Customer administration bundles all sub-areas on the customer record that go beyond pure master data: addresses, contact persons, key account managers, projects, invoicing data and customer-related reports. Which sub-areas are visible depends on the product line, your role and the booked modules — this is indicated in each section.
You open the areas via Customers in the main menu, a click on the desired customer and then the sub-menu on the detail page. The master data (tabs General, Contact data, Billing) is described in the article Customer data; the lifecycle (creating, editing, deleting) is in Creating, editing and deleting customers.
Note: Customer administration is available in ZEP Compact and ZEP Professional, not in ZEP Clock. Which sub-areas appear in the sub-menu depends on the product line, role and booked modules.
General
In the area General you find the central customer-related sub-areas — master data, addresses, person management, project and document assignment as well as the change history.
Data
The sub-menu item Data opens the master data dialog with the tabs General, Contact data and Billing. Each field description with default values, module dependency and impact is documented in the article Customer data.
Addresses
Each customer can have an unlimited number of addresses — default, invoice and delivery addresses. The default address is displayed in bold in the list and cannot be deleted; it is the default source for invoices and documents.
Typical tasks on the addresses tab:
Create new address: the button New entry opens the address form. Mandatory fields are address line 1, ZIP, city and country.
Mark address as invoice address: with the Invoicing module, the option appears on the address entry — the marked address is used in all invoices.
Release email dispatch: per invoice address a dedicated email address can be stored; without release the invoice dispatch goes to the main address from the master data.
Choose machine-readable format: ZUGFeRD, XRechnung or Swiss QR Code (with the Invoicing module and active XRechnung/ZUGFeRD profile).
Store delivery address: with the Invoicing or Offer creation module, can be inserted in documents via placeholder.
Note: Changes to the default or invoice address only affect new documents. Existing invoices keep the historical address — corrections must be made on the document itself.
Contact person
In the tab Contact person you manage the person master data of the customer. The first contact person created is automatically the primary contact person and is marked in bold in the list. There is exactly one primary contact person per customer.
Typical tasks on the contact person tab:
Create new contact person: the button New contact person opens the master data form with salutation, title, name, position, department, contact data and categories.
Change primary contact person: via the action Change primary contact person you select a different contact person as primary.
Capture multiple email addresses: separator configuration in Administration > My Company > Email.
Set contact person to inactive: inactive contact persons no longer appear in project or task selection lists but remain available for reports.
Assign address: each customer address can be chosen per contact person as the postal address, deviating from the default address.
Set up ticket system login: with the Ticket system module you assign username, password and language — the contact person can then log in to the ticket system independently.
Note: Ticket system access for contact persons requires the Ticket system module and matching project permissions.
Key account managers
Via the tab Key account managers you assign employees as account managers to the customer. A customer can have several key account managers; the assignment controls both visibility and write rights.
Options per key account manager:
Edit customer data: allows the employee to edit master data, addresses and contact persons.
With budget responsibility: additional view of budgets and profit reports on the customer.
Ticket system permission: with the Ticket system module this controls whether the key account manager may edit the customer's tickets.
Note: Key account managers without the right Edit customer data have read-only access. The administration controls the default permission values when creating new assignments.
Offers
The tab Offers lists all offers created for the customer — drafts, sent and accepted offers. Per offer you see status, date, amount and the creator.
Actions on the offers tab:
Create new offer: opens the offer editor with the customer already preset.
Duplicate or send offer: via the action menu per offer row.
Record acceptance: upon order confirmation, ZEP transfers the items into the linked project.
Note: The tab only appears with the Offer creation module.
Projects
The tab Projects shows all projects created for the customer — both as primary and as secondary assigned customer. A filter separates the two views; an alphabet row above restricts the selection to project initial letters.
Actions on the projects tab:
Create new project for the customer: available depending on role (administrator, controller, department manager with the Locations and Departments module).
Open project master data directly: a click on the project name opens the project cockpit.
Filter primary/secondary: restricts the project list to one customer assignment type.
Work packages
With the Resource planning module the tab Work packages shows all work packages planned for the customer, across projects. You see the period, assigned employees and the target effort. The overview is useful for monitoring the load on a customer across multiple projects and for spotting bottlenecks early.
Note: Only appears with the Resource planning module.
Documents
In the tab Documents you manage file attachments on the customer — framework contracts, DPAs, correspondence or other documents. The folder structure is configurable and can be taken over from a template.
Typical tasks:
Upload document: drag & drop or selection dialog. Multiple files can be uploaded at once.
