Migration guide
Export BigTime lists and the Timesheet Detail report, map them to Pike CSV templates, and connect the ledger BigTime posts invoices to. Budget five to six weeks to cutover.
Available now
BigTime exports the Client, Project and Staff lists from their toolbars and every timesheet entry from the Timesheet Detail report, which BigTime’s glossary names as its template for data export.
BigTime’s help centre does not say whether the Project List export includes inactive projects when the checkbox is ticked, or whether reports cap the row count. Compare each file’s row count with the screen before you upload.
Available now
BigTime posts invoices to QuickBooks and lists integrations with Sage Intacct, Xero, NetSuite, Business Central, Salesforce and HubSpot. Pike connects to each, so connect the ledger BigTime posts to and Pike imports invoice history from it.
BigTime posts an invoice to QuickBooks once and makes no further updates to it. Any correction made in QuickBooks after posting is already in the ledger Pike reads.
Entity map
Column one uses BigTime’s screen names. BigTime calls people staffers and stores budgets on tasks, so several rows below need a project total before upload.
Pike: Customers
Carries over: Client name from the client list. Clients imported from QuickBooks also carry a job level record.
You set in Pike: Customer number, VAT ID and currency. Check whether your export includes them, or take them from the ledger.
Template columns: customerName, customerNumber, taxVatId, mainCurrency
Pike: Customer contacts
Carries over: Contacts stored on each project. The BigTime API lists them per project. Check whether your export includes them.
You set in Pike: The customer number of the client each contact belongs to.
Template columns: customerNumber, name, email, title, phone
Pike: Projects
Carries over: Project name, client, current status, billing status and the Default Invoice Type (Time & Materials, Fixed Fee or a custom calculator).
You set in Pike: Project number, one billing type, a project lead and a team.
Template columns: projectNumber, title, customerNumber, status, billingType, budgetAmount, budgetHours, hourlyRate, leadEmail
Pike: Tasks and phases
Carries over: Task name, hours budget, fee budget and expense budget from each task’s Budget/Dates tab.
You set in Pike: Project totals: sum task budgets into the project’s `budgetHours` and `budgetAmount`.
Template columns: title, projectNumber, phase, assigneeEmail, billableStatus
Pike: Members
Carries over: Name, contact details and status from the Staff List. Inactive staffers no longer appear on the list.
You set in Pike: Workspace role, team, position and cost profile.
Template columns: email, displayName, team, position
Pike: Time entries
Carries over: Date, staffer, project, task, hours in decimals, billable hours, no charge flag, bill rate, cost rate, approval status (Unsubmitted, Under Review, Approved, Rejected), invoiced flag.
You set in Pike: Map No Charge to `nonBillable`, Approved to `approved`, Under Review to `submitted`, and Unsubmitted to `draft`. Decide with finance whether rejected time imports at all.
Template columns: date, hours, email, projectNumber, taskTitle, note, billableStatus, approvalStatus, invoiced
Pike: Expenses
Carries over: Entries on each expense report, with an expense code, project and staffer. Check whether your Report Center has an expense detail template.
You set in Pike: Expense categories that match your BigTime expense codes.
Template columns: date, amount, projectNumber, email, category, description, billableStatus
Pike: Invoice history (from your ledger)
Carries over: Pike has no CSV template for invoices. BigTime posts invoices to QuickBooks and other ledgers.
You set in Pike: Connect the accounting system and run Import data. New invoices go out from Pike from cutover.
BigTime gives each staffer up to five billing rates, and each project picks one as its base rate. Custom billing rates per staffer, labor category or task override the base. Pike reads one `hourlyRate` per project, so set it from the base rate and add task rates in Pike where custom rates priced work differently.
BigTime sets a default cost rate on the Staff Dashboard and custom cost rates per project, each with an effective date, and applies them when a staffer submits time. Build Pike cost profiles from the current default cost rate of everyone who logs billable time.
BigTime budgets hours, fees and expenses per task. Sum each project’s task budgets into `budgetHours` and `budgetAmount`, and map Time & Materials to `timeAndMaterials` and Fixed Fee to `fixedFee`.
The plan
The same steps as the main migration guide, with this tool's screens and settings.
Week 1
Migration owner, finance
Week 1 · Migration owner, finance
The CSV route copies a snapshot. Any edit in BigTime after export day needs retyping in Pike.
Done when: Every BigTime export in one dated folder, and a cutover Friday on the calendar.
Week 1 to 2
Operations lead
Week 1 to 2 · Operations lead
Work in copies of the BigTime files. Most of the work is turning task budgets and invoice types into project columns.
Done when: Every project row has a number, a customer number, a billing type and a budget.
Week 2
Workspace admin
Week 2 · Workspace admin
Admins set up Pike before the first upload, so imported projects have a team and a rate on day one.
Done when: Finance sees the ledger’s invoices in Pike. Every billable person has a cost profile.
Week 2 to 3
Workspace admin
Week 2 to 3 · Workspace admin
Upload under Workspace settings → Integrations → CSV. Pike reports a row it cannot match with its line number.
Done when: Client, project, staffer and last-month hour counts match BigTime.
Week 3 to 4
Delivery lead, finance
Week 3 to 4 · Delivery lead, finance
CSV has no ongoing sync, so the pilot team moves fully to Pike while everyone else works in BigTime.
Done when: One invoice sent from Pike. Pilot time in Pike matches approved timesheets.
Week 4 to 5
Migration owner
Week 4 to 5 · Migration owner
Close BigTime on Friday evening and upload every hour logged there since your first export.
Done when: Time admin shows every active member by Monday afternoon. BigTime shows no time after Friday.
Week 5 to 8
Finance
Week 5 to 8 · Finance
Done when finance closes a month without opening BigTime.
Done when: Month closed in Pike. Final BigTime exports saved with two owners.
Rebuild
Questions
Timesheet Detail. BigTime describes it as a complete list of timesheet entries for a date range and its template for data export. Check whether your export includes the rate, billable and approval columns before you upload.
BigTime sets hours, fee and expense budgets on each task’s Budget/Dates tab. Sum them per project into `budgetHours` and `budgetAmount`, or keep tasks as Pike phases where you track budgets below project level.
BigTime bills No Charge hours at zero. Import them with `billableStatus` set to `nonBillable`, so Pike records the hours as non-billable.
Not through CSV. BigTime posts invoices to QuickBooks and other ledgers, so connect that ledger to Pike and run Import data for invoice history.
No. BigTime deletes all of a staffer’s information when you delete them. Set them to an inactive status. BigTime removes their access and retains their time for your archive.
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