BQE Core Review

PROS: The best aspects of BQE Core is the ease of use. It is very pleasing to work with. We are enjoying the ease of time and expense tracking and invoicing. The one more asset that BQE has that is its amazing customer service team. We are running our entire studio within one software including accounting.

CONS: We are new to Core and so far everything is working for us smoothly.

PROS: The best aspect definitely is that all our staff can access it from any place using mobile phone and the browser. This online software gives us ability to track time and expenses, do billing and manage projects all in one software. The real-time access to performance metrics has helped us streamline processes, do accurate and easy reporting which is critical for making important business decisions. Dashboard are neat and very pleasing to the eyes and the best part is you can easily configure them depending on your needs. The support team is incredible, and this is as important to us as the outstanding capabilities of this modern and user-friendly software

CONS: We did experience a bit of a learning curve very early on but with proper training we were up and running on the go live date.

PROS: Core has helped our Project Managers have clear and concise access to project information through the dashboards and reports. Core has allowed our entire to time and expense tracking, project management, and billing all in one application. We no longer have to use three applications to perform those functions. Template projects have been set up and now we can have a new project setup, including activity items, rules, and fee schedules within minimal time. Core has really reduced the workload to create projects and project information and allowed me, as the Operations Manager, to focus more on helping to run the business and mentor our project manager.

CONS: Fortunately we do not have very many vendor invoices, but at we continue to grow, that will likely change. We need better understanding of dealing with vendor bills and project expenses

PROS: Definitely user friendly. My users have learned the software quickly including those that have not previously billed their time. Short training. Simply - user friendly which is how I always select an application for a specific unit. I had been in legal for years. Although I've always had a hand in software selection, IT dept handled the application, etc. I was able to set up the back end for our firm, which started in July.

CONS: Can't think of any off the top of my head.

PROS: Entering Contacts, Fee Schedule, Time and Expenses are a breeze. For Project Management, my ability to run comprehensive reports is great! Accounting...being able to run reports to isolate various data is also a great tool. Core gathers all the time and expense data and we love the batch invoicing feature and the ability to combines multiple projects on one invoice. Overall I've established a great working relationship with staff at CORE that have helped me to be successful in challenges

CONS: There are some penny issues that we would love to get resolved

PROS: Core is user friendly and easy to use. We are benefiting from the robust invoicing features and customer relationship management. Technical support is really amazing and has been a lifeline.

CONS: We use variable rates and it took us some time to figure out how to use fee schedules in Core

PROS: It is helping us see the real data to analyze areas of improvement for our company. I like how intuitive the software is, and how its set up to help me answer my own questions sometimes. I also appreciate the availability of the support team.

CONS: There is a lot of information with CORE and I'm sure its a lot of work to accommodate everyone's special requests and customization, so I appreciate the consideration of the ideas and feedback of the clients.

PROS: Core does give a good view as to where we are with invoicing, budgets, contract etc. Time entries are easy for the project managers. For most part calling customer service is easy and the staff is knowledgeable and patient when we are asking for help.

CONS: There is room for improvement in reporting area as find some reports do not show totals at the bottom and more invoice customization options would definitely help.

PROS: BQE Core is doing what I need it to do to track jobs and invoicing. I feel it can grow along with my business. Easy to jump right in get things set up and start working. Progressive customization allows for constant improvement of tracking and workflows. There is a LOT of bang for your buck here. I love the “real time” time and expense additions so that I can bill time and then invoice in the very next step. Invoicing quickly has helped me get my new business off the ground and some cash flow coming in. Color coding of the status on jobs is a wonderful addition and makes a quick glance to get info very easy. I’m getting better with the accounting side of things, and am still learning. BQE Core is doing what I need it to do to track jobs and invoicing. I feel it can grow along with my business.

