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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

    Workbooks

    Score4.9 out of 10
    N/AWorkbooks offers cloud-based CRM, marketing automation and business applications to the mid-market. Workbooks includes order management and fulfillment, invoicing, and supplier management. Workbooks aims to provide a single 360° view of customers, where the information is accessible anytime, anywhere.

    $30

    per user/per month

    Pricing
    BQE COREWorkbooks
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Workbooks CRM Edition
    $30
    per user/per month
    Workbooks Business Edition
    $65
    per user/per month
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    BQE COREWorkbooks
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    BQE COREWorkbooks
    Considered Both Products
    BQE Software Inc.
    No answer on this topic
    Workbooks Online
    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 COREWorkbooks
    Sales Force Automation
    Comparison of Sales Force Automation features of BQE CORE and Workbooks
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Workbooks
    7.7
    9 Ratings
    2% below category average
    Customer data management / contact management00 Ratings8.59 Ratings
    Workflow management00 Ratings8.27 Ratings
    Territory management00 Ratings7.79 Ratings
    Opportunity management00 Ratings8.89 Ratings
    Integration with email client (e.g., Outlook or Gmail)00 Ratings6.49 Ratings
    Contract management00 Ratings7.29 Ratings
    Quote & order management00 Ratings7.68 Ratings
    Interaction tracking00 Ratings6.48 Ratings
    Channel / partner relationship management00 Ratings8.48 Ratings
    Customer Service & Support
    Comparison of Customer Service & Support features of BQE CORE and Workbooks
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Workbooks
    6.3
    8 Ratings
    20% below category average
    Case management00 Ratings6.28 Ratings
    Call center management00 Ratings6.82 Ratings
    Help desk management00 Ratings5.88 Ratings
    Marketing Automation
    Comparison of Marketing Automation features of BQE CORE and Workbooks
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Workbooks
    7.3
    7 Ratings
    6% below category average
    Lead management00 Ratings8.07 Ratings
    Email marketing00 Ratings6.67 Ratings
    CRM Project Management
    Comparison of CRM Project Management features of BQE CORE and Workbooks
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Workbooks
    7.5
    9 Ratings
    3% below category average
    Task management00 Ratings7.77 Ratings
    Billing and invoicing management00 Ratings6.88 Ratings
    Reporting00 Ratings7.87 Ratings
    CRM Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of CRM Reporting & Analytics features of BQE CORE and Workbooks
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Workbooks
    8.6
    8 Ratings
    12% above category average
    Forecasting00 Ratings8.28 Ratings
    Pipeline visualization00 Ratings8.88 Ratings
    Customizable reports00 Ratings8.88 Ratings
    Customization
    Comparison of Customization features of BQE CORE and Workbooks
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Workbooks
    7.7
    8 Ratings
    1% above category average
    Custom fields00 Ratings8.48 Ratings
    Custom objects00 Ratings7.67 Ratings
    Scripting environment00 Ratings7.56 Ratings
    API for custom integration00 Ratings7.57 Ratings
    Security
    Comparison of Security features of BQE CORE and Workbooks
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Workbooks
    7.5
    8 Ratings
    11% below category average
    Single sign-on capability00 Ratings7.05 Ratings
    Role-based user permissions00 Ratings8.07 Ratings
    Social CRM
    Comparison of Social CRM features of BQE CORE and Workbooks
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Workbooks
    6.6
    3 Ratings
    13% below category average
    Social data00 Ratings6.03 Ratings
    Social engagement00 Ratings7.31 Ratings
    Integrations with 3rd-party Software
    Comparison of Integrations with 3rd-party Software features of BQE CORE and Workbooks
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Workbooks
    6.9
    6 Ratings
    9% below category average
    Marketing automation00 Ratings6.76 Ratings
    Compensation management00 Ratings7.02 Ratings
    Platform
    Comparison of Platform features of BQE CORE and Workbooks
    Feature
    BQE CORE
    -
    Ratings
    Workbooks
    4.2
    7 Ratings
    58% below category average
    Mobile access00 Ratings4.27 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    BQE COREWorkbooks
    Small Businesses
    Autotask PSA
    Score7.6 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
    Score9 out of 10
    Oracle Sales
    Score8.9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    BQE COREWorkbooks
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.4
    (167 ratings)
    7.0
    (18 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.0
    (8 ratings)
    8.5
    (7 ratings)
    Usability
    9.7
    (117 ratings)
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    Availability
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    Performance
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.4
    (90 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    Online Training
    6.4
    (1 ratings)
    6.4
    (1 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 COREWorkbooks
    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
    Workbooks Online
    It's a really great system for small to medium organizations that are willing to spend some time thinking about how their workflow can be improved by designing processes which will allow them to streamline and automate their business. For people who are not serious about making a commitment to bettering their business, Workbooks may not be a correct fit. For instance there are a lot of features which many people think they don't need, but they haven't really spent the time to figure out what the needs of the business are. The nice thing about Workbooks is that you can turn off things you don't need, and then when the business demands, they will be there for you to utilize.
    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
    Workbooks Online
    • Sales process management from enquiry to delivery of product
    • This was previously on as many as 4 systems using excel and legacy applications such as the written word in log books
    • Automatic reporting for financial compliance: once built, the reporting process reduced the workload on a monthly basis from 2 days to 20 minutes
    • The FD loved it
    • The overall capability of the package enabled the sales force to rapidly pull our pertinent data for a sales call, plus managing time and resources better for increased efficiency
    • Business development and focussed marketing became so much easier, we noted that the process paid for itself many times over
    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
    Workbooks Online
    • There really isn't all that much, what I would like to see is an app to use on iDevices. Our sales team all have iPads for presentations etc.
    • While Workbooks works rather well with HTML 5, I would still like to see an app. I know it's in the making, but haven't seen anything of this as of yet.
    • I am sure that would increase productivity even further (if it's of the same standard as the main environment).
    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
    Workbooks Online
    the product works. support has been good or great so far all has been great and we hope to get more from the product. we purchased for an initial year then renewed for a longer term, we have no regrets with this.
    Read full review
    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
    Workbooks Online
    No answers on this topic
    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
    Workbooks Online
    Workbooks CRM never let me down.
    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
    Workbooks Online
    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
    Workbooks Online
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    BQE Software Inc.
    Make sure you have someone training you that fits your style of learning.
    Read full review
    Workbooks Online
    Workbooks online trianing does what it needs to; but some training will always be better suited to face to face..
    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
    Workbooks Online
    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
    Workbooks Online
    We felt the high amount of customisation available from Workbooks was much more beneficial to us than the offerings from the larger CRM companies. We also liked the smaller company mentality of Workbooks as it reminded us of ourselves. Ultimately the price also paid a factor as Workbooks was more affordable for what we needed.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    BQE Software Inc.
    This software works on a small and large scale.
    Read full review
    Workbooks Online
    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
    Workbooks Online
    • Allows us easy management of leads and clear visibility of opportunities for the sales team
    • User levels allows us to lock down various parts of the system to only allow them to view or edit certain areas
    • Allows us to manage customers in one piece of software and avoid having to use separate software for support, sales and operations
    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

    Workbooks Screenshots

    Screenshot of Activity ManagementScreenshot of Dashboard for Customer ServiceScreenshot of Dashboard for SalesScreenshot of Marketing CampaignsScreenshot of Organisation RecordScreenshot of Person Record