BQE CORE Quotes

After more than a decade of growth, our focus shifted. We didn’t need to get bigger. We needed to get better. CORE gave us the visibility to understand every project, every dollar, and every hour so we could make smarter decisions and build a stronger business.

Clint Harris, P.E.

CEO/President | Corsair Consulting

We’ve saved a tremendous amount of time in expense and time tracking, approvals, and invoicing. What used to be a tedious process is now streamlined, which means our team isn’t spending hours chasing numbers. Instead, they’re focused on design—on the creativity, the problem solving, and the client relationships that define who we are as a firm.

F. Christian Wise, AIA

Principal, Managing Partner | Andersson/Wise

Our profit margin has increased by 6 percentage points since we started using CORE. It was pretty low when we first transitioned, and we had some legacy projects that didn’t translate well, but we’ve hit our stride. Now the team understands the widgets—like when they see the green line drop below the yellow line, they know it’s time to push billing or follow up on deliverables.

Gabriel Benroth

Founding Partner, Studio & Information Director | INC Architecture & Design

Great Change. Going to BQE Core was a great change for our firm. We have found that keeping our worked hours and expenses has been much easier for staff, and project management has improved. It still seems that we keep finding great new features. Worth the change.

Brian Walker

Architect | Align Architecture & Planning

We used CORE to see where we were spending the most time with certain clients, and then adjusted our proposals to match. It gave us the insight we needed to align our fees with the service we were actually delivering.

Jaki Ellis

Principal | Britacan

E-payments have been a game-changer for us. As soon as a client pays, I receive a notification email that a payment has been initiated, and I don’t have to make a trip to the bank. It’s significant because I’m surprised how many people pay it instantly - over half of our payments each month are paid by ACH and arrive before the due date. And the fact that it’s automatically recorded in CORE is really nice. It’s a big time saver!

Jennie Lloyd

Managing Partner | Lloyd Architects

On the billing side is where we’ve seen the biggest impact. We’ve seen a huge reduction in the time it takes to get our invoices out, which obviously leads to getting paid faster for work that we’ve done. There is less lag time on getting invoices out to clients, which improves cashflow.

Kathryn Hill

Principal | Britacan

The automated reporting feature is phenomenal, since reports now go out like clockwork every month, and there is a more standardized layout. It's easier for our team to see the info they need and keep projects on track.

Kim Lennon

Operations Manager | Watts & Brown Engineering

Having everything integrated is insanely helpful. We get a clear picture of our company, budgets, project progress, everything – in maybe a fifth of the time or less than before. We're capturing and reporting at least 10 times more information. It's like jumping from AutoCAD to Revit.

Lindsey Engels

Founder, President, Principal Architect | Arclogica

The information we get out of BQE CORE has completely changed the way we run the business. Before, projects hovered between -10% and +5% profit, and we didn’t always know the problems until it was too late. Now, we can make better decisions in real time, manage our risk, and turn those same jobs into projects delivering over 10% profit.

Madhu Narayanasamy

Vice President | RRP Consulting Engineers

Our target profit margin is 22.5%, compared to an industry average of about 19.9%. We watch overhead multipliers, break-even rates, and effective cash position, and we make sure project managers understand what those numbers mean. CORE gives us real-time access to those metrics so success isn’t just defined at the top—it’s visible across the entire firm.

Sean Cristea

CFO | Cuschieri Horton Architects

Our studio leads have easy and immediate access to the financial status of their projects. They are able to steadily monitor their project’s health - identifying trends prior to them becoming issues. BQE CORE has allowed us to make decisions quicker than we would in the past and rectify when we make a decision that’s not working.

Scott Roselius

CEO/Partner | Heights Venture

What used to take each project manager 10 hours a month now takes about 30 minutes. For me, the prep work went from half a day to almost nothing. That change has freed me to focus on running the business instead of chasing invoices.

Malory Atkinson

Co-Founder and Managing Partner | Shear Structural

Having a dedicated Customer Success Manager has been like night and day. They really have our back and make sure we’re using CORE the right way and getting the most out of the software. The relationship we’ve built adds so much value. It’s made all the difference.

Nancy O'Sullivan

Director of Operations | Acorn Engineering

We’re no longer buried in billing. We’re using that time to grow the business, support our team, and build stronger client relationships.

Jaki Ellis

Principal | Britacan

We use BQE Core for Project Management, Time & Expense tracking, Accounting and Billing, Human Resources, and as a CRM Platform. Being able to input information into one platform for use across many different modules saves time and energy for our administrative staff. All of the data is tracked and displayed in efficient widgets and customizable dashboards. The customized reports are very helpful as well. You can drill down to only what you want to see. Customer service is responsive and able to sort out issues quickly.

Lyn Testa

Kurt Fischer Structural Engineering | Kurt Fischer Structural Engineering

Even just the basic use of it is really amazing. It's a game-changer for any firm that's coming from nothing or that's looking to streamline project management and billing. The fact that CORE combines both of those components is amazing. And it has been incredible for us in terms of making sure that billing is happening on time. It works beautifully!

