Master data for travel expense management is maintained under Administration > Travel. There you store the vehicles with mileage and passenger allowances and the locations with the corresponding daily flat rates. Both master data sets are managed as lists with a validity period, so legal changes remain historically traceable.
Mark an activity as travel
A trip is recognized in ZEP through an activity that is marked as Travel activity. Activities are managed under Administration > Projects > Activities. When creating or editing an activity, you activate the checkbox Travel activity so that ZEP treats the activity as a trip during recording and displays the travel fields travel direction, Start, Destination, km, and passengers.
How to record trips and travel times is described in the article Recording Travel Times and Travel Expenses.
Usually a single travel activity is sufficient (typically with short form T and label Travel). If needed, several travel activities can be created, for example to record different types of trips (domestic, foreign, training) separately.
Vehicles
Under Administration > Travel > Vehicles, you manage the vehicles used in your company and the respective allowances for mileage and passenger compensation. Employees select from this list when recording a trip with mileage reimbursement.
Fields per vehicle
When creating or editing a vehicle, the following fields are available:
Short form – brief identifier (max. 32 characters, required), appears in selection lists and reports
Label – detailed description of the vehicle (max. 255 characters)
Currency – currency for the allowances, pre-filled with the base currency of the tenant
The allowances are recorded separately by Tax-free and Taxable. This way, statutorily tax-free rates and rates above that can be managed separately:
Mileage rate (tax-free) – per kilometer driven within the tax-free range
Passenger rate (tax-free) – per kilometer per passenger
Mileage rate (taxable) – additional reimbursement rate accounted for as taxable benefit
Passenger rate (taxable) – taxable share of the passenger compensation
When recording a trip, the current mileage of the vehicle can additionally be entered. This is an optional field — useful if you want to document vehicle usage to the kilometer.
Vehicle lists and validity periods
Multiple vehicles are combined into a vehicle list with a validity period. Per list you configure:
Valid from – start date from when the list takes effect
Note – free comment on the list, e.g., the context of a legal adjustment
When the statutory rates change (e.g., new mileage rate from a new tax year), create a new vehicle list with the corresponding start date. ZEP automatically uses the list valid on the trip date — earlier trips retain their original rates.
Locations
Under Administration > Travel > Locations, you manage the locations selectable as start or destination and the corresponding daily flat rates for subsistence costs. Employees select start and destination from this list when recording a trip.
Fields per location
When creating or editing a location, the following fields are available:
Short form – brief identifier (required), appears in trip entry forms and reports
Label – full label of the location
Currency – currency for the allowances, pre-filled with the base currency of the tenant
Subsistence cost calculation method – either Business trip under German travel-expense law (basis: absence time including overnight stay) or Other trip (basis: daily working time). With the Austrian subsistence cost procedure active, the half-hour, quarter-hour, twelfth, third, and metal-industry rules are additionally available.
Domestic / Foreign – tax classification of the location, also controls which rates apply
Daily flat rates
Per location, the daily flat rates are stored according to the selected calculation method. Here, too, tax-free and taxable are consistently separated:
Daily flat rate more than 8 hours – for trips with more than 8 hours of absence (tax-free + taxable)
Daily flat rate at least 14 hours – relevant only for subsistence cost procedures before 2014 (attendance of at least 14 hours)
Daily flat rate at least 24 hours – for full travel days over 24 hours (tax-free + taxable)
Meal deductions
If an employee is provided with a meal during a trip, ZEP automatically reduces the calculated subsistence costs. Per location you store the corresponding deductions:
Flat deduction for breakfast – fixed deduction amount, relevant only for legacy cases
Percentage deduction for breakfast – share of the 24-hour daily flat rate deducted when breakfast is provided
Percentage deduction per lunch or dinner – share of the 24-hour daily flat rate per provided main meal
The deductions can likewise be stored in tax-free and taxable variants — relevant when the reimbursement exceeds the statutory rates.
Location lists and validity periods
Analogous to vehicles, locations are managed in location lists with a validity period. Per list you configure:
Subsistence cost calculation method – sets a default for all locations in the list (overridable per location)
Valid from – start date from when the list takes effect
Note – free comment on the list
When the rates change (annual tax adjustments, new foreign rates table), create a new location list with the corresponding start date. ZEP automatically uses the list valid on the trip date.