If you also wish to record and settle your travel data, you can extend ZEP Compact with the "Travel Expense Reporting" module. (Using Travel Expense Reporting is only possible if the "Sales & Costs" module is also activated.) In ZEP Professional, Travel Expense Reporting is included.

With "Travel Expense Reporting," you can utilize the following additional functions:

The following additional Employee Reports are available to you:

The following additional Project Reports are available to you:

Project Management

In the Administration area, you have the tile Travel with settings for:

Additionally, for the billing of travel, you must make further settings for the Project and the Customer.

You have the choice:

No Calculation:

No Subsistence Costs are calculated.

Germany:

Enter a flat rate for an absence of more than 8 hours and at least 24 hours, respectively. If you have also received paid breakfast or lunch/dinner on a given day, the tax regulation stipulates a deduction from the Subsistence Costs. This deduction is specified as a percentage depending on the location. You specify the flat rates per location under Administration > Travel > Locations, as well as the percentage deduction for paid meals.

Further information on legal regulations:

Details on the calculation of Subsistence Costs can be found in the documents of the Federal Ministry of Finance.

Austria Calendar Day Rule (The calculation of the daily allowance is based on a calendar day.)

Austria 24-Hour Rule (The calculation of the daily allowance is based on 24-hour intervals starting from "start of travel.")

Under "Travel Expenses - Daily Allowance," you enter the lump-sum daily allowance valid for the location. Furthermore, you have the choice between the Twelfth Rule and the Third Rule for each location:

Further Information on Subsistence Allowance (Per Diem) in ZEP

Where can I see the calculated Subsistence Costs?

Subsistence Costs are reported in the employee's Cost Report and are considered as internal project costs in the Revenue Reports.

You also have the option to charge Subsistence Costs back in a project. You can set this per project.

The determined amount is then taken into account in the Project Billing and the Revenue Reports.

When do Subsistence Costs arise?

Subsistence Costs arise when an employee books project times at a work location that is not their "first place of employment" work location. ZEP determines the time the employee was traveling, including breaks.

This works best if the employee begins each trip with an "outward journey" booking and concludes it with a "return journey" booking. (If you have the instruction that the actual travel time is not working time, the outward and return journey can also be booked at only one point in time, i.e., with a duration of "0", so that only the start and end of the trip are clearly defined.)

Where do the figures for the calculation of Subsistence Costs come from?

The country-specific parameters per location are specified in the "Master Data Locations."

For an employee's absence per calendar day, the Subsistence Costs are calculated from the duration of the absence and the parameters of the work location.

Weekends and other Special Cases

Weekend

Subsistence Costs are calculated for unbooked intermediate days (e.g., Saturday and Sunday) under the following conditions:

If you have set the Austria 24-Hour Rule, you must enter a further travel time with a duration of "0" for Saturday and Sunday, otherwise the weekends will not be included in the calculation.

Case: Billing Subsistence Allowance for the Weekend

This ensures that ZEP considers that an employee can receive tax-free Subsistence Costs if they remain at their remote work location over the weekend, even if they did not work on the weekend days.

If the work on Friday and Monday is booked to a project that, according to project planning, charges the Subsistence Costs back to the customer, these weekend Subsistence Costs will naturally also be considered in the project billing.

Case: Billing Weekend without Subsistence Allowance

To prevent Subsistence Costs from being calculated for the weekend, book a return journey on Friday. (Example: an employee could travel back over the weekend but chooses to stay at the remote work location privately; accordingly, they should not receive any Subsistence Costs for this time. They would then book a "return journey" on Friday with a time of "0" and then an "outward journey" again on Monday with a time of "0". The employee will then not be credited with any Subsistence Costs for this weekend.)

Case: Travel Across Multiple Locations

If a trip involved multiple locations, the last visited location of a calendar day is decisive for the calculation of the Subsistence Costs. Exception: If you visited both foreign and domestic locations on the same day, the last visited foreign location is decisive. ZEP recognizes domestic locations by the word "Inland" (Domestic) being present in the location name.

Case: Two Separate Trips on One Calendar Day

Even with two trips on the same day, the total absence times for that calendar day must be considered. Here, too, the last visited location applies, or the last visited foreign location, if applicable.

Case: Travel Across Midnight

You always record relative to the calendar day, meaning a trip across midnight is entered in two parts. For the first part "until midnight," the location reached up to that point must be specified (regardless of whether by plane, train, or car). For the second part (following day from 0 o'clock), the destination is specified.

