BigTime's Installed. Now What?

There's no standard set of configuration options that you must set before you begin to use the system. In fact, since BigTime has been custom fitted to your industry, there's very little configuration work required in order to get started.

As you read through the system guide and explore the optional features BigTime supports, there are a few key decisions you'll probably want to address on day one.

1. Pick a Timesheet Format.

BigTime supports dozens of different timesheet formats, and your system has been preconfigured with the most popular one for your specific industry. You may, however, want to spend a few minutes reviewing your options.

You can always decide to make a switch down the road, but things like timers or QuickBooks class codes may be essential to your firm, so you may decide early on to switch to a format that supports those features.

2. Setup Administrator and Manager level users.

The person who installed BigTime is automatically setup as your primary system administrator, but you can setup other users as administrators as well. You can also setup users with "manager-level" rights, so you can see how those rights fit your specific management needs.

3. Take a look at BigTime's Review/Approval features.

Many firms assign somebody to review and approve timesheets after they're submitted. BigTime's review/approval function routes each timesheet to a manager for approval. If a user makes a mistake on a timesheet, the manager can either correct the problem before approving time or send the time back to the user for correction (a process called "rejecting" an entry).

The system supports a couple of different review/approval workflows. If you think you might want your managers to review/approve timesheets, take a look at the system's review/approval options, and decide which one is right for your firm.

4. Set up team leaders or full project teams.

Some of BigTime's security features are tied to your project teams, so you should set up at least one team "lead" for every project in the system.

If you would like to configure the system so that only users who are staffed to a project are allowed to bill on it, you'll want to create full project teams right away.

5. Explore your budgeting options.

BigTime supports a number of budgeting styles, and you can use any combination of those styles in your firm. Take a look at some basic budgeting information to see which one fits your firm's needs.

Firms often require users to log time against specific areas of their project budgets. If that's a requirement you plan to enforce, you'll want to have those budgets in place before users start to log time in the system.

Getting Started with BigTime

Once your system is installed (and data has been imported from your accounting system), your firm is ready to start using BigTime. Rather than walking through the system screen by screen, it's helpful to follow the "critical-path" laid out below.

It's also helpful to get your hands dirty. Don't just skim the section on adding a new project. Add a new project to the system. Create a budget. Enter and post some timesheets. You can always delete your sample project later, and hands on experience is a much quicker way to learn the system that reading a System Guide!

Using/Evaluating BigTime in a Project-Centric Firm

If your firm tends to work on a defined project (either T&M or fixed-fee), your approach to budgeting will be project-centric as well. Your users will typically log time against a budget you create within the system, and your project's manager will want to get a snapshot of where she stands vs. her budget as the project progresses.

A project-centric firm typically follows a specific critical path. While you may not want to include every step in your firm's process, the steps outlined below (and the reference links attached to them) will give you an overview of how project-centric firms tend to use the system.

1. Add a New project to the system.
2. Create a project team for that new project.
3. Create a simple budget for your new project.
4. Allow your users to log some time/expenses against the project.
5. Take a look at where you stand vs. your budget along the way.
6. Have your users submit their time/expense data so that your managers can do any of the following:
   1. Review/approve that information.
   2. Create a draft invoice from the information. You can also open up that draft and edit or review it to get a feel for how simple invoice adjustments are.
   3. Post that invoice to QuickBooks if your BigTime system is attached to a QuickBooks data file.
   4. Print out a final invoice that could be sent to your test client from BigTime.

Using/Evaluating BigTime in an Account-Centric Firm

If your firm tends to staff a client account for general "retainer-based" work, you probably work differently than project-centric firms. Firms in these types of industries tend to staff a job consistently from month to month.

Account-centric firms also have a standard critical path in BigTime. Once again, you don't have to include all of these steps in your firm's process, but walking through them with a test project will give you a good overview of how other firms in your industry work with the system.

1. Add a New project to the system.
2. Create a project team for that new project.
3. Create an allocation budget for your new project.
4. Allow your users to log some time/expenses against the project.
5. Take a look at where you stand vs. your budget throughout your sample "month."
6. Have your users submit their time/expense data so that your managers can do any of the following:
   1. Review/approve that information.
   2. Create a draft invoice from the information. You can also open up that draft and edit or review it to get a feel for how simple invoice adjustments are.
   3. Post that invoice to QuickBooks if your BigTime system is attached to a QuickBooks data file.
   4. Print out a final invoice that could be sent to your test client from BigTime.