Overview
The Settings screen allows you to specify company-wide settings and global defaults. To optimize BQE CORE to your company based on its size, business goals, operations, management styles, preferences and policies, you can apply these rules and options. These settings get inherited by the client, project, employee and other profiles, but can be overridden at those levels.
You can set up the defaults for your company, master information, time and expense entry, billing, accounting, integrations, email, security, CRM, HR, and so on.
How To
Field Descriptions
Field Name | Field Description |
Settings > Projects > | |
General: Auto increment Project ID |
If you check this option, CORE automatically pre-fills and increments the Project ID number set below for newly created projects. |
Project ID |
This is the project ID format, which consists of a prefix, ID number and suffix (you should add space or hyphen to separate them). The middle number is automatically incremented by one unit from the value entered here. CORE supports both numeric and alphanumeric IDs. Example: If you fill Prefix with Tax, Project ID with 100 and Suffix with 2024, the resulting project code will be Tax-101-2024. |
Project Auto Notes |
This option triggers CORE to record project-related notes automatically when there are changes in the selected items on the list. These automatic notes provide useful information like the date and time of change, original and new values, Employee ID of the logged-in user, and a note. This ensures that a perfect history of projects is maintained in the background without you having to enter any data manually. Auto notes are created for:
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Contract Includes: |
You can choose the default option for all project contracts.
Note: The line item taxes from the time entries are always included in the contract amount. |
Include billable expenses in the contract amount |
Includes billable expenses as part of the contract amount for all projects instead of adding them on top of it. Thus, total amount spent is equal to the value of both billable and non-billable services and expenses, excluding WUD, markups, and extra time and expenses. You can override this rule at the project level. Spent = Client Hours x Bill Rate x (1 +Taxes/100) + [Units x Cost Rate] |
Use rates from activity list |
Typically, CORE follows the rate hierarchy and uses the fee schedule rates for billing, if available. If you want to use the bill and cost rates of the Activity Items screen instead, check this option. This global rule is inherited by all projects, but can be changed at the project level. |
Auto approve time entries for projects |
Selects the Auto approve time entries rule in the Projects screen, thus ensuring time entries get automatically approved for all new projects. This option auto approves the entries when they are entered and there is no need for any submission of entries. You can override this option at the project level. |
Auto approve expense entries for projects |
Selects the Auto approve expense entries rule in the Projects screen, thus ensuring expense entries get automatically approved for all new projects. This option auto approves the entries when they are entered. You can override this option at the project level. |
Restrict the contract amount of phases within... |
You can select this 'Restrict the contract amount of phases within that of main projects' option for the projects to ensure the contract amount allocated to phases does not exceed the contract amount assigned to the main parent project. It is unchecked by default. |
Project Display As |
You can set the format in which the project names are displayed in CORE screens, reports and drop-down lists. You can add or remove various fields and add separators to set the naming format and order. CORE lets you choose the display name for Projects and Project Phase. While setting the naming format, you can preview it in real-time. Example: For Projects, you can select Client ID - Project ID - Project Name as the display name. For Project Phase, you can select Root Project ID - Parent ID - Phase ID- Phase Name. The default format is [Text] [Separator] [Text]. |
Project Breadcrumb |
You can customize the breadcrumb layout and appearance for the Projects screen using the drop-down lists that represent both the projects and their phases. In the first drop-down list (representing the root projects), you can select any of the following:
Additionally, there are more drop-down from which you can choose how the phases display:
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Settings > Time & Expenses > |
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General: Evaluate time and expense billable status based on billable value |
Includes only billable value of time and expenses for the purpose of time and expense entry evaluation against the contract amount. When the amount spent exceeds the contract amount, CORE prompts you and splits the entry into two—one billable portion that is still within the contract and the other non-billable portion that is over the contract amount. It does not include WUD, markups, and extra time and expenses. Total Amount Spent = Billable Time + Billable Expenses Total Amount Spent = Client Hours x Bill Rate x (1 +Taxes/100) + [Units x Cost Rate] Example: Consider a fixed-type project with a contract amount $1000. When entering time, we have 8 billable hours and 2 non-billable hours, and the bill rate is $100. The $800 amount (Client Hours x Bill Rate) is taken for computing the amount spent. When entering expenses, we have billable expense amount equal to $100 (Units x Cost). This $100 amount is carried forward for computing the amount spent. Non-billable expenses are not counted for the evaluation. The total amount spent will be $900 and so within the contract amount. |
Add time and expense memos to notes |
CORE adds all the time and expense entry memos automatically to the project notes. This option helps keep track of and consolidate all details related to time and expense entries related to a project in one place. |
Enable separate Payroll approval workflow for time entries |
You can check this option if you want a separate submit-approve workflow for time entries associated with employee payroll. By default, this setting is off for both new and existing users. For existing users who have more than 100 time entries with Payroll workflow, the setting is turned on. |
Time Entry Auto-approve time entries for employees |
Selects the Auto Approve Time option in the Employees screen for all new employees. This means time entries logged by all employees get automatically approved and there is no need for any submission of entries. |
Time entry memo required |
You can check this option if you want all employees to enter memos for their time entries on all projects. This is usually required in government contracts. You can override this rule at the project level. |
Time entry rejection memo required |
You can make entering a memo a requirement while rejecting time entries to explain why they were rejected. The next time you reject time entries, CORE prompts you to enter a rejection memo. |