Ensure that the overall trip begins with exactly one outward journey and ends with exactly one return journey. The travel times in between must be continuous travel.

Midnight Rule:

The Midnight Rule means that absences from two calendar days may be combined in order to receive Subsistence Costs, if applicable. However, this may only occur if there was no overnight stay.

The Midnight Rule is applied if:

Deadline Check for Tax-Free Reimbursement of Subsistence Costs

Path: Administration > Travel > Settings

Set here whether the deadline check for the tax-free reimbursement of Subsistence Costs should refer to the same Projector the same Customer.

Deadline Check for Tax-Free Reimbursement of Subsistence Costs:

If this, minus times of absence, is more than 3 months and there has been no 4-week interruption, a corresponding note will be issued in the employee's Cost Report.

Recognize Overnight Stay Time

This setting influences the calculation of Subsistence Costs in the event that an employee travels overnight.

If you specify "No" here, ZEP will not recognize an overnight stay time, meaning an overnight stay will never be considered for the calculation of Subsistence Costs, as there is none by definition. This has an impact on arrival and departure days where the minimum absence duration is not met: ZEP will accordingly never calculate subsistence costs (Subsistence Costs Allowance) here.

If you specify "Yes" here, ZEP applies your definition for overnight stays. Specify the time frame within which an unbooked time span must fall for ZEP to recognize an overnight stay.

Specify the Minimum Overnight Stay Time in Hours. For the time frame, enter the Overnight Stay Time Start in the Evening (must be greater than 12:00) and the Overnight Stay Time End in the Morning (must be less than 12:00).

The Minimum Overnight Stay Time in Hours must not be greater than the time span from Start to End. (You can also enter "0"; in that case, an overnight stay will always be recognized, even if there was no "break." This means for arrival and departure days where the minimum absence duration is not met: ZEP always calculates subsistence costs.)

In other words, an overnight stay is always assumed if:

If an Employee Has Booked a Day to Different Projects

If an employee incurs Subsistence Costs (SCA) as part of a field activity, you can specify in the Billing Settings > Travel Settings of a project whether subsistence costs should be billed.

Here in the settings, you specify how these subsistence costs should be billed on to the respective project or projects. You can choose the following two options if an employee has booked a day to different projects:

Distribute the day's subsistence costs proportionally across all projects:

The starting point is the calculation of the subsistence costs from the employee's perspective, meaning all time bookings to all projects. This determines the lump sum applicable for that day, e.g., "more than 8 hours" or "at least 24 hours" (Administration > Travel > Locations).

In a next step, ZEP distributes this result to the involved projects of that day, i.e., to the projects to which "Location project-relevant" was booked.

This means:

From an internal perspective: The externally billable subsistence costs are determined by the same key as the internal subsistence costs. In the simplest example: If all involved projects are set up to generally calculate subsistence costs (for all times, not just billable ones) with the "normal" location lump sums, then the total amount on the project bills will be exactly the same as the employee receives in their cost report.

Implicitly, breaks, transition days (weekends), and the deduction for meals are also distributed proportionally among the projects.

From the customer's perspective (i.e., the invoice recipient): The calculation of subsistence costs for a project always depends on whether the employee also booked "out-of-office" time to other projects on that day (and with the subsistence costs table, it is unavoidable that times, start/destination location, and work location of an "other" project become visible on the invoice).

This is not always comprehensible for the recipient of the invoice, as the project times for the other projects are naturally not listed on the invoice.

Example: If 4 hours are booked to the project, the following cases may occur:

This means (Repetition for clarity):

From an internal perspective: The externally billable subsistence costs are determined by the same key as the internal subsistence costs. In the simplest example: If all involved projects are set up to generally calculate subsistence costs (for all times, not just billable ones) with the "normal" location lump sums, then the total amount on the project bills is exactly the same as the employee receives in their cost report.

Implicitly, breaks, transition days (weekends), and the deduction for meals are also distributed proportionally among the projects.

From the customer's perspective (i.e., the invoice recipient): The calculation of subsistence costs for a project always depends on whether the employee also booked "out-of-office" time to other projects on that day.

With the subsistence costs table, it is unavoidable that times, start/destination location, and work location of an "other" project become visible on the invoice.

This is not always comprehensible for the recipient of the invoice, as the project times for the other projects are naturally not listed on the invoice.

Example: If 4 hours are booked to the project, the following cases may occur:

or you specify

Distribute subsistence costs proportionally across projects from the same customer based on the number of hours; count projects from different customers separately.

If you have chosen this option, you can further specify how the subsistence costs should be billed to the project.

