The basic settings for the module can be found under Administration > Billing > Settings. Click the pencil icon next to a heading or on Edit Settings to make changes.
Introduction of Invoicing
Specify from which month invoicing is introduced in ZEP. From this date the module takes effect and you can plan, release and bill invoices. Everything booked before this date is considered already billed – ZEP will not report missing invoice items for that period.
If you change the introduction date retroactively, the following conditions apply:
Moving to a later point in time: There must be no invoice items that begin before the new introduction date.
Moving to an earlier point in time: If this creates unbilled booked periods, ZEP will issue a warning.
Number Range for Invoices
With the Locations & Departments module you can choose whether to have a single number range for all invoices or a separate number range per top-level department.
Invoice Number Format
Define the format of the invoice number:
Invoice No. Prefix: Text that appears before the number.
Invoice No. Length: Length of the number between prefix and suffix. Shorter numbers are padded with leading zeros.
Invoice No. Suffix: Text that appears after the number.
A/P Credit Memo Prefix: Separate prefix for A/P credit memos.
The following placeholders can be used in the prefix and suffix: %KNR% (customer number), %YYYY% (year), %YY% (two-digit year), %MM% (month), %DD% (day of the invoice date).
Example: Prefix "PRO-", suffix "-IS", length 5 results in: PRO-00001-IS. With the customer number as placeholder (%KNR% = 123): PRO-123-00001-IS.
Standard title for partial payment invoice
When creating a partial payment invoice, you can choose which title is pre-filled:
Partial payment invoice (default)
Request for payment
The title can still be adjusted when creating the invoice.
Pre-fill Invoice Date Intelligently
When this option is disabled, ZEP always pre-fills the invoice date with today's date.
When enabled, ZEP suggests the invoice date based on the planned invoice date of the invoice items:
Lowest planned date, when all items are to be billed at the start of the service period and that date is no more than 10 days away from today.
Highest planned date, when all items are to be billed at the end of the service period and that date is no more than 10 days away.
Today's date in all other cases.
Example: An invoice item runs from 1 Nov. to 30 Nov. and is scheduled to be billed on 30 Nov. You create the invoice on 1 Dec. – ZEP still suggests 30 Nov. as the invoice date.
VAT calculation and rounding differences
Two options control how ZEP calculates and displays VAT amounts on invoices:
Calculate VAT separately for each invoice item: When enabled, the VAT amount is calculated and rounded for each invoice item individually. When disabled, VAT is calculated on the total net amount.
Show rounding differences: When enabled, any rounding difference is shown as a separate line item on the invoice.
Forward-bill Receipts with Recorded Input Tax
When disabled, an invoice contains only one VAT rate on the total net amount. When enabled, the tax rates specified for the receipts are used for forward billing.
Example: An accommodation receipt contains amounts with 7% and 19% VAT. With this setting enabled, both tax rates are shown separately on the invoice.
Note: This setting acts as a global default for all invoices but can be overridden individually per invoice.
Contact Person in Invoice Address
Specify whether the name of the project contact person is automatically inserted into the invoice address during invoicing:
"No" (default): The invoice address is maintained in full under Customer > [Customer Name] > General > Addresses.
"Yes": During invoicing, the name of the project contact person is automatically inserted between the customer name and the address lines. If no project contact person exists, the primary customer contact is used.
Note: The invoice address can still be adjusted individually at the time of billing.
Employee abbreviation on invoice
When this option is enabled, the abbreviation of the employee who created the invoice is printed behind the invoice date.
Standard text for invoice items
Define which information is included in the standard invoice item text by default. The following options can be enabled:
Project: The project name is included in the standard text.
Task: The task name is included in the standard text.
Show parent task: The parent task is additionally shown in the standard text.
The invoice item text can still be adjusted when creating the invoice.
Detailed Workload Listing
When creating an invoice item, a detailed workload listing can be enabled in the invoice table. This outputs the quantity (number of hours) and the unit price per invoice item on the first page of the invoice. Here you set the default for new invoice items.
Key account manager can change invoice items
When this option is enabled, the key account manager can edit invoice items for their customers, even without full access to the invoicing module.
Invoice file format and preview format
These settings are only available with the Document Generation module. Select the file format for invoices and invoice previews:
Invoice file format: PDF, PDF/A, DOCX, DOC or ODT. HTML is the default and always available, even without Document Generation.
Invoice preview file format: HTML, PDF, DOCX, DOC or ODT (PDF/A is not available for the preview).
Note: Without the Document Generation module, invoices are always output as HTML files. Machine-readable formats (ZUGFeRD, XRechnung) are not configured here — they are set per customer under Customer > [Customer Name] > General > Addresses.
Manage Incoming Payments
Specify whether incoming payments for invoices should be managed in ZEP.
"Yes": Payment documentation in the invoice data, evaluations for incoming payments and open items.
"No": No payment documentation, no evaluations for open items.
When incoming payments are enabled, you can additionally configure the day intervals displayed in the columns of the Open Items evaluation.
Invoice Dispatch by Email
Enter a dedicated email address for sending invoices, separate from the general sender address under Administration > My Company > Email. Optionally you can specify:
Sender name
Reply-To address: Email address to which customer replies are sent.
Reply-To name: Name displayed as the recipient of the customer reply.
Note: If you use custom email addresses, you should also configure a matching custom outgoing mail server.
Sign Emails Digitally
Upload an S/MIME certificate and private key to send invoice emails with a digital signature. With the Locations & Departments module, this setting can be stored separately per department.
Merge PDF Files
When sending invoices with multiple PDF attachments by email, you can merge the files. Enable this option as a default so that only the file name of the merged PDF needs to be entered during dispatch.