Project times and working hours is the central self-service area for personal time recording in ZEP. The kind of time recorded depends on the product line:
ZEP Clock: pure working time recording via the clock-in/out. No projects, tasks or activities are booked; the time is recorded on a standard activity stored in the system. The area is called Working hours in the main menu.
ZEP Compact and ZEP Professional: full project time recording via project, task and (optional) activity. Travel times and subsistence costs are available with the Travel expense accounting module. Attendance stamping additionally appears when the administration has activated attendance recording. The area is called Project times in the main menu.
In both cases entries can be displayed in several views, edited, copied and submitted for approval. This article describes all functions — the availability of individual fields and actions is marked per section.
Note: Available in ZEP Clock, ZEP Compact and ZEP Professional. Which fields and actions are visible depends on product line, booked add-on modules and administration settings.
Views and navigation
The time recording screen has a toolbar at the top and the display area below. The top left contains the view dropdown, the Today switch and (in the agenda view) the sort switch. In the middle stand the date navigation and the current date as a date picker. The top right shows the day and week sums, the switch to record a new booking and the lock symbol for employee approval.
Three views are available and are switched via the view dropdown. The selected view is stored per employee.
View | Main purpose | Special features |
Calendar view | Visual day plan for ongoing time recording | Three time ranges to choose from: working week, full week and day. Bookings are created by mouse selection and moved by dragging. |
Agenda view | Chronological list for subsequent control and correction | Table with all booking fields. Sorting per column switchable. |
Form view | Structured entry with all detail fields | Classic form per day. Enforced when the administration has set recording exclusively by duration. |
Calendar view
The calendar view shows the own time allocation as a visual day plan. It is suitable for ongoing recording on the day of the event and is available in all product lines — in ZEP Clock for working time recording, in ZEP Compact and ZEP Professional for project time recording.
Features in the calendar view:
Three time ranges: working week (default Mon-Fri), full week including weekend, or day view for higher detail.
Preset minute grid: the administration defines company-wide in which steps new bookings snap — typically 3, 6, 15 or 30 minutes. For the logged-in employee the setting is not directly visible but takes effect when creating and moving a booking.
New booking by mouse selection: drag a time block, the entry window opens, fill mandatory fields, save.
Move by dragging: move an existing booking with the mouse to a new position within the day or to the next day until midnight. Larger time jumps are rejected.
Multiple bookings per day: several bookings on the same day appear next to each other.
External appointments: from the connected Google or Microsoft calendar appear with a grey background and can be turned into a booking by click.
Planned hours: from resource planning appear with a green background; a click opens the plan/actual overview.
Agenda view
The agenda view shows all bookings as a chronological table. It is suitable for subsequent control, for corrections before month-end close and for the overview of large periods.
Features in the agenda view:
Columns: date, from, to, project, task, activity, note, location, receipt, direction, distance and duration.
Sorting: ascending or descending by start time; switchable per click on the sort switch at the top left.
Row actions: edit and duplicate are available per row. Further actions sit in the three-dot menu per row.
Filter per column: restrict the list to individual projects, tasks or activities.
Quick access to break status: days with a violation against the work break regulation appear marked in color.
Form view
The form view opens a classic input mask per day. It is suitable when all detail fields are to be filled in a structured way.
Features in the form view:
Complete field list: date, from and to or duration, project, task, activity, billability, work location, note and color.
Day overview: all bookings of the day stand as a list next to the form.
Enforced view selection: when the administration has set time recording exclusively by duration (instead of from and to), only the agenda and form views are available. The calendar view is disabled in this mode.
Record a booking
A booking records how much time an employee has spent on which project, which task and which activity. The entry happens either in the calendar by mouse selection, in the form via the classic input mask or when editing an existing booking in the agenda view.
Note: Which fields are mandatory depends on the product line. In ZEP Compact and ZEP Professional project, task and activity are mandatory fields. In ZEP Clock the time is booked on a standard activity; whether beyond that an activity can be selected is decided by an administration setting.
Record time
A new time booking can be created from the calendar or form view. Both ways lead to the same entry window and the same mandatory fields; they differ only in how they are opened.
