BQE CORE vs. Namely

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
Namely
Score 7.3 out of 10
N/A
Namely offers a cloud-based HR platform for integrated core and specialized HR services, including time and employee performance management and onboarding processes.
$9
per month
Pricing
BQE CORENamely
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Namely Now
$9
per month per user
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
BQE CORENamely
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeRequired
Additional DetailsNamely Now offers small-businesses an HCM including payroll and HR at a budget conscious price. For growing companies we have Namely Plus which includes payroll and HR, talent, time, and other tools to engage and enrich their employees. For companies looking to free up more time internally for strategy, Namely offers Namely Plus People, including managed Payroll and Benefits. And for the business who wants to expand while minimizing risk and liability, our white-glove comprehensive PEO solution is Namely Complete.
More Pricing Information
Features
BQE CORENamely
Project Management
Comparison of Project Management features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
8.1
55 Ratings
8% above category average
Namely
-
Ratings
Task Management8.537 Ratings00 Ratings
Resource Management9.138 Ratings00 Ratings
Gantt Charts6.716 Ratings00 Ratings
Scheduling8.226 Ratings00 Ratings
Workflow Automation7.627 Ratings00 Ratings
Team Collaboration8.031 Ratings00 Ratings
Support for Agile Methodology8.712 Ratings00 Ratings
Support for Waterfall Methodology8.312 Ratings00 Ratings
Document Management7.230 Ratings00 Ratings
Email integration7.225 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile Access8.532 Ratings00 Ratings
Timesheet Tracking9.355 Ratings00 Ratings
Change request and Case Management8.521 Ratings00 Ratings
Budget and Expense Management7.343 Ratings00 Ratings
Professional Services Automation
Comparison of Professional Services Automation features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
8.4
38 Ratings
13% above category average
Namely
-
Ratings
Quotes/estimates7.820 Ratings00 Ratings
Invoicing8.833 Ratings00 Ratings
Project & financial reporting8.737 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with accounting software8.424 Ratings00 Ratings
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Namely
6.3
143 Ratings
22% below category average
Employee demographic data00 Ratings6.6132 Ratings
Employment history00 Ratings7.1138 Ratings
Job profiles and administration00 Ratings7.030 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.00 Ratings7.0132 Ratings
Organizational charting00 Ratings4.7134 Ratings
Organization and location management00 Ratings5.7129 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)00 Ratings6.282 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Namely
7.2
127 Ratings
11% below category average
Pay calculation00 Ratings8.8111 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors00 Ratings6.953 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment00 Ratings7.057 Ratings
Benefit plan administration00 Ratings6.9109 Ratings
Direct deposit files00 Ratings8.3113 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management00 Ratings5.3100 Ratings
Reimbursement management00 Ratings7.057 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Namely
7.7
124 Ratings
5% below category average
Approval workflow00 Ratings7.2121 Ratings
Balance details00 Ratings7.5116 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment00 Ratings8.395 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Namely
7.6
141 Ratings
6% below category average
View and generate pay and benefit information00 Ratings7.9129 Ratings
Update personal information00 Ratings8.2140 Ratings
View company policy documentation00 Ratings7.0127 Ratings
Employee recognition00 Ratings7.3116 Ratings
View job history00 Ratings7.3134 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Namely
5.7
53 Ratings
30% below category average
Tracking of all physical assets00 Ratings5.753 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Namely
7.0
121 Ratings
8% below category average
Report builder00 Ratings7.4117 Ratings
Pre-built reports00 Ratings7.7112 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data00 Ratings5.874 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Namely
6.5
116 Ratings
21% below category average
New hire portal00 Ratings7.4110 Ratings
Manager tracking tools00 Ratings5.685 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Namely
4.9
96 Ratings
50% below category average
Corporate goal setting00 Ratings6.086 Ratings
Individual goal setting00 Ratings4.594 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility00 Ratings4.272 Ratings
Performance tracking00 Ratings5.089 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Namely
5.4
107 Ratings
38% below category average
Performance plans00 Ratings5.296 Ratings
Performance improvement plans00 Ratings3.568 Ratings
Review status tracking00 Ratings6.595 Ratings
Review reminders00 Ratings6.398 Ratings
Multiple review frequency00 Ratings5.485 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Namely
5.6
21 Ratings
34% below category average
Candidate search00 Ratings5.621 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Namely
7.9
6 Ratings
2% above category average
Job Requisition Management00 Ratings7.95 Ratings
Company Website Posting00 Ratings7.65 Ratings
Publish to Social Media00 Ratings7.65 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting00 Ratings8.25 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention00 Ratings7.85 Ratings
Applicant Tracking00 Ratings8.05 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts00 Ratings8.26 Ratings
Best Alternatives
BQE CORENamely
Small Businesses
Stackby
Stackby
Score 9.8 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 CORENamely
Likelihood to Recommend
8.6
(148 ratings)
7.4
(145 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.2
(8 ratings)
9.1
(9 ratings)
Usability
8.1
(100 ratings)
7.1
(71 ratings)
Availability
8.2
(1 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Performance
7.3
(1 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
8.0
(90 ratings)
8.0
(27 ratings)
Online Training
6.4
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
2.9
(6 ratings)
4.9
(85 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
4.5
(1 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.2
(1 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.2
(1 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
8.2
(1 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
BQE CORENamely
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.
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Namely