Adjust stop time when client hours are changed |
Time entry made through start and stop time reflects the actual time worked on an activity. This time can be different from what is billed to the client. This option automatically adjusts the stop time if client hours are changed. |
Skip time evaluation |
CORE stops evaluating time entries of fixed-type projects. Otherwise, based on the comparison between the Contract Amount and Total Amount Spent [approved billable and non-billable time and expenses including taxes and markups, but excluding WUD, extra time and expenses] [billable and non-billable services + non-billable expenses] of a project, it determines if an entry is billable or not. When Amount Spent > Contract Amount, you are prompted and the time entry's bill status is automatically adjusted as the project is over budget. You can continue to log non-billable entries or manually change its status to billable. You can override this rule at the project level. |
Close Time Entries Prevent modification to past time entries: Older than......days |
Time entries are not saved or deleted if the dates are older than the number of days set here. This defines the number of days into the past allowed for saving or deleting any time entry, thus ensuring that employees record or edit their time within the days specified by you, say, 7 days before the current day. This cannot be a negative number. You can enter any value between 1 and 365 to define how many days in the past you would like time entries to be restricted. Example: If today's date is August 19, 2024 and you enter 14 in the field, CORE does not allow you to enter time older than August 5, 2024. Note: These restrictions do not apply to editing time entries during the billing process. |
Prior to |
Allows you to specify a past date to restrict time entry or editing. Select this option if you want all entries with a date before the specified date to be restricted. For example, if you have set your settings to Prior to January 31, 2024, all time entries prior to January 30, 2024 will be restricted. |
On a rolling basis |
Allows you to specify a rolling time period for setting restrictions on time entries. You can select from two options:
Note: When defining a rolling basis, the restrictions are cumulative. This means that all time entries before the selected period will also be restricted, applying the rules retroactively. |
Allow exceptions |
Enable this option if you want to allow specific exceptions for some CORE users to create, update, and delete time entries beyond the defined restrictions. |
Prevent modification to future time entries |
When enabled, this setting will limit you to edit time entries for the specified future period. When a range of 1 to 365 days is specified, you will be allowed to edit time till the indicated number of days in the future. For example, if today is August 19, 2024, and you have specified 7 days in the field, you will be able to create, read, update, and delete entries from the current day till August 27, 2024. Note: These restrictions do not apply to editing time entries during the billing process. |
Entry Values: Smallest time increment... |
Automatically adjusts the client hours and actual hours to the next time increment. The default minimum is 15 minutes (0:15 = 0.25). |
Smallest time increment for start and stop time | This time increment can be applied to the start and stop time fields in the time entry screen. This cannot be a negative number. Example Value of 15 means intervals of 15 minutes, that is, 12:00, 12:15, 12:30, and so on display in the drop-downs for these fields. |
Allow negative time entries |
CORE accepts negative time entries as well. Negative time can be entered to correct an error in a previous time record. Some companies do that to ensure a complete audit trail of changes made by the timekeepers. However, accounting programs such as QuickBooks or MYOB do not accept negative entries upon data synchronization and so these entries are skipped. |
Allow zero-hour time entry |
You can check this option to let CORE accept zero hours in a time entry. |
Expense Entry: Expense entry memo required |
You can check this option if you want all employees to enter memos for their expense entries on all projects. This is usually required in government contracts. You can override this rule at the project level. |
Auto approve expense entries for employees | Selects the Auto Approve Expense option in the Employees screen for all new employees. This means expense entries logged by all employees get automatically approved. |
Expense entry rejection memo required |
You can make entering a memo a requirement while rejecting expense entries to explain why they were rejected. The next time you reject expense entries, CORE prompts you to enter a rejection memo. |
Allow reimbursable expenses to be marked paid without a bill payment |
Check this option to allow users with Accounting subscription to mark reimbursable expenses as paid without a bill payment. It is unchecked by default. |
Close Expense Entries Prevent modification to past expense entries: Older than......days |
Expense entries are not saved or deleted if the dates are older than the number of days set here. This defines the number of days into the past allowed for saving or deleting any expense entry, thus ensuring that employees record or edit their expenses within the days specified by you, say, 7 days before the current day. This cannot be a negative number. You can enter any value between 1 and 365 to define how many days in the past you would like expense entries to be restricted. Example: If today's date is August 19, 2024 and you enter 14 in the field, CORE does not allow you to enter expenses older than August 5, 2024. Note: These restrictions do not apply to editing expense entries during the billing process. |
Prior to |
Allows you to specify a past date to restrict expense entry or editing. Select this option if you want all entries with a date before the specified date to be restricted. For example, if you have set your settings to Prior to January 31, 2024, all expense entries prior to January 30, 2024 will be restricted. |
On a rolling basis |
Allows you to specify a rolling time period for setting restrictions on expense entries. You can select from two options:
Note: When defining a rolling basis, the restrictions are cumulative. This means that all expense entries before the selected period will also be restricted, applying the rules retroactively. |
Allow exceptions |
Enable this option if you want to allow specific exceptions for some CORE users to create, update, and delete expense entries beyond the defined restrictions. |
Prevent modification to future expense entries |
When enabled, this setting will limit you to edit expense entries for the specified future period. When a range of 1 to 365 days is specified, you will be allowed to edit expenses till the indicated number of days in the future. For example, if today is August 19, 2024, and you have specified 7 days in the field, you will be able to create, read, update, and delete entries from the current day till August 27, 2024. Note: These restrictions do not apply to editing expense entries during the billing process. |
