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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    BQE CORE

    Score8.8 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

    FreshBooks

    Score9.2 out of 10
    Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
    FreshBooks is an accounting service for small businesses. The solution enables users to send and manage invoices, track billable time and collect online payments. The vendor’s value proposition this that their solution provides a straightforward service that simplifies the billing process.

    $21

    per month

    Vtiger

    Score9 out of 10
    N/AVtiger is a customer relationship management (CRM) solution with sales and marketing automation, project management, and inventory management capabilities.

    $28

    per month per user

    Pricing
    BQE COREFreshBooksVtiger
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Lite
    $21
    per month
    Plus
    $38
    per month
    Premium
    $65
    per month
    Select
    Custom Pricing
    One Professional - Single App
    $28
    per month per user
    One Professional - Standard
    $42
    per month per user
    One Enterprise - Single App
    $42
    per month per user
    One Enterprise - Standard
    $58
    per month per user
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    BQE COREFreshBooksVtiger
    Free Trial
    YesYesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYesYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee$10 / user / month
    Additional Details10% discount for annual pricing.Discounts are provided for both annual subscriptions, and for high volume users.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    BQE COREFreshBooksVtiger
    Considered Multiple Products
    BQE Software Inc.
    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.
    Incentivized
    Chose BQE CORE
    They aren't used for the same thing so not able to compare.
    Incentivized
    FreshBooks
    No answer on this topic
    Vtiger
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    94%
    Would buy again
    144 Answers
    69%
    Would buy again
    9 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    98%
    Delivers good value for the price
    106 Answers
    82%
    Delivers good value for the price
    9 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    98%
    Happy with the feature set
    150 Answers
    54%
    Happy with the feature set
    7 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    92%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    70 Answers
    64%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    7 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    82%
    Implementation went as expected
    81 Answers
    62%
    Implementation went as expected
    8 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    BQE COREFreshBooksVtiger
    Customization
    Comparison of Customization features of BQE CORE and FreshBooks and Vtiger
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    FreshBooks
    9.1
    35 Ratings
    18% above category average
    Vtiger
    8.7
    9 Ratings
    13% above category average
    API for custom integration00 Ratings9.330 Ratings9.07 Ratings
    Plug-ins00 Ratings9.026 Ratings00 Ratings
    Custom fields00 Ratings00 Ratings10.09 Ratings
    Custom objects00 Ratings00 Ratings7.08 Ratings
    Security
    Comparison of Security features of BQE CORE and FreshBooks and Vtiger
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    FreshBooks
    10.0
    41 Ratings
    20% above category average
    Vtiger
    8.0
    9 Ratings
    5% below category average
    Single sign-on capability00 Ratings10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Role-based user permissions00 Ratings10.041 Ratings8.09 Ratings
    Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of BQE CORE and FreshBooks and Vtiger
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    FreshBooks
    7.5
    57 Ratings
    4% below category average
    Vtiger
    -
    Ratings
    Dashboards00 Ratings9.057 Ratings00 Ratings
    Standard reports00 Ratings8.855 Ratings00 Ratings
    Custom reports00 Ratings4.82 Ratings00 Ratings
    General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
    Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of BQE CORE and FreshBooks and Vtiger
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    FreshBooks
    7.5
    56 Ratings
    2% below category average
    Vtiger
    -
    Ratings
    Accounts payable00 Ratings8.041 Ratings00 Ratings
    Accounts receivable00 Ratings9.455 Ratings00 Ratings
    Cash management00 Ratings7.03 Ratings00 Ratings
    Bank reconciliation00 Ratings7.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Expense management00 Ratings6.651 Ratings00 Ratings
    Time tracking00 Ratings7.642 Ratings00 Ratings
    Multi-currency support00 Ratings7.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Regulations compliance00 Ratings6.021 Ratings00 Ratings
    Self-service portal00 Ratings9.13 Ratings00 Ratings
    Order Management
    Comparison of Order Management features of BQE CORE and FreshBooks and Vtiger
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    FreshBooks
    9.5
    49 Ratings
    25% above category average
    Vtiger
    -
    Ratings
    Pricing00 Ratings8.839 Ratings00 Ratings
    Order entry00 Ratings9.337 Ratings00 Ratings
    Credit card processing00 Ratings9.741 Ratings00 Ratings
    Cost of goods sold00 Ratings10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Sales Force Automation
    Comparison of Sales Force Automation features of BQE CORE and FreshBooks and Vtiger
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    FreshBooks
    -
    Ratings
    Vtiger
    9.3
    9 Ratings
    17% above category average
    Customer data management / contact management00 Ratings00 Ratings10.09 Ratings
    Workflow management00 Ratings00 Ratings9.09 Ratings
    Opportunity management00 Ratings00 Ratings9.09 Ratings
    Integration with email client (e.g., Outlook or Gmail)00 Ratings00 Ratings9.09 Ratings
    Contract management00 Ratings00 Ratings9.07 Ratings
    Quote & order management00 Ratings00 Ratings9.07 Ratings
    Interaction tracking00 Ratings00 Ratings10.07 Ratings
