ADP Workforce Now vs. BQE CORE

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
ADP Workforce Now
Score 7.5 out of 10
Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
ADP Workforce Now is a cloud-based HR platform for mid-sized businesses. It features customizable modules of various HR services that businesses can tailor to their specific needs, as well as regulatory monitoring and alerts to help businesses remain compliant.N/A
BQE CORE
Score 8.8 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
Pricing
ADP Workforce NowBQE CORE
Editions & Modules
Essential
Contact sales team
Enhanced
Contact sales team
Complete
Contact sales team
HR Pro
Contact sales team
Payroll Essentials
Contact sales team
HR Plus
Contact sales team
Hiring Advantage
Contact sales team
Performance Plus
Contact sales team
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
ADP Workforce NowBQE CORE
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredNo setup fee
Additional DetailsPlease contact ADP for a product demo and ask about a hands-on "test drive" of Workforce Now.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
ADP Workforce NowBQE CORE
Considered Both Products
ADP Workforce Now
Chose ADP Workforce Now
Still new to ADP, processed first year end and happy with overall result and timeline.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
A lot of products attempt to please everybody and in the end please nobody. They make their products too complicated and too customizable so they don't really work well, they lack structure. ADP has experience and support, it gives you just enough ability to create your own …
Chose ADP Workforce Now
ADP Workforce Now offers more custom modules that provide an excellent workflow, where as Synerion doesn't.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
ADP Workforce Now has greater integration possibilities, scheduling and data management capabilities than Payworks. ADP Workforce Now is better designed for businesses with more complex needs. I have found ADP's customer service more responsive and better informed to help …
Chose ADP Workforce Now
Great system and easy to use by employees for payroll and time off but too many functions to master easily. Don't want to call ADP for support every time I need assistance.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
Price, user experience, user interface, all in one system, customization, on-boarding and payroll. ADP customization with user fields, employment profile and automation of employment changes, on-boarding and off-boarding.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
The 100% error free payroll each pay period has been PRICELESS compared to other payroll providers we have used.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
ADP Workforce Now is hands-down much more user-friendly with more functionality than Paylocity. Reporting is also much easier and better on ADP Workforce Now. Integrations, much more fluid on ADP Workforce Now.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
From the very beginning, we’ve felt completely confident in every step of our journey with ADP Workforce Now. The clarity and guidance we’ve received have been immaculate, and at no point have we ever felt confused or unsure of what the next steps were. The communication has …
Chose ADP Workforce Now
I also used UltiPro (way back -- it didn't even appear in dropdown). Recommend ADP Workforce Now above all others. Paycor and Paycom were both very clunky. I even helped implement Paycom and could never get it to work how the business needed it to.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
Dayforce was used for a previous acquisition. We only used it for a few months, but I was so glad we didn't need to continue using it. It was not an easy platform to use at the time. Not sure if it has gotten any better since we were required to use it.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
ADP Workforce Now is a mature player with many customers, which means issues tend to be well-documented, patches distributed, and there is institutional support for keeping things running. Because many core needs (payroll, benefits, HR, compliance) are bundled, often there is …
Chose ADP Workforce Now
We are seriously considering moving to Paylocity due to challenges with labor allocations in ADP Workforce Now. Currently, it’s difficult to preview payroll reports when labor allocations are applied. The system breaks down the payroll register by employee and allocation, but …
Chose ADP Workforce Now
ADP Workforce Now has a more robust reporting program, ADP has better hours for customer service, and was much easier to learn. I have used both Paycom and Paychex and both came with little to no training, and was a pain to learn. The reporting was less than desirable. ADP was …
Chose ADP Workforce Now
ADP Workforce Now is simpler than workday. Workday can act up sometime but ADP is mostly sane.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
Very comparable items. UKG seems to have better reports to build. More customizable dashboard for employees. As of right now, the customer service is quicker. ADP Workforce Now is widely known and therefore more people seem comfortable with it.
I do hate when a new hire has …
Chose ADP Workforce Now
ADP offers a more robust catalogue of solutions, making it a true HRIS system as opposed to other solutions, such as Gusto or QuickBooks. Both are great for payroll processing and QuickBooks for enhanced accounting support, but neither is an HRIS system that allows you to …
Chose ADP Workforce Now
ADP Workforce Now stacks up pretty well however Paycom seems like it would be a lot easier to navigate and use. All the data is centralized in one platform section making searching and setting up a lot easier. Compared to ADP Workforce Now if you search in one area for data and …
Chose ADP Workforce Now
I used Humanity for scheduling and organization communication. I found it to be a better system for those needs than similar uses in ADP.