See also the "?" point "For the Billing of a Project's subsistence costs"

Note: If a project has multiple customers:

Distribute Proportionally to Projects of the Same Customer

If you have chosen the option "Distribute the day's subsistence costs proportionally only across projects of the same customer according to the number of hours; consider projects of different customers separately," you can select the following options for billing the subsistence costs of a Project:

or

or

The subsistence costs paid out to the employee is not the sum of all project billings. Projects of different customers may be charged the same subsistence costs (multiple times). Nevertheless, the invoice recipient will be able to trace this correctly, as there are no side effects from bookings to other projects.

Examples for Billing SCA On to Projects/Customers

Setting: "Distribute proportionally across all projects"

Treat times on projects of other customers like a break, meaning no interruption of absence time.

i.e., all times on projects of other customers are treated like a break; they do not interrupt the absence time of the one project.

Example: 1 hour each is booked alternately on Project A and Project B:

- and treat times on projects of other customers like a break, meaning no interruption of absence time.

i.e., all times on projects of other customers are treated like a break; they do not interrupt the absence time of the one project.

Example: 1 hour each is booked alternately on Project A and Project B:

Path: Administration > Cost Report & Credit Note

Subsistence Costs Table

If you specify "Show Project" here, the respective project for which the SCA were incurred will be listed in an extra column in the "Cost Report" evaluation for the individual employee in the Subsistence Costs (SCA) table.

Mileage Allowance Table

If you specify "Show Project" or "Show Project and Task" here, the respective project or project and task for which the kilometers were specified will be listed in an extra column in the "Cost Report" evaluation for the individual employee in the Mileage Allowance table.

Receipts Table

If you specify "Show Project" or "Show Project and Task" here, the respective project or project and task of the recorded receipts will be listed in an extra column in the "Cost Report" evaluation for the individual employee in the Receipts table.

File Format

Set the file format in which you want to create Cost Reports with ZEP.

Checked Cost Report in Landscape Format

Specify whether the checked Cost Report should be created in landscape format. Please note: A Cost Report saved as checked is stored in the specified format. If you subsequently change the format in the settings, you must first delete the Cost Report already saved as checked and then save it again in the desired format.

Credit Note Number Range

Path: Administration > Cost Report & Credit Note

Only One Number Range

Credit Note No. Prefix

The entered text appears as a prefix in the Credit Note Number.

We have entered the following placeholder as a default:

Length

This is the length of the number inserted between the prefix and suffix. The number is padded with leading zeros if necessary.

Suffix

The entered text appears as a suffix in the Credit Note Number.

If you use the Locations & Departments module, you can also set "Own Number Range per Top Department."

The corresponding settings are then made under Department > Data.

Credit Notes per Project = Yes

You can create a separate credit note for your freelancers for each project.

Please Note When You Have Activated This Setting (Credit Notes per Project):

Path: Administration > Travel > vehicles

When recording travel times, the employee specifies which vehicle they used. The tax-relevant vehicles are already included in ZEP.

You can store vehicles in multiple languages.

The input is done in the "Designation" field: click on "German," enter the German designation for the short form, click on "English," enter the English designation, click on "French," enter the French designation. Depending on the language set for the employee or the project, the German, English, or French designation will be displayed.

For each vehicle, you define here which mileage allowance (tax-free, or optionally taxable) and possibly passenger allowance is reimbursed to the employee in the travel expense report for trips with a private vehicle. This allowance can also be charged in the project billing.

For Germany and Austria:

The lump sums already entered in ZEP are the amounts specified by the tax authorities to be reimbursed tax-free. You can also store higher lump sums for your employees; these must then be taxed and reported separately on the cost report. Enter the amount here that you would like to pay out in addition to the tax-free amount. ZEP reports these amounts separately on the employee's cost report.

You can also create several identical vehicle types in ZEP, e.g., if multiple vehicles are available in the fleet, you can create each one in ZEP with the respective license plate. Employees then select the specific vehicle used when recording their travel.

Additionally, you can choose a separate currency for each vehicle.

Path: Administration > Travel > work locations

When booking project times, employees specify the location where the work took place. If they did not work at their usual standard work location, this is a time for which a Subsistence Allowance (SCA) may be reimbursed. You define which locations are available for selection. Generally, the work locations are intended to map the different SCA lump sums, i.e., there should only be Germany and the other countries. Cities are only exceptions in some countries with higher lump sums.

You can store locations in multiple languages.

