BizMerlin vs. BQE CORE

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
BizMerlin
Score 9.0 out of 10
Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
BizMerlin is an HR Management Solution targeted at small and medium-sized teams, allowing them to hire, onboard, manage, allocate and retain their team members. The application is cloud based and available via web browsers and native iOS and Android mobile apps. The vendor also offers 100+ integrations with JIRA, Salesforce, QuickBooks and others. According to the vendor, key capabilities…N/A
BQE CORE
Score 8.5 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
BizMerlinBQE CORE
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
BizMerlinBQE CORE
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Features
BizMerlinBQE CORE
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
BizMerlin
9.0
3 Ratings
14% above category average
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Employee demographic data9.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Employment history9.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Job profiles and administration9.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Organizational charting9.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Organization and location management9.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
BizMerlin
9.0
2 Ratings
11% above category average
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors9.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Benefit plan administration9.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
BizMerlin
9.0
3 Ratings
11% above category average
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Balance details9.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment9.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
BizMerlin
9.0
3 Ratings
10% above category average
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
View and generate pay and benefit information9.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Update personal information9.03 Ratings00 Ratings
View company policy documentation9.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Employee recognition9.03 Ratings00 Ratings
View job history9.03 Ratings00 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
BizMerlin
9.0
3 Ratings
17% above category average
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Report builder9.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Pre-built reports9.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data9.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
BizMerlin
9.0
2 Ratings
12% above category average
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
New hire portal9.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Manager tracking tools9.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
BizMerlin
9.0
3 Ratings
10% above category average
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Corporate goal setting9.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Individual goal setting9.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility9.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance tracking9.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
BizMerlin
9.0
3 Ratings
13% above category average
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Performance plans9.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance improvement plans9.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Review status tracking9.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Review reminders9.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Multiple review frequency9.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
BizMerlin
9.0
2 Ratings
13% above category average
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Create succession plans/pools9.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Candidate ranking9.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Candidate development9.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
BizMerlin
9.0
3 Ratings
15% above category average
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Job Requisition Management9.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Company Website Posting9.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Publish to Social Media9.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting9.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention9.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Applicant Tracking9.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts9.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Project Management
Comparison of Project Management features of Product A and Product B
BizMerlin
-
Ratings
BQE CORE
8.1
55 Ratings
8% above category average
Task Management00 Ratings8.537 Ratings
Resource Management00 Ratings9.138 Ratings
Gantt Charts00 Ratings6.716 Ratings
Scheduling00 Ratings8.226 Ratings
Workflow Automation00 Ratings7.627 Ratings
Team Collaboration00 Ratings8.031 Ratings
Support for Agile Methodology00 Ratings8.712 Ratings
Support for Waterfall Methodology00 Ratings8.312 Ratings
Document Management00 Ratings7.230 Ratings
Email integration00 Ratings7.225 Ratings
Mobile Access00 Ratings8.532 Ratings
Timesheet Tracking00 Ratings9.355 Ratings
Change request and Case Management00 Ratings8.521 Ratings
Budget and Expense Management00 Ratings7.343 Ratings
Professional Services Automation
Comparison of Professional Services Automation features of Product A and Product B
BizMerlin
-
Ratings
BQE CORE
8.4
38 Ratings
13% above category average
Quotes/estimates00 Ratings7.820 Ratings
Invoicing00 Ratings8.833 Ratings
Project & financial reporting00 Ratings8.737 Ratings
Integration with accounting software00 Ratings8.424 Ratings
Best Alternatives
BizMerlinBQE CORE
Small Businesses
Patriot Software
Patriot Software
Score 9.0 out of 10
FunctionFox
FunctionFox
Score 8.3 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.5 out of 10
SAP Ruum
SAP Ruum
Score 9.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.3 out of 10
Quickbase
Quickbase
Score 9.2 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
BizMerlinBQE CORE
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(3 ratings)
8.6
(148 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
7.2
(8 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
8.1
(100 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
8.2
(1 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
7.3
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(90 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
6.4
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
2.9
(6 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
4.5
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
8.2
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
8.2
(1 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
8.2
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
BizMerlinBQE CORE
Likelihood to Recommend
BizMerlin
We took the trial of 3 HR software before going with BizMerlinHR. We wanted to have a comprehensive HR solution to cover our Paperless employee records, employee onboarding, PTO, Timesheets and Employee Performance Management. We were not looking for an Applicant Tracking system and Retention management module, but when we saw the functionality and easy use we were completely sold to those modules as well. It was like add-on but the price of everything was more economical than the other software that we were reviewing
Read full review
BQE Software Inc.
BQE CORE is well suited for a firm trying to get a better understanding of their project performance as a whole as well as better manage time and project resources. It is not the greatest for client management through a project or through invoicing, but it is do-able within the system.
Read full review
Pros
BizMerlin
  • Multiple integrations including LinkedIn for Business, Okta, and QuickBooks Online Advanced.
  • Payroll management.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
Cons
BizMerlin
  • Wall of fame or the feedback given to the users cannot be controlled. The users cannot choose or control who can view their wall of fame.
  • The dashboard is customizable at organization and geography level but cannot be customized at the individual level.
  • The filter on archived goals does not work properly using text search.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
BizMerlin
No answers on this topic
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.
Read full review
Usability
BizMerlin
No answers on this topic
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.
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
BizMerlin
No answers on this topic
BQE Software Inc.
I can only remember a couple of times in 4 years that Core has been unavailable.
Read full review
Performance
BizMerlin
No answers on this topic
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
Support Rating
BizMerlin
No answers on this topic
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.
Read full review
Online Training
BizMerlin
No answers on this topic
BQE Software Inc.
Make sure you have someone training you that fits your style of learning.
Read full review
Implementation Rating
BizMerlin
No answers on this topic
BQE Software Inc.
It does take some time to understand the options and to find the best invoice template.
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
BizMerlin
We took the trial of 3 HR software before going with BizMerlinHR. We wanted to have a comprehensive HR solution to cover our Paperless employee records, employee onboarding, PTO, Timesheets and Employee Performance Management. We were not looking for an Applicant Tracking system and Retention management module, but when we saw the functionality and easy use we were completely sold to those modules as well. It was like add-on but the price of everything was more economical than the other software that we were reviewing. Also, they really mean when they say "No setup fees" - because they helped us move all of our legacy data into the new system at no extra charge and helped us integrate with QuickBooks online. They definitely provide the best value of money when comparing the same set of features.
We have been using BizMerlinHR since 2018, and both our HR managers and users are very happy.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
Scalability
BizMerlin
No answers on this topic
BQE Software Inc.
This software works on a small and large scale.
Read full review
Return on Investment
BizMerlin
  • In terms of costs, it is a very accessible platform, it is flexible and very easy to process the payroll, we also synchronize it directly with Linkedin for job announcements.
Read full review
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
ScreenShots

BizMerlin Screenshots

Screenshot of Centralized People databaseScreenshot of FeedbackScreenshot of Publish positions openlyScreenshot of Skill MatrixScreenshot of Resource ForecastingScreenshot of Project Team

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