Chose ADP Workforce Now
Our company was with Paycom and while it was very customizable - it required a lot of manual entry / management - often in multiple places within the system. Paycom did not offer the ability to easily scale that we were looking for - they also did not have a clean solution for …
Chose ADP Workforce Now
ADP works better- user friendly. The reporting is the main reason I prefer ADP over UKG. There is simply no comparison! ADP make is easy to pull information you need in no time at all. I felt like with UKG you needed to be a pro at building reports. Hands down ADP is better
Chose ADP Workforce Now
They pale compared to ADP because they each have broken systems that do not flow from beginning to end. Another system is required to support all of the functions needed to process payroll. That puts too much on me, the person, instead of the system. We should work smarter, not …
Chose ADP Workforce Now
The employee facing app for Paycom is better than ADP but on the back side administration ADP is more robust and provides a better experience for the payroll professional.
BQE CORE
Chose BQE CORE
Toms Planner gant charts are very easy to navigate and edit.
Chose BQE CORE
I previously used Gusto for both benefits / employee details and also time tracking. It was really nice to have everything in one place, and Gusto felt very simple. However, it did not have as many broken down categories for time allotment. Harvest felt similar to Gusto, and it …
Chose BQE CORE
It helps and have a great impact on It employees like me to track and submit my timesheet to my managers and higher officials and make a note that I have spend my working house valuable and resourceful and the managers can take a look at what have I done in my working hours
Chose BQE CORE
our team uses both the platforms and does not tie very well. bamboo does have a more pleasant to the eye interface comparatively. it is also a bit easier to navigate and not have to click too many times to reach any particular information on bamboo. BQE CORE does do visuals of …
Chose BQE CORE
BQE CORE combined numerous products for us. It allows everything to be in one place which cuts down on the back and forth, as well as user error.
Chose BQE CORE
It was an admin desiring to switch. However CORE is easy to manage and calculate timesheet automatic with timer future. In addition I believe the admin stag like the billing aimless function and multiple additional future that monograph does not have. Without mentioning that …
Chose BQE CORE
BQE has more visual tools for determining billable hours and for tracking hours against a project. BQE has a better system for involving employee and simpler methods of tracking expenses.
Chose BQE CORE
Monograph did not allow exporting/importing of data nor did they offer integration with Quickbooks Desktop
Chose BQE CORE
Again, since I'm only an employee, I had no part in choosing BQE for my organization. But it is the best timesheet tracking system that I've used, and I've used 3 other ones in the past. BQE is the simplest to use, yet equally as powerful as the others. When editing my …
Chose BQE CORE
It’s the best program I have used to date! It was selected for me through my company.
Chose BQE CORE
They aren't used for the same thing so not able to compare.
Chose BQE CORE
Not used any other software than accounting. This is much easier for my staff to use because it's not a straight up accounting software.
Chose BQE CORE
I didn't take part in selecting BQE CORE; however, our CEO chose it because of its ability to help with invoicing and incorporating other software into the program such as Gantt charts. I like BQE CORE better than BillQuick because it is more user friendly and also displays the …
Chose BQE CORE
BQE CORE has a much more streamlined process for entering expense entries than Concur. You are able to select which project you would like to charge to and where expense entries are sent for approval, whether that be your manager or the project manager. BQE CORE also is very …
Chose BQE CORE
I have only really used this product.
Chose BQE CORE
BQE CORE is much more in-depth at time tracking than Harvest. Harvest is easier to use out of the gate but BQE CORE is worth the learning curve. I haven't had a chance to use BQE CORE on a mobile device so I can't speak to how it stacks up there against Harvest.
Chose BQE CORE
I don't recall the previous program we used as this was years ago, but we had to put in time manually each week and this was very time consuming. BQE CORE keeps your projects in the timesheet from week to week to you don't have to reinput the project number.