The input is done in the "Designation" field: click on "German," enter the German designation for the short form, click on "English," enter the English designation, click on "French," enter the French designation. Depending on the language set for the employee or the project, the German, English, or French designation will be displayed.

The "first place of employment" is not managed in the list of work locations, as it is not relevant for travel expense reporting. It automatically always appears in the "Work Location" selection list during project time recording (Exception: if special "Project Locations" have been selected for a project, the selection list may not contain the "first place of employment" location!).

If you do not use ZEP for the calculation of Subsistence Costs (SCA) or Travel Expenses Daily Allowance, then each location only consists of a short form and a designation and has no effect on the travel expense report.

If you use ZEP for the calculation of Subsistence Costs (SCA) or Travel Expenses Daily Allowance, you have specified the appropriate country setting for you under the menu item Administration > Travel > Settings under "Calculation Method for Subsistence Costs." Depending on this, the locations have further parameters that are used for the calculation of the Subsistence Costs or Travel Expenses Daily Allowance.

ZEP supports the Calendar Day Rule and the 24-Hour Rule. Under "Travel Expenses - Daily Allowance," you enter the lump-sum daily allowance valid for the location. Furthermore, you have the choice between the Twelfth Rule, the Third Rule, and the Collective Agreement Rule for each location:

If you have also received paid breakfast or lunch/dinner on a given day, you can make a deduction from the Subsistence Costs. This deduction is specified as a percentage depending on the location.

You specify the lump sums per location under Administration > Travel > Locations, as well as the percentage deduction for paid meals.

As a default setting for new customers, you can set how travel lump sums for multiple projects of a customer should be calculated under Administration > Customers > Settings:

Default Setting 'Travel Lump Sum for a Coherent Trip for Multiple Projects' for New Customers:

With Travel Lump Sum per Day, you have these two options:

With Travel Lump Sum per Trip, you have these two options:

In the menu item Customers > Billing Settings > Travel Settings, you then have the option to set, individually for each customer, how the travel lump sums for this customer should be calculated.

If you bill the incurred Subsistence Costs (SCA) to the project or the customer, you can also set in this case how to deal with the situation when an employee has booked a day to different projects.

The employee records their travel with all relevant data. This data can now be evaluated in various ways:

Through the recorded trips and, if applicable, receipts, ZEP determines at the push of a button the Subsistence Allowances for the employee (naturally minus any paid meals), the reimbursement of privately paid receipts (e.g., hotel bill, parking fees), and the reimbursement of mileage allowance for trips in private vehicles in the Cost Reportevaluation.

All travel data recorded by the employee can naturally also be viewed on a project-related basis, meaning you can specify individually for each project whether and how incurred travel costs should be billed to the project, e.g., with Travel Lump Sums or with billing on of the incurred SCA and/or mileage allowance using the same or individual billing rates.

Travel times are project times with some additional data. They are therefore recorded via the same page as all Project Times. Only when you set the travel activity, typically "re" (Reise), does the page change, and you have the additional input fields for the specific travel data next to the input fields for the "normal" project time.

After the Travel Activity has been set, the input fields for the trip are displayed. The travel activity is available for selection next to the designation "Activity," or can be selected via the dropdown field.

The Work Location is crucial for the reimbursement of Subsistence Costs for business trips. The travel to and from a work location that is not the "first place of employment" also belongs to the time eligible for reimbursement.

If you have specified Travel Activity as the activity, a selection other than "- first place of employment -" is mandatory for the work location.

A trip begins with an outward journey (Hinreise) and ends with a return journey (Rückreise). All time bookings between the outward and return journey must be booked to a work location that is not "- first place of employment -".

Fields for Travel Activity

The fields in the "Travel Activity" section are only required for a travel activity. These fields are hidden for other activities.

These details are also intelligently pre-filled by ZEP. ZEP notices whether you are starting a new trip (pre-filled with "outward," start and destination identical to the last trip) or are already in the middle of a trip (pre-filled with "return," start and destination reversed, vehicle details identical). Of course, these details can also be overwritten.

Outward / Continuous / Return

You mark the start of a trip with "outward" and the end of a trip with "return." A "continuous" (weiter) trip is a segment of travel time within a trip.

Please note: For outward and continuous travel, the travel destination must always be specified as the Work Location; for the return journey, the travel start. When traveling in Germany, this generally means the Work Location is always "D (Domestic out-of-office)."

Generally, the work locations are intended to map the different subsistence lump sums, meaning there should only be Germany and the other countries. Cities are only exceptions in some countries with higher lump sums.

