Overview
What is BigTime Software?
BigTime IQ is time and expense tracking software from Chicago-based BigTime Software.
TrustRadius Insights
Chat Review
From Bill4Time to BigTime Software
Big Time is a Big Deal!!!
BigTime saves Big "TIME"..
Good Support Team and Platform
Simple enough, but not perfect.
Pleased with customer support
Good software
Honest thoughts on BigTime in the workplace
BigTime filled all the boxes for us
track employees increase their productivity
Satisfied BigTime customer
Easy Customization
BigTime Software provided much-needed solutions!
Awards
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Reviewer Pros & Cons
Pricing
Essentials
$20
Advanced
$35
Premier
$45
Entry-level set up fee?
- Setup fee optional
Offerings
- Free Trial
- Free/Freemium Version
- Premium Consulting/Integration Services
Product Details
- About
- Integrations
- Competitors
- Tech Details
- Downloadables
- FAQs
What is BigTime Software?
BigTime is a system for project budgeting and planning, time and expense tracking, and invoicing/payments backed by reporting and analytics to take the guesswork out of utilization, capacity planning, and project profitability.
Dashboards, analytics, and standard reports help leadership teams focus on real-time numbers, eliminating the need for a web of offline spreadsheets or manual tools.
BigTime Software Features
- Supported: Time Tracking
- Supported: Resource Allocation
- Supported: Expense Tracking
- Supported: Project Management
- Supported: Billing & Invoicing
- Supported: Reporting
- Supported: DCAA Timekeeping
- Supported: Cloud Integration
- Supported: Mobile App
BigTime Software Screenshots
BigTime Software Videos
BigTime Software Integrations
BigTime Software Competitors
BigTime Software Technical Details
Deployment Types | Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based |
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Operating Systems | Unspecified |
Mobile Application | Apple iOS, Android, Mobile Web |
Supported Countries | United States, Canada |
BigTime Software Downloadables
- How The iFish Group started getting paid two weeks earlier with BigTime
- About what PSA software is, how it works, and steps to evaluate the options.
- Professional service firms rely on invoicing as a way to collect timely payments from clients. This E-Book was designed to help solve common pain payments to do just that.
- This guide shows how to improve organic search results for professional services firms.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Reviews and Ratings
(64)Community Insights
- Business Problems Solved
- Pros
- Cons
- Recommendations
BigTime is a versatile software that users across various industries rely on for a wide range of purposes. Canadian Solar's Asset Management division, for example, depends on BigTime to track employees' time by client and task, enabling them to measure productivity and identify bottlenecks in workflows. According to users, BigTime provides insightful data on time spent across clients, helping them understand their gross margins by client/project. The consulting department at Canadian Solar uses BigTime to create legal invoices, manage resources, and facilitate project management within the company. As reported by customers, implementing BigTime has allowed the company to fulfill work within established deadlines, thanks to its necessary tools for quick and comfortable performance.
Another industry that benefits greatly from BigTime is education. Users explain that BigTime Software is utilized to track student attendance and billing, providing administrative personnel with access to information for clients anywhere and allowing remote communication. Additionally, BigTime finds extensive use in accounting departments where it primarily serves as a tool for tracking time. All staff members submit timesheets through the system, which enables billing time to specific projects/clients. Moreover, BigTime is also used for budgeting and integration with QuickBooks and tax software.
For professional services firms, such as legal or consulting practices, BigTime serves as a comprehensive practice management software. It tracks time accurately, manages engagements and client information efficiently, and facilitates billing processes. Users have reported that all firm-wide departments benefit from using BigTime Software for time tracking, invoicing, reporting, project management, and providing payroll information. Its integration with QuickBooks streamlines operations further and eliminates the need for a separate modular system.
Video production companies find BigTime invaluable due to its features geared towards invoicing and project management. Users praise the ability of the software to input billable hours across multiple projects easily. At the same time, it acts as an efficient project management tool throughout the organization.
Overall, customers have found that BigTime Software saves them time, prevents wasted work, improves profitability, and helps maintain budgets. Its features for time tracking, expense tracking, budgeting, and invoicing make it an indispensable tool across various industries. With seamless integration with popular software like QuickBooks, BigTime provides users with accurate and up-to-date information for efficient decision-making.
Functionality of electronic payments: Several users have appreciated the functionality of being able to make payments electronically through the tool. This feature has been mentioned by multiple reviewers as a valuable aspect, allowing them to easily and efficiently handle financial transactions.
Automatic invoicing parameter: The ability to set a parameter for automatic invoices has been highlighted by a number of reviewers as a very useful feature. This functionality streamlines the invoicing process, saving time and effort for users who need to generate invoices regularly.
Wide range of templates for customizable reports: Many users have praised the tool for its extensive collection of templates, which allows them to create customizable reports tailored to their clients' needs. The availability of these templates provides flexibility and enables users to present information in a professional and organized manner.
