BigTime Software vs. BQE CORE

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
BigTime Software
Score 6.3 out of 10
N/A
BigTime IQ is time and expense tracking software from Chicago-based BigTime Software.
$20
User per Month
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
BigTime SoftwareBQE CORE
Editions & Modules
Essentials
$20
User per Month
Advanced
$35
User per Month
Premier
$45
User per Month
Projector
$60
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
BigTime SoftwareBQE CORE
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
BigTime SoftwareBQE CORE
Considered Both Products
BigTime Software
Chose BigTime Software
I think BigTime Software has better invoice tracking and payment options but Monday offers better project tracking
Chose BigTime Software
After all the research and demos I watched, I had narrowed it down to BQE CORE & BigTime Software. We actually started w/ BQE CORE, which is an incredibly robust software with a lot of great abilities. It ended up being way more robust than we needed or wanted. We switched …
Chose BigTime Software
Many of those other softwares did not provide the detailed reporting capabilities that Big Time does. It was harder to get the data we needed out of those systems, and some just did not have it all together...
Chose BigTime Software
I didn't use the reporting features much on ClickTime, so I can't compare that. The previous company where I was that used ClickTime may have had just a basic subscription for timekeeping.
Chose BigTime Software
I liked the client management, but it didn't do time tracking, billing or syncing with quickbooks. It was too robust for my needs. I tried it for the client management and thought I might use it along with bigtime, but it was too cumbersome and would involve too much double …
Chose BigTime Software
BigTime Software blows Zoho out of the water because it's all in one place and the customer service is 1000x better than Zoho. It's easy to get answers and understand where the problem is and how to fix it. Zoho was confusing, didn't communicate well between modules, and the …
Chose BigTime Software
We selected BigTime [Software] because it had the most features that we needed in our company. It is lacking some features but overall it is a good fit for us.
Chose BigTime Software
I have used several custom products at various consulting forms that were clunky and difficult to work with.
Chose BigTime Software
The main reason why we have decided to change services [...] is because we have carried out an internal analysis to determine which tool [is the best], with the [most] appropriate functionalities to fulfill our labor proposal. [We] came to the conclusion that BigTime [Software] …
Chose BigTime Software
Customer Support; Ease of Platform Use; Product can and will do what it promises it will do!
Chose BigTime Software
While they have similar capabilities, our main reason for switching to BigTime Software was that Harvest could not reconcile expenses and labor hours into one budget line item, which threw off entire project budgets. In this regard, BigTime Software is more accurate and a much …
Chose BigTime Software
Ajera is not as user friendly and seems to be designed for larger corporations Does not have integrations with other software like QB
Chose BigTime Software
We looked at several different options, but most of them charge a percentage of the profits to use their service. BigTime is a flat rate for access/use and that works better with our business.
Chose BigTime Software
It’s a great alternative to other invoice software since it's easy for a quick Excel invoice or other timesheet for contracting work. It was easy to enter time and upload receipts as well. I uploaded a receipt for a software purchase when I had to add that to my billing as …
Chose BigTime Software
BigTime was recommended by enough people in our circle that we didn't even consider any other options. All other options were outside our price point as well.
Chose BigTime Software
We've been using BigTime exclusively since needing to incorporate a timesheet tracking for employees.
Chose BigTime Software
BigTime is much easier to use and available online and on mobile.
Chose BigTime Software
I have not used any other products like BigTime, but I know that our office was careful in selecting it and has been very pleased.
Chose BigTime Software
BigTime allows more detailed breakdowns by project than this software (though I used Kronos several years ago).
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
BigTime SoftwareBQE CORE
Project Management
Comparison of Project Management features of Product A and Product B
BigTime Software
-
Ratings
BQE CORE
8.1
Ratings
5% above category average
Task Management00 Ratings9.40 Ratings
Resource Management00 Ratings9.10 Ratings
Gantt Charts00 Ratings9.30 Ratings
Scheduling00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Workflow Automation00 Ratings8.10 Ratings
Team Collaboration00 Ratings6.90 Ratings
Support for Agile Methodology00 Ratings7.40 Ratings
Support for Waterfall Methodology00 Ratings4.60 Ratings
Document Management00 Ratings8.70 Ratings
Email integration00 Ratings6.30 Ratings
Mobile Access00 Ratings7.80 Ratings
Timesheet Tracking00 Ratings9.70 Ratings
Change request and Case Management00 Ratings8.40 Ratings
Budget and Expense Management00 Ratings9.10 Ratings
Professional Services Automation
Comparison of Professional Services Automation features of Product A and Product B
BigTime Software
-
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
BigTime SoftwareBQE CORE
Small Businesses
Teamwork.com
Teamwork.com
Score 8.4 out of 10
Stackby
Stackby
Score 8.9 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Teamwork.com
Teamwork.com
Score 8.4 out of 10
InEight
InEight
Score 8.2 out of 10
Enterprises
Planview AdaptiveWork
Planview AdaptiveWork
Score 8.5 out of 10
InEight
InEight
Score 8.2 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
BigTime SoftwareBQE CORE
Likelihood to Recommend
6.3
(0 ratings)
9.3
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(0 ratings)
7.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
6.1
(0 ratings)
9.5
(0 ratings)
Availability
8.2
(0 ratings)
8.2
