If you want ZEP to output various reports, quotes, invoices, and credit notes in your corporate identity, create letter papers and upload them to ZEP. This article explains how to proceed.
If you do not store a custom letter paper in ZEP, the default letter paper will always be used. This contains only a footer with your company name and the page number.
Note: To create and edit letter papers, you will need the free program LibreOffice.
A link to the official download page can also be found in ZEP under Administration > My Company > Letter Paper.
With LibreOffice, you can edit the following:
Header
Footer
Information block
Document background
Font type, size, and color
Setting document variables
The content of the reports will later be inserted by ZEP.
Downloading LibreOffice and Choosing a Template
Under Administration > My Company > Letter Paper, you will find a link to the official LibreOffice download page. There you can download a suitable version of LibreOffice Writer and install it on your PC. Always make sure to save the letter paper in .odt format.
Use one of our letter head samples as a starting point for your letter paper. You can find these under Administration > My Company > Letter paper.
If the first page of the letter paper should look different from the subsequent pages (e.g., your company logo only in the header of the first page), use one of the files with the word "Zweiseitig" (two-page) in the name.
Editing Page Styles
You can configure page style settings in LibreOffice as follows (note that each page style has its own settings).
Go to Styles > Page Styles and select the style you want to edit. Right-click and choose "Edit Style". A popup window appears with a vertical menu:
General:
Edit follow-up styles here.
Page:
Edit the page layout here (e.g., margins).
Area:
Configure background settings here. For example, you can upload your logo.
Transparency:
Set the transparency of the background here. This allows you to display a logo in the background as a watermark, for example.
Header:
Configure header settings here. If you want the header on the first page to look different from subsequent pages, the checkbox "Same content on first page" must be unchecked in the "Default" style. In the "First Page" style, the checkbox must remain checked.
Footer:
Configure footer settings here. If you want the footer on the first page to look different from subsequent pages, the checkbox "Same content on first page" must be unchecked in the "Default" style. In the "First Page" style, the checkbox must remain checked.
Border:
Set borders here.
Columns:
Configure columns in the text body here.
Footnote:
Insert footnotes here.
Editing Paragraph Styles
To edit the typography of the document, use the paragraph styles. Go to Styles > Paragraph Styles to set font type, size, and color.
Paragraph styles use inheritance. The settings defined in "Default Paragraph Style" apply to everything unless you edit a more specific paragraph style. If individual areas — such as the Header, Footer, or Heading — should differ from the rest of the document (e.g., tables with a smaller font size, headings with a larger one), edit the corresponding paragraph style.
Some paragraph styles can be expanded (e.g., Body Text, Heading, Table Contents) — indicated by a small box with a plus (collapsed) or minus (expanded) sign. Inheritance applies here as well: settings made in a parent style are passed down to child styles, unless the child style is explicitly changed.
To edit a paragraph style, right-click on it and select "Edit Style". A popup window appears. The most important settings in the vertical menu are:
Font:
Select font type and size. In the "Style" field, you can specify whether the text should be Regular, Bold, Italic, or Bold Italic.
Font Effects:
Apply effects such as font color, underlining, or transparency.
Indents & Spacing:
Particularly relevant for the "Heading" style. Adjust spacing and indents here.
To reset your settings, click "Reset to Parent". Note that this only resets to the directly parent style. For example, if you are in "Table Heading", the settings will be reset to those of "Table Contents", not "Default".
Invoice Letter Paper Structure
The images below provide an overview of which elements can be inserted or configured via LibreOffice (purple) and which are automatically printed by ZEP (blue).
The letter paper contains the following areas:
Sender:
When saving, the cursor must be positioned either directly after this text (no space before the printed recipient address) or below it (small space before the printed recipient address).
Company logo:
In the header.
Bank details etc.:
In the footer.
Additional information:
On the letter paper via inserted frames.
Document variables:
Use document variables to output dynamic content directly in the letter paper. A list of document variables can be found further below in this article.
The printout generated by ZEP can be influenced by Project Additional Fields and Customer Additional Fields. Whether and to what extent an invoice attachment is generated can be defined in each project via Account Settings > Format.
Note: The printout of an invoice or report onto a letter paper begins below the last line of the document. If ZEP should start printing directly below the sender address, make sure there are no additional content or blank lines after the sender address.
Setting Document Variables
Document variables allow you to automatically transfer data from ZEP onto your letter paper. They are particularly useful for dynamic data such as the creator's name or phone number.
To insert a variable:
Click in the letter paper at the position where the variable should appear.
Open in LibreOffice: Insert > Field > More Fields…
Select "User Field" as the type and "Text" as the format.
Enter the desired variable in the Name field (e.g.,
ersteller_tel). Pay attention to exact spelling (case-sensitive).Leave the field Value empty.
Click "Insert", then "Close".
ZEP automatically fills the variable when the document is created — provided the corresponding value is stored in ZEP.
You can add custom text before and after a document variable, e.g.: Phone: [Variable ersteller_tel].
