Firms that use BigTime can create a calendar to keep track of the holidays their staffers observe. When you add a holiday, BigTime will assume your staffers won't work that day and automatically removes it from their capacity. For instance, if a staffer's normal monthly capacity is 21 days, but they celebrate two holidays that month, their capacity for the month will be reduced to 19 days. Your staffers can still log time on that day if they need to, but their reduced capacity will be reflected in the Utilization Board, the Planning Board, and in any reports you create.
To get to your holiday calendar, click on MY COMPANY…MY COMPANY from the main navigation toolbar.
In your company settings window, click on the tab labeled HOLIDAYS. If you haven’t yet added any holidays, your window will look like this.
On the top left side of this window is a button labeled ADD HOLIDAY, which you'll click to add any holiday to your calendar.
On the right side is a box with the calendar year. If you want to create a calendar for a future year, you can toggle between years by clicking on the ARROWS to the left and right of this field, or click directly on the field and select a year from the dropdown calendar that appears.
You’ll also see a sidebar on the left where you can select COST CENTERS for your holidays. The value you select in this field will determine which of your staffers the holiday will apply to.
You have two options here: you can create a holiday that applies to your whole firm, or create a holiday that applies to only a specific cost center. Read on to learn how you can do both.
Create a Holiday for Your Whole Firm
Some holidays will apply to everyone in your firm, regardless of the cost center they belong to. For example, maybe you want all of your employees to take the day off on New Year’s Day. Here’s how you can create a holiday that your whole firm observes.
1. Click the GRAY ARROW in the COST CENTERS field in your left sidebar. A picklist will generate where you can select a cost center. Since your holiday will apply to all employees, click NONE.
2. Now, click the ADD HOLIDAY button at the top left side of your window.
3. Several fields will appear in the table below where you can add details about your new holiday. For firm-wide holidays, you can add the name of your holiday and choose the date on which it occurs.
4. Once you’re happy with the holiday you’ve created, click the blue SAVE button in the bottom right corner to save your changes.
Create a Holiday for a Specific Cost Center
Your staffers are all organized into different cost centers, and you can elect to create a holiday that only applies to staffers in a specific cost center. Imagine, for example, that you run a firm with offices in both the U.S. and Canada. Your Canadian employees celebrate Victoria Day, a holiday that isn’t observed in the U.S. To reflect this in your firm’s holiday list, you’ll first select LOCATION from the picklist in the COST CENTERS field.
You can now click the ADD HOLIDAY button in the top left side of your window.
You’ll see the DATE and NAME columns, which you can fill out just like before. You’ll also see a new column labeled GROUP. This is where you can note which cost center will observe this holiday.
Click the GRAY ARROW in the field under GROUP and a picklist will appear. Since you chose LOCATION as your cost center, this picklist will populate with all the locations you’ve set for your firm. Your new holiday, Victoria Day, is Canada-specific. Because of this, you’ll check the box next to Toronto.
NOTE: It is possible to check off multiple boxes in this picklist to apply your new holiday to multiple cost centers.
To create your new holiday and apply it to your chosen cost center, click the SAVE button.