Personal Time Off: Create an allocation entry on PTO request approval |
CORE allows you to create a task allocation automatically based on approved PTO requests for the default PTO project set here. |
PTO Project |
You can select a default project from this drop-down for automatic time entry made after a PTO request is approved. The entry is made against this project. Also, this PTO project is used to create automatic task allocation based on approved PTO requests. |
DCAA Compliance: Make this application DCAA compliant |
Government contractors and agencies require their time tracking systems to be DCAA compliant. CORE provides a single-click option that makes the program comply with some of the requirements. |
Password required when closing date is changed | Check this option if you want the Closing Date in the Company screen to be password-protected. This way, no one can change the closing date for the company accounts unless authorized to do so. |
Rules: Users must agree to the following disclaimer when submitting time and expense |
Some companies require their employees who enter time and expenses to sign a disclaimer while submitting their entries. This is also a requirement of several agencies such as DCAA. CORE allows you to set this rule at the global level here. You can type your own disclaimer message or accept the default one. Then this option and message appears on the Submit dialog. |
Settings > Billing & Invoices > |
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General: Minimum Bill Amount |
Enables you to specify a minimum bill amount to process an invoice. The invoice processing is skipped if the bill amount is less than what is set here and the relevant project has no billing schedule or recurring contract. |
Joint invoices are combined at ... level |
Allows you to specify how you want to combine the joint invoice and roll up to any specified level in the project hierarchy. You can combine the invoices at the client, root project or top-level parent project, phase or sub-phase level. So if a client has three projects with phases, you can choose to send a single combined/joint invoice to the client for all the three projects and their phases, or you can have CORE send three separate joint invoices to the top-level parent project. You can override this setting at the invoice level. |
Reverse write-up/write-down when invoice is reversed | If this option is checked, when an invoice is voided, CORE automatically voids the write-up/write-down (WUD) applied during the billing process. So the WUD applied by manually changing the Net Bill or % Complete in the Invoice Batch screen is voided. However, it does not void the WUD applied directly in the Time Entries screen or Invoice Batch > Time Entries > Write-Up/Down screen. This is useful in segregating the project management and billing functions in a company. |
Mark projects completed when billed 100% | CORE automatically marks the projects as completed when they are billed 100% of the contract amount (service amount). This rule also applies to projects without any contract amount. |
Link time entry attachments to invoices | CORE allows you to link the time entry-related PDF attachments automatically to the processed invoices. It considers only the time entries that are associated with the invoices. You can set or override this rule at the project level. |
Skip extra time entry for automatic write-up/write-down | Excludes extra time (entries flagged as Extra) when performing an automatic write-up/write-down during billing, say, when you manually change the net bill amount or apply % Complete. |
Auto apply retainer to invoices | Select this option if you want to apply retainers automatically to invoices when you are processing them in the Invoices screen. CORE applies the project retainer prior to the client retainer. |
Apply discount to pre-tax amount | By default, CORE applies a discount to the calculated bill amount after applying the taxes (post-tax discount). You can check this option to apply a discount to the bill amount before taxes (pre-tax discount). |
Link expense entry attachments to invoices | CORE allows you to link the expense entry-related PDF attachments automatically to the processed invoices. It considers only the expense entries that are associated with the invoices. You can set or override this rule at the project level. |
Allow zero (0) rates in service fee schedules |
Allows you to enter zero rates in fee schedules. You can use such a fee schedule to have both the bill and cost rates default to zero, but keep the entry billable. |
Hide copyright on standard invoices and reports |
You can choose to show or hide the copyright information in the footer area of your standard invoices and reports in CORE. E.g., 'CORE Standard Invoice Copyright ©2024 BQE Software'. |
Invoice Settings: Show billing through on invoices |
Allows you to view time entries in the Invoices screen and on invoices as of a specific date instead of a ‘From and To’ date range. |
Show account summary at the bottom of invoices | This option allows you to display an account summary at the bottom of your invoices. It is checked by default. |
Show retainer summary on invoices |
This option allows you to display a retainer summary at the bottom of all your invoice templates, including joint invoices and phased invoices. It is checked by default at the global level. |
Show combined GST on invoices | Displays the combined GST (Goods and Services Tax) for both services and expenses on the invoices. This setting is automatically turned on for countries such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand, which show combined taxes unlike USA where the taxes are shown separately as MET and MST (Main Expense Tax and Main Service Tax). Turning on this option automatically sets the rule 'Show combined GST on invoices' in the Projects screen. So you can override this rule at the project level. |
Email payment receipts to the client | You can email your clients a payment receipt automatically in response to a received payment. This feature sends a "Thank you for your payment." note to the client or client contact, and attaches the electronic receipt of that payment. The attachment details show the relevant invoice transaction, previous payments, recent payment and balance remaining on that invoice. This gives your clients a better experience of doing business with you. |
Email retainer payment receipts to the client | You can email your clients a payment receipt automatically in response to receiving a retainer payment. This feature sends a "Thank you for your payment." note to the client or client contact, and attaches the electronic receipt of that retainer payment. This gives your clients a better experience of working with you. |
Show time and expense memos on detailed invoices | This option displays the time and expense line item memos on detailed invoices. You can un-check it if you do not want to show the memos on invoices in the detailed format even if the time and expenses have memos associated with them. |
