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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

    Sage Accounting

    Score7.5 out of 10
    N/ASage Accounting is online accounting software made to simplify life for small business owners, entrepreneurs, and freelancers by providing the functions needed to take care of daily business to-dos. Users can create and send professional quotes and invoices, track income and expenses and know where the business' financials stand. Every Sage Business Cloud Accounting subscription includes unlimited access to support as well as automatic backups and product updates.

    $19

    per month

    Pricing
    BQE CORESage Accounting
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    BQE CORESage Accounting
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsVersions and pricing listed are for CA products. Versions available and pricing may vary by country. * 2 months free to start, or free for 1 month to try, then $19/$43/$62 +tax/mo (tier depending). Offer valid for new customers only on monthly subscriptions of Sage Business Cloud Accounting. After the promotional period, the monthly subscription rate will renew at the then current rate. May not be combined with any other offers or discounts. To ensure continuous service the subscription plan is an automatically renewing plan. Subsequent months will automatically be billed to the same credit card each month on the anniversary date of purchase. Plans can be terminated at any time prior to the renewal data and not charged for renewal.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    BQE CORESage Accounting
    Considered Both Products
    BQE Software Inc.
    No answer on this topic
    Sage
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    94%
    Would buy again
    144 Answers
    85%
    Would buy again
    163 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    98%
    Delivers good value for the price
    106 Answers
    85%
    Delivers good value for the price
    145 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    98%
    Happy with the feature set
    150 Answers
    85%
    Happy with the feature set
    162 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    92%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    70 Answers
    83%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    119 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    82%
    Implementation went as expected
    81 Answers
    82%
    Implementation went as expected
    130 Answers
    Features
    BQE CORESage Accounting
    Payroll Management
    Comparison of Payroll Management features of BQE CORE and Sage Accounting
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Sage Accounting
    9.3
    19 Ratings
    21% above category average
    Pay calculation00 Ratings10.015 Ratings
    Benefit plan administration00 Ratings9.312 Ratings
    Direct deposit files00 Ratings8.812 Ratings
    Salary revision and increment management00 Ratings9.410 Ratings
    Reimbursement management00 Ratings9.112 Ratings
    Customization
    Comparison of Customization features of BQE CORE and Sage Accounting
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Sage Accounting
    8.6
    23 Ratings
    13% above category average
    API for custom integration00 Ratings9.120 Ratings
    Plug-ins00 Ratings8.017 Ratings
    Security
    Comparison of Security features of BQE CORE and Sage Accounting
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Sage Accounting
    9.7
    42 Ratings
    17% above category average
    Single sign-on capability00 Ratings9.931 Ratings
    Role-based user permissions00 Ratings9.539 Ratings
    Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of BQE CORE and Sage Accounting
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Sage Accounting
    9.3
    44 Ratings
    18% above category average
    Dashboards00 Ratings8.340 Ratings
    Standard reports00 Ratings9.844 Ratings
    Custom reports00 Ratings9.735 Ratings
    General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
    Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of BQE CORE and Sage Accounting
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Sage Accounting
    8.8
    200 Ratings
    14% above category average
    Accounts payable00 Ratings8.1187 Ratings
    Accounts receivable00 Ratings9.945 Ratings
    Cash management00 Ratings8.3159 Ratings
    Bank reconciliation00 Ratings7.9190 Ratings
    Expense management00 Ratings9.934 Ratings
    Time tracking00 Ratings6.611 Ratings
    Fixed asset management00 Ratings8.428 Ratings
    Multi-currency support00 Ratings10.018 Ratings
    Multi-division support00 Ratings9.918 Ratings
    Regulations compliance00 Ratings9.529 Ratings
    Electronic tax filing00 Ratings7.3102 Ratings
    Self-service portal00 Ratings10.025 Ratings
    Global Financial Support00 Ratings9.38 Ratings
    Primary and Secondary Ledgers00 Ratings9.515 Ratings
    Intercompany Accounting00 Ratings8.111 Ratings
    Localizations00 Ratings8.49 Ratings
    Journals and Reconciliations00 Ratings9.033 Ratings
    Enterprise Accounting00 Ratings6.910 Ratings
    Configurable Accounting00 Ratings9.318 Ratings
    Centralized Rules Framework00 Ratings8.98 Ratings
    Standardized Processes00 Ratings9.520 Ratings
    Inventory Management
    Comparison of Inventory Management features of BQE CORE and Sage Accounting
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Sage Accounting
    6.9
    17 Ratings
    5% below category average
    Inventory tracking00 Ratings6.717 Ratings
    Automatic reordering00 Ratings8.36 Ratings
    Location management00 Ratings5.77 Ratings
    Manufacturing module00 Ratings7.05 Ratings
    Order Management
    Comparison of Order Management features of BQE CORE and Sage Accounting
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Sage Accounting
    8.2
    28 Ratings
    11% above category average
    Pricing00 Ratings9.917 Ratings
    Order entry00 Ratings7.615 Ratings
    Credit card processing00 Ratings8.118 Ratings
    Cost of goods sold00 Ratings7.620 Ratings
    Order Orchestration00 Ratings7.66 Ratings
    End-to-end order visibility00 Ratings7.57 Ratings
    Order exception Resolution00 Ratings8.95 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    BQE CORESage Accounting
    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 CORESage Accounting
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.4
    (167 ratings)
    7.4
    (218 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.0
    (8 ratings)
    9.0
    (27 ratings)
    Usability
    9.6
    (117 ratings)
    7.9
    (185 ratings)
    Availability
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    8.5
    (12 ratings)
    Performance
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    7.7
    (12 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.4
    (90 ratings)
    7.6
    (30 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (3 ratings)
    Online Training
    6.4
    (1 ratings)
    9.8
    (5 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    2.3
    (6 ratings)
    7.7
    (10 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (10 ratings)
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.5
    (6 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    4.5
    (1 ratings)
    5.0
    (4 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    6.9
    (11 ratings)
    Professional Services
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.2
    (3 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    7.5
    (9 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    7.7
    (9 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    BQE CORESage Accounting
    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