Rikki Cweiber

Director of Operations & Marketing | Rikki Cweiber

We were very intentional about how our software systems would allow us to maintain that intimacy with our clients and our employees. CORE lets us stay organized, compensate equitably, and keep a small-firm culture while operating at a high level.

Warren Lloyd

Founding Partner | Lloyd Architects

When invoices were split between companies, it used to take me close to 30 minutes to research to get it right. Now, it takes me less than 10. Overall, I've probably regained 2 hours of my day, thanks to CORE.

Kim Lennon

Operations Manager | Watts & Brown Engineering

BQE CORE is so easy to use. We use it to track time spent working for our clients and bill them for that time. All of our Sixty-plus employees use it to track time for hundreds of clients. Easy time tracking on specific projects, very little training is required, and everything is right where you expect it to be. It's saved us lots of time in tracking time to bill customers. It does time tracking and reporting on specific projects very well.

Joe Gilmore

Accounting Manager | PBO Advisory Group

We never tracked time before, but with BQE we are able to write better proposals using past data, and it helps us hit the budget.

Melissa Herman

Office Manager | Pardi Partnership Architects

We’ve seen this industry go through ups and downs, and the firms that stay steady are the ones that have the right systems in place. CORE helps us see what’s really going on so we can make decisions early, protect our margins, and stay strong through the uncertainty.

Clint Harris, P.E.

CEO/President | Corsair Consulting

We train junior staff using real numbers. If they understand how their time shows up in utilization reports, they start to take ownership of their work—and that makes them better architects

Gabriel Benroth

Founding Partner, Studio & Information Director | INC Architecture & Design

My performance dashboard gives me the data within a second. That means we can have meaningful conversations with project managers right away to keep projects healthy.

Madhu Narayanasamy

Vice President | RRP Consulting Engineers

BQE CORE has been an instrumental tool in our company’s success in managing the financial data for our architectural design projects. The user-friendly interface has been embraced by our employees and has played an integral part in keeping our accounting data organized and accurate. The real-time reporting has become a powerful tool in understanding the financial health of our projects, enabling better communications with project managers and team leaders. We have been very satisfied with BQE CORE for over 5 years!

Ryan Foley

Comptroller | DMS DESIGN, LLC

It was such a great decision to incorporate an "all-in-one" platform into our firm. Choosing BQE CORE continues to prove it was the best option. I encourage any professional services firm to look into this option. Their ability to customize their service modules (Project Management, Accounting, Reporting/Analytics, Human Resources, and CRM) to fit a small firm's needs and budget far surpassed any other option I explored.

Melissa Herman

Office Manager | Pardi Partnership Architects

It’s not the big that eat the small anymore. It’s the fast that eat the slow. The speed of decision-making is what wins, and CORE gives us the data to move immediately. We close our books faster, make decisions sooner, and keep everyone working toward the same goals. That’s how we stay ahead.

Sean Cristea

CFO | Cuschieri Horton Architects

We wanted a new, simpler, more nimble program that was easier to understand, and our new accounting department could embrace and learn. BQE CORE checked all the boxes.

Scott Roselius

CEO/Partner | Heights Venture

We had time entry, but it was largely based on the project manager’s ability to stay organized and keep track of it in their own creative ways. It differed from person to person. Now it is unified and much simpler for everyone at the firm.

Robin Logan

Marketing Director & Business Development | Andersson/Wise

Getting everyone comfortable with new workflows took time, but it was worth it. Once the team started to see how much easier it made invoicing and reporting, everything became more organized and easier to manage.

Nancy O'Sullivan

Director of Operations | Acorn Engineering

We introduced BQE Core’s CRM during a major new‑business push, when long sales cycles made it difficult to track conversations and opportunities. The CRM gave us a clear, central place to record prospects, monitor slow‑burn opportunities, and set timely follow‑ups so nothing fell through the cracks. It’s been invaluable for maintaining momentum in a challenging market.

Karen Beck

People & Culture | Mitchell Vranjes

By eliminating 10 days of lead time in our invoicing cycle, CORE sped up billing, improved cash flow, and ensured no billable hours slip through the cracks. Leadership now has the time and clarity to focus on clients and project performance.

Malory Atkinson

Co-Founder and Managing Partner | Shear Structural

BQE CORE offers payment processing included, and they have an amazing mobile app with real-time project/client information and access to drawings and files. I love the feature that it tracks my mileage and can also track "trips," like site visits, and automatically logs them to a project.

Melissa Herman

Office Manager | Pardi Partnership Architects

At the end of the day, what matters most to us is design. CORE takes care of the business side so we can stay focused on the creativity, the problem-solving, and the client relationships that define our firm.

F. Christian Wise, AIA

Principal, Managing Partner | Andersson/Wise

We bought another system (a competitor to CORE) and started implementation, but four months in, we realized it wasn’t the right program for us. It was too cumbersome and had very little flexibility — that’s when we knew it was the wrong fit. CORE was much easier to adopt for our team.

Clint Harris, P.E.

CEO/President | Corsair Consulting

When our office manager left and COVID hit, I wasn’t going to be able to take all of the management on myself. We had to modernize. That’s how I found CORE. My goal has been to fully integrate it across the team, so everyone is working from the same toolset, helping us focus on mission-critical tasks—such as the architecture itself.

