BQE CORE Suite Reviews

Pros

The program is cloud based which keeps us current. Most of the time when I have specific report, feature, or activity that I want, I can find what I need quickly. As with many programs, CORE does more than my office utilizes it for. Invoicing and time entry are usually smooth processes.

Cons

We migrated from ArchiOffice and feel that the way contacts are managed in CORE is utterly useless. We've abandoned it in favor of a piecemeal assortment of Office 365 and Mac built-in programs.The structure of projects is also something that can be improved. When a project transforms from hourly to percentage or adds phases, CORE has some flexibility but there are troublesome aspect such as migrating time from a single phase project to ensure it can be captured in invoices.

Alternatives Considered

Deltek Vision

Reasons for Choosing BQE CORE Suite

Saved money through the al a carte module cost structure compared to previous program.

Reasons for Switching to BQE CORE Suite

Easier to migrate our ArchiOffice data into CORE.

Pros

It is very well structured, in a logical manner and has put a lot of attention into details of how projects can be deployed in so administrative ways in the AE industry. It can keep a project very simple o very sophisticated in terms of phases, budgets, reporting, etc.

Cons

Moving from Archioffice (the previous software from BQE) to CORE was not flawless at all. I would have liked more support from BQE and that they acknowledge it is not flawless or that things willl appear automatically.

Alternatives Considered

Deltek Vision

Reasons for Choosing BQE CORE Suite

Archioffice was too old, needed cloud based software.

Reasons for Switching to BQE CORE Suite

It was jumping to something more familiar, avoiding costs of people learning something new, avoiding migration costs, and CORE is overall the best bang for buck software out there for small and midsize companies.

Pros

I like the expense management feature for employee reimbursement and client billing purposes. I also liked the accounting feature that allows you to bill expenses straight from the Cloudfeeds. I also really liked their customer support. They have a solid team on standby for customer support. I would often get the same person when I called. They are super friendly and know how to navigate the software.

Cons

It's time consuming to use - it's so slow and there are a lot of features that bug out and simply don't work the way they're supposed to, so I spend a lot of time navigating all of that, which is a bummer.

Alternatives Considered

Deltek Costpoint, Deltek Acumen, Deltek Project & Portfolio Management (PPM), Quickbooks Online, Deltek Vision and Deltek Payments

Reasons for Choosing BQE CORE Suite

The owner of the firm worked with the BQE team when they first started building the software, he was informing them of features that would be useful for the architecture firm, so he set the company up with BQE to support their mission.

Switched From

Harvest and Quickbooks Online

Reasons for Switching to BQE CORE Suite

The owner of the firm worked with the BQE team when they first started building the software, he was informing them of features that would be useful for the architecture firm, so he set the company up with BQE to support their mission.

Pros

It is easy to navigate through the program and look for help if needed.

Cons

One thing that has grabbed my attention is that you are not able to take off hours that you have put down. Instead it is forced to have a minimum of 1 hour. I know I should have not done this, but I logged in a couple of hours before hand and was not able to go into the office that day. So when I tried to take them off it would not work, I instead took off a couple of hours from the days I did work.

Pros

A little over one year back as we started up our new business I was researching for the best accounting, time and expense tracking and billing software. I selected BQE Core because it had an intuitive interface, easy reporting and it was on cloud. For any startup business the cost is always a big factor, the fact that BQE Core was a fraction of other similar software packages was an added bonus! We use BQE for our integrated accounting, time/expenses, and invoices, and it has been integral in helping us to understand and grow our business in the first year. At every moment, I have the info available to understand my cash flow, liabilities and A/R all in one interface, which never would have been possible if I used other accounting software.

Cons

In a separate excel doc I track our projected income and expenses for each two-week period so I can plan cash expenditure. If BQE had a feature to track overhead and projections in relation to billable work, that would really integrate all functionality in one software. Other than that, I don't have any suggestions for improvement.

Alternatives Considered

Quickbooks Online

Reasons for Switching to BQE CORE Suite

Core is more intuitive and a complete package for professional services.

Pros

It provides us with a single source to record employee time, manage project tasks, budget, invoice and track project performance. We took advantage of the various training packages and technical assistance BQE offers to help us get up-to-speed with CORE in a matter of months. BQE also worked with us to develop a custom invoice that provides our clients with current and past billing information in a clean and easy-to-read format. With the mobile app, our partners access CORE data anytime, anywhere, and can record travel expenses directly from their smartphones. BQE has demonstrated to us that they listen and responds to suggestions on how to make CORE an even better program for its users by providing regular updates and enhancements that incorporate our suggestions. We are very pleased with CORE and BQE.”

Cons

Everything is working for us and if it does not then that is what support is for. Like any other new software implementation there is a learning curve. We took advantage of the various training packages.

