Invoice items are always created within the respective project under Project > [Project Name] > Billing > Invoice Items. The table is divided into the following sections: missing invoice items, planned invoice items, released invoice items, as well as invoiced and cancelled invoice items.
Note: We recommend planning billing already during project planning – that is, creating suitable invoice items right away. Billable recorded times and receipts will then be automatically assigned to the invoice item whose service period includes the booking date.
Missing Invoice Items
The missing invoice items table shows, on a project-specific basis, periods in which billable times or receipts were recorded but no invoice item yet exists for them. Clicking on an entry opens the form for a new invoice item directly, with the period pre-filled.
Note: Fixed price invoice items are only considered when determining missing invoice items for flat-rate projects if their service period includes the booking date of the respective time or receipt.
Creating an Invoice Item
Click on + New Invoice Item and fill in the following fields:
Service period (from / to).
Repetition: One-time or recurring (see section Recurring Billing).
Planned invoice date: Corresponds to the start or end of the service period, or a freely chosen date. The planned invoice date is the sort criterion in the table.
Type of accounting: Determines what is invoiced (see section Types of Invoice Items).
Invoice text: Pre-filled with the project short name, project name, type of accounting, and service period. Can be edited freely.
Status: Planned or directly released.
Planned Amount
For workload items, enter an estimated amount – the actual invoiced amount will appear on the invoice. Optionally, you can activate the checkbox "Invoice at least this amount": if the actual workload is lower than the planned amount, the planned amount is invoiced; if it is higher, the higher amount is invoiced.
For fixed price items, the planned amount is simultaneously the invoice amount. Use Apply planned amount to adopt the remuneration defined in the plan figures.
Types of Invoice Items
Workload
For projects with type of accounting "workload based on hourly or daily rate". The invoiced amount is derived from the actual booked times and receipts within the service period. A workload item can additionally be broken down by employee, or working hours can be shown separately from receipts and travel costs.
Fixed Price
For projects or individually invoiced tasks. The amount is derived from quantity x unit price and is adopted directly as the invoiced amount. The quantity can be entered with up to 5 decimal places.
Article
For additional items independent of workload, based on the master data defined under Administration > Billing > Articles. When selecting an article, the unit price, unit, and currency are adopted automatically. Article invoice items do not affect the missing invoice items.
Task
If the project is set to "tasks are invoiced individually", a separate invoice item must be created for each task. Depending on the task type, this is either a fixed price or workload item.
Other Receipts
Available for workload projects with "tasks are invoiced individually". Invoices receipts that were booked directly to the project without a task.
Subsistence Allowance / Travel Flat Rates
Available for workload projects with "tasks are invoiced individually". Invoices subsistence allowances and travel flat rates that apply across projects.
Surcharge
Contains a percentage value that is added to or subtracted from the subtotal of the invoice items above. A negative value creates a deduction.
Partial Payment and Final Invoice
For projects with type of accounting "flat rate" or "workload-based", as well as for individually invoiced tasks. Enables billing in multiple performance steps.
The following variants are available: partial payment by progress, final invoice by progress, partial payment fixed price, final invoice fixed price, partial payment as percentage of subtotal, and final invoice as percentage of subtotal.
Note: The final invoice item must be created before the partial payment items. The progress status and planned invoice date must be ascending for multiple partial payments. A partial payment item can only be invoiced once all preceding partial payment items have already been invoiced.
Recurring Billing
For regularly recurring invoices, you can set a repetition. The following intervals are available: monthly at end of month, monthly on the same date, bimonthly, quarterly, semi-annually, and annually.
When a recurring invoice item is released, ZEP automatically creates the next invoice item for the following period.
Note: No further invoice item is created once the project end is reached or exceeded. If the project end is subsequently shortened and an already generated follow-up item falls outside the project duration, it will be flagged and cannot be released.
Example: Project duration 01.01.2023–30.06.2023. A monthly invoice item for January is released → ZEP automatically creates February. When June is released, ZEP would create a new item for July – since this falls outside the project duration, no item is created.
Releasing Invoice Items
Select the desired invoice items and click Release. Alternatively, you can first check the invoice preview via Preview.
Releasing has the following effects:
The invoice item changes to the status "released".
For workload items, the service period is locked for further time entries and receipt changes.
Note: Invoice items whose end date has passed are already automatically pre-selected in the table.
Removing a Release
If you need to change booked times or receipts of a released workload item, remove the release:
Select the released item and click Remove Release.
Make the desired changes to times or receipts.
If necessary, check the preview again.
Release the item again.
Managing Invoice Items Across ZEP
Under Billing > Invoice Items, administrators and controllers get a ZEP-wide overview of all invoice items. The following actions are available:
Release: Release all selected planned items.
Remove Release: Move released items back to "planned" status.
Edit: Adjust the service period or VAT for all selected items simultaneously.
Note: Invoice preview and billing are only possible within a project or customer, not directly under Billing > Invoice Items. To do so, navigate via the customer number or project short name in the table.