Start- / Destination Location

These details are displayed in your cost report and (for projects that bill subsistence costs) in the project billing.

Vehicle

The vehicle type you select from the select box refers to the vehicles managed by the administrator in Master Data / Vehicle Types. The mileage allowances per vehicle type are also defined there.

Check whether it is a private or a company vehicle. This information is needed for the cost report, because the employee is reimbursed the mileage allowance for driving a private vehicle. If colleagues also traveled in the car, you can optionally specify this here. Trips with a company vehicle appear on the employee's cost report without reimbursement.

For projects defined with mileage billing, mileage lump sums are calculated for the project billing, both for company vehicles and private vehicles.

Check private if you are traveling with your private vehicle.

Specify the distance between the start and destination location. You can use the integrated calculator right next to the km input to enter the mileage at departure and arrival; ZEP calculates the difference.

The specification of the Work Location is only relevant for the calculation of travel costs and Subsistence Costs (SCA)for trips. This field is pre-filled with the last recorded data. The work location "first place of employment" marks your normal work location.

This refers to the location where you "normally" work (e.g., the office), when you are not out of the office at a customer's site or an external event.

When booking project times, you always specify your Work Location. If you are in the office, select the setting "-first place of employment-" for the Work Location.

The Work Location can be used as a search criterion in evaluations. Furthermore, the Work Location (if it is not "first place of employment" and not a home office location) is a prerequisite for the reimbursement of Subsistence Costs to the employee, as well as for billing Subsistence Costs or Travel Lump Sums to the customer.

As soon as a work location other than "first place of employment" is selected, the 'Location project-relevant' checkbox additionally appears. This allows you to decide whether this time should be included in the calculation of Subsistence Costs or Travel Lump Sums or not. See also the information directly at the checkbox 'Location project-relevant'.

In the Administration, you have set whether Subsistence Costs should be calculated at all and - if so - according to which calculation method. If you have not set a calculation for Subsistence Costs, the 'Location project-relevant' checkbox only applies to the billing of Travel Lump Sums to the customer.

Generally, the work locations are intended to map the different SCA lump sums, meaning there should only be Germany and the other countries. Cities are only exceptions in some countries with higher lump sums.

Location Project-Relevant

As soon as a work location other than "first place of employment" is selected, the 'Location project-relevant' checkbox additionally appears. This allows you to decide whether this time should be included in the calculation of Subsistence Costs or Travel Lump Sums for the project (checked) or not included (unchecked).

Note: "Location project-relevant" exclusively influences the calculation of Subsistence Costs for the project, i.e., on the invoice and the revenue reports. The calculation of Subsistence Costs on the employee's cost report, i.e., the calculation of employee reimbursement, is independent of this.

In the Administration, you have set whether Subsistence Costs should be calculated at all and - if so - according to which calculation method. If you have not set a calculation for Subsistence Costs, the 'Location project-relevant' checkbox only applies to the billing of Travel Lump Sums to the customer.

In most cases, you are naturally working at a non-standard work location because the project requires it, so the location is project-relevant (therefore, the 'Location project-relevant' checkbox is already activated).

Removing the checkmark makes sense, for example, if you are out of the office for one project and work there for a certain time on another project for which it was not necessary to be out of the office.

You as an employee have a right to the Subsistence Costs for this time, but these must not be charged to the project either internally or externally.

If you have booked out-of-office time for more than one project with "Location project-relevant" on one day, the resulting Subsistence Costs are distributed to the involved projects according to the settings under Administration > Settings > Travel Costs.

This affects:

Travel Lump Sums are not distributed proportionally to projects.

Example:

The Travel Lump Sum per employee and day for Project A is €30, and likewise for Project B.

An employee travels to Switzerland and books 3 hours for Project A and another 3 hours for Project B on that day, each with 'Location project-relevant'.

Both Project A and Project B will each bill the full Travel Lump Sum, i.e., €30.

Under Reports > My reports you will find your personal evaluations depending on the ZEP version and modules used.

The Meals evaluation lists all meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) that have been booked by an employee in ZEP within a certain period. You can find the evaluation for yourself under:

Evaluations > Times and Costs > Meals

The output displays one line per day with the respective number of meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner). Additionally, there is a total line underneath. No amounts are displayed (these depend on the amounts stored for the locations). Sorting is by date.

Every employee has an evaluation for their "Travel" under Evaluations > My Evaluations. An Administrator (possibly Department Manager) also has this evaluation under Evaluations > Employees > Travel or in the menu of a selected employee.