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.1
(0 ratings)
7.3
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.0
(0 ratings)
7.4
(0 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
6.4
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(0 ratings)
2.3
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
4.5
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.2
(0 ratings)
8.2
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
8.2
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
8.2
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
BigTime SoftwareBQE CORE
Likelihood to Recommend
I believe it is well suited for our industry! We are professional services consulting firm and we need this! However if there is a smaller company who does not need to track these items, then they should not use this big of a platform
Read full review
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
Pros
  • Invoice Style and detail..Bigtime allows the user the ability to choose more of what you need to appear on your invoice with its window options.
  • Phase/Percentage Billing; ease of adding additional phases to a project mid-project; clearly identifying Retainers
  • Support Team- In particular Melissa D and Lina Z...Par Excellent on the Teams
  • WHIP/Reports/Review of Invoices just make the entire billing process a BREEZE has cut my time frame in half, a Incredible help in this Season of Remote Work Environment that we are adapting to.
Read full review
  • 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.
Read full review
Cons
  • For some types of projects, we are unable to use BigTime's invoicing feature. It would be nice if we could further customize invoices to fit our needs. We still have to use Quickbooks to complete certain invoices.
  • Being able to create Purchase Orders in BigTime would be extremely useful to us. We currently use Quickbooks for this.
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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
Its been a huge help in saving time and making billing more efficient. Would like to see the product grow and be able to continue to use it.
Read full review
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
Overall most areas of the software are easy to use. I tend to spend a lot of time in analytics and reports. Those are not as user friendly, in my opinion, and could use some improvements. I think it just takes time to get familiar with where items are stored in the program and what changes affect what.
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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
BigTime is available 99% of the time. At times there are bugs, but most are resolved quickly
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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
have not noticed a slow integration issue using QBO
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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 support is amazing! They are always available through the chat interface in the program. Each support person has fully answered my questions the first time. I have had a positive experience with each inquiry. It is very important to me that I am able to get instant access to help so that I can make the most of the software and all of its capabilities.
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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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Online Training
No answers on this topic
Make sure you have someone training you that fits your style of learning.
Read full review
Implementation Rating
I touched on this briefly, in another survey section, but my implementation manager, Kevin, was exceptional. The actual implementation process took 3 months, not 1 before I was comfortable rolling it out to staff. We also had to wait/schedule time and coordinate for our custom xml. invoice to be generated and in a place we felt comfortable sending it out to clients. In the end I was very satisfied, but during the first few months it was challenging.
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wont let me skip
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Alternatives Considered
The main reason why we have decided to change services [...] is because we have carried out an internal analysis to determine which tool [is the best], with the [most] appropriate functionalities to fulfill our labor proposal. [We] came to the conclusion that BigTime [Software] is much more complete in terms of functionalities and even [at a] lower price.
Read full review
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
The product is useful for faster billing and efficient timesheet logs. I do like the report features however there are many options and can be overwhelming for the user. It is most helpful to set up reports speaking to an agent to ensure the right fields are set, etc.
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This software works on a small and large scale.
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Return on Investment
  • Before BigTime, we were using Excel to track everything, creating invoices, and run reports. Getting on BigTime has saved us tons of time and effort which equates to dollars saved on labor.
  • From a legal standpoint, BigTime has allowed us to be organized and prepared in the event we would need to present financial details to anyone.
Read full review
  • 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

BigTime Software Screenshots

Screenshot of BigTime Wallet provides clients with a personalized experience to pay on time from anywhere, in one click.Screenshot of A big-picture view into operational insights to make adjustments to how resources are managed.Screenshot of Real-time, actionable insights for professional services firms.Screenshot of The platform is designed to work within existing workflows and software stack, acting as a single source of truth for data.Screenshot of BigTime's invoicing engine supports dozens of industry-standard billing scenarios and enough options to satisfy exacting customer needs.

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