CONS: Having multiple tabs open would be helpful from a workflow standpoint. It would be nice if when I make changes in the Global settings that I could tell it to apply those to older jobs…I’m thinking invoicing here. Two of my overall big requests would be: 1) the ability to add some of the custom fields to an invoice. I have to populate this manually…I have to switch between jobs and the invoice to grab the info…therein comes the multiple tabs option. 2) The other would be to auto-populate the basic job information in a standard/form letter. I send out engagement letters on every job and would like the letter creation to be auto-populated.

PROS: We have easily saved a lot of time and money after switching to Core. There is not need for us to maintain multiple programs to run our company and look at our company financials and reports. It all in one place!

CONS: It would be nice to compress the phases of a project to show the parent in the drop downs

PROS: The ease of creating invoices, making and customizing reports, and entering time has improved our ability to get more done overall. We have been very pleased with all aspects of customer service, the integration team, custom reports team, trainers, and call center for the one off type questions and issues. We would recommend Core to anyone on the fence about the service. It is such a user-friendly software program

CONS: There was a bit of a learning curve in the beginning and training coordination was somewhat challenging but nothing extraordinary.

PROS: The best aspect is that our entire staff can input their time, do expense reporting and project managers can manage projects no matter where they are. The move to go all cloud has come in handy, particularly in the times we all are living in. With Core's report automation and email functionality we are now processing aging reports and statements in a much efficient way resulting in improved cashflow

CONS: Early on, we used to have a trouble with our custom reports getting overwritten by the updates and that was resolved a long time back. Since then everything seems to be working smoothly.

PROS: We have been using Core for almost year and a half, After testing many other products in the market when we were deciding to make switch, I can can confidently say for Architects Core is by far the best product. And your ongoing feature videos are the best learning tools. The features and power are so vast that I believe BQE should offer certification courses for Core. We still are in early stages of exploiting all the amazing features of Core, but there is no question as a firm we have become more disciplined in managing client expectation on budget and project performance as a whole.

CONS: For us the project management feature improvements are needed before we can fully use this feature

PROS: The best aspects are that Core is flexible and we can customize it to fit our unique billing needs. Even though there are several invoice format choices you can pick in Core, our customers need invoicing in certain format and we ended up customizing some invoice templates. Time tracking is easy with couple of clicks our staff is able to fill in their timecards.

CONS: Sometimes the response after a click lags but there is a continuous improvement on Core side.

PROS: It took a bit of time understanding CORE terminology and short cuts that make the use of the system easier for users, but once there, there are some fun advantages to using CORE and getting the most out of the system. I still have lots to learn and the CORE Support Team teach me some great tricks every time I call. I do like the on line training videos too! The flexibility in account setup is great. The inter-relationship of Billing and AP Vendors is a good help. The helpful support Team is the best at making my transition easier.

CONS: There is a drill down functionality in Core what would be great is if we can switch to the screen where we drilled from a little easier

PROS: We like the easy workflows in Core and this has helped us reduce the billing time greatly. Reporting in Core is easy too and with report scheduler we can now deliver reports through automation to our managers and clients.

CONS: Early on there were some issues that we reported to Core support team and those got addressed in monthly updates

PROS: Core has helped our business to see all sides of the business including accounting in one software. This has tremendously increased the efficiency throughout our architectural firm and project managers have real-time project financial available to them.

CONS: There is a lot to learn and better understanding of some features through self help will be beneficial.

PROS: We have only been using the software since September 1st. Previously we were using Excel for project management, timesheets, and AR invoicing. In addition, we were using Word and Excel to generate manual invoices (then converting to PDF). Not only has the billing process been improved, but we have been able to implement Internal Financial Controls. We purchased the HR and Accounting modules a couple of months ago and are in the process of implementing our own HR templates. We are looking forward to automating the HR process.

CONS: • The AR invoices to automatically sort to open status only (not all invoices). • The ability to hide or delete built-in accounts in the Chart of Accounts. • Custom HR forms that can be sent to employees and electronically signed. • In billing, projects that are in complete or cancelled status, it will not show up in the drop-down menu when creating batch invoice.