Alternatives Considered

WorkflowMax

Reasons for Choosing BQE CORE Suite

We were using 4 applications to run our business We are Sharefile, Timefox, Quickbooks and MSExcel to track our projects and handle time/billing/productivity and forecasting. It was getting cumbersome

Switched From

ShareFile

Reasons for Switching to BQE CORE Suite

For its simple to use interface and definitely Mobil apps are far superior

Pros

I like having so much data at my fingertips to get a sense of finances for the company, tracking accounting (invoices, vendor bills, etc.). Customer service is AMAZING, you can call right from the app on your computer and they are available pretty much anytime, even when I'm working late. The workflow to be able to send things internally. The dashboard view is really helpful to see what's important to you. If you are already set up as a company, onboarding can be really quick as they have a team that can enter your data.

Cons

Data entries are sluggish, you have to wait for the line to be created before you can add information to additional cells. Invoices are not as tidy as I would like (activity & description, really duplicate the information). Individual training needs improvement, the consequences of choosing option A or B to enter information has consequences down the line that were not clearly explained and only discovered after months of entering in a way that was not what we really needed.

Pros

Using CORE to invoice our clients has freed up so much of my time I'm afraid I could have streamlined myself out of a job. Billing previews that used to take days are now done in hours. The time to create invoices and submit them for approval takes about 25% of the time before CORE. Easy to learn and a breeze to use.

Cons

ORE is a very complex software system to set up, but once we worked out all of the nuances and specifications, this software rocks!

Alternatives Considered

Sage Intacct, QuickBooks Desktop Pro and Quickbooks Online

Reasons for Choosing BQE CORE Suite

Centralized online database for multiple locations and web-based time tracking.

Switched From

QuickBooks Desktop Pro

Reasons for Switching to BQE CORE Suite

Price was a key factor, but so was familiarity.

Pros

Setup was very easy, the support was great at each step. It is the most cost effective for a small firm. At any time I can call or email a question and get a quick response. They are constantly updating and improving the system.

Cons

Updates sometimes cause lags the system, but if you sign up for updates they will let you know when they are doing them.

Alternatives Considered

Quickbooks Online

Reasons for Switching to BQE CORE Suite

Best value for cost, easy setup and support. Most programs weren't for a small firm.

Pros

The best thing about it is ease of use.

Cons

I wish it would let you edit your entries from the timecard area without having to go into the entries list, but other than that I have no negatives.

Pros

CORE has by far proven to be the most suitable fit for small architecture practices and firms as compared to many others out there cost hundreds of dollars more for each seat. The application serves our daily needs to keep our projects and staff on account, efficient and profitable.

Cons

Sometimes there's too much of a good thing, being that there's more than 1 way to get what you need and therefore it can get a bit complicated and confusing to navigate.

Alternatives Considered

Monograph

Reasons for Switching to BQE CORE Suite

We came over from ArchiOffice and CORE offers flexible pricing tiers and discounts for long term subscription, as well as a full compliment of modules included.

Pros

We are getting more and more use out of Core. So far we are just diving in, but it has helped our time tracking and expenses and keep our documents in one place. Allocation and forecasting, project management and time and expense setup are all helpful. We are using our custom report for allocations and it is working well for us.

Cons

Any changes, we pass through ideas and so hopefully they are updated as new features - we would like to know the status of our requests just so we can discuss in our meetings.

Pros

I love all the reports that we can create, track progress of our projects financially, and use it to teach our team about management.

Cons

The price to add users is a bit high. The ability to work through custom KPIs is tough.

Alternatives Considered

Deltek Vision

Reasons for Switching to BQE CORE Suite

Easiest to understand at the beginning. Seemed to be right in the middle.

Pros

Moving to Core has definitely helped us eliminate the manual data entry process. Prior to using Core the time entry process was not that easy and we had to enter time manually for all the employees in our old software. Another area that so far, we like in Core is the powerful invoicing. Easy time entry and invoicing feature are the best so far that we enjoy in Core. We also appreciate the excellent customer service support team. They always go above and beyond to help out.

Cons

Needs to be more user friendly. At time we did experience glitches which were rectified in a timely manner.

Pros

It is very easy to learn to use for both staff entering time and new accounts staff.
The ease of time entries means that fewer staff are delinquent on keeping timesheets up to date.
Projects can be broken down into phases - this is KEY for tracking fees within an Architectural Full scope of services.
You create your own Activity Codes which you can align with your preferred Contract
It REALLY does speed up invoicing tremendously
It offers a WIDE range of invoice templates and reports to analyse project Fee expenditure and report to Clients
It allows for various levels of security access so that Senior Staff are not beholden to the Accounts Department when they need to report to a Client or check the Fee against the Contract
All staff can monitor Fee in real time (assuming time sheets are up to date)
Senior Staff can easily monitor and give feedback to staff on performance and productivity, based on various time periods, for example on Billable vs non billable hours, contracted hours performance etc
The technical support is excellent
Integrated with Quick Books very well

