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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    BQE CORE

    Score9.4 out of 10
    Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
    BQE CORE is a business management solution built specifically for professional service firms. BQE CORE is a combination of a billing assistant, project management, and accounting solution. CORE is designed to do the hard work of delivering actionable insights directly to the user's dashboards or inbox. BQE CORE replaces the products Engineeroffice, Archioffice, and BillQuick; the functionality of these applications is now found in BQE CORE.N/A

    Frontline HCM (Aesop Online)

    Score7.8 out of 10
    N/AN/AN/A
    Pricing
    BQE COREFrontline HCM (Aesop Online)
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    BQE COREFrontline HCM (Aesop Online)
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    BQE COREFrontline HCM (Aesop Online)
    Considered Both Products
    BQE Software Inc.
    No answer on this topic
    Frontline Education
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    94%
    Would buy again
    142 Answers
    80%
    Would buy again
    8 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    98%
    Delivers good value for the price
    104 Answers
    86%
    Delivers good value for the price
    6 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    98%
    Happy with the feature set
    148 Answers
    90%
    Happy with the feature set
    9 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    92%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    68 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    81%
    Implementation went as expected
    79 Answers
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    5 Answers
    Features
    BQE COREFrontline HCM (Aesop Online)
    Project Management
    Comparison of Project Management features of BQE CORE and Frontline HCM (Aesop Online)
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    7.6
    73 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Frontline HCM (Aesop Online)
    -
    Ratings
    Task Management9.255 Ratings00 Ratings
    Resource Management8.654 Ratings00 Ratings
    Gantt Charts8.927 Ratings00 Ratings
    Scheduling8.035 Ratings00 Ratings
    Workflow Automation7.138 Ratings00 Ratings
    Team Collaboration5.245 Ratings00 Ratings
    Support for Agile Methodology7.321 Ratings00 Ratings
    Support for Waterfall Methodology4.418 Ratings00 Ratings
    Document Management7.938 Ratings00 Ratings
    Email integration6.533 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile Access8.045 Ratings00 Ratings
    Timesheet Tracking9.673 Ratings00 Ratings
    Change request and Case Management7.131 Ratings00 Ratings
    Budget and Expense Management8.957 Ratings00 Ratings
    Professional Services Automation
    Comparison of Professional Services Automation features of BQE CORE and Frontline HCM (Aesop Online)
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    7.5
    54 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Frontline HCM (Aesop Online)
    -
    Ratings
    Quotes/estimates6.228 Ratings00 Ratings
    Invoicing8.047 Ratings00 Ratings
    Project & financial reporting8.553 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integration with accounting software7.334 Ratings00 Ratings
    Human Resource Management
    Comparison of Human Resource Management features of BQE CORE and Frontline HCM (Aesop Online)
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Frontline HCM (Aesop Online)
    7.0
    5 Ratings
    11% below category average
    Employee demographic data00 Ratings6.02 Ratings
    Employment history00 Ratings5.01 Ratings
    Job profiles and administration00 Ratings6.53 Ratings
    Organization and location management00 Ratings8.52 Ratings
    Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
    Leave and Attendance Management
    Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of BQE CORE and Frontline HCM (Aesop Online)
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Frontline HCM (Aesop Online)
    9.6
    5 Ratings
    18% above category average
    Approval workflow00 Ratings9.05 Ratings
    Balance details00 Ratings10.05 Ratings
    Annual carry-forward and encashment00 Ratings9.93 Ratings
    Employee Self Service
    Comparison of Employee Self Service features of BQE CORE and Frontline HCM (Aesop Online)
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Frontline HCM (Aesop Online)
    6.8
    3 Ratings
    17% below category average
    Update personal information00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    View company policy documentation00 Ratings6.12 Ratings
    View job history00 Ratings7.52 Ratings
    HR Reporting
    Comparison of HR Reporting features of BQE CORE and Frontline HCM (Aesop Online)
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Frontline HCM (Aesop Online)
    8.1
    4 Ratings
    8% above category average
    Report builder00 Ratings7.33 Ratings
    Pre-built reports00 Ratings8.94 Ratings
    Ability to combine HR data with external data00 Ratings7.92 Ratings
    Onboarding
    Comparison of Onboarding features of BQE CORE and Frontline HCM (Aesop Online)
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Frontline HCM (Aesop Online)
    8.0
    1 Ratings
    1% above category average
