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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

    QuickBooks Desktop for Mac

    Score8 out of 10
    N/AQuickbooks Desktop for Mac is an accounting software designed for Mac users. It is designed to integrate with Apple iCloud. It provides core accounting features in line with the rest of the Quickbooks Desktop product line.N/A
    Pricing
    BQE COREQuickBooks Desktop for Mac
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    BQE COREQuickBooks Desktop for Mac
    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 COREQuickBooks Desktop for Mac
    Considered Both Products
    BQE Software Inc.
    Chose BQE CORE
    Monograph is the most closely similar platform that would be favorable as it has a better GUI and UX with simpler flexibility for customization on a per-project, per design phase basis, for example, utilizing simple radio buttons and drop-down selections. This can be readily …
    Incentivized
    Intuit
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    94%
    Would buy again
    144 Answers
    80%
    Would buy again
    4 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    98%
    Delivers good value for the price
    106 Answers
    80%
    Delivers good value for the price
    4 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    98%
    Happy with the feature set
    150 Answers
    80%
    Happy with the feature set
    4 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    92%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    70 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    82%
    Implementation went as expected
    81 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    BQE COREQuickBooks Desktop for Mac
    Payroll Management
    Comparison of Payroll Management features of BQE CORE and QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
    8.9
    13 Ratings
    16% above category average
    Pay calculation00 Ratings8.411 Ratings
    Benefit plan administration00 Ratings7.98 Ratings
    Direct deposit files00 Ratings10.010 Ratings
    Salary revision and increment management00 Ratings8.47 Ratings
    Reimbursement management00 Ratings10.09 Ratings
    Customization
    Comparison of Customization features of BQE CORE and QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
    7.5
    12 Ratings
    1% below category average
    API for custom integration00 Ratings7.08 Ratings
    Plug-ins00 Ratings8.011 Ratings
    Security
    Comparison of Security features of BQE CORE and QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
    10.0
    22 Ratings
    20% above category average
    Single sign-on capability00 Ratings10.022 Ratings
    Role-based user permissions00 Ratings10.019 Ratings
    Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of BQE CORE and QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
    6.7
    24 Ratings
    15% below category average
    Dashboards00 Ratings5.121 Ratings
    Standard reports00 Ratings7.924 Ratings
    Custom reports00 Ratings7.024 Ratings
    General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
    Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of BQE CORE and QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
    7.6
    26 Ratings
    0% below category average
    Accounts payable00 Ratings8.126 Ratings
    Accounts receivable00 Ratings7.625 Ratings
    Cash management00 Ratings5.520 Ratings
    Bank reconciliation00 Ratings9.526 Ratings
    Expense management00 Ratings8.622 Ratings
    Time tracking00 Ratings7.514 Ratings
    Fixed asset management00 Ratings7.016 Ratings
    Multi-currency support00 Ratings5.011 Ratings
    Multi-division support00 Ratings6.012 Ratings
    Regulations compliance00 Ratings10.011 Ratings
    Electronic tax filing00 Ratings10.017 Ratings
    Self-service portal00 Ratings7.615 Ratings
    Global Financial Support00 Ratings5.08 Ratings
    Primary and Secondary Ledgers00 Ratings8.615 Ratings
    Intercompany Accounting00 Ratings8.116 Ratings
    Localizations00 Ratings8.07 Ratings
    Journals and Reconciliations00 Ratings9.519 Ratings
    Enterprise Accounting00 Ratings8.67 Ratings
    Configurable Accounting00 Ratings6.511 Ratings
    Centralized Rules Framework00 Ratings6.511 Ratings
    Standardized Processes00 Ratings6.915 Ratings
    Inventory Management
    Comparison of Inventory Management features of BQE CORE and QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
    7.4
    17 Ratings
    2% above category average
    Inventory tracking00 Ratings9.516 Ratings
    Automatic reordering00 Ratings6.512 Ratings
    Location management00 Ratings6.911 Ratings
    Manufacturing module00 Ratings6.510 Ratings
    Order Management
    Comparison of Order Management features of BQE CORE and QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    QuickBooks Desktop for Mac
    9.1
    20 Ratings
    21% above category average
    Pricing00 Ratings9.019 Ratings
    Order entry00 Ratings9.518 Ratings
    Credit card processing00 Ratings9.119 Ratings
    Cost of goods sold00 Ratings9.118 Ratings
    Order Orchestration00 Ratings9.07 Ratings
    End-to-end order visibility00 Ratings9.19 Ratings
    Order exception Resolution00 Ratings9.18 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    BQE COREQuickBooks Desktop for Mac
    Small Businesses
    Autotask PSA
    Score7.7 out of 10
    QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
    Score4.3 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Workday Professional Services Automation
    Score8.2 out of 10
    MYOB
    Score8.3 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Planview AdaptiveWork
    Score8.7 out of 10
    Microsoft Dynamics GP
    Score5.3 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    BQE COREQuickBooks Desktop for Mac
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.4
