Once you’ve installed and configured your BigTime application within Salesforce, the two systems will share information.
What information is shared? Each time a Salesforce opportunity reaches a specified stage in your sales pipeline, we use that opportunity to create a new project inside of BigTime. When you update budgets and teams on that project in BigTime, that information is linked to your BigTime Project inside of Salesforce.
Likewise, 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. Finally, as invoices and payments are generated inside of BigTime, you’ll be able to see those documents within Salesforce. Again, data linked to a BigTime project is attached to your Salesforce opportunity.
This article explains how to configure Salesforce to show your BigTime data.
Configuring Your Salesforce Views To Show Bigtime Data
The sample Salesforce screen (below) shows you what all that BigTime data looks like on a Salesforce opportunity. Here, I can see that there is a Bigtime project attached to this opportunity. I can see the overall budget for that project, and I can click on it to drill down into more information.
Why Can’t I See Bigtime Projects on My Salesforce Opportunity Screen?
By default, this “related” item won’t show up on your screen. That’s because Salesforce’s AppExchange doesn’t allow us to modify your default “opportunity” views within your system. Salesforce is extremely secure, and only you can make edits to your core opportunity view(s) within the system.
Fortunately, it’s fairly simple to add this view to your application. Just follow the step-by-step configuration instructions below.
1. Navigate to Setup in Salesforce, by clicking on the GEAR ICON, on the top-right of your window, and selecting Setup from the picklist.
2. Find Object Manager on the side-bar under SETUP. Note that you can type “object manager” in the search box if you’re having trouble locating the link.
3. In the Object Manager, click on the OPPORTUNITY OBJECT. This will open up the object editor for your core Opportunity object. We’re going to make a couple of changes to your basic screens to make BigTime project data easy to spot.
4. Choose the PAGE LAYOUTS link in the editor menu, and then select OPPORTUNITY LAYOUT from the list of layouts on screen.
5. Add a PUSH TO BIGTIME button to your page. When a user clicks this button, your BigTime system will be updated with data from Salesforce. So, if you change account or contact information in Salesforce (ie, email addresses, phone numbers, contact information), you can update that data in BigTime.
Add buttons in the MOBILE/LIGHTNING ACTIONS located in the picklist near the top of the page.
Then, you’ll see the PUSH TO BIGTIME button in your list of actions. Drag this button and drop it under the SALESFORCE MOBILE AND LIGHTNING EXPERIENCE ACTIONS section within the layout area.
You can add that same button to the “Classic” view. Select BUTTONS from your layout picklist. Again, you’ll see the PUSH TO BIGTIME button.
Just like before, drag and drop the button under the OPPORTUNITY DETAIL section as a “custom button.”
6. Add your BigTime project RELATED LIST so you can see that information on linked BigTime opportunities. Find Related List in picklist near the top of the window.
Drag the BigTime Projects RELATED LIST, into your view’s “Related Lists” area. Note that you can put that list wherever you’d like. In the example below, we put it at the top of the related lists area so it’s easy to find.
Note: Don’t forget to save your work. When you make edits to a view like this one in Salesforce you have to click the SAVE button (top of the page) in order for those changes to take effect.
Where To Go From Here?
Now that you’ve updated your opportunity screen to show BigTime data, you’re ready to start sharing information. You’ll see new opportunities from Salesforce begin to populate your BigTime system, and you’ll see related information from BigTime flow into Salesforce on a regular basis.