BQE CORE vs. Frontline HCM (Aesop Online)

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
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
Frontline HCM (Aesop Online)
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
N/AN/A
Pricing
BQE COREFrontline HCM (Aesop Online)
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
BQE COREFrontline HCM (Aesop Online)
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
BQE COREFrontline HCM (Aesop Online)
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
BQE COREFrontline HCM (Aesop Online)
Project Management
Comparison of Project Management features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
8.1
49 Ratings
7% above category average
Frontline HCM (Aesop Online)
-
Ratings
Task Management8.831 Ratings00 Ratings
Resource Management9.232 Ratings00 Ratings
Gantt Charts6.613 Ratings00 Ratings
Scheduling8.321 Ratings00 Ratings
Workflow Automation7.722 Ratings00 Ratings
Team Collaboration8.026 Ratings00 Ratings
Support for Agile Methodology9.310 Ratings00 Ratings
Support for Waterfall Methodology6.610 Ratings00 Ratings
Document Management6.824 Ratings00 Ratings
Email integration7.021 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile Access9.027 Ratings00 Ratings
Timesheet Tracking9.449 Ratings00 Ratings
Change request and Case Management8.717 Ratings00 Ratings
Budget and Expense Management7.537 Ratings00 Ratings
Professional Services Automation
Comparison of Professional Services Automation features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
8.4
34 Ratings
12% above category average
Frontline HCM (Aesop Online)
-
Ratings
Quotes/estimates7.817 Ratings00 Ratings
Invoicing8.829 Ratings00 Ratings
Project & financial reporting8.733 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with accounting software8.420 Ratings00 Ratings
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Frontline HCM (Aesop Online)
7.0
5 Ratings
11% below category average
Employee demographic data00 Ratings6.02 Ratings
Employment history00 Ratings5.01 Ratings
Job profiles and administration00 Ratings6.53 Ratings
Organization and location management00 Ratings8.52 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Frontline HCM (Aesop Online)
9.5
5 Ratings
16% above category average
Approval workflow00 Ratings8.95 Ratings
Balance details00 Ratings10.05 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment00 Ratings9.63 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Frontline HCM (Aesop Online)
6.9
3 Ratings
16% below category average
Update personal information00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
View company policy documentation00 Ratings6.22 Ratings
View job history00 Ratings7.52 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Frontline HCM (Aesop Online)
8.0
4 Ratings
5% above category average
Report builder00 Ratings7.23 Ratings
Pre-built reports00 Ratings8.84 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data00 Ratings7.92 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Frontline HCM (Aesop Online)
8.0
1 Ratings
0% below category average
New hire portal00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Manager tracking tools00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Frontline HCM (Aesop Online)
7.0
1 Ratings
13% below category average
Performance plans00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Frontline HCM (Aesop Online)
10.0
1 Ratings
24% above category average
Candidate search00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Best Alternatives
BQE COREFrontline HCM (Aesop Online)
Small Businesses
FunctionFox
FunctionFox
Score 8.3 out of 10
Patriot Software
Patriot Software
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
SAP Ruum
SAP Ruum
Score 9.0 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.5 out of 10
Enterprises
Quickbase
Quickbase
Score 9.2 out of 10
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.3 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
BQE COREFrontline HCM (Aesop Online)
Likelihood to Recommend
8.7
(142 ratings)
8.2
(16 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.2
(8 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
8.2
(100 ratings)
9.0
(3 ratings)
Availability
8.2
(1 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Performance
7.3
(1 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
8.0
(89 ratings)
9.0
(5 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Online Training
6.4
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
3.0
(6 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
4.5
(1 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.2
(1 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.2
(1 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
8.2
(1 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
BQE COREFrontline HCM (Aesop Online)
Likelihood to Recommend
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
Frontline Education
Frontline is well suited for an organization such as a school district where teachers sometimes need to put in for a substitute at the last minute or especially early in the morning. The system also helps with substitutes in picking up the jobs when a teacher puts in an absence.
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.
Read full review
Frontline Education
  • Easily submission process. Select the day you need to schedule on the listed calendar, mark the type of request, and submit.
  • Works on different digital devices including phones, tablets, and computers.
  • Easily track your balances by looking at your account history.
  • Delete requests you have already submitted.
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.
Read full review
Frontline Education
  • Teachers cannot cancel their own absence. We have to ask the office staff to do so. This is irritating when an absence must be canceled (Due to a canceled professional development, for example).
  • Sometimes absences go unfilled. It would be great if AESOP could have a roster of qualified substitutes to cover absences.
  • You cannot assign your absence to a particular substitute if you know he or she is available and a good fit for your absence.
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.
Read full review
Frontline Education
Long time customer with Frontline Absence Management. Product support has been excellent, integrations easy to work with, & suite of products mesh together well.
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.
Read full review
Frontline Education
While we have had minor issues logging in as our organization has its own login page, the site and its application are very easy to use. So long as members of a group log in through the appropriate page, navigating and using this site is quite easy. With the transition from Aesop to Frontline, the page also seems to have worked through any glitches found with the previous page and its app.
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
Frontline Education
There have been several times the system was unavailable. When there has been an issue, Frontline HAS NOT notified us....which has been disappointing.
Read full review
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
Frontline Education
No issues reported by end users of slow or not loading pages.
Read full review
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.
Read full review
Frontline Education
Internal support is provided by EDU Staff based out of Grand Rapids. Whenever I have had an issue they are very responsive to my needs. For instance, there may be conflicts in the amount of money that was listed for the contract. There may be questions about the length of an assignment such as 1/2 day, full day, or early dismissal. The school will sometimes enter the wrong information. Very good IT support, but sometimes you are on hold for 5 to 10 minutes because they do not have enough workers in their Call Center
Read full review
In-Person Training
BQE Software Inc.
No answers on this topic
Frontline Education
Our Implementer/Trainer was a product line expert. He (Connor) walked us through every step with confidence and explained everything in detail. Frontline provided written documentation, cut-n-paste emails to staff, and a test environment for us to play in. We were able to test unique scenarios without actually sending emails, notifications, alerts to staff. This was very useful.
Read full review
Online Training
BQE Software Inc.
Make sure you have someone training you that fits your style of learning.
Read full review
Frontline Education
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.
Read full review
Frontline Education
Our Frontline implementer was an expert in the field & knew the product in & out. We had very little issues going live.
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.
Read full review
Frontline Education
Frontline seems to be the industry standard for this software in the education industry. I am not familiar with any competitors or what was evaluated prior to implementing Frontline. For it to be the industry standard, I would assume that its cost is fair in relation to competitors and that the onboarding process is simple.
Read full review
Scalability
BQE Software Inc.
This software works on a small and large scale.
Read full review
Frontline Education
Our district has approximately 300 substitutes & 1,800 employees. Size has never been an issue with Absence Management. There are other districts much larger using Absence Management with no problems
Read full review
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
Frontline Education
  • It's given staff direct access to inputting their absences and secure coverage quicker, whereas before they had to make a call to a person. That person had to secure coverage for the entire district at different levels. Sometimes that person was absent or unable to provide coverage.
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