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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

    Square Customers

    Score8.7 out of 10
    N/ASquare's Customer Engagement Suite, or Square Customers, is a suite of solutions that enables Square users to connect with existing customers, reach new ones, and grow relationships using tools that integrate with Square Point of Sale and Square Online.

    $0

    Pricing
    BQE CORESquare Customers
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Customer Directory
    $0
    Gift Card Starter Pack
    $2
    per card (plus 2.6% + 10¢ processing fee)
    Email Marketing
    starting $15
    per month
    Text Message Marketing
    starting at $10
    per month
    Loyalty
    starting at $45
    per month
    Quick Cards
    from 99c
    per card (plus 2.6% + 10¢ processing fee)
    Custom Cards
    from 81c
    per card (plus 2.6% + 10¢ processing fee)
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    BQE CORESquare Customers
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    BQE CORESquare Customers
    Considered Both Products
    BQE Software Inc.
    No answer on this topic
    Block, Inc (Square)
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    94%
    Would buy again
    144 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    98%
    Delivers good value for the price
    106 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    98%
    Happy with the feature set
    150 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    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 CORESquare Customers
    Sales Force Automation
    Comparison of Sales Force Automation features of BQE CORE and Square Customers
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Square Customers
    7.1
    4 Ratings
    10% below category average
    Customer data management / contact management00 Ratings9.04 Ratings
    Workflow management00 Ratings8.13 Ratings
    Territory management00 Ratings5.33 Ratings
    Opportunity management00 Ratings4.02 Ratings
    Integration with email client (e.g., Outlook or Gmail)00 Ratings9.53 Ratings
    Contract management00 Ratings8.04 Ratings
    Quote & order management00 Ratings6.94 Ratings
    Interaction tracking00 Ratings7.74 Ratings
    Channel / partner relationship management00 Ratings5.83 Ratings
    Customer Service & Support
    Comparison of Customer Service & Support features of BQE CORE and Square Customers
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Square Customers
    6.8
    2 Ratings
    12% below category average
    Case management00 Ratings7.32 Ratings
    Call center management00 Ratings6.82 Ratings
    Help desk management00 Ratings6.32 Ratings
    Marketing Automation
    Comparison of Marketing Automation features of BQE CORE and Square Customers
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Square Customers
    8.9
    2 Ratings
    14% above category average
    Lead management00 Ratings8.92 Ratings
    Email marketing00 Ratings8.92 Ratings
    CRM Project Management
    Comparison of CRM Project Management features of BQE CORE and Square Customers
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Square Customers
    7.9
    3 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Task management00 Ratings5.73 Ratings
    Billing and invoicing management00 Ratings9.53 Ratings
    Reporting00 Ratings8.43 Ratings
    CRM Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of CRM Reporting & Analytics features of BQE CORE and Square Customers
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Square Customers
    8.7
    2 Ratings
    13% above category average
    Forecasting00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
    Pipeline visualization00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
    Customizable reports00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
    Customization
    Comparison of Customization features of BQE CORE and Square Customers
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Square Customers
    6.9
    2 Ratings
    10% below category average
    Custom fields00 Ratings3.72 Ratings
    Scripting environment00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    API for custom integration00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Security
    Comparison of Security features of BQE CORE and Square Customers
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Square Customers
    9.5
    3 Ratings
    12% above category average
    Single sign-on capability00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Role-based user permissions00 Ratings9.03 Ratings
    Social CRM
    Comparison of Social CRM features of BQE CORE and Square Customers
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Square Customers
    6.6
    2 Ratings
    13% below category average
    Social data00 Ratings6.32 Ratings
    Social engagement00 Ratings6.82 Ratings
    Integrations with 3rd-party Software
    Comparison of Integrations with 3rd-party Software features of BQE CORE and Square Customers
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Square Customers
    6.0
    1 Ratings
    23% below category average
    Marketing automation00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Compensation management00 Ratings2.01 Ratings
    Platform
    Comparison of Platform features of BQE CORE and Square Customers
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Square Customers
    9.0
    3 Ratings
    17% above category average
    Mobile access00 Ratings9.03 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    BQE CORESquare Customers
    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
    Score8.8 out of 10
    Oracle Sales
    Score8.9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    BQE CORESquare Customers
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.4
    (167 ratings)
    8.7
    (4 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.0
    (8 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    9.6
    (117 ratings)
    9.6
    (3 ratings)
    Availability
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.4
    (90 ratings)
    7.6
    (3 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 CORESquare Customers
    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
    Block, Inc (Square)
    Square is absolutely brilliant if you are just starting out and your business has both an in-person and an online component to it, as Square will solve both in-person POS and online booking/billing. Square also offers the option to create a free website for your company, though it is a very basic site, if you don't have a website yet, this is a VERY helpful option, as it takes away a huge cost. Square allowed us to be up and running in no time, taking away the need to worry about an expensive appointment-setting add-on from our current website provider (Square integrates quite nicely with our current site). Square is probably less ideal for more advanced users or companies with a need for more detailed inventory/service management. But even then, Square will more than likely be able to get the job done!
    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
    Block, Inc (Square)
    • Sales pipeline
    • Customer engagement
    • Marketing
    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
    Block, Inc (Square)
    • Some of the build quality on the peripherals could feel a bit better.
    • Have more options for businesses with more credit card transactions such as monthly or discounted per transaction once a certain number is reached.
    • Have functionality to allow for a typed card number without the higher fee if the software verifies there is a hardware/read error with the card.
    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
    Block, Inc (Square)
    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
    Block, Inc (Square)
    The user interface is easy to navigate - that's not always the case for some software! I look for something that is intuitive, easy to use, and doesn't take a ton of training to get up and running quickly.
    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
    Block, Inc (Square)
    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
    Block, Inc (Square)
    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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    Block, Inc (Square)
    Square is mostly focused on FAQs and online support, and they do a very good job creating a rich knowledge base. But, if you are not very tech savvy, it could be easy to feel a bit overwhelmed. I would recommend that they add a direct line or chat feature to call, rather than email or Knowledge base first. This might be due to staffing issues at Square, so perhaps it is the best they can do for now.
    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
    Block, Inc (Square)
    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
    Block, Inc (Square)
    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
    Block, Inc (Square)
    A lot easier to use than Infusionsoft!!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    BQE Software Inc.
    This software works on a small and large scale.
    Read full review
    Block, Inc (Square)
    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
    Block, Inc (Square)
    • This has allowed me to accept credit / debit transactions without having to have a monthly subscription to a service and lose money on times of no to little use, allowing me to have a broader customer range as checks are risky.
    • All of my initial equipment was free and there were no startup costs so my return was immediate.
    • The small fee taken out of the transaction is very much worth the ability to accept nearly all plastic transactions.
    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