When we last looked at Timesheet Xpress we found it to be a useful small-business tool, neatly filling the gap between manual time recording and complex cutomer-relationship management (CRM) packages.

Since then, UK-based developer Acksen has come up with a new version - Timesheet Xpress 9.1 - which further enhances the functionality on offer without adding to the complexity of the application.

Timesheet Xpress is dedicated to the task of recording time, providing tools to allocate time spent by service professionals to specific customers, clients or projects. Time can also be split by task and, of course, you get tools to analyse, report and bill for that time.

We installed the new version on a notebook running Windows Vista Business but it can be deployed on any PC running Windows 95 or later. Installation takes just a couple of minutes after which a simple questionnaire captures basic user information.

The product can be used either standalone or networked and integrated with either Quickbooks or Sage accounting, enabling invoices to be generated directly from completed timesheets. ACT integration is another useful option, together with facilities to import contacts, task and appointments from Outlook.

The user interface is something of a cross between an Outlook calendar and an Excel spreadsheet with no major changes in this version. The enhancements in 9.1 are far from immediately obvious, although that doesn’t detract from their usefulness.

A user-defined client, project and task (CPT) list is used to categorise time allocations, with facilities to colour code time allocations and distinguish between chargeable and non-chargeable items. No big changes have been made here, however you can now set conformance rules, for example specifying users’ normal start time, the time that can be taken for lunch, maximum overtime and so on. Some 13 editable rules are defined as standard and are applied as timesheets a re filled. There are also facilities also to report on any non-conformance.

Managers also get a new wizard in this release, to analyse timesheets and find any time that, for whatever reason, hasn’t been billed to a client. These time slots can then be correctly allocated to maximise revenue, at the same time insuring that time doesn’t get double-billed.

Another new feature is the ability to assign budgeted hours to a project along with a validity period and alarm thresholds. When the allocated hours reach the budget threshold, the icon in the task list changes colour as a warning. Users can also be prevented from allocating time to a project outside its valid dates or when it has been flagged as over-spent in terms of budgeted hours.

The reporting tools have also been enhanced with, for example, the ability to run reports for a fixed period such as ‘last week’ or ‘last month’ rather than have to specify the exact start and end dates. Reports can be viewed, printed or saved in a variety of formats including PDF. However, the ability to generate custom reports is still missing and no extra reports have been added into this release.

Coincident with the 9.1 release, prices have been increased, but not by much and Timesheet Xpress is still a very affordable and useful small-business product. And don’t just take our word for it. There’s a free trial available and a cut-down personal version both available on the vendor’s website.