    Sage
    Sage Accounting seems appropriate for a small business that has basic accounting needs and is just starting from the beginning to set up its accounting software. It is less appropriate for businesses that have been using Sage 50, as Sage Accounting Standard does not successfully transfer important data from Sage 50.
    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
    Sage
    • Cloud Based - I work from different offices so I can access anywhere.
    • Whether paying a bill or receiving a payment it's done similarly. The consistency makes it easy to get in workflow.
    • I appreciate the setup of the statements - easy to read.
    Incentivized
    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
    Sage
    • Sorting reports - I want to sort my projects by what has and has not been paid, and this is unavailable.
    • Print preview.
    • FONT SIZE: This should be an option directly available to increase screen font sizes. Also, report font adjustments are incredibly difficult.
    • Understanding all options and the performance the program can do, I would much prefer an in-person session or scheduled webinar because it is far too overwhelming to search forums/help centers. Just a useless vortex to get sucked into.
    • Updates are easier than they used to be, but there’s still a big communication barrier. E.g., I install updates and restart programs, and then the next day or two it tells me to restart again because there have been updates. I know, I installed them already! It’s frustrating.
    • Removing inactive vendors or clients - why is this so difficult? Can I not just delete and move to the next one? Every time I try it, it just defaults back to the top of the report… It’s fine for the first couple of letters in the alphabet, but that’s about all. Multi-select would be nice!
    Incentivized
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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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sage
    Because we don't have time to migrate to a new system. So, we are kind of stuck with this system until our company grows or we are in a better financial position to afford the larger expense of moving to a new platform and doing what it should be doing in the first place.
    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
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    Sage
    I find Sage's usability very intuitive. Everything from data entry to high level reporting it easy to navigate. Some of the other accounting software programs I have used have not had adequate forms or menus to help navigate the program. Sage does a good job of balancing providing the proper forms without being overly difficult to understand or use
    Incentivized
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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
    Sage
    Sage has been always available when I want it. If there is any maintenance work to be done by the Sage team, you are told well in advance. Maintenance is generally carried out late at night or before the day begins for most of us. It continues to be the most reliable software I use.
    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
    Sage
    The day-to-day performance is very good. Items such as transactions or reports load and process quickly. You never feel like you're waiting in Sage. I have never seen Sage Accounting affect the speed or performance of any integrated system. However, I do think when you are bringing very old files up to date the updates are slow but that'll be a rare occurrence and not reflective of the day-to-day usage.
    Incentivized
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    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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    Sage
    Sage Accounting are easy to contact and have knowledgeable and helpful staff. Whenever I've encountered a problem I've always been able to get assistance and guidance and it feels like the person at the end of the phone/screen knows the product well.
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    BQE Software Inc.
    No answers on this topic
    Sage
    Staff are always friendly, and patient, always work at a speed that suits you. You are never rushed, and In only a short time they seem to be able to help you make great strides. It has been a pleasure not a chore, learning how SAGE Accounting works and benefits me and the company.
    Read full review
    Online Training
    BQE Software Inc.
    Make sure you have someone training you that fits your style of learning.
    Read full review
    Sage
    I find the online training was very informative and they answered all my questions. I am also certified in Sage One and provided online training in the program which I have set up several people on and they love how it keeps them organized.
    Read full review
    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
    Sage
    This was generally a very straightforward process. I have previously implemented other software which required considerable external support. I implemented Sage Accounting with only a minimal amount of reference to the Sage support desk. I was extremely pleased with the implementation process.
    Incentivized
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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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Sage
    I also like Quickbooks Desktop, however, they are forcing customers to switch to Quickbooks Online. I will be moving forward with SAGE in this case, unless there is a valid reason the client would like to use QBO instead. I have not used the version of SAGE where the client doesn't need to purchase the full version, themselves, in order to access their file so this is something that I may consider looking into, in the near future, for this reason.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    BQE Software Inc.
    No answers on this topic
    Sage
    The pricing structure is fair and offers good value for money. The billing is done through their online system and you can access your bills at any time. Most contacts only require 30 days' notice, so no need to feel tied in, although I can't imagine why you would want to leave Sage.
    Read full review
    Scalability
    BQE Software Inc.
    This software works on a small and large scale.
    Read full review
    Sage
    You can use Sage in your company for various aspects/positions such as bookkeepers, invoicing clerks, accountant, purchasing etc. Everyone can have their own user login and permissions can be set that specific people can do specific jobs without being able to access other peoples progress or accounts of the company.
    Incentivized
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    Professional Services
    BQE Software Inc.
    No answers on this topic
    Sage
    Do not use
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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
    Sage
    • Sage has allowed us to be self-supporting and to perform full-cycle accounting up to the point of handing off to the accountant at year-end.
    • We are self-sustaining and do not need outside accounting assistance, such as an independent bookkeeper.
    • Sage has allowed us to save money at year's end, as we can do all the prep internally up until the handoff to the accountant, minimizing the hours he has to spend on our file.
    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

    Sage Accounting Screenshots

    Screenshot of the All-in-One DashboardScreenshot of the Accounting DashboardScreenshot of an Invoicing Quote EstimateScreenshot of the Purchases TrackerScreenshot of Stock InventoryScreenshot of a VAT Returns List