Likelihood to Recommend 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 I am only going to recommend it because it is currently ubiquitous, and most accountants prefer it at the moment. I do not stand by the company, and will not use the product any longer than I have to. [I believe] the support is lousy, the product is overpriced, but it does the basics of what we need. I'm very happy for all those outside Intuit who make their living supporting QuickBooks Desktop Pro; third-party support is desperately needed. They also doubled their prices for software upgrades this year, and require those who don't pay double what the last upgrade cost, to subscribe every year for $200. If one does not subscribe beyond the first year, one will not be able to use the software beyond the first year. They are moving to a rental model even for those who refuse to use the LOUSY QuickBooks online. They were good company once. Now they just turn out bloatware that everyone uses, so the rest of us have to. I look forward to the day that an honest, better-priced competitor wipes the floor with Intuit.
Read full review Pros 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 It is easy to manage and adjust inventory on hand. It is easy to make reports and customize them to your needs. We also use it to pay our employees directly. It is easy to make year-to-year comparisons to see where we can make improvements and the current financial situation. Read full review Cons 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 QuickBooks Desktop Pro has been around for a few years and after an update[,] they force you to look at the changes/updates before you can use [them] after updating. QuickBooks Desktop Pro does not have 2FA. QuickBooks Desktop Pro should offer a way to store backups to a personal cloud without having to map a local network drive. Tony Lamm Computer and Information Systems Manager
Read full review Likelihood to Renew 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 We've used the program for more than 20 years in our firm both with clients and as our software. For the cost and value of the program it works well for our firms needs and desires for an accounting software program. At this point to switch would not make sense.
Read full review Usability 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 It is a great software that does everything a small business needs it to do, but there are just a few bugs and quirks that make additional software necessary. The slowness of the software occasionally might eventually be overshadowed by the quickness of cloud-based software though.
Read full review Reliability and Availability I can only remember a couple of times in 4 years that Core has been unavailable.
Read full review I haven't experienced a time when QuickBooks Pro was unavailable when I needed it in the entire 20 years of using the software
Read full review Performance 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 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 The support team is not always easy to use or able to understand the problems. There are some difficulties understanding [...] the issues the purchaser has and the solutions are sometimes hard to implement. A lot can be avoided if the users have adequate training and security is set up correctly at implementation.
Read full review In-Person Training Best thing I ever did was to attend a two day training seminar on QuickBooks, I learned an immense amount in a short time with hands on training by experts. I strongly recommend such training for anyone using any part of the software. It will pay for itself in the first month.
Read full review Online Training Make sure you have someone training you that fits your style of learning.
Read full review Implementation Rating It does take some time to understand the options and to find the best invoice template.
Read full review We implemented the software ourselves. The training we received on the software was done by taking a community course teaching us how to use QuickBooks. It allowed me to get started with some basics of how to use the program and have not needed much assistance since completing the course work.
Read full review Alternatives Considered 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 Zoho had great end-user support and it was almost as simple to learn and was as easy to use. But its reports were not as [customizable] as QuickBooks Desktop Pro, and its job cost and department accounting [were] more cumbersome than QuickBooks Desktop Pro was. In addition, while I like an underdog (Zoho) the fact is that it is easier to find staff that [is] comfortable with QuickBooks Desktop Pro than anything else on the market.
Read full review Scalability This software works on a small and large scale.
Read full review Return on Investment 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 QuickBooks Desktop Pro is a no hassle accounting solution that ticks a lot of boxes. It almost never disappoints and organizations will usually keep using it for many years. If anything, the only time I've seen an organization migrate away from it is if they have specific accounting needs, or if the organization has grown to the point that they need a more robust accounting solution. Even then, QuickBooks can usually be maintained within another accounting software system for specific functions, like A/R & A/P for example. Read full review ScreenShots