Select an evaluation period, a location, or multiple or all locations. You can optionally set whether warnings about incomplete recording should be displayed.

For the set period, all trips (for the selected location(s)) are listed with start and end date, the number of days, and the corresponding work location. The evaluation can also be exported as Excel/CSV.

With Evaluations > My Evaluations tab > Cost Report, you create your (travel) cost report for any period; the default setting is the previous month before the 15th of a month, and the current month starting from the 15th. Both unchecked and checked cost reports are displayed.

Special Feature:

Time bookings identified by ZEP with this check might exceed the tax-free deadline. Check these times and rebook them, if necessary, to a location that reports corresponding taxable lump sums.

To simplify these rebookings, you can now also rebook time bookings to another work location under reports > Project Time Evaluation.

Optionally, you can specify the following:

Result

As a result, you receive a list of checked and unchecked cost reports within the reporting period:

Checked Cost Reports

If cost reports saved as checked are present in the selected period, they are listed in the "Checked Cost Reports" table:

Unchecked Cost Reports

Header:

The overview displays the total amount to be reimbursed, both gross and net. If applicable, disbursements already made (entries in the payment documentation) for the set period are additionally listed, along with the resulting new amount to be paid out.

Subsistence Costs Table:

For each day worked outside the standard work location, a Subsistence Cost Allowance is calculated depending on the location and the time of absence.

This is only displayed if the administrator has specified the appropriate country setting for "Calculation Method for Subsistence Costs" under the menu item Administration > Travel > Subsistence Costs.

If the setting "Show project column in the SCA table of the Cost Report" is set to Yes, the project for which the SCA were incurred will be displayed.

With the German calculation method for Subsistence Costs, the statutory lump sums for breakfast or lunch/dinner are deducted if meals are specified.

With the Austrian calculation method, the calculation of the daily allowance is similar, except for locations with the Collective Agreement Rule, where the deduction for meals relates to the "pro-rata daily allowance, i.e., the portion of the daily allowance calculated based on the time of absence."

Receipts Table:

All receipts recorded by you are listed. The amounts to be reimbursed to the employee due to privately paid invoices are calculated. If invoices were paid with the company credit card but included a private share, these receipts are also listed and the amounts deducted. The sum of the receipts per VAT rate is listed separately, as is the total of the receipts by receipt type.

Mileage Allowance:

A reimbursement amount is calculated for trips with a private vehicle: a mileage lump sum is reimbursed per kilometer driven. All trips with a company vehicle are also listed for completeness, naturally without mileage reimbursement.

Note: If the display of warnings is activated, you can switch directly to your project times by clicking on the Warningand correct any erroneous entries, if applicable.

The basic data for travel expense reporting (lump sums for various locations, vehicles, etc.) are maintained by the administrator under Administration > Travel > Vehicles and Locations, respectively.

To keep the administration simple and clear, the following fields are available for handwritten entries and signatures: Department/Cost Center, Signature, Approved/Checked, and Received/Transferred.

The printed and signed Cost Report serves as proof to the tax office.

As an Administrator, Department Manager, or Controller, you can generate reports on travel costs for all employees, save cost reports as checked, and document disbursements.

You can find these reports via the menu item Reports > Employees:

The Cost Report provides an overview of the (travel) cost reports for a period for any employees. You can select the currency in which the cost report should be displayed. (If you want to save cost reports as checked, you can do this under Selected Employee > Travel and Costs > Cost Report.) The tables are configurable.

Checked Cost Reports:

If cost reports saved as checked are present in the selected period, they are listed in the "Checked Cost Reports" table:

You can mark the entries by checking the checkbox and select Generate Disbursement and Send marked entries as E-mail for all marked entries together under Select Action.

If "PDF" is specified as the format for the cost report (Administration > Travel > Cost Report), a second combined Cost Report with receipt files is always offered as a download file when creating a checked cost report:

With the symbol, you can download the checked cost report or the combined cost report with receipt files PDF, and with the symbol, you can view the preview of each.

If another format is selected, the checked cost report in the corresponding format is offered for download, and additionally you can download the receipt files and view them in the preview with the symbol.

Please note: The time period in the cost report saved as "checked" is locked! This means no changes can be made to the time bookings and the receipts. (To make changes, you must first delete the checked cost report using the symbol.)

Unchecked Cost Reports:

The still unchecked cost reports are listed in this table if the checkbox "Representation compressed to one line per employee" is activated.