Fields per booking:
Field | Mandatory | Default | Note |
Date | Yes | Today | Quick links for ±1 day and start/end of month. With central recording the date is not editable. |
From and to or duration | Yes | Last booking | Either from/to or duration; both at once is not possible. The variant depends on the administration setting. |
Project | Yes | Last booked project | Selection from bookable projects for the chosen date. Restriction by search or customer filter. Not visible in ZEP Clock. |
Task | Yes | Last task of the project | Filtering by project. Grouping tasks are not directly bookable. Not visible in ZEP Clock. |
Activity | Yes | Last activity | Mandatory in ZEP Compact and ZEP Professional. In ZEP Clock only visible when the administration has enabled the activity selection — otherwise the standard activity is used. |
Billable | No | Taken from project/task/activity | With fixed billability the switch is not editable. |
Work location | Optional | Last location | Affects the calculation of subsistence costs on trips. When choosing a location other than the primary work location, the switch Location project-relevant additionally appears. |
Note | Optional | Last text | Freely chosen. The administration can make the field mandatory or enforce multi-line entry. |
Color | No | Project color | Color marking in the calendar for fast visual distinction. |
Note: Activities marked in administration as not working-time relevant are not counted as working time. Bookings with such an activity may overlap with other bookings and do not affect the target/actual balance.
Typical day: Employees open time recording in the morning, drag a time block from 9:00 to 12:30 for the first activity, select project and task, add a short note, save. After lunch the same step for 13:30 to 17:30. Both entries appear in the week calendar and add up in the day row.
Create a new booking in the calendar
Steps for the quick entry directly in the week calendar:
In the calendar view mark the desired day and time range with the mouse.
In the opening entry window select the mandatory fields project, task and (if active) activity.
Maintain optional fields note, work location and color.
Confirm with Save — the booking appears immediately in the calendar.
Tip: If ZEP detects an overlap with another booking before saving, it asks whether the double booking should be allowed. Otherwise the save is cancelled with a notice.
Create a new booking in the agenda
Steps for entry via the list view:
Choose the agenda view via the view dropdown at the top left.
Click the + Project time switch in the toolbar at the top right — the entry window for a new record opens.
Fill the mandatory fields date, time (from and to or duration), project, task and activity.
Optionally add a note, a work location and a color.
Save with Save — the booking immediately appears as a new row in the list.
Create a new booking in the form
Steps for the structured entry via the input mask:
Choose form view via the view dropdown at the top left.
Click the switch to record a new booking at the top right.
Fill date, from and to or duration, project, task and (if active) activity.
Maintain optional fields.
Save with Save.
Record travel time
Travel times are recorded in the same entry window as regular times. Decisive is the selection of a travel activity — typically with the short form re. Only after this selection do the additional travel fields appear below the standard area.
Note: Travel recording requires the Travel expense accounting module. Detailed concepts on flat rates and country-specific rates see Travel expense accounting.
Additional fields with a travel booking:
Field | Mandatory | Note |
Trip type | Yes | Selection outbound, connecting or return trip. For outbound and connecting trips the destination is the work location; for return trips the start location. |
Start location | Optional | The route of the trip. Used for calculating subsistence costs and for reports. |
Destination | Optional | See start location. |
Vehicle | Optional | The used vehicle from the stored master data. |
Private vehicle | Optional | Switch whether the private car was used. Controls the calculation of the mileage allowance. |
Kilometers | Optional | Driven distance. Multiplied with the project flat rate gives the mileage allowance. For trips without an own vehicle the field stays empty. |
Passengers | Optional | Number of co-passengers for carpooling. Affects the rate depending on configuration. |
Meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) | Optional | Meals available during the trip (e.g. breakfast in the hotel). ZEP automatically reduces the subsistence flat rate by the corresponding shares. The actual hotel invoice recording happens in Receipts; the meals entry on the travel booking serves the direct subsistence-cost deduction. |
Record a day trip
Steps for a trip within one day:
Create a new booking.
Choose a travel activity — the travel fields appear automatically.
Choose trip type outbound, enter start location and destination.
Enter kilometers, tick private vehicle if applicable.
Save. For the return trip on the same day create a second booking with trip type return.