    Customer Service & Support
    Comparison of Customer Service & Support features of BQE CORE and FreshBooks and Vtiger
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    FreshBooks
    -
    Ratings
    Vtiger
    8.5
    7 Ratings
    10% above category average
    Case management00 Ratings00 Ratings8.07 Ratings
    Help desk management00 Ratings00 Ratings9.07 Ratings
    Marketing Automation
    Comparison of Marketing Automation features of BQE CORE and FreshBooks and Vtiger
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    FreshBooks
    -
    Ratings
    Vtiger
    6.5
    7 Ratings
    17% below category average
    Lead management00 Ratings00 Ratings7.07 Ratings
    Email marketing00 Ratings00 Ratings6.07 Ratings
    CRM Project Management
    Comparison of CRM Project Management features of BQE CORE and FreshBooks and Vtiger
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    FreshBooks
    -
    Ratings
    Vtiger
    8.7
    9 Ratings
    12% above category average
    Task management00 Ratings00 Ratings8.07 Ratings
    Billing and invoicing management00 Ratings00 Ratings9.08 Ratings
    Reporting00 Ratings00 Ratings9.08 Ratings
    CRM Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of CRM Reporting & Analytics features of BQE CORE and FreshBooks and Vtiger
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    FreshBooks
    -
    Ratings
    Vtiger
    8.7
    8 Ratings
    13% above category average
    Forecasting00 Ratings00 Ratings7.07 Ratings
    Pipeline visualization00 Ratings00 Ratings10.07 Ratings
    Customizable reports00 Ratings00 Ratings9.08 Ratings
    Social CRM
    Comparison of Social CRM features of BQE CORE and FreshBooks and Vtiger
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    FreshBooks
    -
    Ratings
    Vtiger
    8.0
    6 Ratings
    6% above category average
    Social engagement00 Ratings00 Ratings8.06 Ratings
    Platform
    Comparison of Platform features of BQE CORE and FreshBooks and Vtiger
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    FreshBooks
    -
    Ratings
    Vtiger
    10.0
    6 Ratings
    27% above category average
    Mobile access00 Ratings00 Ratings10.06 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    BQE COREFreshBooksVtiger
    Small Businesses
    Autotask PSA
    Score7.7 out of 10
    QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
    Score4.3 out of 10
    Salesflare
    Score10 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Workday Professional Services Automation
    Score8.2 out of 10
    MYOB
    Score8.3 out of 10
    Kintone
    Score9.7 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Planview AdaptiveWork
    Score8.8 out of 10
    Microsoft Dynamics GP
    Score5.5 out of 10
    Oracle Sales
    Score8.9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    BQE COREFreshBooksVtiger
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.4
    (167 ratings)
    7.6
    (75 ratings)
    9.0
    (9 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.0
    (8 ratings)
    7.6
    (18 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    9.6
    (117 ratings)
    9.6
    (20 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    Availability
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.4
    (90 ratings)
    6.0
    (11 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Online Training
    6.4
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    2.3
    (6 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    CPA Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    4.5
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    BQE COREFreshBooksVtiger
    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
    FreshBooks
    I recommend FreshBooks to anyone running a service-based business that needs invoicing, time reporting, and accounting tools. FB is adept in all three of these scenarios and isn't overly complicated like similar accounting packages I have used. I love how I can write estimates and proposals, manage the business development process from the software, and quickly convert prospects to invoiced clients.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Vtiger
    vTiger packs a ton of functionality and capability, but the challenge is getting there. In today's day where everyone is doing more with less, having a solution that meets a couple specific needs and does that well is essential. To me, at times I feel as though vTiger is trying to be a "jack of all trades" solution which ultimately ends up making it more confusing to use. However, on the flip side of that, if you take the time to learn everything about vTiger, I am sure it is an awesome tool but there is a learning curve associated with it. Finally, I would like to see more integrations with other vendors moving forward so if we cannot use vTiger for everything, at least it would have the ability to "talk" with other programs.
    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
    FreshBooks
    • Invoicing - FreshBooks basically ensures our accountants spend less time on invoices via its automated invoicing system, which sends invoices to our customers and clients alike and also send them regular reminders for them to pay up their bills.
    • Collecting business insights - FreshBooks enable our company analysts measure our business performances via data reports provided by FreshBooks' intuitive dashboard. Allowing us do a comparative analysis of key business metrics of a current month against past months and determine if the business is growing.
    • Expense tracker - We have recently embraced FreshBooks as an expense tracker for teams at our company branch. Thusfar, FreshBooks has performed very well, making our expense management a perfect operation; ensuring teams do not exceed their planned budget and also eliminating the need for tracking expenses on excel spreadsheets.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Vtiger
    • User-friendly interface.
    • Reliable tracking system and alerts to maintain overall control of the proceses.
    • Meets all the needs of the average company.
    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
    FreshBooks