    New hire portal00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    Manager tracking tools00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
    Performance Management
    Comparison of Performance Management features of BQE CORE and Frontline HCM (Aesop Online)
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Frontline HCM (Aesop Online)
    7.0
    1 Ratings
    11% below category average
    Performance plans00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    Succession Planning
    Comparison of Succession Planning features of BQE CORE and Frontline HCM (Aesop Online)
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Frontline HCM (Aesop Online)
    10.0
    1 Ratings
    25% above category average
    Candidate search00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    BQE COREFrontline HCM (Aesop Online)
    Small Businesses
    Any.do
    Score8 out of 10
    Zoho People
    Score8.4 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    KanbanFlow
    Score7.3 out of 10
    Zoho People
    Score8.4 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Microsoft To Do
    Score9.6 out of 10
    PeopleStrong
    Score10 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    BQE COREFrontline HCM (Aesop Online)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.5
    (165 ratings)
    8.1
    (16 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.0
    (8 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    9.3
    (115 ratings)
    9.0
    (3 ratings)
    Availability
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.4
    (90 ratings)
    9.0
    (5 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Online Training
    6.4
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    2.3
    (6 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    4.5
    (1 ratings)
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    BQE COREFrontline HCM (Aesop Online)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    BQE Software Inc.
    I would recommend this for our industry: architecture, engineering, or construction. I would recommend this for any larger firm with many employees or high number of projects. I would particularly recommend this for a company with projects that have budget constraints and where time tracking and expense tracking is very important. I would not recommend this complicated software for a small firm with a small amount of income or number of projects.
    Read full review
    Frontline Education
    Frontline is well suited for an organization such as a school district where teachers sometimes need to put in for a substitute at the last minute or especially early in the morning. The system also helps with substitutes in picking up the jobs when a teacher puts in an absence.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    BQE Software Inc.
    • Invoice Collections within Billing is a great tool because of the ability to take notes and track contact.
    • Invoices are professional looking and easy for our clients to understand the overall progress within each phase of their project.
    • Dashboards are the best tool EVER!
    • The Contact List feature within Clients setup is the perfect way to track multiple project managers within a large company that also has multiple contracts with us.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Frontline Education
    • Easily submission process. Select the day you need to schedule on the listed calendar, mark the type of request, and submit.
    • Works on different digital devices including phones, tablets, and computers.
    • Easily track your balances by looking at your account history.
    • Delete requests you have already submitted.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    BQE Software Inc.
    • Customizable Reporting
    • Linking Project to Payment all together
    • Assigning contacts to particular roles - such as Invoicing, Contracts, etc.
    • Accounting Functionality - they are basically a project management accounting software, so in my opinion, they could learn some things from other accounting software such as QuickBooks etc.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Frontline Education
    • Teachers cannot cancel their own absence. We have to ask the office staff to do so. This is irritating when an absence must be canceled (Due to a canceled professional development, for example).
    • Sometimes absences go unfilled. It would be great if AESOP could have a roster of qualified substitutes to cover absences.
    • You cannot assign your absence to a particular substitute if you know he or she is available and a good fit for your absence.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    BQE Software Inc.
    We have been using Core for a few years now, and honestly started to look at other software systems to see what was out there. What we chose was a nightmare for migration so we never left Core. Now we have added invoicing and payments from Core instead of double entry with QBO. Still only a few cycles in but looks like it will be up to speed soon and working smoothly.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Frontline Education
    Long time customer with Frontline Absence Management. Product support has been excellent, integrations easy to work with, & suite of products mesh together well.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    BQE Software Inc.
