Work in progress (WIP) refers to all unbilled time and/or expenses. Customize your WIP window so you see the information that’s relevant to you. This article will explain all of your customizing options.
Let’s first get to your WIP window, then we’ll explain what you can do.
Navigate to Your WIP Window
There are two ways to get to your WIP window.
One way is to click INVOICING...OVERVIEW.
Then, click on the WORK IN PROGRESS tile.
The second way is to click on the INVOICING tile on the BigTime Dashboard (home screen).
Then, click on WORK IN PROGRESS, as mentioned above.
Either way, your screen should look something like this:
Customize Your WIP Window
Now we’ll go through your customizing options located on the WIP toolbar.
Create an Invoice
To create an invoice, check the dialog box(es) next to the project(s) that you want to create an invoice for.
Click BULK CREATE INVOICES to move these projects to the “draft invoices” section in BigTime. A new window will pop up prompting you to select an invoice calculator from a picklist. Choose your option and then click NEXT to continue with the process.
Another window will pop up prompting you to choose a description for your invoice. Make your selection and then click NEXT.
A new window will open alerting you that you'll be creating a batch invoice. Click PROCEED to continue.
Once your invoices have finished processing, you can close out of your window to view your drafted invoices by clicking the CLOSE button.
Search for a Specific Project
The search feature is handy when you have many projects on your WIP window and need to quickly find a specific one. Simply type into the search field and BigTime will automatically filter the results.
Advanced Filters
Click on ADVANCED FILTERS when you want to conduct a detailed project search. The filters you choose will affect the invoices you create. For example, you can exclude unapproved time and expenses from your invoices by checking the boxes: “only show/bill approved time” and “only show/bill approved expenses.” This customization option allows your invoices to include the information that’s important to you and relevant to your client.
We’ll go through your advanced filters options below.
Click ADVANCED FILTERS and a new window will pop up with several options to choose from, as shown below.
Let’s review your options:
- WIP Filter: Click in the text box and two calendars will populate. Select the dates you want BigTime to search. For example, “from October 1, 2017 to October 25, 2017.” The selected date range will only generate an invoice for time and expenses during that date range.
- Project Type: Click the red triangle and a picklist of values will populate. Select the type of project from the values provided.
- Invoice Type: Click the red triangle and a picklist will populate with several invoice types: fixed fee, manual invoice, and time and materials. Select an invoice type for this project.
- Team Lead: Click on the red triangle and a picklist with your staffers will populate. Then, you can select the project’s team lead.
- Check the dialog boxes: “Only show/bill approved time” and/or "only show/bill approved expenses” if you only want BigTime to show and bill approved time and/or expenses, respectively. This feature allows you to exclude unapproved time and expenses from your invoices.
Remember to click APPLY to save and apply your changes. BigTime will populate your WIP window based on your selections.
Individual Filters
Click on the triangle enclosed in a box to apply a filter to each column. Then, use the filter to search within the column.
We’ll use the filter within the “Client” column as an example. In the image below, we clicked on the filter icon (triangle enclosed by a square) and a new window popped up with all of our clients. We checked the dialog boxes next to the client we want to filter. Once we click APPLY, BigTime will filter this column based on our selections.
Add or Remove Columns
Click on the GEAR ICON to add or remove columns to your WIP window. Then, a picklist with many options will populate.
You’ll see SELECTED FIELDS at the top of this picklist, which includes the fields you currently selected. These fields appear as columns on your WIP window. You can rearrange the order of these fields by clicking on the intersecting arrows.
To remove a selected field, uncheck the box.
To add new fields, scroll down in the picklist and check the dialog boxes next to the fields that you’d like to add.
Remember to click APPLY after making any changes.
Export Your WIP Information
Click EXPORT to export your WIP details to an Excel or PDF.