Representation compressed to one line per employee:

If this checkbox is activated (default setting), you receive the (unchecked) cost reports for the selected period in table form. Per line, the tax-free and taxable SCA for each employee are listed both before and after the meal deduction. The total kilometers driven, the kilometers driven in a private vehicle, and the tax-free or taxable reimbursement amount are listed, as well as the receipts (total, reimbursement, VAT, each gross and net). Finally, advance payments already made and amounts not yet paid out are listed.

If checked and unchecked cost reports exist in the set period, they are displayed in their own respective tables.

If the checkbox is not activated, the unchecked cost reports are listed in detail; you can select the following further settings:

Optionally, you can specify the following:

Show remark of the first project time of the day:

For shorter trips, the remark of the outward and return journey booking is displayed, which is usually quite useful. For trips lasting several days, the remark of the first time booking of the day is displayed in the Cost Report for the days without a travel booking, which is not always desired or sensible. Activate this checkbox to suppress the remark in the Cost Report.

Show explanations for SCA, e.g., application of the Midnight Rule, arrival/departure without minimum absence.

Show warning for incomplete recording:

If the display of warnings is activated, you can switch directly to the project times of the corresponding employee by clicking on the Warning and correct any erroneous entries, if applicable.

The Cost Report consists of:

Checked Cost Reports Table:

All checked cost reports within the reporting period are displayed. You can easily send the cost report saved as checked from ZEP via email to the corresponding employee:

Click on the symbol in the last column ("Sent as E-mail") of the table. The cost report is sent to the employee in the defined format.

Then the still unchecked cost reports for each selected employee are listed.

Header:

An overview. The total amount to be reimbursed is displayed both gross and net. The specified period is a link to the employee's Cost Report, where the Cost Report can be saved as "Checked".

Subsistence Costs Table:

For each day worked outside the standard work location, a Subsistence Cost Allowance (SCA) is calculated depending on the location and the time of absence.

Receipts Table:

All receipts recorded by the employee are listed. The amounts to be reimbursed to the employee based on privately paidinvoices are calculated. If invoices were paid with the company credit card but contained a private share, these receipts are also listed and the amounts deducted. The sum of the receipts per VAT rate is listed separately, as is the total of the receipts by receipt type. The receipt number is a link to the receipt report of the corresponding employee.

Mileage Allowance:

A (reimbursement) amount is calculated for trips with a private vehicle: a mileage lump sum is reimbursed per kilometer driven. All trips with a company vehicle are also listed for completeness, naturally without mileage reimbursement.

Note:

If the display of warnings is activated, you can switch directly to the Project Times of the corresponding employee by clicking on the Warning and correct any erroneous entries, if applicable.

The monetary amounts are all converted into your company's base currency.

The basic data for travel expense reporting (lump sums for various locations, vehicles, etc.) are maintained by the administrator.

To keep the administration simple and clear, the following fields are available for handwritten entries and signatures: Department/Cost Center, Signature, Approved/Checked, and Received/Transferred.

The Meals report lists all meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) that have been booked by an employee in ZEP within a certain period. You can find the report for yourself under:

Reports > My Reports

Administrators, Department Managers, and Controllers also have this report under:

Selected Employee > Travel and Costs > Meals

Reports > Employees tab > Meals

Set a period and select a department, employee category, or employee if necessary.

The output displays one line per employee with the respective number of meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner). Additionally, there is a total line underneath. No amounts are displayed (these depend on the amounts stored for the locations). Sorting is by date or employee.

In the Meal History report, all entries and changes to the meals are listed.

Every employee has a report for their "Travel" under Reports > My Reports. An Administrator (possibly Department Manager) also has this report under Reports > Employees > Travel or in the menu of a selected employee.

Select a reporting period, a location, or multiple or all locations. You can optionally set whether warnings about incomplete recording should be displayed.

For the set period, all trips (for the selected location(s)) are listed with start and end date, the number of days, and the corresponding work location. The report can also be exported as Excel/CSV.

The Disbursement Documentation is considered in the Cost Report (Reports > Employees Cost Report and Employee > [Employee Name] > Travel & Costs > Cost Report). If you have activated freelancers in your ZEP, the credit notes are also considered.

Enter all amounts that you pay out to an employee for a period here.

Amounts generated as advance payments in an employee's Cost Report are listed here.

Each individual amount is displayed in the employee's unchecked Cost Report with the date of the disbursement and the corresponding period.

If the Cost Report is saved as checked, the paid out amount is listed in the "Advance Payments" column. If this advance payment amount is lower than the amount to be reimbursed, ZEP shows the difference in the "Not yet paid out" column.

