The BigTime hosting team will create a website that is dedicated to your firm. Once that's completed (usually within 24 hours), you'll get a welcome email which lets you know your BigTime URL and your initial administrative login.
If you are a QuickBooks user, you'll want to use the link in your welcome email to download and install the Remote Monitor. This will not only allow you to upload your QuickBooks data to the new BigTime website, it will also allow you to change related settings.
There is an entire section on downloading and installing Remote Monitor later in this chapter.
Note: Quickbooks is not required to use Bigtime.
Just type in the BigTime URL (provided in your welcome email) in the address bar of your web browser. The BigTime login screen will be displayed. Log in by entering the administrative email address in the "Your Email Address" textbox and the password in the "Your Password" textbox. Both the email address and password can be found in your welcome email. The system will ask you to change your password the very first time you login. Once you do, your system is ready to use.
Your hosted Bigtime site is equipped with an HTTPS address which uses a secure connection. This will encrypt any information you send back and forth to the server. Although a secure connection is slower than a standard HTTP connection, many firms find the security worth the performance trade off!