Show project memo on invoices at the bottom |
This controls the placement of project-related memos on the invoices. If checked, the project memo is carried to the second memo in the Invoices screen and displayed at the bottom of invoices. Otherwise, the project memo is carried to the first memo and displayed at the top of invoices. This option is applicable only when you have turned on the project rule 'Use memo on invoices'. |
Hide non-billable time entries on invoices | By default, CORE includes the time entries with $0 amounts on the detailed invoices as ‘No Charge’ items. You can check this option to prevent such (non-billable) entries from displaying on invoices. In that case, those hours are deducted from the total hours invoiced. You can set or override this rule at the project level. |
Hide non-billable expense entries on invoices | By default, CORE includes the expense entries with $0 amounts on the detailed invoices as ‘No Charge’ items. You can check this option to prevent such (non-billable) entries from displaying on invoices. In that case, those units are deducted from the total units invoiced. You can set or override this rule at the project level. |
Show country in client address | Displays the name of the client's country in the address displayed on the invoices. This is especially relevant for those who do business in USA and Canada. |
Show company Tax ID on invoices |
You can show your company's Tax ID on all invoices in the header section. Some countries require this to be displayed on the invoices, such as showing Australian Business Number (ABN) for Australian companies. This rule is turned on by default for Australian and New Zealand companies. |
Message on Invoice |
You can enter a standard message to print on all invoices for all projects. This message prints just above the footer of the invoice. You can also define standard invoice messages at the client and project level if you do not want to set it globally. If a message is defined, it shows up automatically on the invoices. |
Last Invoice # |
This is the last printed invoice number format, which consists of a prefix, number and suffix. The middle number is automatically incremented by one unit from the value entered here. CORE supports both numeric and alphanumeric invoice numbers. The prefix and suffix should be limited to 15 characters maximum. Reversing an invoice does not decrease the counter; however, CORE reuses that invoice number. Example: If you fill Prefix with the string INV, Last Invoice No. with 0000 and Suffix with 2024, the resulting invoice number will be INV-0001-2024. |
Reference Calculation Method | Some companies prefer electronic invoicing, especially in European countries. You can select a calculation method for that–137 Method or RF Creditor Reference. In addition, check ‘Show on invoices’ option if you want to display the reference number on invoices. |
Retainer Invoice # |
Specify a prefix for your retainer invoice sequence, which will precede the invoice number, followed by the suffix. CORE automatically increments the invoice number by one unit from the value entered here. It supports both numeric and alphanumeric invoice numbers. The prefix and suffix should be limited to 15 characters maximum. Example: If you fill Prefix with the string RET, Invoice Number with 0000 and Suffix with 2024, the resulting invoice number will be RET-0001-2024. |
Accounts Receivable: Aging Interval | Age of an invoice indicates the time from when the invoice is sent to the client till it remains unpaid. You can specify the aging period here, which sets the time interval for all invoices and gets reflected on the aging reports accordingly. The aging interval has to be greater than zero. Aging is based on the invoice date. |
Payment Term | Payment term is used to display a message on the invoices regarding the date when the invoices are due, say Net 30 for 30 days. You can also set the payment as Due Upon Receipt for all invoices, including late fee invoices. In that case, the grace days are 0. You can set these terms at the client and project level too. |
Default Class | Class is a transaction entity that allows you to classify transactions and view statements and reports for that entity, say business locations or cost centers. A default class at the global level is inherited by all the new projects. Example: If you keep data from multiple locations in one company file, you can assign a ‘class’ to each location to facilitate pulling together similar items for reporting. |
Interest % Per Month | This interest rate applies to all delinquent or late payments. If you want to charge 1.5% interest after 30 days, enter 1.5 here and 30 in the Charge Interest After field. If you want to adjust the interest or grace period for a particular project, you can do so in the Projects screen. The interest due for late payments is calculated based on these values, and displayed on the printed statements and in the Invoices screen. |
Payment Terms |
You can set the payment terms for all your clients here. Payment terms are created in the Terms screen. Although they are set at the global level, you can override them at the client and project level. The Terms screen allows re-using the previous payment term if you check Allow Duplicates here. |
Tax Rates: Main Service Tax (MST) |
Main Service Tax is the tax applied to the labor or service amount on invoices. The default rate can be set here and then overwritten at the client or project level, if required. Note: If you set MST to a non-zero value, the rule 'Show combined GST on invoices' is added automatically to the projects. However, you can later remove this rule from the projects. |
Main Expense Tax (MET) |
Main Expense Tax is the tax applied to the expense amount on invoices. The default rate can be set here and then overwritten at the client or project level, if required. Note: If you set MET to a non-zero value, the rule 'Show combined GST on invoices' is added automatically to the projects. However, you can later remove this rule from the projects. |
Ceiling for Taxes | Enables you to enter a ceiling for computation of Main Service Tax and Main Expense Tax. It is a maximum limit set on the percentage of tax that can be levied on invoiced services and expenses. Example: Alaska has a 2% sales tax rate with a ceiling set at $500. |
Main Service Tax to exclude item tax | MST excludes item taxes (Tax 1/2/3) associated with the activity items while computing the total tax amount to be charged on invoices. You can override this rule at the project level. |
Main Expense Tax to exclude item tax | MET excludes item taxes (Tax 1/2/3) associated with the expense items while computing the total tax amount to be charged on invoices. You can override this rule at the project level. |
Default Activity Rates: Tax Rate 1/2/3 | You can set the default tax rate for new activity items here, say 9%. You can override these rates at the activity level. CORE then applies these taxes to the time entries to calculate the bill amount. |
