Customers are the central data object in ZEP, to which all sales and billing-relevant information is attached: offers, projects, invoices, travel cost configuration, contact persons and all customer-related reports. Maintaining a clean customer record lays the foundation for every sales and billing process in ZEP.
These articles guide you through the entire topic — from concept through creation and maintenance to customer-related reports and special cases such as ending a customer relationship.
Note: Customer management is available in ZEP Compact and ZEP Professional, not in ZEP Clock — Clock has no project and customer relationships. Which fields and actions are visible additionally depends on the booked add-on modules.
Customers as central data object
A customer in ZEP is more than an address entry. They are the entity to which ZEP joins the following data:
Master data such as customer number, name, address, industry, VAT ID and note
Relationships via contact persons, key account managers and department assignment
Project assignment across all projects booked for this customer
Billing configuration via price tables, price groups, discount, payment term and travel settings
Invoicing data from invoice items, invoices, open items and incoming payments
Effort and revenue from project times, receipts and travel costs across all projects of the customer
Interface-relevant fields such as supplier number, Leitweg-ID, GLN and IBAN/BIC
Documents such as framework contracts, DPAs, correspondence and contract attachments
It is precisely this consolidation that makes the customer record the linchpin of commercial ZEP workflows. Every invoice, every revenue report and every travel cost configuration references a customer.
Integration into the ZEP data flow
The customer sits at the center of a network of data objects that all reference back to them. The following diagram shows the most important connections:
The most important effect chains in words:
Master data → visibility: A customer set to inactive no longer appears in selection lists of projects, offers or reports — historical data remains preserved.
Department → permission: The department assignment of the customer controls which department managers may see and edit the customer (with the Locations and Departments module).
Category and industry → filters and reports: These classifications are search and filter criteria across all customer lists and reports.
Key account manager → view and write rights: The key account manager assignment controls who sees the customer in their personal menu and whether they may edit or only read the master data.
Price tables and price groups → billing: When creating a new project for this customer, the customer-specific price tables are automatically applied, unless the project has its own prices.
Travel settings → travel cost calculation: The travel flat rate configuration of the customer determines how a trip is distributed across multiple projects of this customer.
VAT rate and currency → invoice items and revenue: The VAT value on the customer is the default for every invoice item. With VAT = 0, revenue reports show values exclusively as net amount.
Supplier number, Leitweg-ID, GLN → electronic invoicing: These fields are required for XRechnung, ZUGFeRD and Swiss QR Code to the respective customer.
IBAN and BIC → direct debit: Prerequisite when payment by SEPA direct debit is active on the customer and ZEP is to automatically collect the invoices.
Contact person login → ticket system access: A contact person with active login sees in the ticket system only the tickets of projects they are explicitly authorized for.
Tasks in customer management
The following articles cover all typical tasks around customers:
Creating, editing and deleting customers — the complete workflow from creation, through ongoing changes, to deactivation or full removal, including role permissions.
Customer data — the reference to every field in the master data tabs General, Contact and Billing.
Customer administration — sub-areas and actions stored directly on the customer record: addresses, contact persons, key account managers, billing settings, invoicing.
Customer overview — the list view with filters, sorting, mass actions and export.
Customer reports — standard reports around customers — cross-customer and at the individual customer.
Module-dependent extensions on customers
With each add-on module, additional fields, sub-areas and actions appear on the customer. The following overview shows the most important extensions:
Revenue and costs — price tables, price groups, customer revenue report, receipt report.
Invoicing — complete invoicing group on the customer, automated invoicing, direct debit, XRechnung, Leitweg-ID, GLN, revenue forecast, incoming payments.
Travel Expense Management — travel settings per customer, travel flat rate configuration.
Locations and Departments — Department field on the customer, department manager permissions.
Ticket system — customer access for contact persons, ticket permissions per project and task.
Document Management — customer-specific documents, folder structure copy.
Resource planning — work packages per customer.
Offer creation — offers on the customer, delivery addresses.
Which of these extensions are active for you is determined by your product line and the booked add-on modules. In the article Customer data, you see per field under which conditions it is shown.