With the Export for Accounting module, you can export Cost Reports (Subsistence Costs (SCA), Mileage Allowance, and potentially Receipts), Invoice Data, as well as Creditors (Employees) and Debtors (Customers) from ZEP as a CSV file and subsequently import them into your accounting program for further processing. In addition to preparing data for DATEV and Lexware, export in a general format is supported, which can be used to transfer data into other accounting solutions. The data mapping must be adjusted in these solutions.

The module can be used with:

Export of Checked Cost Reports (Mileage Allowance and Subsistence Costs) and Receipts

ZEP Professional with Invoicing Module:

If you newly license the "Export for Accounting" module in your ZEP, you must make the following settings:

Under Administration > Export for Accounting > Settings, you first set the format in which you want to perform the export.

Optionally, specify:

Consolidate Invoice Export

Consolidate Cost Export

Receipts are not consolidated, as each individual receipt comes into the cost export with its receipt number (and its accounts dependent on the receipt type and tax rate).

In the case of a credit note to freelancers with input tax, the input tax is calculated on the sum of compensation, mileage allowance, and SCA and is always output in one line in the cost export.

Cost Export as ZIP with Receipts

You can specify whether the cost export should be executed as a ZIP with receipts. If you activate this option (setting "Yes"), you will receive a ZIP file (Receipt files ZIP from date to date) with the CSV file and all receipts as PDF when performing the cost export.

With the "No" setting, you receive the CSV file without receipts.v

If this option is selected, invoices and cost reports are exported in accordance with the DATEV XML Interface. The export generates a ZIP file, which contains:

The following optional fields are output in the header of the booking batch:

We are pleased to offer you the new interface to DATEV Unternehmen Online. This is included with the ZEP Professional product and the "Export for Accounting" module.

The following prerequisites must be met:

The initial setup is quick and easy with the following steps:

Go to Administration > Export for Accounting > Settings and click on "Change Settings." Select Format = DATEV there and check both the DATEV XML Interface with Receipts checkbox and the DATEV Online Interface checkbox, and enter your DATEV Consultant Number and Client Number. You can then make further settings for the chart of accounts and the filing structure if you wish. Then save the settings.

Under Administration > Export for Accounting, you now have an Upload to DATEV field for both Invoices and Checked Cost Reports. When you select this and execute the Invoices and Checked Cost Reports, they are transferred directly to DATEV. Additionally, you have an extra menu item DATEV Uploads, where you can see a historized overview of your uploads.

You can specify whether the invoice export should be executed with a Service Date (Leistungsdatum). If you activate this option (setting "Yes"), you can specify a so-called Service Date when creating an invoice. In this case, the finalized invoices will be exported to accounting based on their Service Date (not their invoice date).

The Service Date can be set manually during invoice creation, as well as during correction. It is intelligently pre-filled with the Service Date of the invoice item with the largest amount.

You can specify whether the invoice export should be executed as a ZIP with invoice files. If you activate this option (setting "Yes"), you will receive a ZIP file (Invoices-ZIPfromDate-toDate) with the CSV file and all invoices as PDF when performing the invoice export.

With the "No" setting, you receive the CSV file without invoices.

Specify here the direction in which the exchange rate should be calculated:

The rate and the setting are determined at the time the checked cost report is saved. If you change the setting, this setting only affects cost reports saved as checked after this change. (The export of previously saved cost reports remains the same with the setting valid at that time.)

An exported invoice can no longer be deleted, canceled, or corrected

Specify whether already exported invoices are allowed to be deleted, canceled, or corrected.

If you choose the setting to "No", a warning will be displayed that the invoice has already been exported to accounting, but you can still delete, cancel, or correct the already exported invoices.

If you select the setting to "Yes", invoices that are already included in an export for accounting can no longer be changed.

The setting can be switched to "No" by an administrator at any time (at your own risk). The change of this setting is documented in the change history.

If you still wish to make changes to an already exported invoice, this must be done in the accounting system.

Define here whether and which cost centers or cost objects you want to use.

You can record Cost Centers under Administration > Export for Accounting (short form, designation) and assign them to the project/task or employee in the form of a selection list and output them in the export.

Cost Objects are recorded for projects, tasks, or employees and output in the export. If you select this option, you can additionally define the Cost Object format (numeric or alphanumeric) and length.

Specify which information is listed in the export in the fields KOST1 and/or KOST2. You can choose:

In each case, indicate whether these selected details are mandatory for billing.