Namely is aesthetically very pleasing and navigates like other social media platforms which can be appealing to potentially a remote workforce who interacts more online than in person. Unfortunately, it did not serve our population well as we are primarily manufacturing where people are not as interested in utilizing the HRIS for interactions when they would rather connect in person.
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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
Namely
  • Namely has helped with our COVID sick leave response. It has made a major difference both with the weekly payroll and the 941 tax filing
  • Keeping track of our multiple PTO plans. Thank goodness for Namely, I have shredded my old PTO spreadsheets.
  • Employees like the convenience of the cell phone app. As a payroll administrator, I like the Geo Tracking tool where I can see where some are when the clock is in or out.
  • The flexibility inside of the payroll system both as you are finalizing an employee profile and when you are processing payroll is a major advantage.
  • The reports I get out of Namely in Excel format work well for me.
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
Namely
  • Limits to custom reporting
  • No direct feed for Ohio Workers Comp (now a manual process on our end)
  • No option to place an employee on Leave of Absence and exclude them from payroll while they are "inactive"
  • No option to suppress certain deductions for certain pay types (i.e. allow 401K for commissions but block remaining deductions - also now a manual process to uncheck the suppress box for 401K for each commission check)
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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
Namely
Administrators and employees love Namely. It is very easy to use and streamlined. Employees stay engaged with news feed updates and enjoy all the self service options. The time cards are very easy to access and clocking in and out for non-exempt employees is a breeze. Namely is part of our family.
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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.
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Namely
It is very simple to use for myself, the HR team, and our employees. I find the payroll process very user-friendly. Reporting is simple to navigate and produce the required information requested. I know our employees enjoy the self-service feature and use it on a regular basis, which saves me time.
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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
Namely
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.
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Namely
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.
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Namely
Unfortunately, in more recent years we've had a lot of difficulty with Namely as they've undergone a lot of internal changes. It took 4 returned emails saying the person no longer worked at Namely to find someone to help me (I finally called payroll) and it took a while to get connected with a direct source of help. Namely now has set up their "pod" feature of communication which works well for the most part, but is different. I felt spoiled when we first started with Namely, but now it feels very much like working with most large companies' help centers. There is a system to go through and you do have the option to click "urgent". In general the help is efficient, but it still takes a few days and it's hard to speak with someone directly. It is all done via online communications and is difficult to actually speak to someone on the phone. This works well for most cases, but I do feel frustrated more often than I'd like to with this type of communication. (2019/2020)
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Online Training
BQE Software Inc.
Make sure you have someone training you that fits your style of learning.
Read full review
Namely
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.
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Namely
Implementation was a bit complicated and our company had to carry most of the weight. It often felt like our implementation manager was giving us extra work that she did not want to do herself. It also took much longer than expected - I believe almost 2 months. I believe our company carried a bit too much of the weight.
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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
Namely
Namely has a robust suite of offerings, and fallows for a la carte selection of add-ons (rather than a single bundled option). This has allowed our company to save money by not purchasing options / functionalities that we dont need, but may drive up the cost for other companies who need more a la carte selections. In all, the size of the company, the size & capabilities of the internal HR team, and considerations like managed payroll and benefits should be key drivers in selection.
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Scalability
BQE Software Inc.
This software works on a small and large scale.
Read full review
Namely
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
Namely
  • When we were over 100, it provided a huge benefit to us due to the accuracy of payroll, benefits integration and management, and org chart and performance tracking. Having all of that in one place was a huge improvement from the former disjointed user experience.
  • When we dropped below 100 due to covid, our insurance rates went up 93% to offer comparable plans, and we had to move over to a PEO for benefits which meant we also had to move payroll. It was hugely disruptive, and now our employees have a bad experience when trying to manage their HR lives in multiple places. It is confusing and, again, disjointed.
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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

Namely Screenshots

Screenshot of Namely News Feed: The home base to make announcements, express appreciation, and to celebrate important milestones.Screenshot of HR Analytics: data to drive confidence in an active people strategy and to encourage pride in provable resultsScreenshot of Talent & Performance Management: connects, engages, and develops the workforce in a platform designed so that employees actually want to use itScreenshot of Benefits Administration: modern, integrated benefits technology makes it easy for employees to enroll and easier to manageScreenshot of Payroll Administration: integrated with HR data and coupled with full payroll tax servicesScreenshot of Namely Mobile App: request time off and access paystubs and benefits information from anywhere