You can then simply pay out the "remaining amount" in the Checked Cost Reports table by clicking on the symbol. This generates an entry in the Disbursement Documentation in the amount of the "not yet paid out" amount.

Please note:

Multiple disbursements can be entered for the same period. (e.g., for 01/01/2023 to 01/31/2023, €200 was paid out on 02/05/2023; and an additional €15 was paid out on 02/10/2023, also for 01/01/2023 to 01/31/2023.)

For every project, various settings regarding the handling of travel, travel costs, and Subsistence Costs (SCA) can be made. Click on the tab Billing Settings > Travel Settings and open the travel settings for modification.

The settings defined here apply only for billing based on effort

All information following this heading is only effective for transactions that are billed based on effort. This controls the appearance and content of the bill that you can access under Project Reports / Project Billing or Project Reports / Customer Billing.

If the project, including all tasks, is to be billed as a lump sum, you do not need to make any entries here.

Specify whether mileage allowance booked to the project should be billed on to the customer. If yes, mileage allowances will be included in the project revenue and will also be considered as external costs in the reports.

You can specify whether all kilometers booked to the project should be billed, or only the kilometers that belong to a billable travel time.

If mileage allowance is to be billed for the project and you have agreed on a special mileage allowance with the customer, enter this mileage allowance as an amount per kilometer driven in the project currency.

If the project is set to bill mileage allowance, but no special mileage allowance is specified, the internal mileage and passenger allowance will be billed on (see Administration > Travel > Vehicles).

All details regarding mileage allowance are only effective for tasks with the billing type "based on effort," as well as for tasks with the billing type "like project" within a project with the billing type "based on effort."

The specification of the Travel Lump Sum is only effective for projects/tasks that are billed based on effort. By entering an amount here, you indicate that the project billing should include Travel Lump Sums. As soon as you have entered and saved an amount, you can additionally enter Locations with a deviating amount for the Travel Lump Sums. The project currency applies.

A Travel Lump Sum only arises when project times are booked with the specification of a Work Location (not standard and not home office location) and with the specification "Location project-relevant." You can set whether this should apply only to billable or to all work times.

If you travel for several projects of the same customer on one day, there are several ways in which the travel lump sums can be distributed among the involved projects. Please set this up for the Customer under Billing Settings > Travel Settings.

You decide on one of these two variants for this project:

You have the option to specify a Location with a deviating amount for the Travel Lump Sum. Click on the link Add Location with deviating amount for the Travel Lump Sum and select a location (list of locations comes from Administration > Travel > Locations or from Project Locations) and enter the corresponding deviating amount.

Please note: If more than one location is booked per day or per trip, the respective Travel Lump Sums are calculated proportionally (according to the hours booked to the location).

With the Change symbol, you open the entry for modification; with the Trash Can symbol, you delete the entry.

A Travel Lump Sum per Employee and Trip is calculated across unbooked intermediate days (e.g., Saturday and Sunday) under the following conditions:

If 4 days or more without a time booking lie between two booked field activities (e.g., Wednesday to Monday), the preceding trip is considered ended, and a new trip begins (i.e., another Travel Lump Sum). If you wish the trip not to be interrupted despite a 4-day interruption, book a continuous journey (Weiterreise) (this can also have a duration of 0) on an otherwise unbooked day so that a maximum of 3 unbooked days lie in between again.

Subsistence Costs / Special Daily Lump Sums and Deductions

Enter the amount in the project currency. Billing is done according to the same rules as for internal Subsistence Costs (SCA). Crucial for billing is the specification of a Work Location (not standard) and the specification "Location project-relevant" during project time recording.

If the project is to bill daily lump sums and deductions, but no special daily lump sums and deductions are specified, the internal daily lump sums and deductions of the respective location will be billed on (see Locations).

All details regarding Subsistence Costs (SCA) are only effective for projects with the billing type "based on effort," as well as for tasks with the billing type "like project" within a project with the billing type "based on effort."

If you have booked out-of-office time for more than one project with "Location project-relevant" on one day, the resulting Subsistence Costs are distributed to the involved projects according to the settings under Administration > Travel > Subsistence Costs (Project Share).

Active and Inactive Travel Times in the Break Regulation

In ZEP, unbooked time periods between two time entries are considered a break.

Additionally, travel times that are not booked to a vehicle (e.g., travel by plane or train or as a passenger), so-called passive travel times, are considered break times in the context of the break regulation. This means such passive travel times are not counted as working time (in certain reports)! These travel times are deducted from the working time and listed as a break in the context of the break regulation in the relevant reports.