Record a multi-day trip
Example trip Munich → Zurich from Monday to Friday:
Monday morning: booking with trip type outbound, start location Munich, destination Zurich.
Monday afternoon to Thursday: regular project bookings at the site, work location Zurich.
Friday morning: last work at the site.
Friday afternoon: booking with trip type return, start location Zurich, destination Munich.
Multi-day trips are recorded per calendar day. For a trip across midnight the route is split into two parts (before and after 0:00). Important: every trip starts with exactly one outbound trip and ends with exactly one return trip; all routes in between are connecting trips.
Trip across midnight
A trip across midnight is split into two calendar days — one booking until 23:59 and a second booking from 0:00 of the following day. Per partial leg the trip type must be set correctly so that the subsistence costs are calculated without gaps.
Note: ZEP automatically applies the midnight rule when the trip is started after 16:00 and ended before 8:00 on the following day. In this case the flat rates for the external assignment without overnight stay are calculated — an overnight stay is not assumed for tax purposes.
Weekend during a trip
When a multi-day trip is not ended by a return trip on Friday and continues on Monday at the same external site, ZEP assumes a continuous trip. The weekend days are taken into account with 24 hours of absence for the subsistence costs — provided that at least one travel-time booking exists per weekend day, even with duration 0.
Three typical weekend constellations:
Trip continues: for Saturday and Sunday each record a connecting trip with duration 0. ZEP includes the full weekend days in the subsistence costs.
No subsistence costs on the weekend: book a return trip on Friday. This ends the trip; the weekend is not included in the rates.
Private stay on the weekend: book a return trip with duration 0 on Friday, and again an outbound trip with duration 0 on Monday. This way ZEP correctly shows that the weekend stay was private.
Trips longer than three months
In Germany the subsistence costs for external assignments at a fixed site are tax-free only in the first three months. For longer assignments there are two options that the administration controls via the configuration of the locations:
Book on standard location: after the three months the employee books his working time back on the standard location. From this point no subsistence costs arise.
Special location „other trip": the administration defines a special location as other trip with its own flat rates. The employee books on this location from month four onwards. The rates are paid but are not tax-free.
Note: When passing through to the customer the following applies: at locations marked other trip overnight stays are not taken into account. The configuration of the locations is done in the administration.
Travel time without working time (own share of driving time)
Some employees receive subsistence costs and travel cost reimbursements without their driving time being counted as working or project time. For these cases a travel booking with duration 0 can be recorded — outbound and return trip then mark the start and end of the period relevant for the subsistence costs, without booking working or project time.
Steps for a 0-duration booking:
Create a new booking.
Enter the date and set From and To to the same time — alternatively set Duration to 0.
Choose the travel activity.
Set trip type outbound, enter start location and destination.
Save. For the return trip the same with trip type return.
Tip: Whoever does not want to record 0-duration bookings can simply only book the working time at the non-standard work location. ZEP then calculates the subsistence costs from the first booking at the external location and ends them with the next booking at the standard work location. With two consecutive days at the same external location ZEP interprets this as a multi-day trip and includes the weekends via 24-hour flat rates.
Templates for recurring bookings
Templates store value combinations for recurring bookings — e.g. project, task, activity, default work location and a default note. Up to five templates are active per employee. The templates appear as colored switches in the sidebar next to the calendar.
Note: Templates are available in ZEP Compact and ZEP Professional. In ZEP Clock bookings are stamped on the standard activity; templates are not required there.
Use case: A consultant books two fixed weekdays each week on a core project with the activity „customer consulting". Via a saved template she drags the entry with one click onto the respective day; all fields are prefilled, only the times need to be confirmed.
Create a template
Steps to create a new template:
Click the gear icon in the sidebar.
Add a new template in the template management.
Choose project, task, activity, default work location, note and color.
Save — the template appears immediately in the sidebar.
Use a template
Two ways lead to the booking via a template:
Via dragging: drag the template switch onto the desired day in the calendar. The entry window opens with the prefilled values.
Via click: click on the template switch. The entry window opens for the current date with template values.
Manage templates
In the template management existing templates can be renamed, their values changed or deleted. The order in the sidebar is sorted by dragging. A removed template disappears immediately from the sidebar; bookings already created with it stay unchanged.