PROS: All of it - we came from a paper, Excel, Filemaker Pro, Timeslips, Quickbooks mess. The automation with the cloud feed is great for accounting. The ePayment option is something I just set up for our company and am looking forward to having clients take advantage of, the project management module helps us track our time and expenses in the project in ways that we could not before. For the first time in our 45 year company history we have a company budget for this year.

CONS: Cut down on some of the approval steps that may not be necessary for all businesses. That being said, it does force me to look at the data people are entering and perhaps correct it before things get out of hand too far down the line.

PROS: With Core our firm employees have the ability to login Core remotely from multiple devices and that definitely has increased efficiency in our finance and accounting department. All including project management. Collaboration, time and expense entries and accessing overall health of projects is readily available.

CONS: Most hiccups are sorted instantly with the knowledgeable support team. And with constant feedback, customization and updates, Core has met our firms needs.

PROS: BQE Core is very user friendly. We have been using the software for little over a year and it has definitely helped us get efficient. The time entry process is extremely easy and it has improved the way we process invoices and make payments.

CONS: I feel some of the reports are confusing and it has been already reported

PROS: In Core we can do forecasting capacity in hours, it comes with extensive reporting. Detailed estimating is possible with minimal effort. Excellent customer service and support. Ability to manage subcontractors similarly to employees. Flexible subscription model.

CONS: Sample companies are not set up with enough detail to illustrate the full capability of the system.

PROS: Core has a easy and intuitive user interface which makes our day to day processes easier. With Core being a cloud software close to 200 employees are using it on a daily basis for time and expense tracking, billing and engagement management. All the processes are faster and better with Core. It is is our main business management software and we before it we had a local system installed on our servers

CONS: None so far. Core is working as expected

PROS: It was easy for our staff to learn how to use Core because of its intuitiveness. Most of our staff is in the field and expense tracking was kind of a pain. With Core mobile phone our staff find it easy to capture expense receipts which makes job costing and reporting easier.

CONS: There should be a way to print all expense receipts in batch

PROS: The best our staff likes about Core is the detail oriented mobile phone app. It is very easy to work in the app and keeps our staff connected. All the documents related to our projects are in one place which makes it easy to track. Prior to switching to Core we were using BillQuick for 17 years and about time to switch to a cloud based software with a beautiful look and feel. Overall experience is great.

CONS: The global search needs improvement to get precisely to the search results.

PROS: The invoicing and payment process in Core is quick and easy. Our client billing involves retainers and this feature is very helpful in Core and has eliminated the need for manual tracking in Excel. With Core the management team has become efficient when using the AR Aging report with retainage by easily showing what is outstanding including the retainage portion is important for them to understand

CONS: I think a standard intro video link should be sent automatically through email when we add a new user to CORE. The intro video content could be geared toward different aspects of the user's job. It could depend on if the new person is a project manager, technician, student or financial person. The video could show "What would be the most important things to know about CORE if I were a PM"

PROS: As I slowly convert the firms old data to this new software, things are falling into place quickly. I'm becoming attuned to the software. Learning little things I didn't know where there, both by playing around and talking with customer support. This software is easy to learn. Not a real big learning curve, assuming you are familiar with project management, accounting, project setup or you have people familiar with those areas. I do it all, and basically maintain everything for everyone else.

CONS: I don't have many, but if I had to pick... they are not really cons, as I hope they will expand to these later on. API with Office 365/Outlook would be a nice added bonus. For me, especially Outlook. Also API with Quickbooks desktop version.

PROS: Overall, I love the program. It took me many years working in a very outdated software until I felt I found the right program (Core) to switch to for time and billing. It has met all of my needs so far! Love it. I have not had to call in for customer service often but when I do everyone has been helpful and I have not encountered any issues what so ever. I have not worked in the Project Management or Accounting modules of the program.

