The Proposals module covers the entire proposal process in ZEP: create and review proposals, send by email or letter, status workflow with handovers to project and invoicing. Proposals are directly linked to ZEP master data (customers, projects, articles) so that calculated efforts can later be transferred automatically into project planned hours or invoice items.
Product line availability
Note: The Proposals module is only available in ZEP Professional.
The module is added via the ZEP Self-Service Tool under Administration > Account. ZEP Clock and ZEP Compact do not support the module.
Permissions
Tasks in offer management are divided by role:
Project managers with budget responsibility and Key account managers: Create offers for their projects and customers, edit them, and move them through the status workflow.
Administrators and Controllers (with the Locations & Departments module also Department managers for their department): See and manage all offers, maintain templates, text modules, mail templates, and letter paper, and configure the workflow.
Users with additional authorizations: May — if the basic setting Users with additional authorizations may create offers for all customers is active — create offers for all customers, even without being assigned as project manager or key account manager.
Additional menu items
The module makes the following new areas and tabs available in ZEP:
Proposals
The main menu shows the entry Proposals with the sub-items My Proposals (proposals created by the logged-in user), All Proposals (across all employees, for administrators and controllers), and Templates for reusable sample proposals.
Customer and project detail page
On the detail page of a customer and a project, the Proposals tab appears. This lets you see at a glance which proposals were created for a specific customer or project without filtering the global list.
Administration > Offer management
Under Administration > Offer management, a dedicated tile appears with the sub-items Settings, Text Modules, Mail Templates, Permissions for the workflow, Categories, and Keywords. Without the Invoicing module active, the item Articles additionally appears here — with Invoicing, article master data is maintained there.
Administration > System > Tasks
With the Proposals module active, the area Administration > System > Tasks shows the additional task Reminder to follow up on the proposal. It triggers a scheduled email to the responsible person when a proposal is about to expire or has just expired. Configuration is covered in the article Basic Settings – Proposals.
Reports and dashboard widgets
The module does not provide standalone report views but adds the dashboard widget My Proposals in the employee dashboard for the own pipeline view.
A global view across all proposals is available via the main menu Proposals > All Proposals with filters, column configuration, and CSV export.
Distinction from Project Planning and Invoicing
Note: When a proposal reaches the status transferred to project, the planned days of the proposal are automatically converted into planned hours of the new project — the Project Planning module is included by default in ZEP Professional and therefore always available. If, in addition, the Invoicing module is booked, invoice items are automatically created in the new project from the offer items.