You can define which information should be listed in the Cost Center field in the export:

For the Cost Object field:

Please note for Cost Centers/Cost Objects with employee reference: If several employees are billed in one invoice item based on effort, one line is generated in the export file per employee with the associated Cost Center/Cost Object. If you bill a fixed price invoice item without employee reference, you can define a collective account.

Specify here which number should be used for the employee:

The setting is determined at the time the checked cost report is saved. If you change this setting, it only affects cost reports saved as checked after this change. (The export of previously saved cost reports remains the same with the setting valid at that time.)

Customer Debtor Number

Specify here which number should be used for the customer:

Enter the expense accounts and the tax codes for Subsistence Costs (SCA) and for Mileage Allowance. (If one of these fields is not filled, an error message will be displayed and no export will take place.)

If you have selected "Lexware" as the format: you must additionally specify an "Account for Rounding Differences in Split Bookings."

If you use the Freelancer Module, you must also enter expense accounts and BU Keys for these freelancers.

If you have Freelancers, you must enter expense accounts and BU Keys for these freelancers.

Depending on the setting for the employee, "Apply this tax rate also for receipts, as they are in the freelancer's accounting," different calculation methods result:

Here, you specify the accounts and the BU Keys for this.

Expense Account for Receipts

If you have activated the checkbox "Apply this tax rate also for receipts, as they are in the freelancer's accounting" in the credit note settings for at least one freelancer, a separate account and associated BU Key must be specified for the receipts.

To export costs or invoices to your accounting system, you must supplement entries in the ZEP master data (Receipt Types, Payment Methods) and create new master data (Revenue Accounts, Cost Centers). Cost Objects are not managed in the master data but can be defined directly for the project/task.

To also export receipts (e.g., hotel invoices,...) as a component of the (travel) cost report, the account and the BU Key (Booking Key) for the corresponding VAT must be specified for the respective Receipt Types under Administration > Prices & Receipts > Receipt Types. In a newly set up ZEP, these details are already included; if you add the Export for Accounting module to an existing ZEP, you must enter these details yourself for your receipt types.

If multiple tax rates are possible for a receipt type, you must enter the expense account and the corresponding BU Key for each tax rate.

A further "special case" is the 70/30 split of entertainment expenses (Bewirtungskosten); here you specify the expense account for the 70% portion and the expense account for the 30% portion of the entertainment expenses.

Under Administration > Prices & Receipts > Payment Methods, you enter an Account for the Accounting Export for the payment methods.

You can create a separate Payment Method and a corresponding Account for each variant of company payment (credit cards, bank transfer, ...). The same account can also be specified for different payment methods.

For payment methods with "Reimbursement", the following applies: "For this payment method (Reimbursement), the employee's Personnel Number serves as the account." or "...the employee's Creditor Number...".

If you have set under Administration > Export for Accounting > Settings that Cost Centers should be used, you must create the corresponding Cost Centers.

Under Administration > Export for Accounting > Cost Centers, you define the Cost Centers that exist in your company. These Cost Centers can then be assigned to projects, tasks, or employees. If no Cost Center is specified for the task, the Cost Center of the project applies. In the project, the Cost Centers can be selected and changed under Data & Plan or in the Project Plan, respectively.

If it is set under Administration > Export for Accounting > Settings that for Customer Debtor Number "a separate Debtor Number field for every customer must be specified (mandatory)," then you have a "Debtor Number" field.

The Customer Number or the Debtor Number specified for the customer is used as the customer's account (Debtor Account) in the export.

For the customer, you define their "Country Identifier" (Domestic, EU, Third Country). This helps, among other things, with the pre-selection of revenue accounts.

"Domestic" is pre-filled for existing customers.

The Customer Number or the Debtor Number specified for the customer is used as the customer's account (Debtor Account) in the export.

You can optionally specify the VAT Identification Number (USt-IdNr.) for each customer:

(If you use the Invoicing Module, the VAT-Id.No. is displayed on the invoice after the customer number and before the first customer additional field.)

In the Export for Accounting > Export Invoices, the VAT-Id.No. is output in the corresponding field (Export to DATEV: Field 40).

Generally: if this field is filled, it appears on the invoice. If it is not filled, it is not displayed on the invoice either.

Only with Invoicing Module.

You must specify a Revenue Account for every invoice item.

