The basic settings for the Locations & Departments area are found under Administration > Departments > Settings. Here you define global defaults that control visibility behavior, default filters, and the permissions of department managers in ZEP.
Restricted view for department managers
Note: This setting is not available in ZEP Clock.
When enabled, the visibility of department managers is restricted to their own area. Specifically, when creating a project from a template, only projects from their own department are available – projects from other departments are not displayed. When disabled, department managers can access projects and structures across all departments.
This setting is recommended for organizations where department managers should remain clearly focused on their own unit and should not have insight into other 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.
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.
Sub-departments by default
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.
All departments by default
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 manager permissions
These settings control which actions department managers may perform independently. By default, most permissions are enabled. Only the right to change internal hourly rates is disabled in the default configuration.
Create new employees
Allows department managers to create new employees directly for their department, without requiring administrator involvement. Useful for decentrally organized companies where department managers manage their own teams. Enabled by default.
Create new customers
Note: This setting is not available in ZEP Clock.
Allows department managers to create new customers in ZEP. When disabled, customers can only be created by administrators and users with the appropriate additional permissions. Enabled by default. In organisations whose departments keep their own customer relationships, leave the setting on. Where customer master data is maintained centrally, switch it off so that no duplicates arise.
Create new projects
Note: This setting is not available in ZEP Clock.
Allows department managers to create new projects for their department. When disabled, project creation is reserved for administrators and, if separately configured, users with additional permissions. Enabled by default. The setting makes sense where departments are responsible for their own projects. Where the project structure is defined centrally, switch it off.
Change internal hourly rates
Note: This setting is not available in ZEP Clock.
Allows department managers to edit project-specific internal billing rates – including for employees from other departments who book time to projects in their department. This permission applies to both project assignments and operation assignments. This setting is disabled by default, as changing internal hourly rates is typically an administrator task.
Restrict selection lists to managed departments
Note: This setting exists in ZEP Clock only. It is therefore the counterpart to the restricted view described above, which conversely appears outside ZEP Clock only.
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.
Note: Until October 2026 the setting was called Department as company. The name was misleading, because it never controlled company data but always only the selection lists. You still maintain company data per department on the department itself.