Create or rename folder: right-click on a folder opens the context menu.
Track versions: ZEP keeps the previous version with date when re-uploading with the same file name.
Note: Only appears with the Document management module.
Change history
The change history logs every change to customer data — who changed what when, including the previous and new value. It is the central compliance and audit source for customer master data.
Typical use cases:
Trace a data change: who changed the bank details, when?
Audit evidence for external review: the table can be exported as CSV or PDF.
Conflict resolution for multi-editing: order and timestamps reveal conflicts transparently.
Note: Only visible if under Administration > Other > Change history the setting Log changes to customer data is active.
Account Settings
In the area Account Settings you define customer-specific prices and travel distribution logic. These settings automatically apply to new projects of the customer.
Price tables
The customer price table stores hourly and daily rates for the activities of this customer. If no separate project price table is maintained for a new project, ZEP automatically applies the customer price table.
Actions on the price table:
Assign price group: selection from the price groups defined under Administration > Price Groups.
Overwrite individual price per item: ZEP shows the default value from the price group and accepts a customer-specific deviation.
Factor per hourly rate: global multiplier (e.g. 1.1 for a 10 % surcharge) on all rates of this price group.
Note: Requires the Revenue and Costs module and is hidden in the Light variant of ZEP Compact.
Customer price groups
Via customer price groups you assign one or more price groups from the administration to the customer. The assignment determines which rates apply to new projects and bookings.
Typical tasks:
Set standard price group: default price group for all projects without explicit assignment.
Assign multiple price groups: for differentiated activity groups (e.g. consulting vs development) at the same customer.
Note: Prerequisite is the Revenue and Costs module with active price group management.
Travel settings
The travel settings on the customer control the distribution of travel flat rates across projects. They distinguish between travel flat rates per day and per entire trip.
Selection options:
Travel flat rate per day: either fully credit each involved project, or distribute according to hours share — the distribution mode matches the default setting from Administration > Customers > Settings.
Travel flat rate per trip: either credit each project fully, or only the first project of the trip.
Note: Available with the Travel Expense Management module. Default values come from Administration > Customers > Settings and can be overwritten per customer.
Billing
In the area Billing you manage all invoicing-relevant data of the customer — from individual invoice items through invoices, open items and incoming payments to the sales forecast and additional fields.
Note: The entire Billing area requires the Invoicing module and is hidden without it. The individual sub-menu items are only briefly introduced here — the full description with workflows, configuration and reports is available in the collection Invoicing.
Invoice items
Individual invoicing lines per project and customer — originate from time entries, receipts or manually and are the basis for every invoice. Release, edit or include in the next invoicing run via bulk action.
Missing invoice items
Overview of all delivered services without a generated item — typically unbilled time entries or receipts. Via action, items with default values can be generated, or the selection can be narrowed via filter.
Invoices
All invoices created for the customer in status draft, issued, paid or canceled. Typical actions on the tab: send by email to the invoice address, mark as exported for accounting or create a cancellation invoice.
Open items
All invoices of the customer that are not yet fully paid, with due date and age of the receivable. They are the central overview for receivables management, liquidity assessment and dunning workflow control.
Incoming payments
Record incoming payments for open invoices — manually, via SEPA XML import or via direct debit collection. Received amounts automatically reduce the open item, proportionally for partial payments. The status switches to paid only after full settlement.
Sales forecast
Calculates the expected revenue per customer from released invoice items. The forecast is the basis for cash flow planning, liquidity forecast and sales reporting in the ongoing business cycle of the tenant.
Additional fields
Own data points on the invoice master such as cost center, contract reference or project number at the customer, that are passed on the invoice and can be used as sorting or filter criterion in reports.
Actions
Via the actions menu on the customer detail view, operations are available that affect the entire customer record.
The central action is Delete customer: full removal with validation against all dependent data — only for administrators, only without projects, invoices, tickets, offers and without CRM synchronization. The complete workflow including all seven preconditions is described in the article Creating, editing and deleting customers.
Reports directly on the customer
Via the sub-menu Reports on the customer detail view you reach all customer-related reports with focus on exactly this customer — master data summary, project times, receipts, customer billing and overall status.
Available here are among others the cover sheet as a printable master data summary, the project time and receipt report restricted to the customer, the customer billing with target/actual/open amounts and the overall status with plan vs actual across all projects. Which reports concretely appear depends on the booked modules — especially Revenue and Costs, Invoicing and Travel Expense Management.
The cross-customer view (comparison, aggregation and global filters) is available in the main menu under Customer reports.