    (167 ratings)
    8.1
    (34 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.0
    (8 ratings)
    8.0
    (9 ratings)
    Usability
    9.6
    (117 ratings)
    6.1
    (8 ratings)
    Availability
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.4
    (90 ratings)
    7.0
    (4 ratings)
    Online Training
    6.4
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    2.3
    (6 ratings)
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    4.5
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    BQE COREQuickBooks Desktop for Mac
    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
    Intuit
    If you're a freelancer or running a very small business where you do your own bookkeeping I think this is a great option, especially if you're familiar with accounting and bookkeeping in general. If you're not so familiar with bookkeeping, I would say that the learning curve is too steep and you might want to look elsewhere for a more intuitive solution
    Incentivized
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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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Intuit
    • The program is very easy to learn, the interface is incredibly user-friendly and there are tons of free resources and tutorials available
    • It makes managing payroll really easy for the employee and accountant on staff. No more lost time sheets or late paychecks!
    • Managing bills and paying them has become streamlined and it's great having everything in one place so we don't lose track of things.
    Incentivized
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    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
    Intuit
    • The #1 complaint is that setting it up right is a challenge. People waste time trying to figure it out only to realize that they don't know accounting so of course they don't know how an accounting program should be set up. Like any time you are in over your head, reach out to your network and find someone who can log onto your computer and walk you through it.
    • If you need to track the cost of wages to jobs you can't do it with the online payroll, but check for yourself because it's a function that landscaping companies and construction businesses usually need, so maybe they have added it by now. That would really help!
    • It's premise-based software and that means you take on the role of hardware admin, and it's a lot of work for what is increasingly becoming a smaller gap in the functionality between QuickBooks for Mac and QuickBooks Online.
    • QuickBooks for Mac 2015 has been updated consistently over the last 3 years and continues to provide for the bookkeeping needs of small companies using Macs in their offices. However, it has limited job costing functionality. It is similar in functionality to the 2010 version of QuickBooksPro which runs on Windows.
    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
    Intuit
    I haven't spent that much time with the newer versions of QuickBooks for Mac, but I think I'm seeing it make the much-needed improvements. For example, something as simple as undoing the previous reconciliation was a terrible chore, and I'm glad that feature has been included in the newer versions of QuickBooks for Mac
    Incentivized
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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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Intuit
    The Mac version is OK overall. I find the Windows versions to be much more robust but Mac is quite good for Mac users. Though I think die hard Mac users should consider QuickBooks Online instead as there is a new QB for Mac app that makes using QBO much better!
    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
    Intuit
    I've been using the QuickBooks online version for a little over 6 months now (upgraded from Mac desktop) and I haven't had any access issues. There have been times when it was down for service/upgrade however there is always plenty of notification time given by the Quick Books Online Support team. These upgrade maintenance time frames are always over night hours and on the weekends so everything can be worked around very easily.
    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
    Intuit
    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
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    Intuit
    Fortunately, I haven't had to reach out much for support.
    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
    Intuit
    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
    Intuit
    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
    Intuit
    I love using Quickbooks compared to other software we've tried. QuickBooks Online and TSheets interface. Customer service and problem resolution are generally excellent, with well-trained and proficient agents taking calls or on chat. Ease of use and accessibility via the mobile app. Great courses were available to help with learning the basics and some advanced accounting background. I love learning! Online accessibility - it can work anywhere with an internet connection. Linking to bank and credit card accounts is handy.
    Read full review
    Scalability
    BQE Software Inc.
    This software works on a small and large scale.
    Read full review
    Intuit
    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
    Intuit
    • It has allowed us to offer multiple bookkeeping softwares for clients that do not want to change from what they have been using.
    • Payroll filing has given us ease of mind because we can physically make the filings rather than waiting on payroll software to make them for us.
    Incentivized
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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