Default Expense Rates: Tax Rate 1/2/3 | You can set the default tax rate for new expense items here, say 5%. You can override these rates at the expense level. CORE then applies these taxes to the expense entries to calculate the charge amount. |
LEDES: (only for legal industry type) LEDES Format |
As per the LEDES standards, there are various data exchange formats available such as ebilling and budgeting. CORE allows export of invoice data to the following ebilling formats:
See Invoices > LEDES Export for more. |
This is the name of your CORE company and is required for exporting the invoice data. The name is inherited from the Company Profile screen, but you are allowed to provide a different name. | |
Employer ID | Employer ID or Company ID is a number assigned to the company or firm. |
Client Matter Options: Client ID |
When exporting invoices from CORE, you need to specify what the associated Client IDs are going to be in LEDES. To map the client, your options are:
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Matter ID |
When exporting invoices from CORE, you need to specify what the associated Matter IDs (Project IDs) are going to be in LEDES. To map the matter, your options are:
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Omit all occurrences of colons (:) | When you check this option, CORE removes all the instances of colons (:) from the IDs while exporting the invoices to LEDES. |
Replace all occurrences of Client ID with the associated Matter ID | When you check this option, CORE replaces all the Client IDs with the Client Matter IDs, which are the IDs of matters (projects) in LEDES. |
A-Code & L-Code Options |
The legal industry has a set of uniform task-based codes called Activity Codes (A-Codes) and Litigation Codes (L-Codes) that is used in coding time for billing purposes. When exporting invoices to LEDES, CORE needs to map the activity or service items with these codes.
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Create custom A-Code and L-Code mapping for clients |
CORE gives you the flexibility to map your activity (service) and expense items (costs) with custom codes. While transferring invoice data to the LEDES format, CORE items are then replaced by these custom codes. Click Mappings Setup to create and manage custom A-Code and L-Code mappings for your clients.
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Copy Mappings | You can set up custom mappings for the activity (service) and cost items (expense) for your clients. When creating custom codes for each activity and expense item, you can save those mappings and then choose to copy them to another client or client group. |
Service and Cost Options: Exclude non-billable time and costs | CORE excludes all the non-billable time and costs (expense entries) from the invoice data for export to LEDES. |
Export sales tax as a separate line item | When sending over invoices, this option allows you to send the item-level sales tax as a separate line item as opposed to be a part of the time and expense entries (costs) included in the invoice amount. |
Sort time and cost details |
While exporting the CORE invoices, you can sort the time and cost (expense) details in a chronological order:
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Invoice Options: Invoice Start and End Dates |
You can choose what the start and end dates of the invoices being exported to LEDES are:
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Invoice Date |
You can choose what the invoice dates of the invoices being exported to LEDES are:
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Timekeeper Settings: Use separator between timekeeper's first name and last name | You can specify the character to be used for separating the employee's first name from the last name. Example: If you specify colon (:) as a separator, then CORE generates John:Doe as the timekeeper's name instead of John Doe. |
Timekeeper Name | You need to specify the naming combination for the LEDES timekeeper. By default, CORE generates First Name + Last Name combination for employee's name. However, you can override that and generate a Last Name + First Name combination. Example: Instead of 'John Doe', you can export 'Doe John' to the LEDES file. |
Timekeeper ID |
You need to specify the ID convention for the LEDES timekeeper, which should be a unique identifier. You can either use the CORE Employee ID as is or the Timekeeper ID can be exported as the initials of the employee's first and last name instead of the full name. If there are two or more employees with the same initials, CORE exports all the records to your LEDES file. Example: Instead of John Doe, you will be exporting all instances of JD to your LEDES file. |
Settings > Integrations > |
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Cloud Storage: Cloud Storage |
Name of the cloud-based storage (like AWS) that allows your attachments to be physically stored there. When adding a new cloud storage, you can choose from various options like Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc (If you have disabled sharing on your OneDrive for business accounts, you are still able to upload the files in CORE.) All your files are stored in a single folder called BQE CORE Attachments on your chosen cloud storage. |
Destination Name |
You can set the name of the cloud storage solution here, say Amazon Web Services for AWS cloud storage. |
Default |
Only the cloud website marked as default is available to all the CORE users in your company for storing their attachments and documents. |
Settings > Display & Formatting > |
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Number Formatting: User Interface: No. of Digits After Decimal for Rate/Units/Benefits |
Number of digits allowed after a decimal for numeric fields like rate, units, and HR benefits. If you select 0, this implies a non-decimal format with no rounding off. If you specify 2, this implies rounding off a value to two decimal places. The only exception is Expenses Entries > Cost Rate where it always shows 4 decimal places. The default value is taken from the regional settings of the computer. This setting affects the decimal values displayed on various screens, reports and invoices. However, all amount fields are kept to 2 places of decimal. No matter what decimal value you select, the client gets charged to only two places of decimal. In addition, any decimal number that ends with 5, rounds up. Example: If you specify 2 as the number of digits after the decimal for rate and then assign a cost rate of 23.677 for mileage, the value that will be displayed as 23.68. However, placing your pointer in the field will reveal the exact cost entered. If you specify 9 as the number of digits after a decimal and then assign a cost rate of 23.6778899 for mileage, it will display the same 23.6778899 in the grid. |
Settings > Accounting > |
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General: Report Options: Report Basis |
CORE maintains both cash and accrual based accounts in the background, but allows you to set the default according to your preference and policy.
