BigTime vs Kantata: What each means for WIP and revenue recognition

The short answer

Both platforms help professional services firms track time, projects, and billing, but they answer different questions for the books. BigTime centers on unbilled time and expenses as WIP ready to invoice, with tight QuickBooks-oriented billing. Kantata adds structured revenue recognition methods, well beyond a simple percent-complete toggle, plus period close workflows, so recognized revenue can diverge from invoices by design, not by error. Choosing either one doesn't replace a written revenue policy in the general ledger.

Quick reference

BigTime: WIP as unbilled work

BigTime's own help center defines this almost exactly how the draft described it: "WORK IN PROGRESS is how we refer to your unbilled time and expenses in the system. For Time/Materials invoices, it's where you begin when you are ready to invoice" (BigTime). Submitted time feeds WIP; unsubmitted time doesn't. Fee dollars on WIP depend on the project's billing rates. From WIP, firms build invoices; dashboards surface unbilled WIP, drafts, and AR.

For many firms the accounting policy ends up being:

• Recognize revenue when invoiced, or when cash is received if cash-basis for tax purposes only

• Use BigTime's WIP figure as a management measure of billing backlog, not as a GL balance

• Optionally accrue WIP in the GL at month-end with a reversing entry, if the financial statements need to show earned-but-unbilled revenue

BigTime's QuickBooks integration is built to keep operational billing and the ledger close together, but that still requires clean item maps and an explicit rule for whether WIP gets booked at all.

Kantata: recognition methods beyond the invoice

Kantata's revenue recognition goes further than a simple percent-complete toggle, and it's worth naming the actual methods correctly rather than approximating them, since a firm evaluating Kantata will see these exact names in the product. Kantata's own training curriculum confirms the real method set: Billable Effort Expended (the time-and-materials model), Capped Billable Effort Expended, Milestones for fixed-price work, Effort Percent Complete and Cost Percent Complete for fixed-price projects, and Annuity models for recurring, per-period billing (Kantata). That's a broader set than just "time and materials versus percent complete": Milestones and Annuity are genuinely separate method families, not variations on the other two.

One nuance worth flagging directly: this detailed curriculum is specifically for Kantata SX, the Salesforce-native product that came from the 2021 Kimble merger. Kantata OX, the other edition, descended from Mavenlink, and we couldn't independently confirm whether its revenue recognition feature set matches SX method-for-method. A firm comparing "Kantata" against BigTime should confirm which edition they're actually being quoted before assuming the full recognition suite applies.

Methods that use percent complete need real budgets and forecasts behind them; weak estimates produce odd or even negative period revenue. Teams can override revenue or percent complete for a period with an auditable note, then submit and approve project financials for that period before it closes.

Billing can still combine fixed fee, time, and expenses on the same engagement; invoicing and recognition are related but never identical. That distinction is the entire point for finance.

Worked example

A fixed-fee project, $120,000 total fee, 6-month delivery, at month 3:

Under a bill-when-invoiced policy, common with a BigTime-led close: revenue to date in the GL is $40,000, WIP or backlog for management is whatever fee remains unbilled, and the balance sheet shows AR for unpaid invoices only, with no large unbilled receivable unless the firm specifically accrues one.

Under Kantata-style Effort Percent Complete recognition: revenue to date comes in around $60,000, an unbilled receivable, or contract asset, of roughly $20,000 appears if invoices lag recognition, or deferred revenue appears instead if invoices run ahead of actual completion.

Same project, materially different P&L and balance sheet. The PSA should match the policy a firm already uses for its audits, not quietly invent a new one.

How to choose

Lean BigTime when the firm lives in QuickBooks, most work is T&M or simple fixed milestones, and "WIP" just means "bill this soon."

Lean Kantata when leadership reports percent-complete revenue, runs a formal period close on projects, and needs resourcing and portfolio financials at real scale, and confirm which edition, OX or SX, actually carries the recognition methods a firm is counting on.

Either way, document three things:

1. When revenue is actually earned: invoice, milestone, percent complete, or cost-to-cost.

2. Whether unbilled revenue gets accrued in the GL at all.

3. Which system is the system of record for invoices versus recognition schedules.

What users say

BigTime runs 4.5 out of 5 on G2 across a large and still-growing base of roughly 1,600 to 1,750 reviews. Kantata sits lower, 4.2 out of 5 across a substantial base of around 1,500 reviews, reviewed under its full G2 listing name, which itself carries the "formerly Mavenlink+Kimble" framing. Reviewers rarely weigh in on recognition mechanics specifically; BigTime's reviews skew toward ease of use and time tracking, Kantata's toward depth of reporting for larger, more complex organizations, consistent with the two platforms actually competing for different buyers rather than losing a head-to-head fight.

How Numetix works with either PSA

We work inside the accounting system you already use, alongside BigTime or Kantata. AI helps match bank activity to invoices; a CPA-overseen team owns AR, WIP or contract-asset accruals when policy requires them, and the monthly close, so operational WIP and recognized revenue don't quietly drift apart.

A practical first step: send us your revenue policy in one paragraph, last month's PSA WIP or revenue worksheet, and the GL revenue and deferred or unbilled accounts. We'll show you whether the books actually match the policy. Book 30 minutes with our team. More on how Numetix serves professional services firms.

Frequently asked questions

Does BigTime handle ASC 606 for us? No PSA replaces accounting judgment. BigTime excels at operational WIP and billing; the firm's own policy and GL entries complete the picture.

Does Kantata's percent-complete recognition post automatically to QuickBooks? Treat recognition and invoice sync as two separate controls. Confirm exactly what the integration actually posts; many firms invoice through QuickBooks and book recognition adjustments into the GL separately.

Can we use BigTime's WIP number directly as GAAP revenue? Only if it matches the firm's actual recognition policy and the right accruals get recorded. Unbilled WIP isn't automatically GAAP revenue just because it's visible in the dashboard.

We run both T&M and fixed fee. Which platform? Both support mixed billing. Kantata's explicit recognition methods, especially Milestones and the Percent Complete models, help most when fixed-fee percent-complete is material to reported results.

What should finance actually review every month? Invoices issued, cash applied, unbilled WIP on BigTime, or recognized-versus-invoiced by project on Kantata, and any GL accruals for unbilled or deferred revenue.

Are Kantata's recognition methods the same on every Kantata plan? Not necessarily. The detailed method set, Billable Effort Expended, Milestones, Effort and Cost Percent Complete, and Annuity models, is documented specifically for Kantata SX. Confirm directly whether a given quote includes the full suite before assuming it does.