practical steps to move from fragmented tracking to clarity, confidence, and control
Why it matters
These gaps lead to missed capitalization opportunities, flawed SEC disclosures, compliance risk, and strained investor confidence.