Define your Revenue Accounts under Administration > Billing > Revenue Accounts. Each Revenue Account has the following fields:

There can be more than one Revenue Account for the same Country Identifier and VAT Rate. These will then be available for selection for the invoice item. You must assign a Country Identifier (Domestic, EU, Third Country) to every customer.

Similarly, you can create a Revenue Account with multiple VAT rates. To do this, click on + New Revenue Account, enter the number with the additional desired VAT rate, and save.

(Use case: If, for example, new VAT rates apply from 01/01/2024 and you need to issue an invoice with a Service Date in 2024, i.e., for advance payments, you can select the "same" Revenue Account with the "future VAT" in the invoice item.)

Corresponding to this assignment, the Revenue Accounts for a specific tax rate will be offered to you when creating the invoice items (depending on the Revenue Accounts defined for a specific tax rate).

You must specify a Revenue Account for every invoice item: All Revenue Accounts that you have created for a defined tax rate are offered. This selection is based on the customer of the project (or their "Country Identifier").

If you are newly implementing the Export for Accounting module, you must consider the following:

In the project under General > Data & Plan, by clicking "Change Data" in the Customer & Billing tab, there is a field called Default Revenue Account (Vorbelegung Erlöskonto). All Revenue Accounts from the master data that match the set VAT and the customer's country identifier are offered. Please note that for projects with billing to multiple customers, you only have the setting for the primary customer here.

When you create invoice items for this project, this account will be pre-filled.

When billing, it is checked for every invoice item which tax rates and which revenue accounts will be involved. This is at least the customer's VAT; in the case of the setting "Forward receipts with recorded input tax = Yes," other tax rates may be added. It is checked whether a revenue account is assigned for every such tax rate. If a revenue account is missing, a corresponding message is displayed, and billing does not proceed.

The state of an invoice is and remains fixed. Precisely this state will later apply to the invoice export. This means, among other things: The Revenue Account numbers assigned to the invoice items at the time of billing will always apply later during an invoice export. This remains true even if you subsequently change the customer's country identifier or VAT or the revenue accounts. A Revenue Account number in an invoice will also remain even if you subsequently delete the Revenue Account.

Under Administration > Export for Accounting > Checked Cost Reports, you specify the time period for which you want to export the costs (the "to" date of the cost report within the period).

Select an individual employee if necessary.

Specify whether the export should be "including already exported bookings" if required.

Click on "Execute." A CSV file with the following name will be created: "ZEP_exportKostenYYYY-MM-DD-YYYY-MM-DD.csv" (YYYY-MM-DD-YYYY-MM-DD corresponds to the set period). Save this file to your PC. You can then use the file for import into your accounting system.

Please note: Only Checked Cost Reports are exported in ZEP.

To save a cost report as checked, navigate to the employee's "Cost Report" menu item and set the desired period. If you delete a checked cost report for which an export to accounting has already been performed, ZEP will warn you: "An export for accounting has already been made! Delete checked cost report anyway?"

If you delete an already exported checked cost report and then save it as checked again, you can export it (if desired) by specifying that the export should be "including already exported bookings."

Be aware that the timing of saving the cost report as checked is critical for the export. Only export time periods for which the cost reports were saved as checked AFTER the module was introduced.

The following costs are exported:

All costs represent the "internal" view, meaning the costs incurred within your company. These are not the costs billed to your customers. They include both the costs reimbursed to employees (privately paid receipts, private mileage) and other costs (receipts paid by the company). The amount for the transaction is always the gross amount.

During the export of the Checked Cost Report, all calculations and the determination of accounts take place at the time of export. This means the master data, the assigned accounts, and the settings valid at the time of export are applied. If you generate an employee's cost report but subsequently change relevant master data or settings, the export may differ.

In the cost export file, the SCA, receipts, and mileage allowance are output with their corresponding SCA, mileage allowance, and receipt type accounts, along with the personnel number or creditor number of the employee as the creditor account.

If a total receipt is divided across different accounts, cost centers, or cost objects, this is transferred for the Lexwareexport in the form of a split booking.

In a split booking, the fields for receipt date, booking period, receipt number range, and receipt number remain empty, while all other fields are filled. The individual amounts are also gross amounts; if rounding differences occur, these are split onto the account for rounding differences.

If the receipt contains negative values, these are also transferred as negative values. Examples include credit notes, discounts, or private shares of receipts.

For the DATEV export, individual booking sets are always created, as split bookings cannot be imported into DATEV.

There can be multiple lines for each receipt:

The lines are exported exactly as they appear in the employee's cost report. Exception: Lines with an amount of 0.00 may appear in some cases on the cost report for informational purposes, but they are not included in the export.

