The Project Overview is your central entry point into project management. Here you see all projects at a glance, restrict the list via filters, configure the displayed columns, start mass operations, and export the data. You open the overview via Projects in the main menu.
Note: The Project Overview is available in ZEP Compact and ZEP Professional. It is not included in ZEP Clock. Which columns and filters are visible depends on the product line and the licensed modules.
Filters and search
The list shows by default all projects that are running at the current date. Via the filter bar above the table, you restrict the selection:
Project status: show projects of one or several statuses (for example Active or Closed).
Customer: filter projects of a specific customer.
Department: show projects of one or several departments (with the add-on module Locations & departments).
Duration: a key date or a period in which the project was active — default is the current date.
Full-text search: input field at the top right, searches project number, description, customer name, and activities.
Categories: filter on projects of one or several categories (when project categories are defined in the administration). When multiple categories are selected, you can additionally choose whether matches must satisfy all selected categories simultaneously (AND) or at least one of them (OR).
Tags: filter by stored project tags. Multiple tags are combined either via AND or OR. Via the option none, you additionally find projects without any stored tag.
Project lead: filter on projects of a specific project lead.
Currency: restricts the list to projects of a specific currency. With the additional option Convert planned costs into base currency, the planned costs of these projects also appear in your base currency as an additional column.
Frequently needed filter combinations are saved via the star icon as Favourites and retrieved with one click.
Tip: To display closed projects, set the filter Project status to a closure status or the duration to a period in the past. The list otherwise hides closed projects because they are no longer active at the current date.
Table configuration
The project list can be customised per user — which columns are visible, in which order they appear, and how they are sorted. Via the gear icon at the top right, you open the column configuration.
In the configuration dialog, the following options are available:
Show and hide columns: via checkbox you define which columns are visible. The column Description remains as a mandatory column always visible so that every row stays uniquely assignable.
Change order: via drag & drop, you move columns to the desired position. This way, you bring project number, customer, or project status to the front when you need them daily.
Sorting: a click on the column header switches between ascending and descending. With the Shift key held, you sort across several columns simultaneously (for example first by customer, then by project number). Digits and most special characters are sorted before the letter A; German umlauts (ä, ö, ü) appear only after the Z.
Column width: drag the separator between two column headers with the mouse to adjust the width — useful for long project descriptions.
Persistence: column choice, order, width, and sorting are saved per user and are automatically available again at the next login.
Tip: For the portfolio view — Show the columns Planned hours, Actual hours, and Billable actual hours to grasp the state of all projects at a glance. Useful for project leads and managers in day-to-day operations to spot over-bookings or unbilled hours early.
Tip: For the commercial view — Via the columns Billing type and Project type (internal or external), projects can be clustered quickly by their billing logic. Useful for separating internal effort from customer-related flat-rate or effort projects in a single list, without switching filters.
Which columns are available at all depends on the product line and the licensed modules. Columns such as Planned hours, Price group, or Revenue account only appear when the corresponding modules are active. With the add-on module Locations & departments, the department columns are added.
Actions in the project list
From the table, you directly start individual actions per project, complementing the mass operations further below. The following options are available row by row:
Open project: a click on the project number or the description opens the project data. There, you maintain master data, work items, and assigned employees of the project.
Open customer: a click on the customer number switches directly to the assigned customer. Useful for quick contact or for maintaining customer master data.
Set next status: via the arrow icon in the row, you move a single project directly to the next status in the defined workflow, without taking the detour via the project data.
Copy project: via the copy icon, you create a complete duplicate of a template project, including planned values, work items, employee assignments, and price tables. Optionally, you also take over time ranges and tickets. The copy always starts with the first status of the sequence and inherits the abbreviation of the template with the suffix Copy. A full list of the copied content and practical tips for template projects are provided in the article Creating, editing and deleting projects.
In the column Billing type, an abbreviation appears per project that reflects the stored billing logic:
T — by effort at daily rate
S — by effort at hourly rate
P — flat-rate project
i — internal project (without customer assignment)
* — project contains both effort-based and flat-rate work items
Mass operations
Via the checkboxes on the left of the table, you select several projects simultaneously. As soon as at least one project is marked, you open the mass operation via the actions menu at the top. Which actions are visible depends on your role and the licensed modules.
Standard scope in ZEP Compact and ZEP Professional:
Switch to a different status — Move several projects to a new project status (within the workflow permissions).
Set project end — Store a project end date for several projects at the same time. Useful for mass deactivation at quarter or year end.
Completely and irrevocably delete — Final deletion of several projects. By default only possible when the project is older than the minimum number of years stored under Administration > Projects > Settings.
With defined project categories:
Add categories — Assign several projects to one or several categories. Optionally, the already assigned categories can be removed when adding.
Remove categories — Remove category assignments from several projects in one step.
With the add-on module Locations & departments:
Change project department — Assign several projects to a new department. Useful for reorganisations or when handing over a project portfolio to another department.
Before execution, ZEP shows the number of affected projects and a preview of the changes. Only after confirmation, the mass operation is started.
Export
From the Project Overview, you export the current selection in two ways. Both consider the active filters and the currently visible columns.
Table export
Directly at the project list, you find an export icon at the table. A click opens the format menu with the options CSV and Excel. Useful for the handover to Excel, Google Sheets, or for further processing in accounting.
Export via the preview
Next to the Execute button above the table, you find the Preview. It opens the current project list with all visible columns directly in ZEP. Via the format selection field in the preview, you switch to the desired output format and download the document locally afterwards.
The following output formats are available:
PDF — for printing and dispatch
DOCX (Microsoft Word) — for further processing
ODT (OpenDocument) — for LibreOffice, Pages, or other office programs
Tip: If you want to export closed projects, first set the duration filter to Unrestricted and remove any status filters. Both export paths then take over exactly this selection.
For deeper reports, such as project lists across several periods or with comparison periods, use the Project reports in the reports area.