Example: If you send an invoice of $500 ($300 services and $200 expenses) to a client, this amount is posted to your A/R account based on your accounting method. Your profit-loss reports will show $0 for cash basis of accounting while $500 ($300 toward services and $200 toward expenses) for accrual basis. Suppose the client makes a partial payment of $250 (50% of invoice amount). When you run a profit-loss report this time, it will show $250 ($125 toward services and $125 toward expenses) for cash basis of accounting and the same $500 ($300 toward services and $200 toward expenses) for accrual basis. |
Enable Trust Fund Accounting |
Select this option if you want to use the Trust Fund Accounting feature in CORE. This option is enabled for the legal industry by default as it is commonly used by lawyers and attorneys. Attorneys are the fiduciary of the IOLTA bank account, which is a trust fund account used to deposit the retainer payments, settlement monies, money for case costs, future services and expenses, etc. by the clients. |
Account Display As |
Allows you to set the format in which the account names are displayed in CORE screens, reports and drop-down lists. You can add or remove various fields and add separators to set the naming format and order. While setting the naming format, you can preview it in real-time. Example: For Accounts, you can select Account Name - Account ID as the display name. The default format is [Text] [Separator] [Text]. |
Vendor Bills: Last Vendor Bill # |
This is the vendor bill numbering format, which consists of a prefix, number and suffix. The middle number is automatically incremented by one unit from the value entered here. CORE supports both numeric and alphanumeric IDs. The prefix and suffix should be limited to 20 characters maximum. Example: If you fill Prefix with VB, Last Vendor Bill # with 1000 and Suffix with 2023, the resulting bill number will be VB-1001-2023. Vendor Bills allow re-using the previous bill number if you check Allow Duplicates here. |
Add vendor bill numbers automatically to Bill Payments check memo |
Check this option if you want your vendor bill payment checks to inherit the vendor bill number in the memo as a reference. |
Purchase Orders: Purchase Order # |
This is the purchase order numbering format, which consists of a prefix, number and suffix. The middle number is automatically incremented by one unit from the value entered here. CORE supports both numeric and alphanumeric IDs. Example: If you fill Prefix with PO, Last Purchase Order # with 1000 and Suffix with 2023, the resulting PO number will be PO-1001-2023. Purchase Orders allow re-using the previous number if you check Allow Duplicates here. |
Accounts: System Accounts |
Accounts can be set at the global level but overwritten at the item, project or invoice level, if needed. You can create and set your own default system, tax and bank accounts. This helps maintain your own chart of accounts numbering and hierarchy.
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Bank Accounts |
You can set the default banks accounts here for various screens in CORE. You can also create your own accounts and then set them up as the default accounts. This helps in maintaining your own Chart of Accounts numbering and hierarchy. If needed, you can change these accounts anytime and have CORE reallocate their historical transactions automatically. You can override these accounts later at the relevant screen level.
Companies also need bank accounts in order to pay wages or taxes, and reimburse other expenses. CORE allows you (employer) to add bank accounts and set them as defaults. In CORE, you already have Chart of Accounts where you can add bank accounts and specify all the required information. When bank accounts are created there, Settings allows you to set those bank accounts as defaults. |
Tax Accounts |
Tax accounts are balance sheet accounts and so you can view the ledger for them.
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Settings > CRM > Quotes > | |
Quote: Auto increment Quote ID |
If you check this option, CORE automatically pre-fills and increments the Quote ID number set below for newly created quotes. |
Quote ID |
This is the quote number format, which consists of a prefix, ID number and suffix (you should add space or hyphen to separate them). The middle number is automatically incremented by one unit from the value entered here. CORE supports both numeric and alphanumeric IDs. If you delete a quote, the last Quote ID here is reset so that the new quote created reuses the ID number of the deleted quote. |
Settings > Monitoring > |
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Missing Weekly Time Card |
If your employees have not submitted their weekly time cards, you can remind them by setting up reminders:
You can set up monitoring with a minimum of two days to monitor. Depending on the current day, CORE allows you to choose the relevant option from the drop-down. For example, at the time of setting up monitoring, if it is Monday, you can choose the following options: Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Following Sunday, Following Monday, and Following Tuesday. After these settings are saved, CORE sends reminders to eligible employees on the same day and time, every week.
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Enabled/Disabled |
The toggle button allows you to enable or disable the time card reminders. |
Pro Tip: Check Eligibility |
Allows you to check the eligible employees for time card monitoring and identify those profiles that haven't been set up yet. When clicked, this updates you about the number of employees who have their standard hours set up in the Employees screen and also provides a link to the Employee Missing Time Week View report. |
Specify Settings
To specify settings at the global level:
- Open the Settings screen from the side menu.
