Release Update: April 2024

At BigTime, we’re committed to constantly improving our platform so you can do what you do best. We regularly release new features and updates based on your feedback, so you can focus on growing your firm and staying agile. New this month: an intelligent AI Assistant, AutoPay, Checklist Dashboard, BambooHR integration for Foresight, early access programs, and more.

What’s New –

BigTime AI Assistant

Introducing BigTime AI Assistant: Early Access
NEW: We are thrilled to introduce our latest innovation - the BigTime AI Assistant! This feature is now available through an exclusive early access program. The BigTime AI Assistant offers 24/7 chat support and is ready to answer questions about the BigTime platform anywhere, anytime.

Why BigTime AI Assistant?
Whether you’re just starting out on the platform or are further along in your BigTime journey, the AI Assistant delivers the answers you need in an instant by referencing BigTime’s extensive Knowledge Base, Invoice XML, API technical documentation, and data dictionaries. BigTime AI is always learning, and we are eager to hear your feedback to help shape the future of this feature.

Will live chat support still be available?
Absolutely! Our commitment to providing exceptional live support remains the same. You can always reach our support team during normal business hours: 8:30 AM to 6:00 PM CT, Monday - Friday.

Join the Early Access Program:
If you're a current BigTime admin eager to explore the benefits of BigTime AI for your firm, we'd love to hear from you. This feature is available to activate only by admins for firm-wide use. To sign up for the early access program, please proceed below. You'll be redirected to a support form to fill in contact details, and a BigTime representative will reach out with next steps.

New Security Features with SSO & MFA

BigTime knows you need support for increasingly complex security requirements and that you want to minimize operational overhead in meeting them. We heard your feedback and we are excited to roll out the enhanced SSO & MFA login experience. 

NEW: You will be able to elevate your login experience by integrating BigTime with your preferred authorization services, offering an enhanced SSO & MFA security protocol. This integration allows you to “bring your own” authentication service, leveraging the comprehensive features of Azure AD, Okta, Google, and others.

Key Features:

• Firm Wide SSO & MFA Activation

• Identity Provider (IDP) Approval

• Token Authentication

• Updated Firm Selection 

• Improved Forgot Password Workflow

• New Look & Feel
  
  

Join the SSO & MFA Early Access Program:
If you're an admin for your firm and interested in early access for firm-wide activation, you can reach out to your Customer Support Manager or proceed directly below. You'll be redirected to a support form to fill in contact details, and a BigTime representative will reach out with next steps.

AutoPay & Payment Report

NEW: AutoPay
If you use BigTime Wallet to process payments, you can now offer AutoPay to your clients so they can make payments more easily and avoid the risk of late payments. When your clients pay with AutoPay, you’ll receive payments scheduled for their invoice’s due date and be able to better predict future revenue. You can also now create reports to see which clients have enrolled in AutoPay and which payments you received through AutoPay. 

NEW: Payment Report
Anyone who uses BigTime for invoicing can now view the history of all payments, whether they were received through BigTime Wallet, manually entered or imported from Quickbooks/Sage, in one consolidated report. In addition to showing all payments made on an invoice, this expanded report will provide insights to your client’s behavior, such as whether they paid in full, if there was a remaining balance at time of payment or if they paid through AutoPay.

Join the Payment Report Early Access Program:
If you're an existing customer eager to explore the benefits of our new Payment Report for your firm, we'd love to hear from you. Interested firms should obtain admin approval for firm-wide activation. To sign up for the early access program, you can reach out to your Customer Support Manager or proceed directly below. As Accounts Receivable (A/R) Reporting evolves, your feedback will be invaluable in shaping its development to meet your needs.

BigTime Foresight

NEW: BambooHR Integration
You can now align your resources’ availability to the projects they work on with a new BambooHR integration for BigTime Foresight. When you activate this integration, you’ll see approved time off submitted through BambooHR in Foresight on Project and Team calendars, reports, and staff profiles so you can avoid unexpected delays due to approved PTO.

NEW: Staff Profile Contracts
Staff profiles in BigTime now display the contract details established in Foresight for each staffer. Details such as a staffer’s daily capacity are visible to managers directly within BigTime.

NEW: Staff Profile UX Enhancements
BigTime is continuing to enhance the staff profile interface by including clear separation between each section. System administrators have the opportunity to personalize staff status codes by identifying a color for each one.

FIXED: The numbering format in Foresight has been updated to reflect the format in the rest of the BigTime platform, providing a more cohesive experience. This means the currency symbol now appears at the front of monetary values, and commas now appear after every third digit in numbers four digits or longer.

Checklist Dashboard & Reporting

NEW: Checklist Items Dashboard
Streamline your checklist workflow with our new Checklist Items Dashboard. Designed to enhance organization and efficiency, this dashboard empowers you to manage checklists effectively. Perform bulk actions, update statuses, manage staffer permissions, and view upcoming and overdue items at a glance. Customize the dashboard with custom grouping and filters to suit your firm’s needs.