Features
ADP Workforce NowBQE CORE
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
7.7
Ratings
5% below category average
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Employee demographic data8.60 Ratings00 Ratings
Employment history8.40 Ratings00 Ratings
Job profiles and administration8.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.7.40 Ratings00 Ratings
Organizational charting7.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Organization and location management7.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)7.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
8.1
Ratings
0% below category average
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Pay calculation9.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors8.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment8.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Benefit plan administration7.40 Ratings00 Ratings
Direct deposit files9.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management7.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Reimbursement management7.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
8.0
Ratings
2% below category average
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Approval workflow7.70 Ratings00 Ratings
Balance details8.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment8.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
7.9
Ratings
4% below category average
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
View and generate pay and benefit information8.60 Ratings00 Ratings
Update personal information8.70 Ratings00 Ratings
View company policy documentation8.10 Ratings00 Ratings
Employee recognition6.30 Ratings00 Ratings
View job history7.70 Ratings00 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
6.0
Ratings
29% below category average
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Tracking of all physical assets6.00 Ratings00 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
6.9
Ratings
8% below category average
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Report builder7.60 Ratings00 Ratings
Pre-built reports7.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data5.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
7.3
Ratings
8% below category average
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
New hire portal7.70 Ratings00 Ratings
Manager tracking tools7.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
6.6
Ratings
20% below category average
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Corporate goal setting6.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Individual goal setting6.40 Ratings00 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility6.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance tracking6.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
6.5
Ratings
19% below category average
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Performance plans6.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance improvement plans6.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Review status tracking6.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Review reminders7.00 Ratings00 Ratings
Multiple review frequency6.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
6.0
Ratings
27% below category average
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Create succession plans/pools5.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Candidate ranking5.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Candidate search6.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Candidate development6.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
5.6
Ratings
33% below category average
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Job Requisition Management6.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Company Website Posting6.50 Ratings00 Ratings
Publish to Social Media4.20 Ratings00 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting5.90 Ratings00 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention2.30 Ratings00 Ratings
Applicant Tracking6.70 Ratings00 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts6.80 Ratings00 Ratings
Project Management
Comparison of Project Management features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
-
Ratings
BQE CORE
8.2
Ratings
6% above category average
Task Management00 Ratings9.40 Ratings
Resource Management00 Ratings9.10 Ratings
Gantt Charts00 Ratings9.30 Ratings
Scheduling00 Ratings9.10 Ratings
Workflow Automation00 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Team Collaboration00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Support for Agile Methodology00 Ratings7.40 Ratings
Support for Waterfall Methodology00 Ratings4.60 Ratings
Document Management00 Ratings8.70 Ratings
Email integration00 Ratings6.40 Ratings
Mobile Access00 Ratings7.80 Ratings
Timesheet Tracking00 Ratings9.70 Ratings
Change request and Case Management00 Ratings8.50 Ratings
Budget and Expense Management00 Ratings9.10 Ratings
Professional Services Automation
Comparison of Professional Services Automation features of Product A and Product B
ADP Workforce Now
-
Ratings
BQE CORE
8.7
Ratings
12% above category average
Quotes/estimates00 Ratings8.40 Ratings
Invoicing00 Ratings8.90 Ratings
Project & financial reporting00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Integration with accounting software00 Ratings8.40 Ratings
Best Alternatives
ADP Workforce NowBQE CORE
Small Businesses
Dayforce Powerpay
Dayforce Powerpay
Score 9.2 out of 10
Stackby
Stackby
Score 8.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.1 out of 10
InEight
InEight
Score 8.2 out of 10
Enterprises
PeopleStrong
PeopleStrong
Score 10.0 out of 10
InEight
InEight
Score 8.2 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
ADP Workforce NowBQE CORE
Likelihood to Recommend
8.0
(0 ratings)
9.3
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.2
(0 ratings)
7.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
2.8
(0 ratings)
9.5
(0 ratings)
Availability
7.3
(0 ratings)
8.2
(0 ratings)
Performance
6.4
(0 ratings)
7.3
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
6.2
(0 ratings)
7.4
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
8.2
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
5.8
(0 ratings)
6.4
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
1.5
(0 ratings)
2.3
(0 ratings)
Configurability
6.4
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
6.1
(0 ratings)
4.5
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.0
(0 ratings)
8.2
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
5.2
(0 ratings)
8.2
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
6.1
(0 ratings)
8.2
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
ADP Workforce NowBQE CORE
Likelihood to Recommend
My great experiences with ADP are largely due to the experience I have within the system and the service level we receive through Kelly and Brian. On the technical side, we have immense support from Abhayjyot Mann who heavily supports the payroll team with any request or problem. All in all, my team is satisfied with ADP and are excited for our continued partnership.
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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.
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Pros
  • HRIS that is personalized for the employee and addresses DE&I needs.
  • Payroll, of course! The system addresses all needs, such as deductions, additional pay, premium OT, and shift differentials.
  • Onboarding is an excellent way to stay in compliance and have all documents completed.