- Select the category of settings on the left panel that you want to specify, say Company or Add-ons > Accounting.
- Enter the required information or select the options on the right panel, as needed.
- Click Save.
Many Settings can be overwritten at the client, project, employee or other screen level.
Set Two-Factor Authentication
For an additional layer of security, you can enforce two-factor authentication (2FA) for users logging into your CORE company. This allows CORE admins to apply a uniform 2FA policy for CORE users throughout the company. 2FA ensures that unauthorized people cannot log into CORE and access your company data. This option is not available for trial accounts and companies.
To enable or disable 2FA settings for your company:
- Open the Settings screen from the side menu > Settings.
- Click Access & Permissions > Login Security.
- On the Access & Permissions screen, click the toggle to enable Two-Factor Authentication for CORE users throughout the company. It is disabled by default.
- Select the user roles for which you want to enforce Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) in the company.
- Owner
- Admin
- Standard
- When you have finished, click Save.
Set Auto Logout
You can set CORE to automatically log out inactive users after a specified time. Do note that these settings are applied to all users company-wide.
To set up auto logout options, follow these steps:
- Open the Settings screen from the side menu > Settings.
- Click Access & Permissions > Login Security.
- On the Access & Permissions screen, click the toggle to enable Auto Logout.
- Select a time interval from the Time Delay drop-down. You can choose a minimum of 5 minutes to a maximum of 240 minutes for the inactive period.
- When you have finished, click Save.
- After the auto logout time is set and there is no activity in CORE, users are warned to remain active a minute before the session timeout.
- You can choose to remain logged in or log out, as needed.
Set Up DCAA Compliance
CORE has not been audited for a formal DCAA Compliance yet, though it is on our roadmap. However, it follows many of the requirements for DCAA compliance. You can provide default settings for DCAA compliance here and implement this security feature with a single click.
To set up the DCAA compliance option in CORE, watch this video or follow these steps:
- Open the Settings screen from the side menu.
- Click Time & Expenses > DCAA Compliance on the list.
- On the DCAA Compliance panel, select the DCAA options and other security rules. Check CORE-DCAA Compliance for details.
- Click Save.
Edit Invoice Templates
The pre-defined templates cannot be edited unless they are duplicated and saved with a new name. Also, you cannot edit custom invoice templates. CORE allows you to make batch changes to the invoice templates.
To edit a default invoice template, watch this video or follow these steps:
- Open the Settings screen from the side menu.
- Select Billing & Invoices > Invoice Templates on the list.
- On the Invoice Templates screen, select the relevant category from the Show drop-down, say Fixed Fee.
- Select an invoice template on the grid and click Detail on that row.
- On the Edit Templates panel, make the desired changes to the template.
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Name
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Description
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Appearance: Font, Font Size
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Layout: Time/Expense/General: Group By, Detail level, Sort By, Show
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Header: Logo, Company Info
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Page: Margins
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Message on Invoice: Font, Size
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Click Save Changes. You are prompted to create a duplicate template with these changes.
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You can also select multiple templates in the list and make batch changes to them by clicking Actions > Batch Update.
- On the Batch Update dialog, select the relevant fields and enter new values for them.
- Check the disclaimer at the end and click Update. Do note that this process is irreversible.
Note: All system invoice templates hide units by default and group expenses by date. Also, Arial is the default font for all invoice templates though you can change that.
Duplicate Invoice Templates
The pre-defined templates cannot be edited unless they are duplicated and saved with a new name.
To create a copy of a default invoice template, watch this video or follow these steps:
- Open the Settings screen from the side menu.
- Select Billing & Invoices and then Invoice Templates on the left panel.
- On the Invoice Templates screen, select the relevant category from the Show drop-down, say Fixed Fee.
- Select an invoice template on the grid that you want to copy and click to select Duplicate.
- On the Duplicate Template dialog, enter the new template name.
- Click Duplicate.
The original template is copied to a new template. You can edit it, if needed.
Set Default Invoice Templates
These global settings allow you to define a default invoice template for each contract type and billing method to be used throughout the company. You can also overwrite them at the project or invoice level. You can also have BQE Software create custom invoices for your company and add them to your CORE database. Then you can select them here as your default template instead of the standard ones available.
To set a default invoice template, watch this video or follow these steps:
- Open the Settings screen from the side menu.
- Select Billing & Invoices and then Templates Assignments on the list.
- On the Template Assignments panel, select the relevant template for any invoice type by clicking Choose Template.
- On the Choose Template dialog, pick a new template for the invoice after selecting the Show option. You can also choose your custom invoice from the list, if available.
- Preview the sample template in the viewer and click Done.
This is the template that is assigned to all the invoices of that selected category. The pre-defined templates cannot be edited unless they are duplicated and saved with a new name. Also, system invoice templates hide units by default and group expenses by date.
Monitor Time Card
CORE allows you to automatically send reminders to employees when their time cards are due. They receive these reminders in-app, via emails, and on their phones if they use the CORE Mobile app. You can enable or disable this option at any time. This setting is only available to CORE Admins and Owners. Please note that for employees to receive time card reminders, you must define their standard working hours in the Employees > Date & Hours screen as well as the company's work week in the Settings > Company > Work Time screen. For existing employees, you can define them individually or use batch update.
