Platform comparison · Practice management and ERPs
BQE CORE runs the back office: time, billing and budgets and, with its add-on modules, accounting, CRM, HR and payroll. It goes deeper on accounting than ARK does. ARK runs time, fees and invoices too, and then the projects themselves (design, CA, bidding and the client pipeline) at one published price.
Pricing
Checked October 2026: About $35–$40* per user per month on third-party estimates for the core (Foundations) module. Accounting, CRM, HR and Payroll are separate modules, each by quote.
Third-party estimates; the vendor does not publish prices.
* Pricing not publicly posted. Estimated from online sources, checked October 2026; confirm with the vendor.
Unlimited $179/user/mo list — the Founding Forty lock $119/user/mo for three years, firms 41–100 lock $149/user/mo for three years. Staff seats $34/user/mo for people who log time and do assigned work. Construction à la carte $69/project/mo. First project free forever.
| Feature | BQE CORE | ARK Projex |
|---|---|---|
| Timesheets and expenses | ✓ | ✓ |
| Invoicing | Yes — batch, recurring and phased invoicing | ✓ |
| AIA-style pay applications (G702/G703-style schedule of values) | Firm invoicing only — no contractor pay-app review | ✓ |
| Project budgets and fee forecasting | Yes — budgets, estimates and forecasting | Yes — Fee & Budget per project, plus Revenue and Profit forecasts |
| Staffing and resource planning | Yes — task allocation and forecasting | Yes — Staff Allocations, with a monthly capacity view |
| Financial reports | Yes — utilization, realization and profitability | ✓ |
| QuickBooks Online connection | Yes — or BQE's own Accounting module | ✓ |
| CRM pipeline | Partial — a CRM module, priced separately | ✓ |
| Proposals | Partial — estimates and fee schedules | ✓ |
| Submittals and RFIs (construction administration) | — | ✓ |
| Design-phase management | Partial — phases and Gantt charts for tracking, not deliverable workflows | ✓ |
| Bidding | — | ✓ |
| Client portal | Online invoice payment | ✓ |
| AI access under the person's own permissions | Not listed on its site | Yes — your own AI tool reads ARK under your permissions; an owner or administrator can also make a token that sets up the firm |
| Published pricing | No — quote only | ✓ |
| Self-serve trial | No — quote first | ✓ |