Copy times
Existing bookings can be duplicated individually or whole days can be transferred to a new date. This way recurring day routines arise without re-entering fields.
Use case: A project lead works from Monday to Wednesday in the same pattern and wants to create the same bookings on Thursday. Via the day copy he transfers all bookings with one click onto the new day.
Duplicate a single booking
Duplicating a single booking is available exclusively in the agenda view. Via the duplicate icon per row the entry window opens with the values of the original booking. Date and time are freely selectable, the original remains unchanged. In the calendar and form view there is no single duplication; only the entire day can be copied there.
Copy day
The day copy is available in all three views. The trigger differs by view:
Calendar view: via the three-dot menu at the day header choose Copy to date.
Agenda view: via the three-dot menu per row or as a multi-selection choose Copy to date.
Form view: trigger via the copy icon in the day area.
In all cases all bookings of the source day are duplicated to the chosen target day. Recorded meals are taken over as well if the travel expense module is active. The original bookings remain.
Tip: In the calendar and the agenda view a day can also be copied to a whole period. Instead of a single target day, a date range is chosen, and the day bookings are duplicated multiple times for every workday within this period. Useful for recording recurring weekly routines across several weeks.
Attendance and clock-in/out
Via the clock-in/out at the top of the navigation the logged-in employee records their time with a click on the button. How the clock-in/out behaves depends on the product line and the administration settings:
ZEP Clock: core function for attendance recording. On stamping a server-side attendance event is stored.
ZEP Compact and ZEP Professional with activated attendance recording: behaves like in Clock — server attendance stamp with all accompanying functions (work break regulation, day overview).
ZEP Compact and ZEP Professional without attendance recording: the clock-in/out runs as a project time timer. On stopping the booking window opens with date and times as preset to record a project time.
Clock-in/out actions
The available actions depend on the current status and on the configuration:
Clock in (come): click the stamping switch when no attendance is currently running. The current time is booked as the start. The status changes to „active since ...".
Clock out (go): first click the stamping switch (opens the actions window), then confirm Clock out (go). The current attendance period is closed.
Discard attendance: discards the current attendance without saving. Helpful after an accidental stamping start.
Record project time: additionally appears when the automatic generation of a project time from attendance is not active. Via this action the employee manually creates a project time booking while the attendance continues.
Automatic project time from clock-in/out
Whether an associated project time booking is created automatically alongside the attendance booking depends on an employee setting. In the administration it is set per employee and period whether automatic project time generation is active. Without this activation, the stamping only records the pure attendance, without an additional project time.
Note: The activation of the automatic project time generation is part of the employee master data and is described in Employee management.
When the automatic generation is active, ZEP fills the periods between coming and going gap-less and deducts breaks according to the break regulation. An existing automatic booking can subsequently be moved to another project as long as no lock applies.
Work break regulation
The administration configures binding rules that are checked in the background during time recording. Depending on the setting, the save of a booking can be blocked, a warning shown or a day marked in color.
Rule | Effect |
Work break regulation | Mandatory breaks from a certain working time. On shortfall ZEP either blocks the save or deducts the break automatically from the working time. |
Core working time | Time window in which attendance is expected. Bookings outside core working time are marked in color or with a notice. |
Rest period | Minimum break between two working days. A shortfall creates a warning for the employee and the administration. |
Day and week upper limit | Maximum working time per day and week. On exceedance a warning appears or the booking is rejected. |
Adding missed clock-in/out events
Missed coming or going events can be added in the agenda view or via direct editing of the day entry, as long as no locking rule applies. Locks are described in the section Editing and lock reasons.
Note: ZEP can automatically send a reminder e-mail when an expected stamping event is missing. This reminder is not active by default. The administration sets up the associated scheduled task in the administration configuration.
Further recording paths
In addition to the web interface several further recording paths are available, which automatically synchronize into the web view.
Use case: A technical consultant supports customers on site and has no laptop with him on the road. He uses the ZEP App on the smartphone for entry, the browser extension on the laptop for quick bookings, and imports an Excel timesheet for batch entries after several days.