NEW: Checklist Items on Task Reports
Task reports in BigTime now pull in checklist items. Easily run a report to see how many checklist items are associated with a specific task in order to plan ahead and take action.

FIXED: Users can now utilize keyboard shortcuts (e.g., TAB or ENTER) for seamless navigation when creating and managing checklist items.

Mobile (in Beta)

NEW: On Android, you can now upload PDFs as expense receipts for BigTime Mobile.
IMPROVED: The start/stop timer button has been moved to the top of the new timesheet form. (iOS)
IMPROVED: The expense amount format has been adjusted to allow for quicker data entry. (iOS)


We are continuously improving our mobile applications, here is a preview of other planned improvements on our product roadmap:

• Time Entry input format to match firm settings (New: Android, iOS)

• New update recommendation (New: Android, iOS)

• Display proper Types for a selected project on the Expense form (New: Android, iOS)

• Display proper tasks for Timesheet and Expenses (New: Android, iOS)

• Display proper Categories for a selected project on the Timesheet form  (New: Android, iOS)

• Log time for a previous month (Improved: Android)

• Expense amount format updates (Improved: Android)
  

What’s Fixed –

Projects & Tasks -

FIXED: Allocation Wizard “Learn More” button is repaired.
FIXED: Isolated issues with project input hour update notifications now work as intended.
FIXED: Allocation Wizard now shows “Totals” instead of “Suggestions”, as intended.
FIXED: Modifying hours now shows intended hours/fees in Allocation Editor.
FIXED: The Utilization Dashboard displays to customers outside of the US.
FIXED: The Utilization Dashboard pulls monthly data for staffers.
FIXED: Rate on time entry instantly reflects base currency.
FIXED: Archive Task functionality has been restored.
FIXED: Task editor overflow menu is accessible.
FIXED: Task follow-up field hyperlink is repaired.
FIXED: Billable Fees and Billable Charges values match when generating staff reports.

Time & Expenses -

FIXED: Updates to expense codes now save properly when setting up project templates.

Invoicing & Payments -

FIXED: Payment data modeling has been enhanced to strengthen data integrity for payments not integrated with accounting systems.
FIXED: Links to invoices have been added to payment reports.
FIXED: The pending payment report and payment history report have been consolidated, granting the ability to filter and sort Wallet payment statuses in a single view. 
FIXED: The payment history report now shows the last 120 days by default to minimize scrolling and provide faster access to data.
FIXED: You can now book time with a BigTime consultant and/or access videos, documents, and the Wallet application directly from the Integrations settings page.
FIXED: The draft invoicing tile now reflects updates to your overall invoice balance.
FIXED: Accounts Receivable (A/R) aging tile now reflects updates to your number of open invoices.
FIXED: BigTime will always display the reason for rejection whenever a Wallet payment has been rejected. 
FIXED: Clients can schedule Wallet payments using their payment method(s) saved in the Client Portal.
FIXED: Error messaging in the Client Portal has been made smaller to avoid disrupting your clients’ experience and view. 
FIXED: Form field validation on the Wallet payment landing page has been improved for easier credit card and PAD entry for Canadian clients.
FIXED: Additional logic and data has been added to Wallet payments for more accurate deposit reporting.
FIXED: External PDF uploads will be visible on an invoice while pending internal approval.
FIXED: Invoice summary on Project Details is populated with current data.
FIXED: Wallet Journal Entries for QBD have been updated for successful posting upon running a sync.
FIXED: Invoice PDFs are able to be printed and downloaded with receipt attachments.

Reporting & Analytics -

FIXED: Dashboard charts will update whenever a tile is edited.
FIXED: An issue with date filter updating on report views has been isolated.
FIXED: Revenue Based Margin columns in reports average accurately.

Integrations -

FIXED: Reimbursable Expenses will be posted as “billed” in QuickBooks Online as set in integration settings.
FIXED: Isolated issues with successfully importing vendor expenses from QBO.
FIXED: Maintaining native project IDs from QBO on some accounts.
FIXED: BigTime labor code rates sync fluidly with Quickbooks Desktop.

BigTime Foresight -

FIXED: Cost rates on worklogs sync fluidly between contract settings.
FIXED: Cost rates sync between staff profile and contract settings.
FIXED: Error states have been added to prevent multiple rates from being applied to one staffer.

Mobile -

FIXED: Weekly action items will automatically refresh each time you visit the home screen. (iOS)  
FIXED: Selection logic has been improved to choose a project before adding a task (iOS)
FIXED: “Start Timer” button is more actionable at the top of timesheet detail screen (iOS) 
FIXED: Improved Project List navigation with adjusted padding between Project Name and ID (iOS)
FIXED: Data fetching now syncs regardless of last log in period (iOS)
FIXED: Expense amount input format has been improved (iOS)
FIXED: Billing and Cost Rates are reflected accurately on time entries (Android)
FIXED: Data fetching now syncs regardless of last log in period (Android)
FIXED: Selection logic has been improved to choose a project before adding a task  (Android)