Nobody types receipts into ZEP any more. As soon as you attach an invoice or a till receipt, the AI receipt analysis reads the data and fills in the form. You check the result and save. This applies in ZEP just as it does in the mobile apps.

Availability

Receipt analysis is part of receipt entry and is included wherever you can record receipts. There is no separate add-on module for it.

Product line	Receipt analysis
ZEP Track	Not available, as it has no receipt entry
ZEP Clock	With the bookable Travel Expense Management area
ZEP Control	Included
ZEP Operations	Included
ZEP Business	Included

Note: In ZEP, the administration can switch receipt analysis off. It is switched on by default.

Uploading receipts in ZEP

There is no start button. The analysis begins the moment you select the file.

Open Receipts and create a receipt.
Select your file in the File / XRechnung field.
ZEP shows Analyzing file and then fills in the detected fields.
Check the values and save the receipt.

Besides the form, two further routes use the same analysis: receipts that arrive through the receipt inbox, and receipts you hand to the ZEP Assistant in the chat. How to record receipts in general is described in Receipt entry.

Capturing receipts with the app

The ZEP App and the ZEP Clock App also come with receipt analysis. The receipt wizard offers three routes: Take with camera, Select from gallery and Upload document. All three trigger the analysis, and in all three cases you check the result in the wizard afterwards.

Tip: Photograph the receipt as straight, well lit and full-frame as possible. Angled shots and hard shadows cost recognition quality.

Note: In the apps, each person controls receipt analysis for themselves, rather than the administration doing it for everyone. The setting is called Use AI for receipt capture in the ZEP App and AI Receipt Analysis in the ZEP Clock App. The analysis needs an internet connection. Without one you can still record the receipt, just manually.

Detected details

ZEP reads the following details from the receipt:

Receipt date
Receipt type and payment type, each from your own lists
Currency
Amounts per item, plus VAT rate and quantity
whether the amounts are gross or net
a short note on the content, often including the invoice number

Because ZEP passes along your own receipt types and payment types, the analysis assigns the receipt to one of your categories instead of inventing free text. Receipt analysis in ZEP does not detect a supplier. In the apps, the detected merchant name is appended to the note.

Note: ZEP reads electronic invoices in ZUGFeRD or XRechnung format directly from the embedded file. That needs no AI, and the result is exact rather than estimated. It also works when receipt analysis is switched off.

Checking and correcting suggestions

The analysis suggests, it does not save. Nothing is created before you click Save.

Only fields you have not already filled in yourself are completed. ZEP never overwrites your own entries.
Every field filled this way carries the AI suggestion marking.
As soon as you touch a field, the marking disappears. The value then counts as your entry.
Use Reset AI suggestions to discard all untouched suggestions at once.

If the sum of the items does not match the printed total, ZEP reports Warning, please review - AI detection likely incorrect. It is then worth taking a close look at the amounts.

Example: For a hospitality receipt, ZEP groups the items by VAT rate instead of taking over every line of the menu separately. Tips and the amount tendered are left out.

File formats and limits

	What applies
Formats for upload	PDF, JPG, JPEG, PNG and XML
Formats for the analysis	PDF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, WebP and GIF
XML	Goes to the ZUGFeRD evaluation, not to the AI
Size of a receipt file	Up to 52.5 MB
Size for the analysis	Up to 10 MB
In the ZEP Assistant chat	Up to 10 MB, as PDF, PNG, JPEG or WebP

A file between 10 and 52.5 MB is uploaded and stored but not analyzed. ZEP points this out and asks for manual entry.

Switching on and off

Administrators find the setting for ZEP under Administration > ZEP AI Features > Receipt Analysis. The checkbox is called Use AI receipt analysis when uploading receipts.

When it is off, receipt entry remains fully usable, just without automatic pre-filling. ZEP still recognizes electronic invoices. The ZEP Assistant then no longer creates receipts from files either and says so in the chat.

Note: This setting applies in ZEP and covers everyone. In the ZEP App and the ZEP Clock App, by contrast, each person decides for themselves through a separate setting in the app.

Receipt analysis is independent of the ZEP Assistant. Each has its own setting, and either can be used without the other.

What happens to the uploaded file

A receipt contains business data. The following sections explain who processes it, what is stored, and where ZEP and the mobile apps differ.

Storage of the files

When you upload in the receipt form, the file is accepted for evaluation only and is not stored anywhere in between. What is stored is the receipt you create, in the usual receipt filing. Files you hand to the ZEP Assistant in the chat are deleted after 72 hours.

Receipt analysis in the apps

In the apps, each person decides for themselves whether receipt analysis should run. You find the setting in the settings of the respective app. It applies only to your own account on that device, not to the whole company. If you switch it off, you still record receipts but enter the data yourself.

Help with problems

Observation	Cause and solution
Nothing happens after attaching	Receipt analysis is switched off in the administration, or the file is larger than 10 MB. Enter the data manually.
File format not supported	Upload the receipt as PDF, JPG, PNG or WebP.
AI analysis returned no results	The receipt was not legible. A new shot with better light, or a scan instead of a photo, often helps.
File could not be analyzed	A technical error. Try again, and otherwise enter the data manually.
Fields are filled in incorrectly	Simply overwrite them, or discard everything via Reset AI suggestions.
In the app: AI analysis failed	Usually the internet connection is missing. The wizard takes you on to manual entry, and the receipt is not lost.

You record travel expense receipts via Recording travel times and travel expenses. What the Revenue and Costs area can do overall is described in Feature overview – Revenue & Costs.

More AI features

This collection describes further AI features: ZEP Assistant answers questions about your data and records times in a dialogue.