  • Tax and Banking and resolution to any issues.
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  • 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.
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Cons
  • Customized pre-process payroll reports (Limited on pre-process payroll reports)
  • Labor Allocation (Allocations make payroll reporting very hard to review and find any errors )
  • Recruiting (ATS is very basic)
  • Geofencing (should be able to change shape rather than a circle)
  • Pay Classes (should be able to change at Practitioner level rather than reach out to support)
  • Cookies and Cache have to be cleared on a regular basis
  • Only able to see employee documents/acknowledgements one at a time in the employee file
  • Timecards can only be managed/viewed by 1 person
  • Timeoff emails do not have a link
  • Cost per payroll - not just monthly fee so cost with off cycle payrolls
  • Separate I9 step not needed - during onboarding - 2nd Everify step
  • ADP Workforce Now does not pull in allowances for Houly employees into payroll ONLY Salaried employees
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  • 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.
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Likelihood to Renew
We are happy with the service and options offered by ADP. Although the cost is a bit high for a not-for-profit organization, it is essential that we have multi-jurisdictional support for the 20 plus states where employees work and reside. As our company is diminishing in size, we may need to look at making a change to conserve costs. At this time, that would be the only reason we would not renew our WFN contract.
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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.
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Usability
Lack of documentation and test environment make it extremely difficult to deploy work processes through the system. While there are a handful of things throughout the system that work well, particularly from an employee's perspective, many tasks, which would be simple for practitioner users in other systems, require these users to ask for administrator support. Additionally, the ghosts in the ADP machine cause established process (e.g. automated report delivery) to stop working with no notice and no error report.
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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.
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Reliability and Availability
ADP outages are very rare
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I can only remember a couple of times in 4 years that Core has been unavailable.
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Performance
Overall, I think the functionality of the program works pretty well. Sometimes, certain browsers do not work well for the policy function of ADP, but that is the only issue thus far
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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.
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Support Rating
The Bridge is great for self-service. The ticketing system is effective and people are responsive. I really like the chat feature which is available for many sections of ADP. Those agents are top notch and quick to get you an easy and correct answer
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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.
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In-Person Training
In-person training was pretty good - I think this significantly depends on the trainer. Our trainer was really good and showed what ADP can do - but I know that all trainers are not the same - and this truly makes such as difference. Overall, our training went pretty well.
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No answers on this topic
Online Training
At the time training was not as expansive as it is now. If it could go wrong it did for me so the process was difficult and lengthy. I needed to have more in person walkthroughs of things to ensure the transition was done correctly. Not sure what else I can say, we were part of the initial move to Workforce Now when it was introduced.
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Make sure you have someone training you that fits your style of learning.
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Implementation Rating
Either assign more than one specialist to the implementation process, or assign less clients to the implementation specialist. The process requires attention to detail and the ability to test and re-test as well as verify the information. It also requires a lot of back and forth between the client ant the implementation specialist, so they need to be readily available during the whole implementation process.
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wont let me skip
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Alternatives Considered
ADP Workforce Now has greater integration possibilities, scheduling and data management capabilities than Payworks. ADP Workforce Now is better designed for businesses with more complex needs. I have found ADP's customer service more responsive and better informed to help customize the product, reports, and/or just clarify instructions to complete payroll. Payworks may be better suited for small businesses with simply payroll needs, however ADP does offer the On The Go platform which stacks up well them, so I would advise someone to explore this option as well.
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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.
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Scalability
We have several departments that utilize the reporting, utilize the timecards and the system. We also have self service that is nice for all of our employees. This system allows us to designate what each group can see, and what employees can change, or who can clock in and out offsite
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This software works on a small and large scale.
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Return on Investment
  • ADP Workforce Now handles all of our tax filing which frees up our time to do other things. They keep us compliant communicating updates on a timely basis.
  • Calculates payrolls accurately. Our management and employees have built a level of confidence due to the ease of pulling statements, year end documents etc.
  • A really nice feature is the follow up email what a change has been made to banking information. There were a couple of times the employee did not make changes to their account information. This kept their funds from getting routed into the wrong hands.
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  • 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
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ScreenShots

ADP Workforce Now Screenshots

Screenshot of ADP Workforce Now: a simple and complete human capital management solutionScreenshot of Benchmarking by ADP DataCloud: an application with an extensive data set ... available to ADP Workforce Now clientsScreenshot of ADP Workforce Now clients can equip their employees with the ADP Mobile self-service app

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