Difficult User Interface: Some users have mentioned that the user interface of the tool is not intuitive, requiring them to open several tabs to find the information they are looking for. This has caused frustration and inefficiency in navigating the software.
Data Transfer Issues: Several reviewers have found it difficult to transfer data from QuickBooks to the tool, resulting in inconvenience and potential loss of important data. The lack of seamless integration between the two systems has been a common pain point for users.
Lack of Certain Features: Users have expressed their desire for certain features to be implemented in the software. Some users have requested the inclusion of a bank reconciliation option, while others have suggested connecting scheduling to billing for invoicing in advance. Additionally, there is a need for more customization options, such as deleting irrelevant fields and generating a two-year comparison report. These missing features limit the flexibility and functionality of the software according to user feedback.
Users recommend the following:
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Get a demo and try out BigTime before implementing it. Testing the system beforehand allows users to assess its suitability for their needs.
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Take advantage of excellent tech support and customer service. Reliable support is available to assist with any issues or questions.
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Customize BigTime to fit your firm's needs. Work with the implementation specialist to tailor the system according to specific requirements and expectations.
Overall, users find BigTime to be a versatile and comprehensive solution for tracking employee productivity, project tracking, profitability, time tracking, and invoicing clients. They recommend exploring its features through a demo, making use of tech support, and customizing the system to fit individual needs.
Attribute Ratings
Reviews
(1-5 of 5)Yes to BigTime Software!
The BigTime Software platform has allowed us to keep everything project related all in one place and be able to pull data/reports that can and look at project budgets, project time frames, staff utilization, estimates, remaining, and projections of hours and fees of contracted work.
Using BigTime Software has allowed staff and Project Managers alike to have a better view of hours remaining on a task and be able to manage projects more proactively, which helps with efficiency and client relationships.
We have found the BigTime Software interface to be user friendly and clean. Although the software platform is very capable of all our needs, it does not feel overwhelming or cluttered.
We are using the lower to mid-level tier of options and for our needs it has been working really well.
- Thorough and clean setup of each project/client - they have almost everything you need at your fingertips to manage data for each project/client.
- The Financials Tab - this is a quick overview of all the time/expense for each project and provides easy access if/when I need to move incorrectly logged time from a staffer.
- Time Entry - simple and easy to use. My staff are able to log time on their schedule which could mean on the fly throughout the day, end of each day, end of the week, end of the pay period. It saves previously entered Project/Tasks and all you have to do is enter hours. This saves time and is a feature our owner loves.
- BigTime Software Live Chat is a wonderful resource that I utilize regularly.
- Overall company friendliness and willingness to help and improve. BigTime Software is excellent in this area, their company culture seems to promote involvement from all levels and all areas and is always looking for ways to improve.
- More customization in invoice formatting (that I have control over)
- Reports - I definitely prefer the old layout view, but they are not as easy to use as I'd like
- The categories are not always clear to understand, what is what and/or how they are calculated can create extra work in excel post processing
- Printing to paper w/out having to export a PDF first
- Printing options in general (formatting, date ranges, details, etc.)
- This area is incredibly lacking in options
BigTime Software has been well suited for our company b/c it's giving a window into the project budget and time frames to our Project Managers to proactively manage their projects and look for areas to improve and celebrate with support staff. I would say efficiency in time management.
BigTime Software is not an accounting software and I love that about it. We were looking for a tool for staff to manage their projects and stay on budget and track time and generate invoices all in one place and we've found that with BigTime Software.
- I have found a 40% time savings in the invoicing process since switching to BigTime Software. Allowing me to focus on the multitude of other tasks on my plate.
- With PMs and Staff having an up-to-date view of remaining hours on a task, we've been able to reduce overages / write-offs from that aspect.
- Being able to quickly pull up a utilization report we have conversations with staff more clearly and quickly if they are not meeting their goals.
I use it for all of the above and data, reports, feedback, anything relating to project projections, staff utilization, etc.
I do have a superstar Project Manager who is very involved and has been integral in how we use BigTime Software as he is the most active from that standpoint so we can brainstorm on areas to focus and improve in-house productivity as needed.
- Ease of Use
- Supporting project efficiency and awareness
- Project, Timecards, Invoices all in one platform
- Cross-referencing data between projects & staff
- Gantt Chart Tasks "Schedule" Projections in a graphic form for client communication (no if only we could print it the way we want)
- Phased Task Grouping and reports
- Staff Allocation
- Improved Project Projections
We also used QuickBooks minimally for time entry and invoicing. Since that's all we were using QB for, we were able to abandon that software and replace it with just BigTime Software.
- Ease of Use
But in all seriousness, I think I would have liked to speak with other companies using the software I was considering. I think there is a slight disconnect between sales and implementation as to what it actually takes to get a company set up in BigTime Software in a way that is custom to them. Sales is sales and although the software "can" do what they say, it might not be the best solution for your company, so if the standard is not the best fit for you, what does it take to set it up differently or custom? I would have liked to know more about that. I want clear expectations, not best case scenario.