CONS: The downside is the refresh rate. At times there is lag due to internet connection which is obviously not an issue with Core itself but the internet connection.

PROS: Everything is one software which makes it easy to mange billing. Our staff has been extremely happy with the ease of use in time tracking. There is a great deal of convenience when it comes to update multiple records should we need to go back make corrections to transactions. Definitely a time saver! Support team has been very helpful as we tend to contact for help quite frequently as the starters.

CONS: It is difficult to make changes to retainer invoices. it would be nice to have the due date in bold and it should be place in the header.

PROS: Core is a powerful software with many features but it is the simple to use interface that has made our staff extremely happy. As a Managing Partner for a 30 person firm, I sold my practice to start a new firm, consulting with emerging design offices, to set up best practices. I am very pleased with what I am experiencing with CORE. It's simplicity in Time and Expense tracking and the way it handles all types of invoicing needs of design professional services is excellent.

CONS: A little bit of flexibility in chart of accounts area would be helpful.

PROS: Core has saved us time by having billing and timesheets in the same program. It has allowed us to focus more on the completion of the project rather than collecting bits and pieces of information from many different resources. The ongoing support has been very helpful and quick to respond and the followup is great.

CONS: More detailed help and some sort of Pop up to explain the fields will be helpful

PROS: The ease of use in the areas of setting up client and projects has been been a great plus in Core. Our staff is putting in their hours spent on the project without any error which results in accurate billing and cost analysis by project and by phase. Without any hesitation our AP and AR and Project Tracking is much better in Core.

CONS: We have quite a few projects with scheduled billing based on the milestones. Core handles it well using the built in billing schedules. The report that is showing the billing forecast needs flexible invoice date filters not just by year only.

PROS: It used to take at least two days to get our invoices processed in our old system. Same invoices are processed in Core in hours. Custom reporting tailored to our company's processes also allows us deeper insight to tracking time against a project and gives us accurate data to easily keep our clients informed about the financial detail and progress of their projects (while simultaneously monitoring employee realization rates and productivity). Technical support is top notch, the phone is answered quickly and the people on the other end of the line are excellent at solving issues or questions that pop up.

CONS: Integration of phased invoices with QuickBooks can be improved. We have sent a feature request to send one summary invoice for all phases instead of separate invoice for each phase.

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. We are using our custom report for allocations and it is working well for us. Allocation and forecasting, project management and time and expense setup are all helpful.

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: As we continue to get more proficient navigating CORE, it has given our principals and project managers more access to real time data reducing the potential for errors in reporting and data transfer in multiple areas to better service our valued clients. CORE has eliminated need for complicated spreadsheets and various other methods of housing project data. Coming from QuickBooks desktop accounting which we have used for almost 19 years, CORE accounting subscription has given us access to company financial data anywhere.

CONS: Better font printing on checks. Also the Display As' feature needs to be expanded and made specific to modules.

PROS: We chose 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: Improved projections to track overhead in relation to billable work would really integrate all functionality

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: Too early to say anything. Like any other new software implementation there is a learning curve. We took advantage of the various training packages.

PROS: After using BillQuick for more than 10 years we switched over to Core. The transition was extremely smooth. Core is an excellent product which my staff transitioned to with ease. The online tutorials were so good that staff just dove right in to working with Core with almost no support needed. Any questions that I have as I was setting things up were quickly answered but staff who are always quick to respond, extremely knowledgeable and always friendly. I would definitely recommend Core to anyone!

CONS: N/A

PROS: I like that BillQuick enables us to see where our expenses go at any time. It's a digital offering that features time-efficient features such as invoices that can be altered according to the needs of your company. Even those new to the system will find it easy to find their way around the system, integrate third-party systems, and then create their own invoices with tax and payments that are already automatically calculated. It works especially for invoicing regular billings because it specializes in easy tracking.

CONS: I wish it's more affordable for smaller companies and that its accounts reporting function can be improved and will take time to create.

