The DATEV interface connects ZEP with the DATEV services Lohnimportdatenservice and Lohnergebnisdatenservice – employee master data is synchronized from DATEV to ZEP, and working hours and absences are exported from ZEP to DATEV.
Data direction: ZEP ↔ DATEV
Product line availability
Note: The DATEV interface is available in ZEP Clock, ZEP Compact, and ZEP Professional.
In ZEP Clock and ZEP Compact, the interface is added as an optional module via the ZEP Self-Service Tool under Administration > Account. In ZEP Professional, the DATEV interface is included in the Export for Accounting module.
Assigning a default price group for new users additionally requires the Revenue & Costs module.
Prerequisites
The following prerequisites are required to set up the DATEV interface:
Access to Administration > Interfaces > DATEV in ZEP
Activated DATEV services Lohnimportdatenservice and Lohnergebnisdatenservice
Consultant number and Client number (from HR department, tax advisor, or payroll office)
A DATEV account to authorize the OAuth connection
Note: The DATEV services Lohnimportdatenservice and Lohnergebnisdatenservice are booked directly with DATEV and are already included in many DATEV packages. If the services have not yet been booked, you can find them in the DATEV shop: Lohnimportdatenservice and Lohnergebnisdatenservice. If your tax advisor or an external payroll office handles payroll, contact them to activate the services.
Setting up the integration
Setup consists of two steps: first, the DATEV services must be activated on the DATEV side; then the connection is configured in ZEP.
Preparing DATEV services
The DATEV services Lohnimportdatenservice and Lohnergebnisdatenservice must be activated in DATEV before the connection can be established. DATEV provides setup guides at help-center.apps.datev.de/documents/1018641 and help-center.apps.datev.de/documents/1025558, as well as direct onboarding appointments at terminland.de/datev-partner-onboarding.
Configuring DATEV in ZEP
Open Administration > Interfaces > DATEV. The Dashboard displays the current connection status; during initial setup, this will be shown as "disconnected."
Go to Settings and enter the Consultant number and Client number in the General section. You can obtain these details from your HR department, tax advisor, or payroll office.
Click Connect to DATEV to establish the OAuth connection. You will be redirected to the DATEV login page and must confirm the authorization there.
After successful authorization, the Dashboard displays the status connected along with the token expiry date.
Synchronizing master data
The master data synchronization transfers employee data from DATEV to ZEP. All listed fields are updated on every run; employees in DATEV who do not yet have a ZEP account can be created automatically.
Note: Data transfer is exclusively from DATEV to ZEP. Changes made to master data in ZEP are not transferred back to DATEV.
DATEV | ZEP | Info |
personnelNumber | DATEV ID | Unique ID used for synchronization |
firstName | First name |
|
lastName | Last name |
|
salutation | Salutation |
|
academicTitle | Title |
|
birthDate | Date of birth |
|
street, houseNumber | Street | Address is concatenated |
postalCode | Postal code |
|
city | City |
|
country | Country |
|
costCenterId | Cost center |
|
weeklyWorkHours | Regular working time | Adjusted or newly created if necessary |
employmentStartDate | Employment period | Created or adjusted if necessary |
employmentEndDate | Employment period | Adjusted if necessary |
Creating new users
Activate the desired options in the Synchronization of master data tab under Administration > Interfaces > DATEV > Settings.
The option Apply user data from DATEV activates master data synchronization for existing employees.
With the additional option Find new DATEV users and create profiles in ZEP, DATEV employees who do not yet have a ZEP account are automatically created as users. The username is generated according to the selected mode:
name_datev_id – Email prefix combined with the DATEV ID (e.g., john.smith_12345)
user_datev_id – Fixed prefix "user" combined with the DATEV ID (e.g., user_12345)
firstname.lastname – First and last name separated by a dot (e.g., john.smith)
firstinitial+lastname – First letter of the first name combined with the last name (e.g., jsmith)
With the option Send a link to change the password via email, newly created users automatically receive an email with a link to set their password, provided an email address is stored.
Note: Newly created users initially have no access rights and must subsequently be assigned the desired rights manually in ZEP. Every user in ZEP incurs license costs.
If the Revenue & Costs module is licensed, a Default price group for added users can be configured under Administration > Interfaces > DATEV > Settings, which is automatically assigned to every newly imported employee.
Transferring time bookings
In the Lohn & Gehalt section under Administration > Interfaces > DATEV, working hours and absence data from ZEP can be exported as a CSV file for the DATEV payroll program. Select the department, month, and employees, then generate and transfer the file using the Execute button.
Note: Data transfer is exclusively from ZEP to DATEV. Changes made in DATEV do not affect the time entries recorded in ZEP.
Configuring the export format
Select the desired export format under Administration > Interfaces > DATEV > Settings in the Lohn & Gehalt tab:
DATEV LODAS – Exports working hours and absences in DATEV LODAS CSV format. Each working day includes the employee number, hours, DATEV wage type, and DATEV default key.
DATEV Lohn und Gehalt – Exports in DATEV Lohn und Gehalt CSV format with employee number, date, type, hours, and day factor.
The DATEV wage type is preset to the default value 1000 and should only be changed after consulting your tax advisor or payroll office.
Mapping absences
For absence data to be transferred correctly to DATEV, the appropriate DATEV wage type and DATEV default key must be stored for each ZEP absence reason. Open Administration > Absences & Overtime > Absence Reasons and edit each absence reason using the pencil icon.
Note: DATEV wage types and default keys vary by company. Look up the correct values in your DATEV system or consult your tax advisor or payroll office.
Setting up synchronization
Create the task DATEV Synchronization under Administration > System > Tasks to automate master data synchronization. You can also open the task overview directly from the Scheduler button in the DATEV dashboard. Click +Create new task, select DATEV Synchronization, assign a name, and set the desired execution interval. Available intervals: hourly (default), daily, on Saturdays, on Mondays, and on the first of the month.