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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

    Iris HR Software

    Score8.1 out of 10
    N/AIris HR Software (formerly Octopus HR, acquired by Iris Software Group April 2016) is an HR suite.

    $1.50

    per month per user

    Pricing
    BQE COREIris HR Software
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Standard
    $1.50
    per month per user
    Plus
    $2
    per month per user
    Pro
    $3.50
    per month per user
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    BQE COREIris HR Software
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details—Prices are in British Pounds.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    BQE COREIris HR Software
    Considered Both Products
    BQE Software Inc.
    No answer on this topic
    IRIS Software Group
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    94%
    Would buy again
    142 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    98%
    Delivers good value for the price
    104 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    98%
    Happy with the feature set
    148 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    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
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    BQE COREIris HR Software
    Project Management
    Comparison of Project Management features of BQE CORE and Iris HR Software
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    7.6
    73 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Iris HR Software
    -
    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 Iris HR Software
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    7.5
    54 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Iris HR Software
    -
    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 Iris HR Software
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Iris HR Software
    8.6
    2 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Employee demographic data00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
    Employment history00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Job profiles and administration00 Ratings10.02 Ratings
    Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
    Organizational charting00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
    Organization and location management00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
    Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
    Payroll Management
    Comparison of Payroll Management features of BQE CORE and Iris HR Software
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Iris HR Software
    7.6
    2 Ratings
    5% below category average
    Pay calculation00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Support for external payroll vendors00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    Off-cycle/On-Demand payment00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Benefit plan administration00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
    Direct deposit files00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    Salary revision and increment management00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
    Reimbursement management00 Ratings7.02 Ratings
    Leave and Attendance Management
    Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of BQE CORE and Iris HR Software
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Iris HR Software
    8.3
    2 Ratings
    4% above category average
    Approval workflow00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
    Balance details00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Annual carry-forward and encashment00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
    Employee Self Service
    Comparison of Employee Self Service features of BQE CORE and Iris HR Software
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Iris HR Software
    8.2
    2 Ratings
    2% above category average
    View and generate pay and benefit information00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
    Update personal information00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
    View company policy documentation00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
    Employee recognition00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
    View job history00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    Asset Management
    Comparison of Asset Management features of BQE CORE and Iris HR Software
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Iris HR Software
    7.0
    1 Ratings
    14% below category average
    Tracking of all physical assets00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    HR Reporting
    Comparison of HR Reporting features of BQE CORE and Iris HR Software
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Iris HR Software
    7.3
    2 Ratings
    3% below category average
    Report builder00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
    Pre-built reports00 Ratings7.02 Ratings
    Ability to combine HR data with external data00 Ratings6.02 Ratings
    Onboarding
    Comparison of Onboarding features of BQE CORE and Iris HR Software
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Iris HR Software
    8.5
    2 Ratings
    7% above category average
    New hire portal00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
    Manager tracking tools00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
    Performance and Goals
    Comparison of Performance and Goals features of BQE CORE and Iris HR Software
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Iris HR Software
    8.3
    2 Ratings
    5% above category average
    Corporate goal setting00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
    Individual goal setting00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
    Line-of sight-visibility00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    Performance tracking00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
    Performance Management
    Comparison of Performance Management features of BQE CORE and Iris HR Software
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Iris HR Software
    8.4
    2 Ratings
    7% above category average
    Performance plans00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Performance improvement plans00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
    Review status tracking00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
    Review reminders00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
    Multiple review frequency00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
    Succession Planning
    Comparison of Succession Planning features of BQE CORE and Iris HR Software
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Iris HR Software
    8.0
    2 Ratings
    2% above category average
    Create succession plans/pools00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
    Candidate ranking00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
    Candidate search00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
    Candidate development00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
    Recruiting / ATS
    Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of BQE CORE and Iris HR Software
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Iris HR Software
    7.8
    2 Ratings
    1% above category average
    Job Requisition Management00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
    Company Website Posting00 Ratings7.02 Ratings
    Duplicate Candidate Prevention00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Applicant Tracking00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Notifications and Alerts00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    BQE COREIris HR Software
    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 COREIris HR Software
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.5
    (165 ratings)
    8.0
    (3 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.0
    (8 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    9.3
    (115 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Availability
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.4
    (90 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    6.4
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    2.3
    (6 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    4.5
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    BQE COREIris HR Software
    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
    IRIS Software Group
    Our staff is kept updated with more company policies and we are able to track their holiday and sick days much better. The help and support of their contact support are super good. They reply super fast and are very kind. Also, their sales department isn't pushy like other services they are very knowledgeable and kind.
    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
    IRIS Software Group
    • It's simple. I really appreciate that the layout of Octopus HR isn't something I have to question. I know where to look for something because it's clearly labeled, that's more than I can say for a lot of other HR systems I've seen.
    • Support. If I ever have a question about setting something up, or if something goes wrong, they're always on top of it. For instance, I had no idea how to set up employee photos on our accounts. I tweeted them and they responded right away, I'm based in LA and they're a UK company, I was impressed that they were able to respond right away. They make sure their customers are taken care of.
    • Great self guide. If there's ever an ordinary question I need answered their "Octopus Guide" is very thorough and walks you through everything.
    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
    IRIS Software Group
    • initial scope/setup support (outside of template)
    • Contacting support can be difficult
    • case sensitive username for end users (email addresses have to match exactly)
    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
    IRIS Software Group
    Employees don't complain about it! If anything they've commented on how nice of a tool it is to have.
    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
    IRIS Software Group
    Iris HR Software is a stable and fairly intuitive product which has had a positive impact on our organisation. We have had some support issues but generally feel we've had a positive experience and our personnel and finance teams have benefitted from this process structure. Whilst contacting the correct Iris HR Software support channel has been our biggest issue once we have established contact our tickets have been raised and resolved promptly.
    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
    IRIS Software Group
    No answers on this topic
    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
    IRIS Software Group
    No answers on this topic
    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
    IRIS Software Group
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    BQE Software Inc.
    Make sure you have someone training you that fits your style of learning.
    Read full review
    IRIS Software Group
    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
    IRIS Software Group
    No answers on this topic
    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
    IRIS Software Group
    I would say the pricing is good but it could be better. Also, the customer service is amazing they do such a great job and you can tell they know what they are doing. Visually it is very easy to use and looks very professional. It is a quick set up and they do their best to give you what you want and need.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    BQE Software Inc.
    This software works on a small and large scale.
    Read full review
    IRIS Software Group
    No answers on this topic
    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
    IRIS Software Group
    • Our staff is super happy with the service
    • Huge improvement
    • Looks quite professional
    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