ZEP App and ZEP Clock App
App | Function | Available in |
ZEP App | Recording of project times, working hours, travel times and receipts on the go with all mandatory fields | ZEP Compact and ZEP Professional |
ZEP Clock App | Clock-in/out by tap on the smartphone or on a tablet as a clock-in/out terminal | ZEP Clock |
Configuration of the apps including activation code and PIN code happens in the personal profile under Profile → Interfaces → Mobile Apps.
Browser extension for Chrome
The ZEP browser extension for Chrome allows quick bookings without opening the ZEP tab.
Install the extension from the Chrome Web Store.
Connect it with the ZEP account.
Start or stop a running booking directly from the browser header.
Project time import via Excel
Batch entries from external sources can be loaded from an Excel file into ZEP.
Download the Excel template from the import area.
Per row enter date, from and to time or duration, project, task, activity and note.
Upload the file — ZEP checks every row for bookable status and restrictions.
Erroneous rows are marked with a reason and must be corrected before the import is completed.
Editing and lock reasons
Bookings can be edited, copied or deleted as long as no locking rule applies. The following sections describe who may edit what and which lock reasons protect a booking.
Use case: An employee notices in the new month that a booking in the previous month was recorded incorrectly. She opens the agenda view, jumps to the previous month, clicks on the booking. Instead of the edit switch she sees a greyed-out switch with the note „Locked by month-end close". She contacts the administration.
Editing rights by role
Role | Own bookings | Foreign bookings | Lockings |
Employees | Edit, copy, delete | Not visible | All lock reasons apply; the recording period is checked |
Department managers | Like own | Edit within responsibility area | Lock reasons apply but can be unlocked according to module configuration |
Controlling and administration | Like own | Full editing | Lock reasons visible as notice; override via administration actions possible |
Lock reasons at a glance
Seven lock reasons can protect a booking. ZEP checks them in this order and shows the first applicable reason as a notice on the greyed-out edit switch:
Lock reason | Trigger | Meaning for the employee |
Month-end close | Month is closed for all employees | No change possible; correction only via administration after unlocking |
Employee lock | The administration has locked the employee for the period | Typical case after termination or when preparing the month-end close |
Cost statement checked | The associated credit note is released | Change would alter accounting to external employees retroactively |
Invoice | The booking has flowed into a customer invoice | Change would manipulate an already issued invoice |
Internal billing | The booking has flowed into an internal billing | Billing between cost centers is already completed |
Already released | The employee or the supervisor has explicitly released the booking | Release must be withdrawn before change is possible |
Recording period exceeded | The date lies outside the allowed recording window | The deadline for subsequent recording has expired |
Correct a locked booking
Identify the concrete lock reason at the note of the greyed-out switch.
For month-end close, contact the administration; it can selectively unlock the month or correct the booking directly.
For invoice lock, the invoice has to be cancelled (by the invoice-responsible person), the booking corrected, the invoice re-issued.
For release lock, withdraw the release yourself (if released as own booking) or ask the supervisor.
Employee approval of times
The employee approval declares a period as finally recorded. After the approval the bookings are no longer editable by the employee up to the approval date; the administration and supervisors can continue editing depending on configuration. The function is available when the administration has activated employee approval in the employee settings.
Use case: At the end of the month an employee wants to confirm that all bookings of the month are correct. He clicks on the lock symbol at the top right, enters the end-of-month date and saves. ZEP signals to all further workflow steps (accounting, invoicing) that this period is confirmed by the employee.
Submit times for release
Click on the lock symbol at the top right of the toolbar.
In the Change release date dialog enter the end date until which the times shall be released.
Confirm with Save.
The lock symbol then shows the current approval date. Bookings up to this date are no longer editable by the employee.
Effects of the approval
Locking of own editing: the released bookings appear with the lock reason „Already released" and can no longer be edited or deleted.
Withdrawal of the approval: in case of correction the employee withdraws the approval for a period, edits the bookings and releases them again.
Report for supervisors: supervisors see the current approval date per employee and recognize which periods are released for further processing.
Note: The configuration of the employee approval (mandatory approval per month, reminder e-mails, follow-up effects for invoicing) lies in the administration. An overview will follow in a dedicated administration collection in the help center.