The actual implementation process took 3 months, not 1 before I was comfortable rolling it out to staff.
We also had to wait/schedule time and coordinate for our custom xml. invoice to be generated and in a place we felt comfortable sending it out to clients.
In the end I was very satisfied, but during the first few months it was challenging.
- Implemented in-house
- Third-party professional services
- QuickBooks (QB) integration did not work the way it was intended and I ended up needing to update or reinput everything manually.
- I wish I would have just done it that way to start, but it seemed less overwhelming to import, oh well.
- Figuring out how to invoice. I required my staff to do double time entry for almost 3 months in BigTime Software and in QB so I could confirm the invoices were generating correctly in BigTime Software. They were not, so thankfully, this allowed me to figure out why and work with support on how to fix the problems.
- Getting our custom invoice set up and working the way we needed it to. It's still not perfect, but it's fine for now. I'd like to have more ability to format myself. We are a company of architects and we care how everything looks, not being able to control this came with it's challenges.
- Understanding and setting up User Rights - certain things were blocked completely and working with BigTime and waiting for them to make changes on the back end to allow for certain items to visible without others.
More often than not, though, they get me through the big or small questions that I reach out for. And they are so nice!
Not sure I even knew that was an option.
Standard support included in our services seems to be enough most of the time.
On the rare times I have to wait for a response I typically develop a work around and can keep things moving forward until I learn if/what a better way might be.
I do typically get email updates if there was something I specifically needed and was waiting on, so I could try it again and see how it's been modified.
Since Kevin, I've had the opportunity to work with many other members of BigTime Software and I've consistently found their positivity, drive for improvement, and openness to feedback impress me.
I tend to spend a lot of time in analytics and reports. Those are not as user friendly, in my opinion, and could use some improvements.
I think it just takes time to get familiar with where items are stored in the program and what changes affect what.
- Setting up a Project/Client and that corresponding data
- Time / Expense Entry is easy
- Having multiple windows of BigTime Software open at once, works fairly well to see more information all at once
- Specific Reports
- Working inside reports / editing data / following data back to original source (I liked in QuickBooks how all reports were interactive and I could click on data and it would automatically open the source and so and on to get to the root)
- Workflow doesn't really work at all
Good Support Team and Platform
- User friendly
- Customizable options
- Intergration tools
- time management
- accounting
- reporting
- project billables
- Allow more fields for customizable options
- Submit feature should be located differently or a pop up
- Previous screen when creating invoice templates
- Color view still needs work
- invoice details
- activity codes
- project history
- reporting
- timesheet tracking
- Faster payments
- Ease of use to track and bill out time
- accounts payable and receivable
- timesheet tracking
- project tracking
- reports
- Billable history on jobs
- Teams tracking not used but a goal
- WIP tracking and reporting
- scheduling tool
- assigning teams
We replaced it b/c we need to report/track retainers and wanted to also track WIP. We also did not use QB timesheet feature so we
were lacking the ability of editable activity codes and lumping scopes together to match our client contracts. BT has helped with all of this.
- Price
- Product Features
- Product Usability
- Product Reputation
- Implemented in-house
Other times, they have escalated calls if the first agent was not able to assist in our questions. Most of the help was needed when we were still learning the product and how to use. Rarely do we reach out now, unless we notice a bug or if we want to ask of a way to fix something or ask for new features to be considered.
Color backgrounds still need work. The new vibrant mode is OK. still trying it out.
- entering in client data
- activity codes
- invoicing
- reporting
- posting expenses
- lack of payroll tracking-PTO
Satisfied BigTime customer
- Time tracking
- Invoicing
- Tracking accumulated unbilled time and expenses by client
- Billable and unbillable time by team member
- Total work in process reporting
- Customer support
- Limitations on custom reporting
- Allows team to work remotely
- Integration with QUickbooks
- Accurately tracks time spent on each client
- Identified % unbillable time by team member
- Tracking of expenses and getting them billed to client
- More timely invoices to clients
- TSheets, Zoho Analytics (formerly Zoho Reports) and Intuit Payroll
- tracking time and billing
- billing
- providing accounts receivable report
- Price
- Product Features
Easy Customization
- Customization.
- Accessibility.
- Tech support.
- Connecting the scheduling to billing for invoicing in advance of services.
- Deletion of fields that are not relevant to our company.
- Allowing the current credit balance to be added to a report for quick sorting.
- Online accessibility
- Customization
- Report generation
- It has streamlined our tracking of students.
- It has allowed us to access all our information remotely.
- It has made invoicing a quick and easy process.
BigTime is a Big Win!
- Entering/tracking time and expenses.
- Reporting capabilities.
- Mobile app.
- I wish there was a button to view all companies logged in your BigTime platform (instead of having to view all projects).
- Forecasting