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 location, destination location, kilometers, and passengers.
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 daily allowances. 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
Daily allowance 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 daily allowance 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 daily allowance 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 daily allowance. 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:
Daily allowance 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.