TimeTrex Payroll and Time Management

CNET Editors' review

by: CNET staff on July 26, 2011

TimeTrex is an interesting Web-based, modular, multiplatform payroll and employee time management system. Employees can keep track of their time at the office, at home, and on the road, even from their cell phones. TimeTrex Standard Edition is free and includes the open-source Payroll Module, the Employee Scheduling Module, and the Time and Attendance Module.

TimeTrex's On-Site client is a substantial download, nearly 56 MB, including the Apache database software. The setup process involves installing the client and then setting up the software via a Web-based process, chiefly initializing our database. We entered our company's information as well as an administrator username and password. TimeTrex recommends its Online University training program, which is also free, and there's a PDF-based Administrator's Guide for getting started. After entering our company data, we entered our Branch data. Every company must have at least one Branch or Location for employees to punch in and out of. We could access these and other settings from the Admin menu. We finished our selections and logged in to the main online interface. This displayed our company's name and our user name with a Recent Activity Summary of Recent Requests, Recent Messages, Current Exceptions (with severity), and Pending Requests. A toolbar gave instant access to all of the program's tools and functions, often via simple pop-ups. For instance, clicking In/Out called up a small dialog with our name, the time, and Punch In/Out options. In this way, we could access Time Sheets, Schedules, Reports, MyAccount settings, and Admin functions. The Help menu included not only links to the training material but also FAQs, support forums, and other resources.

There's certainly a lot to TimeTrex, both in terms of what it offers as well as getting the most out of it. However, at no point did this powerful tool feel at all intimidating in either local or Web-based functions. Far from it--we'd say it's one of the least confusing and complicated time-tracking programs we've tried, despite its many features and options. The freeware has all that most businesses will need, but the developers offer additional modules for special requirements.