Per line:

The Account column contains the expense account for SCA from Administration > Export for Accounting > Settings.

Receipt Date: as in the cost report.

Booking Text column: 'Subsistence costs from ZEP' + remark as in the cost report (i.e., generally the remark of the booked project time), with semicolons replaced by commas.

Cost Object / Cost Center depending on settings.

The lines are exported exactly as they appear in the employee's cost report.

The foreign currency is also taken into account in DATEV for SCA and mileage allowance, as each location can have its lump sums in a different currency, as can each vehicle.

Whether and when an export of the checked cost reports has already taken place can be seen in the table of checked cost reports (under Employee > Cost Report or under Reports > Employee > Cost Report). The last column of this table displays the date and time of the last export.

The file follows a generally applicable structure based on the DATEV document "ASCII Import/Export," Doc. No. 1036228. The mapping of the export file fields (according to DATEV) occurs during the import within DATEV via an import mapping stored in DATEV. All 89 columns required by this DATEV document are exported. Many fields remain empty. All amounts are gross.

In the Lexware format, the export file has the following structure:

All amounts are always implicitly in the base currency (usually Euro), and all amounts are always gross.

The "General Format" is a format that can be used for importing into any accounting solution. In this format, all data available from ZEP are output. The mapping of the fields from the file to the fields required by the accounting solution must be performed within the accounting solution itself.

A file in the "General Format" has the following structure:

If you use the Invoicing Module, you can also export the invoices created with ZEP.

Under Administration > Export for Accounting > Invoices, you specify the time period for which you want to export the invoices. The time period refers to the invoice date.

If you use the Locations & Departments module, you can also preselect a department:

Choose whether the invoices should be exported according to the customer's department or the project's department.

When a department is set, only invoices created on the stationery of that department are considered. This is generally the department of the project associated with the first invoice item.

Use the checkbox to indicate whether invoices from sub-departments of the selected department should also be included.

A department head is presented with their department(s) for selection. An administrator can select all departments.

The default setting is the department of the logged-in user. An administrator can also specify "- All Departments -" as the default in the ZEP settings.

Specify whether the export should be "including already exported bookings" if necessary.

Click on "Execute." A CSV file will be created with the following name: "ZEP_exportFakturaYYYY-MM-DD-YYYY-MM-DD.csv" (YYYY-MM-DD-YYYY-MM-DD corresponds to the set period). Save this file to your PC. You can then use the file for import into your accounting system.

In the reports Projects > Invoices, Customer > Invoices, and Billing > Invoices, the column "Export for Accounting" in the table shows when this invoice was (last) exported (date and time).

Ensure that you do not accidentally import the same file, or a file with an overlapping time period, multiple times.

Invoices billed before the introduction of the "Export for Accounting" module cannot be exported. "Export Invoices"is only possible for periods that contain exclusively those invoices billed after the introduction of the module (i.e., including the assignment of a revenue account).

If you are newly implementing the Export for Accounting module, you must consider the following:

ZEP does not prevent you from re-exporting a period that has already been exported. Furthermore, ZEP does not prevent you from creating additional invoices or changing existing invoices after a period has been exported.

If you export the period again, only the new, previously unexported invoices for that period will be included. If all invoices for the period should be exported again, select the option "including already exported invoices."

The status of an invoice is frozen upon invoicing and does not change thereafter. This exact status will therefore also apply to the export later on.

This means, among other things: The Revenue Account numbers assigned to the invoice items at the time of billing will also apply later when the invoice is exported. This holds true even if you subsequently change the country identifier or VAT of the customer or the revenue accounts. A Revenue Account number in an invoice remains preserved even if you subsequently delete the Revenue Account.

If an invoice is divided across different accounts, cost centers, or cost objects, ZEP generates so-called split bookings during the export for Lexware.

A split booking is divided into at least two individual lines:

If the receipt contains negative values, these are also transferred as negative values. Examples include credit notes, discounts, or private shares of receipts.

For the DATEV export, individual booking sets are always created, as split bookings cannot be imported into DATEV.

Via the menu Administration > Export for Accounting > Creditors, ZEP supports the export of creditors and the employees created in ZEP.

Via the menu Administration > Export for Accounting > Debtors, ZEP supports the export of debtors and the customers created in ZEP.

The basic settings for the Lexware accounting import are described here using the example of Financial Office Pro 2013: