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Salesforce Integration 101

If you have both a BigTime and Salesforce account, it makes sense to integrate them. Each time a Salesforce opportunity reaches a specified stage in your sales pipeline, it’s added in BigTime as a project. Then, BigTime and Salesforce communicate with each other and share relevant project and client details.

You’ll benefit in several ways:

  • Prevent double-data entry. Save yourself time by entering project information only once, and seeing it in Salesforce and BigTime. An opportunity in Salesforce will automatically generate a project in BigTime, where you can add project details and sync BigTime information with Salesforce.
  • Reduce mistakes that inevitably occur when doing tasks, like data entry, repeatedly. Now you only have to enter details, like budgets and team members, one time and see it in BigTime and Salesforce.
  • Keep your sales and project teams informed and connected. Project managers will have visibility into project statuses and can allocate resources and plan for future work. At the same time, sales teams can see how a project is tracking in Salesforce, which can impact when they follow up with clients.

Above all, this integration is an easy way to stay organized, since all project details, like budgets and due dates, are together.

 

Takeaways

  • Create a new opportunity in Salesforce and have it populate as a new project in BigTime, once the opportunity reaches a specific stage in your sales pipeline.
  • Add details to a project in BigTime, and sync them to your opportunity in Salesforce. 
  • Sync your BigTime data automatically or manually. Have your BigTime data sync automatically with Salesforce. Or manually sync it and have your BigTime data appear instantly in Salesforce.
  • View BigTime project data in Salesforce. See details, like tracked time and submitted expenses, that you added in BigTime inside Salesforce. Now your project and sales teams are connected and informed throughout the life of a project.

 

Integration Requirements and Process

Before integrating BigTime and Salesforce, make sure you have API access as part of your Salesforce account. If you have a Salesforce Professional Account, then you'll need to purchase API access separately since it doesn't include it by default.

Integrating your BigTime and Salesforce accounts involves downloading and installing the BigTime app in Salesforce. Then, connect BigTime and Salesforce, so the two systems communicate with each other. Reference our Getting Started with Salesforce article to get started.

 

Sharing Information

Once you’ve installed and configured your BigTime application within Salesforce, the two systems will share information. You can add project details in BigTime, like budgets and teams, and sync them with the corresponding opportunity in Salesforce.

In Salesforce, you can see a summary of total time and expenses logged against each linked opportunity, as your users fill in and submit timesheets and expense reports. Plus, you’ll see BigTime-generated invoices and payments.

Keep in mind that “accounts” in Salesforce map to “clients” in BigTime. And “opportunities” in Salesforce map to “projects” in BigTime.

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