Reminders are sent if any of the conditions are met on the employee's time card during that week:
- Employees have not submitted time equal to or greater than the standard hours per week set in their employee profile
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Employees have unsubmitted, rejected, or not submitted status against their time
Employees whose standard hours per week are zero do not receive any notification. However, employees with overtime (OT), comp time, or non-billable time entries receive a notification.
Note: This feature is not available in trial and sample CORE companies.
To set up time card notifications:
- Open the Settings > Monitoring screen from the side menu.
- Enable the Missing Weekly Time Card option by turning on the toggle switch.
- Select the day and time from the drop-downs to specify when CORE sends reminders to the employees. You can change the time zone, if needed. Check Field Descriptions above for details.
- You can send a follow-up reminder if the employees have not submitted their time cards after the initial reminder. You can send up to three reminders: Every 24 hours (3 max), Every 48 hours (3 max), Every 72 hours (3 max).
- Click Check Eligibility in the Pro Tip section to see the eligible employees for time card monitoring. Check Field Descriptions above for details.
- Click Save.
Set Up LEDES Export
You can set up all the LEDES export options in Settings first and then export the invoices to the LEDES format from the Invoices screen. CORE refers to these settings during the export process and prepares an export file that applies these rule for each invoice. This feature is only available for the legal industry type.
To set up the LEDES export options, watch this video or follow these steps:
- Open the Settings > Billing & Invoices screen from the side menu.
- Click LEDES on the left panel.
- Select the LEDES format and enter the Company Name. Check Field Descriptions above for details.
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- LEDES 1998B
- LEDES 1998B1-v2
- LEDES 2000 XML
- For Client ID, you can use the client’s ID or custom field. Else, for Matter ID, use the matter’s ID or custom field. Check Field Descriptions above for details.
- For A-Codes and L-Codes (Litigation Codes), you can choose one of the Activity options or create custom mappings for clients. Check Field Descriptions above for details.
- Likewise, you can set different service, expense (cost), invoice, and timekeeper options or accept the default settings.
- When you are done, click Save.
Note: The client address and invoice tax currency is supposed to get exported to LEDES 1998 format in the tax line items.
Set Up ePayments
CORE allows your clients to pay their invoices electronically or online from anywhere in the world using its ePayments feature, called BQE ePayments. BQE ePayments can be used for regular invoices, statements, retainer invoices as well as late fee invoices.
To set up a BQE ePayments profile, watch this video or follow these steps:
- Open the ePayments screen from the side menu > Settings.
- On the right panel, click Get Started. To proceed, you need to complete the steps launched in a separate browser and later return to this screen. Check ePayments for details.
These global ePayments accounts are inherited when creating new clients; inherited from clients when creating new projects; and inherited from projects when creating new invoices. You can further enable or disable this option for existing clients, projects or invoices from the respective screens.
Set Up Cloud Storage
You can attach documents, images and other files to your data in CORE, such as transactions, items and other records from any source - your computer or cloud storage locations like Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive ( If you have disabled sharing on your OneDrive for business accounts, you are still able to upload the files in CORE.), etc. You can add company-wide third-party cloud storage destinations in the Settings screen like Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3 or AWS), which allow your documents to be physically stored there. All your files are stored in a single folder called BQE CORE Attachments on your chosen cloud storage.
Before you can link files from online storage solutions like Google Drive, Dropbox, etc., you have to pass the authentication and authorization steps first. If you are a first-time user who does not use any storage solution for your company, you can keep the default storage subscription service in CORE, Amazon Web Service at the database level. When the authorization is done from here, the documents can be uploaded from various screens like Projects, Clients, Employees, Budgets, and others.
To add a new cloud storage location for your documents, watch this video or follow these steps:
- Open the Settings screen from the side menu.
- Select Integrations > Cloud Storage on the list.
- On the Cloud Storage panel, click Add Destination. The Add Destination option is disabled if you are using a CORE sample company.
- On the Add Destination dialog, select a new Cloud Storage software where your documents will be stored. Check Field Descriptions above for details.
- Enter a name for the destination.
- You can choose to make it the default. Only the cloud website marked as default is available to all the CORE users in your company for storing their attachments and documents. storage location by checking the 'Make default' box.
- Click Connect.
If needed, you can update the destination later or disconnect it using the Update or Remove options in the row-action menu.
Note: If you specify, say, your Dropbox account credentials here, but notice that the browser connects to it using different credentials, the reason is that CORE looks for any active sessions first. If present, it displays the content; if not, it asks you to log in.
Customize Labels
To customize a label, watch this video or follow these steps:
- Open the Settings screen from the side menu.
- Select Display & Formatting > Custom Labels from the list.
- On the Custom Labels panel, select a screen name whose label you want to customize. Check Custom Labels for details.
Mark Screen as Favorite
You can mark or flag the most-often used and important screens in CORE as your favorites up to a maximum of ten. These favorite screens then display separately on the side menu under the Favorites list. You can manage all your favorite screens in CORE from User Settings.
To mark this screen as your favorite, watch this video or follow these steps:
- Open the Settings screen from the side menu.
- Click on the top-right of any screen or panel.
- You can access that screen from the side menu under Favorites.
You can also check the detailed video on marking screens as favorite in CORE.