BQE CORE vs. Really Simple Systems

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
Really Simple Systems
Score 7.6 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
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
BQE COREReally Simple Systems
Project Management
Comparison of Project Management features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
8.1
55 Ratings
8% above category average
Really Simple Systems
-
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
Really Simple Systems
-
Ratings
Quotes/estimates7.820 Ratings00 Ratings
Invoicing8.833 Ratings00 Ratings
Project & financial reporting8.737 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with accounting software8.424 Ratings00 Ratings
Sales Force Automation
Comparison of Sales Force Automation features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Really Simple Systems
7.2
33 Ratings
7% 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 Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Really Simple Systems
7.2
25 Ratings
4% below category average
Case management00 Ratings7.423 Ratings
Help desk management00 Ratings7.024 Ratings
Marketing Automation
Comparison of Marketing Automation features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Really Simple Systems
7.1
27 Ratings
6% below category average
Lead management00 Ratings7.024 Ratings
Email marketing00 Ratings7.220 Ratings
CRM Project Management
Comparison of CRM Project Management features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Really Simple Systems
7.0
29 Ratings
8% below category average
Task management00 Ratings7.127 Ratings
Reporting00 Ratings6.925 Ratings
CRM Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of CRM Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
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 Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Really Simple Systems
6.8
28 Ratings
11% 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 Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Really Simple Systems
6.8
21 Ratings
10% below category average
Mobile access00 Ratings6.821 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
BQE CORE
-
Ratings
Really Simple Systems
7.8
28 Ratings
6% below category average
Role-based user permissions00 Ratings7.828 Ratings
Best Alternatives
BQE COREReally Simple Systems
Small Businesses
FunctionFox
FunctionFox
Score 8.3 out of 10
Salesmate
Salesmate
Score 9.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
SAP Ruum
SAP Ruum
Score 9.0 out of 10
Creatio
Creatio
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
Quickbase
Quickbase
Score 9.2 out of 10
Creatio
Creatio
Score 9.1 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
BQE COREReally Simple Systems
Likelihood to Recommend
8.6
(148 ratings)
7.6
(34 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.2
(8 ratings)
9.1
(1 ratings)
Usability
8.1
(100 ratings)
7.8
(18 ratings)
Availability
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
7.3
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.0
(90 ratings)
8.0
(17 ratings)
Online Training
6.4
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
2.9
(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.
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
Really Simple Systems CRM
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.
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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.
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Really Simple Systems CRM
  • 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
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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.
Read full review
Really Simple Systems CRM
  • 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[.]
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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.
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Really Simple Systems CRM
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.
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Really Simple Systems CRM
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.
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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.
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Really Simple Systems CRM
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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Really Simple Systems CRM
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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Really Simple Systems CRM
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.
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Online Training
BQE Software Inc.
Make sure you have someone training you that fits your style of learning.
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Really Simple Systems CRM
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
Really Simple Systems CRM
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.
Read full review
Really Simple Systems CRM
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[.]
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Scalability
BQE Software Inc.
This software works on a small and large scale.
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Really Simple Systems CRM
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 CRM
  • 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.
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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

Really Simple Systems Screenshots

Screenshot of Accounts PageScreenshot of Tasks PageScreenshot of Marketing Dashboard