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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

    Microsoft Project

    Score8.1 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft Project is a project management software. It provides core PM functionality, including agile workflow support and resource management. Project can be deployed in the cloud or on-premise.

    $120

    per year per user

    Pricing
    BQE COREMicrosoft Project
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Project Server
    $0
    Planner Plan 1
    $10
    per month per user
    Planner and Project Plan 3
    $30
    per month per user
    Planner and Project Plan 5
    $55
    per month per user
    Project Standard 2024
    $679.99
    one-time fee per installation
    Project Professional 2024
    $1,129.99
    one-time fee per installation
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    BQE COREMicrosoft Project
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details—Plans are billed annually.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    BQE COREMicrosoft Project
    Considered Both Products
    BQE Software Inc.
    No answer on this topic
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    94%
    Would buy again
    142 Answers
    87%
    Would buy again
    40 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    98%
    Delivers good value for the price
    104 Answers
    98%
    Delivers good value for the price
    41 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    98%
    Happy with the feature set
    148 Answers
    93%
    Happy with the feature set
    43 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    92%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    68 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    34 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    81%
    Implementation went as expected
    79 Answers
    89%
    Implementation went as expected
    34 Answers
    Features
    BQE COREMicrosoft Project
    Project Management
    Comparison of Project Management features of BQE CORE and Microsoft Project
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    7.6
    73 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Microsoft Project
    9.1
    108 Ratings
    17% above category average
    Task Management9.255 Ratings10.0107 Ratings
    Resource Management8.654 Ratings10.0104 Ratings
    Gantt Charts8.927 Ratings10.0104 Ratings
    Scheduling8.035 Ratings10.0106 Ratings
    Workflow Automation7.138 Ratings10.083 Ratings
    Team Collaboration5.245 Ratings8.096 Ratings
    Support for Agile Methodology7.321 Ratings6.080 Ratings
    Support for Waterfall Methodology4.418 Ratings10.080 Ratings
    Document Management7.938 Ratings9.077 Ratings
    Email integration6.533 Ratings5.082 Ratings
    Mobile Access8.045 Ratings10.067 Ratings
    Timesheet Tracking9.673 Ratings10.073 Ratings
    Change request and Case Management7.131 Ratings10.063 Ratings
    Budget and Expense Management8.857 Ratings10.083 Ratings
    Professional Services Automation
    Comparison of Professional Services Automation features of BQE CORE and Microsoft Project
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    7.5
    54 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Microsoft Project
    10.0
    77 Ratings
    28% above category average
    Quotes/estimates6.228 Ratings10.054 Ratings
    Invoicing8.147 Ratings10.045 Ratings
    Project & financial reporting8.553 Ratings10.074 Ratings
    Integration with accounting software7.334 Ratings10.050 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    BQE COREMicrosoft Project
    Small Businesses
    Any.do
    Score8 out of 10
    Any.do
    Score8 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    KanbanFlow
    Score7.3 out of 10
    KanbanFlow
    Score7.3 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Microsoft To Do
    Score9.6 out of 10
    Microsoft To Do
    Score9.6 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    BQE COREMicrosoft Project
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.5
    (165 ratings)
    9.7
    (108 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.0
    (8 ratings)
    10.0
    (3 ratings)
    Usability
    9.3
    (115 ratings)
    10.0
    (6 ratings)
    Availability
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.4
    (90 ratings)
    8.2
    (34 ratings)
    Online Training
    6.4
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    2.3
    (6 ratings)
    5.0
    (1 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 COREMicrosoft Project
    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
    Microsoft
    Microsoft Project Online is suited to Turnkey Projects where more Collaboration is required in Project Progress monitoring, risk assessment and conveying, issue recording and tracking. It is less appropriate when ERP Suites other than MS Dynamics are used, i.e when Enterprises need to integrate Finance / Accounting with It and having straight project management workflow
    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
    Microsoft
    • I love the Gantt Chart that Microsoft Project offers me, because it provides me with a view from various aspects, it provides me with exact details about the fulfillment of tasks over a period of time, it also allows me to make comparisons with the necessary data and the fulfilled data. by the employees, in order to know exactly if the project's expectations have been met.
    • I love the Gantt Chart that Microsoft Project offers me, because it provides me with a view from various aspects, it provides me with exact details about the fulfillment of tasks over a period of time, it also allows me to make comparisons with the necessary data and the fulfilled data by the employees, in order to know exactly if the project's expectations have been met.
    • The alert system for the fulfillment and delay of assignments is perfect. Microsoft Project allows me to configure the task system, I can assign the necessary tasks to fulfill the project, and the software alerts me immediately if the managers are fulfilling the assignments.
    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
    Microsoft
    • Seems overly complicated for users sometimes in using Project and its functionalities
    • Hard to share files for those folks who do not have MS Project, and then have to print out for them
    • Can be confusing since it looks and feels like MS Excel
    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
    Microsoft
    I like using Microsoft Project. It simplifies building a schedule
    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
    Microsoft
    Microsoft
    Project is easy to operate because data could be inserted, changed and
    deleted like you are in an Excel timesheet. Besides, it provides a great
    level of automation beween his fields allowing few data changes. Also, its
    funcionalities are well defined and grouped in upper menus, so you can find a
    funcionality quickly
    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
    Microsoft
    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
    Microsoft
    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
    Microsoft
    Microsoft in recent years has transformed itself and gives a positive feeling when one interacts with the company. The company is focusing on its customers and willing to go extra mile to make customers happy.The company continues to invest in its products and bringing new features from time to time. Overall it is a positive feeling to be associated with such an iconic company.
    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
    Microsoft
    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
    Microsoft
    I wasn't part of it so I don't know
    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
    Microsoft
    While many of the above tools are extremely well-versed, Microsoft Project's largest advantage comes from it being related to the largest business productivity company in the world. Project does have its sharing limitations - but regardless, offers one of the most robust tools in the market today. Microsoft Project is built with large-scale projects in mind but is more than up to the task for smaller projects as well. However, there are options available (especially cloud-based options) that may be more fitting for higher-level projects that do not require going into the weeds.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    BQE Software Inc.
    This software works on a small and large scale.
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    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
    Microsoft
    • Project saved me, as the project manager, countless hours of digging through tickets and schedules to plan everything out. It also saved me time in adjusting the project triangle as needed, since it does so much automatically.
    • It is costly, and since it requires extensive training to master, it's not just the high licensing cost that you need to take into account.
    • The reporting features - even just printing out Gantt charts - makes it far easier to communicate with stakeholders. That means less time for PMs doing all of this manually, and it means less follow-up questions and delays moving forward.
    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