    • I can brand invoices with my business logo, but I might like to change colours of the invoices themselves to match the rest of my business documents. That isn't a major point at all, but it's something that I'd like to see.
    • Freshbooks doesn't remember the categories that similar expenses were previously assigned to. It would be nice if Freshbooks would suggest a category for an already saved vendor, to ensure the consistency of expense reporting.
    • The home page of a Freshbooks account has a great graph display of expenses and income, but it only shows the last 6 months. This is still very useful, but I'd like to be able to see this kind of graph for different periods of time.
    Read full review
    Vtiger
    • Though you can create reports however you want, they may need to come out in multiple files. I wish this could be aggregated.
    • It's still very simple. There is room for improvement with the setup of the admin panel.
    • The dropdowns function funny when scrolled down. It's picky but it's frustrating.
    • The search function could be improved.
    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
    FreshBooks
    At the current needs of our business, FreshBooks suits us perfectly - it allows online access by our accountant to the system for GST purposes, easy input of expenses and tracking of Profit and Loss statements. FreshBooks customer service is great as well - very understanding and accommodating.
    Read full review
    Vtiger
    No answers on this topic
    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
    FreshBooks
    FreshBooks is very easy to use even for novices. If you're looking for an online accounting software that is full of features, has great aesthetics and is user-friendly, then this is definitely the software for you. I've been using it for several years now and despite being tempted to switch by other vendors, I like the feel of FreshBooks and it's mobile features.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Vtiger
    In the Last versions they have done a strong effort in creating a powerful data screen. Inside the screen you have access to signing, communications with multiple tools integration and connections with all modules related. With a single view you have all control over your data relations. It is similar to a control managing.
    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
    FreshBooks
    FreshBooks is easy to use and always works!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Vtiger
    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
    FreshBooks
    No answers on this topic
    Vtiger
    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
    FreshBooks
    I think the support level for FreshBooks is on par with a 6 because the folks behind this application do a fairly good job at providing support for their customer base. I still don't think they are at an elite level when it comes to supporting but are getting there although too slow in my opinion.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Vtiger
    It is as good as you could expect for a company that operates from another continent. Emails are quickly responded to and do not usually require additional questions or answers. It is quite rare for a company of their size to be as responsive as they are and that makes them a sound choice to deal with.
    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
    FreshBooks
    No answers on this topic
    Vtiger
    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
    FreshBooks
    I haven't changed my mind since my first evaluation. Freshbooks is still meeting my needs, easy to use, etc.
    Read full review
    Vtiger
    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
    FreshBooks
    FreshBooks does very well in comparison, especially since it is free software for Barclays bank users. Sage software is much worse than FreshBooks. However, Xero and QuickBooks, the market leaders, are still ahead with usability, additional features, reporting, and connection with third-party software providers. We chose FreshBooks as it does everything we require from this type of software.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Vtiger
    VTiger had better overall cost and native capabilities that other solutions lacked. We used Nutshell CRM for over a year. It was a very efficient contact management system, but it seemed that if we needed to do anything but record contacts, we had to use an add-on. We spent a lot of time exporting and importing between different services. Quoting, invoicing, and payments all had to be manually transferred to our accounting system. It was very frustrating
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    BQE Software Inc.
    This software works on a small and large scale.
    Read full review
    FreshBooks
    No answers on this topic
    Vtiger
    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
    FreshBooks
    • In reality, we do not implement all of its use at the moment in order to determine an adequate ROI.
    • In our approach to the use of the system, it seems to us a considerable time saving by achieving the integration of the Mexican subsidiary with its parent located in the US.
    • Financial reports meet the necessary USGAAP requirements.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Vtiger
    • Integration Across the Organization - What started out as just a CRM tool for sales is now being used for ticket management and project management.
    • Steep Learning Curve - It is not as intuitive out of the box and really requires a dedicated person to be a vTiger expert which can be challenging and time consuming.
    • Reliability - Sometimes features that worked yesterday don't work today, thus causing more time to complete the same exact task that was done previously. The thing that comes to mind specifically is the main search box as 1/2 the time it works, 1/2 the time it doesn't work.
    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

    FreshBooks Screenshots

    Screenshot of the dashboardScreenshot of an invoice overviewScreenshot of an example of a customizable invoiceScreenshot of an invoice appearing across devicesScreenshot of expensesScreenshot of time tracking

    Vtiger Screenshots

    Screenshot of Vtiger's home page dashboardScreenshot of A typical contact record in Vtiger