2011 Review of BQE Software Inc. — BillQuick

BQE Software Inc. — BillQuick
855-687-1024
www.BillQuick.com

From the Oct. 2011 Review of Time & Billing Systems.

Best Firm Fit: Small and mid-sized firms.

Strengths

• Feature-rich SaaS version available, which can synchronize automatically with the desktop product.
• Native iPhone & Android apps.
• Free Lite version available.
• Tracks personal time off hours & approvals.
• The most extensive integration options with accounting software among products reviewed.
• Strong technical support & online resources.

Potential Limitations

• With so many options, users may have to do extra work on the front end to learn the product & adjust settings as preferred.

First released in 1996, BillQuick is an automated timekeeping, billing and project management software with a large user base among many professional services industries, including accounting, architectural, legal and consulting. It comes in four different editions, with each offering additional features: Lite, Basic, Pro and Enterprise. Depending on the edition, BillQuick runs on either a Microsoft Access database, Microsoft SQL Express or SQL Server. The single-user Lite version is free and is the number one time and billing software downloaded from CNET.com. BillQuick can be installed on a single-user system, a peer-to-peer network or on a network server environment.

BillQuick Online, the subscription-based SaaS version of the software, has nearly all of the functionality of the desktop product and is compatible with all major browsers for PC, Mac, tablets and smartphones. It can either be hosted by BillQuick or by the customer firm (in which case it is referred to as BillQuick Web Suite). The online data can be automatically synchronized with the desktop product’s database, giving BillQuick an advantage over some time and billing products where remote users must e-mail data and manually import it to the main database. BillQuick also recently released native iPhone and Android apps. This review focuses primarily on the desktop version of BillQuick.

Basic System Functions (5 Stars)

With a modern and aesthetically pleasing design, BillQuick’s interface is remarkably simple and intuitive for a full-featured program. By default, the program opens up to the Navigator screen, which contains icons and links to often-performed actions based on the logged-in user’s role and security permissions. The standard menu bar across the top has icons in the drop-down menus, and a customizable icon-based toolbar can be turned on for quick navigation, as well.

A hideable sidebar on the left side provides well-organized access to the program’s major functions and screens with an appearance similar to Microsoft Outlook. Within the program, multiple windows can be running in a tabbed format similar to modern web browsers.

Time Management Capabilities (5 Stars)

Time can be entered either in the Simple Time Card screen, which shows a weekly view of time entries, or the sheet view, which shows a color-coded list of entries. The columns of the time entry grids are both sortable and filterable. If the user has the appropriate security permissions, new engagements and work codes can be added “on the fly” within the time entry screens. Users can enter notes in a memo field for each time entry, and the memo box has a word processor-like toolbar that includes options for spell check, cut, copy, paste, font styles and size. Check boxes can be marked for the memo to appear on the project journal and/or the invoices.

BillQuick’s on-screen timer behaves like a stopwatch, recording and displaying the time elapsed to the second. It also shows running total of billable dollars based on the user’s rate. The program will remember the data from the timer if the user shuts down the program or if the computer loses power. Multiple timers can be open at the same time with the ability to switch between them. The timer can be set to beep or chime after a certain amount of time as a reminder to the user.