Cons

I can't think of anything really....If I had to be critical I would say:
- there are so many reports that you are unlikely to use them all and can get lost in the Report Centre. However there are tabs for your favourites and memorised reports.
- Expenses are very very to enter but not as easy to unwind/change as Time entries

Pros

We upgraded from BillQuick to CORE earlier this year. The ability to access whatever I need online makes it so much easier if I need to work from a location outside of the office. Integration was effortless and the help videos are easy to understand and implement. I needed very little training as it was very similar to BillQuick and feel anyone who has used any type of accounting software should be able to use without a great deal of effort. There are several training sessions available to new users on a weekly basis that made it easier for me to schedule. The ability to get immediate customer support is a definite plus.

Cons

Sometimes I've had issues where it takes awhile to save time card entries but this may be an issue with our internet and not the software. There have been a few quirks where completed jobs suddenly become active; the interest in the bank reconciliation doesn't carry over to the general ledger. There were also several report default templates that were available in BillQuick that are not available in CORE. You may need to pay for a customized report that used to be free.

Pros

ArchiOffice has definitely been useful for our firm over the past six years! We don't use all of the features that are available but the time tracking, budgeting and invoicing have been incredibly helpful for us. I used to spend a lot of time with spreadsheet updating to get accurate information on where we were in each client's budget and with ArchiOffice this is done for me and it is information I use daily. I especially like how we can see the hours to date as they are entered and how many hours we have exceeded our estimate. This information becomes valuable when we create new proposals. We have a much better handle on exactly what it is taking for us to complete each project so we can forecast with more accuracy.

Also helpful has been the Performance report which gives us a real look at how each project performs financially. I would not go back to doing this all in spreadsheets! ArchiOffice has made my job much easier over the years.

Another thing I appreciate is the project list which saves me from tracking that in another program.

Cons

The only thing that would help us out would be to run ArchiOffice on a Mac platform.

Pros

Great ability to customize individual user views, strong client and project tracking functions. Efficient invoicing capabilities with interface with Quickbooks. Consistent updates and improvements to the program. Very strong customer support and help desk.

Cons

I do wish there was a different pricing model that allowed different segmentation of the features, I would like to see stronger payroll/benefits/hr functionality and accounting completed so we can ditch Quickbooks, and my project managers would like additional flexibility in building gantt charts.

Pros

I like the flexibility and design of the software once I gone through the learning curve. The reports are straight forward and give me all the insightful data without customizing.

Cons

I find the billing process steps a bit awkward but I am used to them now. It is annoying to have to look for the most recent invoice under Invoice Review once the invoice is processed as final.

Pros

In my capacity as an Accounts Manager, I feel liberated to access critical client data in real time. Ability to update the Core database remotely from multiple devices has increased efficiency and productivity for the Finance & Accounting Dept.

Seamless integration across one interface has been a game changer for project management. Collaboration, time and expense entries and accessing overall health of projects is readily available. Key performance indicators and customizable dashboards offers the foodies who eat with their eyes an appetizing experience using Core.

Cons

Change is the only constant. Offering end user of Core inclusivity and engaging in product improvement will enhance significant updates. Select a Core group of users, incentivize and march to the finish line fielding their hands on user experience , constraints and limitations. Polishing and adding new features are the key to user satisfaction.

Pros

This software has lot of features and the best part is you can pick and choose the features that best fit your business. Although, Core is feature rich it is amazing how intuitive this software is. Support is great but most of the times we are able to figure out or answer our own questions if we get stuck that how simple and user friendly Core is. After switching to Core our management team is able to analyze the real time data to figure out the areas of improvement.

Cons

No real changes to suggest as of yet. There is already a lot to absorb. Anytime we need help or improvement in the software we send the feedback to BQE

Pros

Logical organization of procedures, ability to customize reports, outstanding live help service.

Having staff manage time entries (rather than having to manually input from timesheets) has been a gamechanger. The reports are also hugely useful and help project managers keep track of budgets in real time. We're still learning and finding new ones that are useful to us.

Cons

Sometimes loading of project lists is a little slow/temperamental, but nothing major.

Pros

The ability for each employee to input their time/expenses is one of the features that I like the most. I also appreciate that staff members can check time and expenses for their projects to see where they are on projects with a budget. Invoicing is now streamlined because the information for the project manager's review is on one page. Budget information is on the draft invoice which makes it easy to see when a project is over/under budget, and who has coded time to the project.

Cons

I wish there was a better way of archiving old vendor bills.

Pros

User friendly software, training options and I love the 24/7 customer support.

Cons

Can not make edits for draft invoices you gave to delete the draft and redo the invoice. If it was in draft mode it would lie great to have the option to edit.