    The foundation is awesome, like I have said before, however the house being built on it, the educational resources being provided to us (more of sales pitches that don't work), and flexible workflow opportunities, is making us look elsewhere for how much we will be spending on per user. It's crazy to think how flexible they are not when it comes to user settings. Lack of integration with other sources is awful.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Frontline Education
    While we have had minor issues logging in as our organization has its own login page, the site and its application are very easy to use. So long as members of a group log in through the appropriate page, navigating and using this site is quite easy. With the transition from Aesop to Frontline, the page also seems to have worked through any glitches found with the previous page and its app.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    BQE Software Inc.
    I can only remember a couple of times in 4 years that Core has been unavailable.
    Read full review
    Frontline Education
    There have been several times the system was unavailable. When there has been an issue, Frontline HAS NOT notified us....which has been disappointing.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Performance
    BQE Software Inc.
    This is one area that does need some improvement. It can be slow at time, so we had our IT look at it from our side and we had no issues, so it has to be some slowness on their side.
    Read full review
    Frontline Education
    No issues reported by end users of slow or not loading pages.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    BQE Software Inc.
    As a new employee and CORE user, I talk to support on a weekly basis. I have never had to wait for more than 3 min to get connect with a support rep, and all my questions have been answered. The support representatives are polite and eager to help no matter how simple your question is.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Frontline Education
    Internal support is provided by EDU Staff based out of Grand Rapids. Whenever I have had an issue they are very responsive to my needs. For instance, there may be conflicts in the amount of money that was listed for the contract. There may be questions about the length of an assignment such as 1/2 day, full day, or early dismissal. The school will sometimes enter the wrong information. Very good IT support, but sometimes you are on hold for 5 to 10 minutes because they do not have enough workers in their Call Center
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    BQE Software Inc.
    No answers on this topic
    Frontline Education
    Our Implementer/Trainer was a product line expert. He (Connor) walked us through every step with confidence and explained everything in detail. Frontline provided written documentation, cut-n-paste emails to staff, and a test environment for us to play in. We were able to test unique scenarios without actually sending emails, notifications, alerts to staff. This was very useful.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Online Training
    BQE Software Inc.
    Make sure you have someone training you that fits your style of learning.
    Read full review
    Frontline Education
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    BQE Software Inc.
    It does take some time to understand the options and to find the best invoice template.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Frontline Education
    Our Frontline implementer was an expert in the field & knew the product in & out. We had very little issues going live.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    BQE Software Inc.
    Deltek Vision is far more advanced, more encompassing and offers more flexibility with what you want to do. However, it's also quite difficult to use, whereas BQE CORE is intuitive and user friendly. The trade off is worth it in some arenas but overall it's not suited for a larger fast paced company. Great for smaller companies.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Frontline Education
    Frontline seems to be the industry standard for this software in the education industry. I am not familiar with any competitors or what was evaluated prior to implementing Frontline. For it to be the industry standard, I would assume that its cost is fair in relation to competitors and that the onboarding process is simple.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    BQE Software Inc.
    This software works on a small and large scale.
    Read full review
    Frontline Education
    Our district has approximately 300 substitutes & 1,800 employees. Size has never been an issue with Absence Management. There are other districts much larger using Absence Management with no problems
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    BQE Software Inc.
    • Quick setup of new tasks under a parent project, with immediate hourly billing to it.
    • Monitoring of details of non-chargeable efforts in appropriate detail
    • Validation of hourly cost, billing cost, benefit cost, profitability by person and role
    • Company tracking of write-off's included in corporate and project reporting, no data is "lost"
    • Can track excessive work time as +PTO in lieu of pay for use as future vacation
    Read full review
    Frontline Education
    • It's given staff direct access to inputting their absences and secure coverage quicker, whereas before they had to make a call to a person. That person had to secure coverage for the entire district at different levels. Sometimes that person was absent or unable to provide coverage.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    BQE CORE Screenshots

    Screenshot of Core powered by BQE SoftwareScreenshot of BQE CORE Project Dashboard ViewScreenshot of BQE CORE 360* Firm Performance ViewScreenshot of BQE CORE Reporting & AnalyticsScreenshot of BQE CORE Project Time EntryScreenshot of BQE CORE Project Expense Tracking