BigTime Software: The Platform for Professional Service Firms That Need Real-Time Insight for Long-Term Success

Tracking and managing client engagements are not easy for any organization. Add to this several teams operating different spreadsheets, and it becomes very hard to keep everyone working towards a common goal. Brian Saunders identified this problem and established BigTime Software in 2002 to help businesses stay aligned to their goals and grow.

BigTime Software began its journey with a simple ambition of making life simpler for professional services firms worldwide. Today, the company provides industry-leading time tracking, billing, and project management software for more than 2,300 professional firms, tracking over $4 billion of billable time each year. The company’s flagship SaaS-based system is helping many industries including: accounting, architecture, engineering, consulting, creative, government contracting, IT services, and law firms.

“BigTime makes it possible for our customers to ditch the spreadsheets and eliminate the communications silos that hinder their growth. The company’s easy-to-use platform enables our clients to capture billable hours, effectively allocate and manage project resources, and consolidate key metrics in one central location ,” explained Brian Saunders, Founder and CEO of BigTime Software.

A North Star for SMBs during COVID-19

COVID-19 hit businesses all over the globe. But small businesses were the ones affected the most. While larger businesses and enterprises began working remotely, small businesses struggled, as they usually need a lot of resources to run profitably. During this time, BigTime Software was able to provide an easy-to-use, efficient platform for remote work. The platform easily integrates with collaboration tools such as Slack for document sharing and alignment on key projects so that teams can stay on track and firms can stay in business. The company built the platform from scratch to cater to the niche of professional services firms.

“Our greatest strength is our integrations. Our platform is designed to work within our customer’s existing workflows and software stack, acting as a single source of truth for their data – and their teams,” said Brian Saunders. With BigTime Software on their side, small businesses can build their ideal best-in-class ecosystem, without being forced into an all-in-one solution. To make this happen, BigTime Software has partnerships with QuickBooks, Sage Intaact, Salesforce, Lacerte, Jira, Slack, HubSpot, Google Apps and Zapier. “By leveraging BigTime to manage their project-based services anytime, from anywhere, and collect online payment faster, our clients are able to grow their business exponentially.”

Focused on Employees, Culture, and Growth

For any company to exist and thrive in the market, it is crucial to have core values as its guiding light. Core values heavily influence the decision-making in any organization, and they help each employee align with the company’s vision. Standing firm on its values, BigTime Software has genuinely understood the need to develop its employees and culture. The company has truly created an environment at its offices where every individual employee can reach their fullest potential and make their mark in the industry.

Since its inception over twenty years ago, BigTime has believed in investing and supporting an individual’s growth. Duringthe pandemic, the company took an employee-first stance and made employee well-being its main priority. The Chicago-headquartered company quickly transitioned to a hybrid work model to foster a sense of community and collaboration among employees while offering flexibility for what works best for individual needs.

The company’s employee-first stance was evident as it promoted 32% of its workforce in 2021, signifying its growth-minded workplace culture and strong company performance. Such a strong focus on its employees and culture will ensure that BigTime stays on its positive growth trajectory as it begins 2022.

Last year, BigTime was recognized widely for its work. LegalTech declared BigTime Software as the Cloud-based Practice Management Platform of the Year, G2 named it as #1 Professional Services Automation Software, and Built In recognized the company on its list of 2021 Best Places To Work.

On the heels of such high critical acclaim came the $100 million strategic growth investment from Vista Equity Partners. The investment from Vista in January 2022 will help BigTime Software drive its recruiting efforts for BigTime’s Chicago and Phoenix offices and bolster customer sales and support as the company continues to gain market share with SMBs in professional services.

“We’re excited for the future of BigTime and the opportunity to serve our customers and our team better. Vista is well-known for helping category-leading brands grow and improve, and I’m excited about having the Vista team as a partner for our next phase of growth,” added Brian Saunders, Founder and CEO of BigTime Software.

The SMB space for professional services automation is a multibillion-dollar market. With the combination of a highly competent team and trailblazing technology, BigTime Software is in a great position to capture the opportunity as firms worldwide shift towards virtual and hybrid work models.

About the Leader

Brian Saunders, Founder and CEO

Brian Saunders is a graduate from the University of Chicago who’s grown up inside technology. He’s lived through the boom (and bust) of the ‘90s, the financial crisis of 2008, and the last decade’s explosive growth in the technology sector.

He is a member of the Forbes Technology Council and has been featured in that magazine’s online publication (as well as Inc., Fast Company, Built in Chicago, Smart Company, CIO Magazine, and elsewhere).