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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

    Really Simple Systems

    Score7.6 out of 10
    Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
    Really Simple Systems is a customer relationship management (CRM) software deployed via cloud with built-in features like email marketing, pipeline management, and case management.

    $8

    per month

    Pricing
    BQE COREReally Simple Systems
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Free CRM
    $0
    2 Users and 100 Company Records
    Starter
    $15
    per User, 1000 Company Records, Unlimited Contacts, 1 GB Document Storage, MailSync, Custom Settings, Custom Reports, API Integration, Online ‘self-service’ Support Hub, Email and Online Chat Support, Optional Marketing Module
    Professional
    $33
    per User, 5000 Company Records, Unlimited Contacts, 5 GB Document Storage, MailSync, Custom Settings, Custom Reports, API Integration, Advanced User Permission Levels, Online ‘self-service’ Support Hub, Free Email, Chat and Phone Support, Priority Technical Support, Optional Marketing and Service Desk Modules
    Enterprise
    $50
    per User, Unlimited Company Records, Unlimited Contacts, Unlimited Document Storage, MailSync, Advanced Reporting, Custom Settings, Advanced User Permission Levels, API Integration, Online ‘self-service’ Support Hub, Free Email, Chat and Phone Support , Top Priority Technical Support, Dedicated Account Manager, Free Online Team Training , Optional Marketing and Service Desk Modules
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    BQE COREReally Simple Systems
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsAll plans include free customer support and setup help.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    BQE COREReally Simple Systems
    Considered Both Products
    BQE Software Inc.
    No answer on this topic
    Really Simple Systems
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    94%
    Would buy again
    144 Answers
    100%
    Would buy again
    18 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    98%
    Delivers good value for the price
    106 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    16 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    98%
    Happy with the feature set
    150 Answers
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    18 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    92%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    70 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    14 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    82%
    Implementation went as expected
    81 Answers
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    14 Answers
    Features
    BQE COREReally Simple Systems
    Sales Force Automation
    Comparison of Sales Force Automation features of BQE CORE and Really Simple Systems
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Really Simple Systems
    7.2
    33 Ratings
    8% below category average
    Customer data management / contact management00 Ratings7.833 Ratings
    Workflow management00 Ratings7.213 Ratings
    Territory management00 Ratings6.98 Ratings
    Opportunity management00 Ratings7.727 Ratings
    Integration with email client (e.g., Outlook or Gmail)00 Ratings6.325 Ratings
    Interaction tracking00 Ratings7.525 Ratings
    Customer Service & Support
    Comparison of Customer Service & Support features of BQE CORE and Really Simple Systems
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Really Simple Systems
    7.2
    25 Ratings
    7% below category average
    Case management00 Ratings7.423 Ratings
    Help desk management00 Ratings7.024 Ratings
    Marketing Automation
    Comparison of Marketing Automation features of BQE CORE and Really Simple Systems
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Really Simple Systems
    7.1
    27 Ratings
    9% below category average
    Lead management00 Ratings7.024 Ratings
    Email marketing00 Ratings7.220 Ratings
    CRM Project Management
    Comparison of CRM Project Management features of BQE CORE and Really Simple Systems
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Really Simple Systems
    7.0
    29 Ratings
    9% below category average
    Task management00 Ratings7.127 Ratings
    Reporting00 Ratings6.925 Ratings
    CRM Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of CRM Reporting & Analytics features of BQE CORE and Really Simple Systems
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Really Simple Systems
    6.5
    25 Ratings
    16% below category average
    Forecasting00 Ratings6.320 Ratings
    Pipeline visualization00 Ratings6.321 Ratings
    Customizable reports00 Ratings6.824 Ratings
    Customization
    Comparison of Customization features of BQE CORE and Really Simple Systems
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Really Simple Systems
    6.8
    28 Ratings
    12% below category average
    Custom fields00 Ratings7.128 Ratings
    Custom objects00 Ratings6.824 Ratings
    API for custom integration00 Ratings6.517 Ratings
    Platform
    Comparison of Platform features of BQE CORE and Really Simple Systems
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Really Simple Systems
    6.8
    21 Ratings
    11% below category average
    Mobile access00 Ratings6.821 Ratings
    Security
    Comparison of Security features of BQE CORE and Really Simple Systems
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Really Simple Systems
    7.8
    28 Ratings
    7% below category average
    Role-based user permissions00 Ratings7.828 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    BQE COREReally Simple Systems
    Small Businesses
    Autotask PSA
    Score7.7 out of 10
    Salesflare
    Score10 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Workday Professional Services Automation
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Kintone
    Score9.7 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Planview AdaptiveWork
    Score8.7 out of 10
    Oracle Sales
    Score8.9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    BQE COREReally Simple Systems
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.4
    (167 ratings)
    7.6
    (34 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.0
    (8 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    9.6
    (117 ratings)
    7.8
    (18 ratings)
    Availability
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.4
    (90 ratings)
    8.0
    (17 ratings)
    Online Training
    6.4
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    2.3
    (6 ratings)
    -
    (0 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 COREReally Simple Systems
    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
    Really Simple Systems
    If you have a customer/job where there are steps to be followed such as quotes, follow up, purchase orders received, etc. You can set reminders for a member of the team with their next step and they will be sent reminders. Works well as long as it is kept updated.
    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
    Really Simple Systems
    • Can send out marketing emailers within 5 minutes of an industry-specific update from any device
    • Sales dashboard [can be] built how I want it using the Really Simple Systems widgets
    • Activity integration from email accounts included
    • Manage my sales pipeline opportunities effectively
    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
    Really Simple Systems
    • Resends - I would like a simple [one-click] function to resend email campaigns to [non-openers.]
    • [Emails] that have been created but not sent or attached to a campaign I would like to see a place that they could be in [the] draft so I can come back to them at a later date without them appearing on the email list[.]
    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
    Really Simple Systems
    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
    Really Simple Systems
    Simple systems is great for smaller sales and marketing teams to log their territories and report on progress on their opportunities. There are many useful features such as tasks and reporting to show to management how opportunities are progressing and when the estimated close date would occur. The two main issues are scalability within larger [organizations] and the ease to duplicate contacts.
    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
    Really Simple Systems
    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
    Really Simple Systems
    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
    Really Simple Systems
    Whenever I have had any issues, which is probably only 3 times in 10 years, the back office support has been fantastic and got me up and running again in a very short time. Cannot fault them at all. But as I stated, problems have been very few and far between.
    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
    Really Simple Systems
    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
    Really Simple Systems
    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
    Really Simple Systems
    We choose RSS due to cost. We are a startup and needed a great solution that did not cost [a lot]. RSS [fits] all our needs at the perfect price. We could not be more thrilled with our choice and it has simplified our client interaction[.]
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    BQE Software Inc.
    This software works on a small and large scale.
    Read full review
    Really Simple Systems
    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
    Really Simple Systems
    • A very positive effect on our understanding of our customers and what kind of events are working well at the venue and which aren't. This will allow us to work more smartly when responsive to enquiries, improving our overall productivity.
    • Very positive impact on our current review of marketing and sales strategy.
    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

    Really Simple Systems Screenshots

    Screenshot of Accounts PageScreenshot of Tasks PageScreenshot of Marketing Dashboard