PROS: Core is a fresh 21st century design created from scratch several years ago that stands on the shoulders of their decades of experience with their other similar products which have been stretched and pulled in wild directions by their customers. We've always been able to do what we wanted and handle the great diversity of our own projects and clients. We do hundreds of commercial projects per year and we confidently feel like we've got it all under control and can handle anything.

CONS: They're also big on 24/7/365 customer support and responding to user feature requests. They release big updates every month. So "what could work better" one month will work really well the next. So it's hard to pin something down because it gets improved so often.

PROS: We transferred 12 years of ‘Project History’ to bqe – CORE effective January 1, 2019. I am the Business Manager and I report directly to the owner of the Company. I keep current the clients we work with…..and all project-phase information for the company , billing – invoicing, using the CORE operating system. As a former Marine Corps officer…. then commercial banker (15 years) I believe that ‘People make the difference’….. not machines. The people at bqe – CORE, particularly the HELP DESK, are all professionals – they know what they are talking about and they care. I highly recommend bqe – CORE! I value honesty, and I value those that take ownership. I recommend bqe-CORE. I just designed a ‘custom report’ for our company utilizing the CORE ‘Custom Report’ section. They were great to work with. We are now using ‘my’ Company report starting January 2020. This ‘custom report’ pulls in all our client ‘project data’ real time. It shows what’s important to us…. our project team. We have many concurrent project-phases (hourly or not to exceed contract phases) under the parent project, that start one year and end the next. This custom report is a great tool for us… color coded – RED, showing when over budget (time or ‘not to exceed’ contract fee).

CONS: Would like to see more invoice and report customization built in features

PROS: The flexibility of CORE invoicing has made our complex billing requirements to a minimum. We have customers that need invoices with three levels of tiered structure. Prior to CORE, it used to take us a lot of time to do billing and that time has been cut down extremely by CORE. Of course, we do like CORE's simple Time + Expense tracking and other Project Management features. We are also exploring utilizing the Core accounting module so that we have all the aspects of the business in one place

CONS: We would like to see more built-in invoice customization features so that we can customize our owns reports and invoices

PROS: Core is very user-friendly. We used BillQuick for over two years then switched to Core. We find Core much easier to navigate. I only use Time and Billing and again, am very pleased with the program. I learn more about it every time I call Customer Support.

CONS: I think the difficulties I have are related to needing a better understanding of the program. I can't say I have anything I like least about it except for the speed. I think the slowness is due to our Wi-Fi system.

PROS: Combined time, expense, forecasting, project management all in one tool

CONS: - Extremely poor customer service: We've had key functionality not work (e.g., invoicing, duplicate bank account transactions coming into the tool for Expense Reporting, being able to classify expenses to a certain business unit, ability to split expenses) not work and it takes over 3 months to fix. The customer service agents don't care that you can be sending invoices with incorrect amounts to clients or that you can't close your books on time... They blame the issue on others - Our "relationship rep" has not talked to us since we signed the contract. Even though we have tried to reach out to her with issues / these customer service problems - The product itself is buggy and you cannot trust the data that is shown. - User interface is not the smoothest and we get a lot of complaints from our team about ease of use - Standard reports are not good.. we've spend thousands on 'custom reports' because basic reports don't provide information necessary

PROS: Core is very user friendly. We used BillQuick for over two years then switched to Core. We find Core much easier to navigate. I only use Time and Billing and again, am very pleased with the program. I learn more about it every time I call Customer Support.

CONS: I think the difficulties I have are related to needing a better understanding of the program. I can't say I have anything I like least about it except for the speed. I think the slowness is due to our Wi-Fi system.

PROS: The sales process was very good. Multiple demos to different stakeholders and trial licences.

CONS: Very buggy, clearly poor controls / testing in place. More concerned with adding features than creating a stable platform. They have removed a key piece of functionality - offline working in the mobile app - as they have introduced a bug into the live environment and have made no commitment to fixing it.