The basic settings for the Locations & Departments area are found under Administration > Departments > Settings. Here you define global defaults that control visibility behavior and default filters in ZEP.
Template projects from other departments
With the option In Project Management, a department manager with the authorization 'User', is allowed to use the projects of other departments as template project, department managers can also pick projects of other departments as a template when creating a project from a template. Without it, they choose from the projects of the departments they manage.
Leave the option off if department managers should only work with the projects of their own departments.
Default filter settings
The following two settings control which department is pre-selected in reports and lists when first opened. They define the default perspective from which users view department-related data.
Default include sub-departments
When enabled, filtering by a department automatically includes all subordinate departments. The "incl. sub-departments" option is then set by default in reports and lists, without users having to activate it manually. Recommended for deep department hierarchies where reports for a parent department should regularly cover the entire sub-hierarchy.
This setting also affects automated invoicing: when generating automated invoices, sub-departments of the selected department are included accordingly.
Default all departments 'Any'
When enabled, the "- Any -" option is pre-selected by default in department filters. Users see the company-wide overview without any input. When disabled, the filter starts with no pre-selection – users must actively select a department or "Any".
Department selection for project selection
Department selection for project selection also depends on your role:
As an administrator, controller or project controller, you get the option "- Any -", which shows projects from all departments.
As a department manager, you initially only see your own department(s) to choose from. If you are also a project manager or customer contact for projects of other departments, you additionally get the option "- Other Departments -", which lets you find those projects as well.
Inactive departments are hidden from the selection list by default, but can be shown via the "Display inactive departments too" checkbox.
The "Include sub-departments" checkbox determines whether the sub-departments of the selected department are also taken into account for project selection.
Department manager permissions
What department managers may do in their departments is set under Administration > My Company > Roles & Permissions on the Department Manager tab. For example, the rows Create Employee, Create Customer and Create projects control whether department managers create new employees, customers and projects, and the row Prices and Costs in the Employee area controls whether they edit internal hourly rates. Details are described in My Company – Administration.
Restrict selection lists to managed departments
Note: This setting is available in ZEP Clock.
With the option active, the selection lists of a department manager show only employees and departments from their own area of responsibility. This affects the department overview, the filters across departments and the employee selection in the reports.
For roles that may see across departments anyway, the restriction does not apply. An administration keeps its full selection even with the option active.