March 2020 BigTime Release

Amy Haddad

Updated: November 7, 2023
March 20, 2020
table of contents
SHARE THIS ARTICLE
table of contents
March 2020 BigTime Release

march-2020-bigtime-release

We’re all about cutting out simple inefficiencies to make your life easier. Our newest product release includes several major improvements to reduce your clicks and speed up your work. From consolidating multiple invoices into one, sorting expense entries, and bulk updates on the Task Dashboard, you asked and we listened.

Continue reading to learn more about the highlighted features of our March 2020 product release. 

Consolidated invoicing

Consolidated invoicing allows you to print, email, and post project-level details on a single customer-level invoice. A consolidated invoice is grouped by project. 

You can edit a consolidated invoice and/or a sub-invoice, which are the individual invoices that make up the consolidated invoice. Then, you can post the consolidated invoice to QuickBooks.

march-2020-bigtime-release_img1

Staffer team list editor

See which projects a staffer has been assigned to on the Teams tab on the Staff Dashboard. Once there, you can delete, add, or edit projects and/or the staffer’s role on projects. 

march-2020-bigtime-release_img2

Add expenses to a rejected report

If an expense report has been rejected, you can enter additional expenses to that report before re-submitting it for approval.

Sort option on Expense Entry

When entering expenses, you can sort un-submitted expenses.

march-2020-bigtime-release_img3

Universal search

Get the details you need quickly. Use the universal search to search the entire database, such as clients, contacts, projects, and staffers.

march-2020-bigtime-release_img4

Don’t save modifications when switching tabs in project/staff list

BigTime will alert you when you make a change on the Project and Staff Lists without saving it. 

Say a change has been made on the Staff Detail or Project Detail page, and you attempt to switch tabs before saving. You’ll get a notice that you’ve made a change without saving. 

march-2020-bigtime-release_img5

Display the number of employees a vendor is linked to

If a vendor is linked to more than one employee (see the Integrations setting on the Staff Detail page), then BigTime will display that value on the vendor link.

Bulk update tasks on the Task Dashboard

Update multiple tasks at once when you use the Bulk Update feature on your Task Dashboard

march-2020-bigtime-release_img6

Notify users of invoices that failed to send

You’ll get a notice if you send an invoice that fails to send. The notification will be sent to your inbox and it’ll list the specific invoice that didn’t send. It’ll include a link to the invoice. 

Week ending field on invoice PDFs

On an invoice print out, you’ve got the option to summarize and/or subtotal time details by Week Ending.

march-2020-bigtime-release_img7

Extend and display character limit for rejection notes

You’ve got extra characters to use when you add a note to a Time and Expense or an Invoice Review and Approval rejection.

  • Time and Expense rejection note has up to 8,000 characters
  • Invoice approval and rejection note has up to 5,000 characters 

Use the hide tabs feature

If you’re an admin, then you can hide BigTime features that your firm doesn’t use. For example, if you’re not invoicing out of BigTime, then you can turn it off and BigTime will hide this tab. 

march-2020-bigtime-release_img8

Hidden delete button on a Time and Expense entries for non-financial Admins

The delete button will be hidden on a Time or Expense entry if you’re not a Financial Admin and click into one of these entries.

Default Role on team assignment

A staffer’s default role (if they have one) will be automatically applied when you add the staffer to a team.

Personal data access permission

A user who’s not been given access to the Personal Data Access permission will not be able to view their staffers’ personal data, such as email, home address, and phone numbers within BigTime. 

You may want managers, for example, to see these details. In that case, you need to activate this person for the “user group” that your managers are part of. 

“Forget” staffer

If you’re a Financial Admin, then you can “forget” a staffer instead of deactivating them. Doing so removes all personal information from BigTime, including the staffer’s name. 

Time and expenses logged against a project will still be visible, but you can’t see the name of the staffer who logged this data. 

Enable a privacy policy page

You can enable a privacy policy page for staffers to acknowledge when logging into BigTime for the first time.

BigTime has a standard privacy policy, but you can choose to include extra text in the privacy policy settings. 

march-2020-bigtime-release_img9

Vendor bill updates

There are several vendor bill updates to know about:

  • Refresh button on import or posted bills. If a change has been made to a vendor bill in QuickBooks, you can update the bill in BigTime. Click the Refresh button located on the Post Vendor Bill detail screen.
  • Payment status. A payment status field was added to the Post Vendor Bill screen. When a bill has been paid in QuickBooks, that status will be updated with a green checkmark indicating it has been paid.
  • Added project column. A project column has been added to the Post Vendor Bill detail screen.
  • Track the last modified for all posted/imported bills. A Modified column has been added to the Post Vendor Bill screen. If a vendor bill has been modified in QuickBooks, this column will display the date of when the bill has been modified. That way, you’ll know if you need to refresh the bill to apply those changes.
  • Copy receipts on Save+Copy. If you’re copying an expense that has a receipt attached, the receipt will copy along with the expense details when you click Save+Copy.
  • Flag un-postable expense reports. On the Post Expenses screen, if an expense report is un-postable BigTime will flag the report with a red cloud. That way, you can correct the error before attempting to post it.
  • Post as Check or Bill indicator. There’s a column on the Post Expense screen that flags whether the expense will be posted as a check or a bill.
  • Vendor bill shows Project, Other, and Total Expenses. The Post Vendor bill screen has three columns: Projects, Other, and Total. Project provides the total expenses linked to a project; Other provides other expenses not linked to a project; Total is the combined amount of the bill.

Other Updates: 

  • Use markdown on invoice line item notes: italics, bold, and underline
  • Create invoice summary at the Task Group level
  • Use the weekly view on the Utilization Dashboard
  • View “completed” tasks for that project in the Resource Allocation editor
  • Staff manager field appears on the Staff Detail page
  • Users can see all project expenses when importing non-billable expenses (not just billable ones)
  • Premier users can access the GDPR Privacy Policy System Report, which is under the Staff List report. It’ll show you the date and time that your staffers accepted your firm’s privacy policy.
  • Weekly allocation reports have the following “total” fields: Allocated (Total), Input (Total), Allocated, Fees (Total), Fees, Input (Total), Fees, and Remaining (Total)
  • Sort receipts on invoices to mimic expense details sort order
SHARE THIS ARTICLE

Ready to get started?

Your time is valuable, we won’t waste it.

Recommended for you

Growing With Your Business
BLOG
WEBINAR
GUIDE
CUSTOMER STORY
PODCAST

Webinar Recap: Growing With Your Business

BLOG
WEBINAR
GUIDE
CUSTOMER STORY
PODCAST

7 Ways to Use Data to Communicate Your Business Value

BLOG
WEBINAR
GUIDE
CUSTOMER STORY
PODCAST

Just One Small Change to Billing Will Boost Your Firm’s Productivity

Subscribe

Get the latest insights on firm management.