Available Variables
General Variables
Variable | Description |
titel | Title of the report |
datum | Date on which the report was created |
auswertungszeitraum | For time records only |
ersteller | Name of the report creator according to settings under Administration > Employees > Settings "Employee-format in customer-reports" |
ersteller_kurzzeichen | Abbreviation of the report creator |
ersteller_email | Email address of the report creator |
ersteller_tel | Phone number of the report creator |
Offers Variables
Variable | Description |
nr | Number of the offer |
titel | Title of the offer |
adresse | Customer address |
version | Version of the offer |
gueltigbis | Valid until |
kundennummer | Customer number |
kundenname | Customer name |
kundenansprechpartner | Contact person |
Invoices and Dunnings Variables
Variable | Description |
rechnungsnummer | Invoice number |
adresse | Invoice address |
empfaenger | Invoice recipient |
leistungszeitraum | Period of service |
projektkurzform | Abbreviation of the project |
projektbezeichnung | Project name |
projekt_ansprechpartner | Contact person selected for the corresponding project |
kundennummer | Customer number |
kundenname | Customer name |
kundenauftrag | Customer order |
kundenansprechpartner | Contact person |
kundenustid | Customer VAT ID |
lieferantennummer | Supplier number |
zahlungsziel | Payment due date |
meineFirma_name | Name of your own company |
meineFirma_adresszeile1 | Address line 1 of your own company |
meineFirma_adresszeile2 | Address line 2 of your own company |
meineFirma_plz | Postal code of your own company |
meineFirma_ort | City of your own company |
meineFirma_ustid | VAT ID of your own company |
meineFirma_steuernr | Tax number of your own company |
bankname | Bank name of your own company |
iban | IBAN of your own company |
bic | BIC of your own company |
bankverbindung | The bank account specified on the invoice, if this can differ by department, currency, or language (under Administration > My Company > Bank Details in the "Complete text" field) |
Uploading the Letter Paper
Save the completed file under a name of your choice on your PC as an .odt file. Make sure the cursor is in the correct position when saving (i.e., after or below the sender address, and not in the header or footer).
Then upload the letter paper to Administration > My Company > Letter Paper in the desired tab by clicking the pencil icon.
If you want to use the same letter paper for all documents, upload the file in the "General" tab. Otherwise, you can create and upload separate letter papers for each available tab in portrait or landscape format or for other languages.
Uploading Letter Paper for Departments
If you use the Locations & Departments module, you also have the option to use department-specific letter papers, enabling individual document design for each department. Upload the respective letter paper in the desired department at Other > Letter Paper.
Note: If a department has its own letter paper, ZEP will prioritize it and will no longer use the letter paper of the same category under Administration > My Company > Letter Paper.
Different Layouts for First Page and Subsequent Pages
If you have already edited the single-page template and now want subsequent pages to have a different layout, proceed as follows:
Open View > Styles in LibreOffice.
Select the Page Styles tab at the top.
Position the cursor on the first page and make sure the page style "First Page" is selected.
Right-click on "First Page" and select "Edit Style". A popup window opens.
Under General > Next Style, check that "Default Page Style" is set. This means all pages after the first are treated as default pages and follow the settings of the "Default Page Style". The first page is therefore the exception.
Navigate to Styles > Page Styles > Default Page Styles, right-click, and make sure "Default Page Styles" is also set as the next style here. If you want a specific page — such as the third page — to also have a different layout, you can configure this here accordingly.
Note: If the first page is set to the "Default Page Style" instead of "First Page", the logo, header, and footer will disappear.
To verify your settings: Insert a page break on the first page — an additional page will appear. Click on that page and LibreOffice will automatically jump to the active page style in the Styles panel. This allows you to check which style is applied to that page. Remember to delete this test page before uploading the document.
General Tips
If your logo or other objects placed in LibreOffice shift on the first page, you may have set the anchor incorrectly. Double-click the object — a popup window appears. Go to Position and Size > Anchor and select "To page".
If you are unsure which paragraph styles inherit from which, try changing the font color as a test. This will show you directly in the right sidebar which other styles are affected.
If you are unsure how a change in the master letter paper will look, you can export the relevant document from ZEP (e.g., a offer or invoice preview) as an .odt file and open it in LibreOffice. Clicking on any element will automatically jump to the corresponding style in the right sidebar. Any changes made there must then be transferred manually to the master letter paper and uploaded to ZEP.
If body text (e.g., above or below the invoice table, or from text fields in quotes) appears differently formatted in the printout than set in LibreOffice, the formatting may have been applied in ZEP when the text was created. Check the text in ZEP (including the Code View) and remove any formatting there if necessary.
If the automatic ZEP printout covers elements in the header or footer, this is usually because the header or footer height has not been adjusted to fit the content.
If the automatic ZEP printout covers content inserted in a frame in LibreOffice, this is due to either the position or the length of the frame. In this case, reposition the frame or shorten the content.