F. Christian Wise, AIA

Principal, Managing Partner | Andersson/Wise

The reduction in time that is now required to complete our overall billing cycle has been significant. Under our previous accounting software, the billing period took us between 2 to 3 weeks. Now, with BQE CORE, we approve the previous week’s timesheets on Monday morning, issue draft invoices by Monday afternoon, have drafts approved by Tuesday, and start emailing invoices by Wednesday. We are typically done with billing within a few days.

Scott Roselius

CEO/Partner | Heights Venture

CORE hits that sweet spot. It’s not too rigid like Monograph, and it’s not overbuilt like Deltek. It gives us a strong foundation that we can build on and make our own. CORE gives us the tools to build what we need, the way we want to work, and that’s what makes it so valuable.

Gabriel Benroth

Founding Partner, Studio & Information Director | INC Architecture & Design

We share metrics like profit margins and EBITDA so the team sees how their choices impact results. CORE makes that possible by connecting daily tasks to firm-wide outcomes. I never call anyone by their official title. Everyone is a firm owner first—whether they act as a project manager, a job captain, or a principal.

Sean Cristea

CFO | Cuschieri Horton Architects

BQE CORE is what an architect needs. We're a small firm that varies in size, and BQE CORE allows the flexibility to expand and contract while providing our staff wih the tools to manage their workflow, work within budgeted fees and time allocation, and track milestones and progress of project delivery. CORE provides a daily snapshot of time management and meeting project schedules. As the principal of design, I can do more of that…design!

Irving A. Gonzales

Principal | G7A

We've seen a huge reduction in the time it takes to get our Billings out, which obviously lends to being able to get paid faster for work that we've done and less lag time on getting invoices out to clients.

Jaki Ellis

Principal | Britacan

I looked up some data here and thought this was interesting: Over half of our payments each month are paid by ACH and arrive before the due date. Definitely a time saver.

Jennie Lloyd

Managing Partner | Lloyd Architects

I also recommend their webinars and support, as this was how I first learned about BQE and was able to gain valuable insight into relevant topics, and was able to see CORE being used in real time. I am so proud of how much BQE Software has grown just in the past few years we have been with them. I have learned so much from some pretty great A/E people!

Melissa Herman

Office Manager | Pardi Partnership Architects

BQE has allowed us to increase efficiency, streamline our procedures, improve our financial reviews, better financially manage our consultants, and reduce our overall accounting workload, all while simultaneously downsizing from three to two accounting personnel.

Scott Roselius

CEO/Partner | Heights Venture

CORE has given us the visibility and efficiency we needed to grow, without losing sight of what matters most—our team and our clients. It’s helped us streamline the back office, strengthen our financial foundation, and create more space for the strategic work that drives our business forward. We had to be more strategic. CORE helped us understand where our time and money were best spent, so we could keep moving forward

We had to be more strategic. CORE helped us understand where our time and money were best spent, so we could keep moving forward

Principal | Britacan

CORE allows me to track where time is being spent, so I can stay involved in projects at a higher level. I’m not just a principal in name—I still get to design and engage with clients, instead of spending 10% of my week tracking numbers.

Warren Lloyd

Founding Partner | Lloyd Architects

If you can’t tell me your costs, your projected revenue, or your work in progress right now, you’re already behind. That’s where so many firms stumble—they’re operating off old numbers or waiting for month-end reports. CORE gives us real-time clarity to make those calls instantly. It keeps our leadership team aligned, our staff accountable, and our business moving forward with confidence.

Sean Cristea

CFO | Cuschieri Horton Architects

Reporting has been taken to a whole new level. We have reports on both sides of our business that are way more intuitive and much more accurate than we've ever had before. And that's with relating to profitability, but also relating to like employee utilization and efficiencies.

Kathryn Hill

Principal | Britacan

We used to spend hours setting up projects manually. Now it’s click-and-go. That time savings adds up fast.

Gabriel Benroth

Founding Partner, Studio & Information Director | INC Architecture & Design

Warren and I definitely spend less time on invoicing, and that has given us more time to work on business development, to build relationships in the community, and for Warren, that means more time designing and mentoring.

Jennie Lloyd

Managing Partner | Lloyd Architects

What I want is everything in one place. CORE gives me that, and now with payroll in CORE as well, I spend less time moving data around and more time focused on the work and the business. That makes a real difference as you’re trying to build something that can actually succeed.

Steven Bunker, PE

Co-Founder and Principal | Axia Consulting Group

CORE has been huge for us because it gives us real-time data and confidence in what we’re seeing. That clarity lets us spend less time managing spreadsheets and workarounds and more time supporting our people, serving our clients, and planning for where the firm is headed as we continue to grow.

Shawn Mitchell

VP of Marketing and Finance | Clark Land Resources, Inc.

With different clients needing different things, invoicing naturally became more complex. At that point, we knew we needed a better way to stay consistent as the firm continued to grow.

Kaity Moreno-Chappell

Contract Administration Manager | Clark Land Resources, Inc.

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