ZEP

What ZEP does

ZEP GmbH is a German cloud-based SaaS provider headquartered in Ditzingen (near Stuttgart), founded in 2000, specializing in time tracking, project management, and Professional Services Automation (PSA) for professional services firms. The platform is modular, sold in three tiers — ZEP Clock (€2/user/month for legally compliant working time tracking), ZEP Compact (€7/user/month adding project and customer-specific time tracking), and ZEP Professional (€18/user/month providing full PSA including invoicing, resource planning, and travel expense management) — with 10 optional add-on modules for proposals, document management, ticketing, and revenue/cost analysis.

The underlying technology stack is a modular SaaS architecture supporting both SOAP and REST APIs, with a developer hub at developer.zep.de and extensive native integrations into core German business systems: DATEV for accounting and payroll, Personio for HR, Lexware for SMB accounting, and HubSpot for CRM. Server infrastructure and development are hosted in Germany, ISO 27001 certified, and GDPR compliant, with specific design for compliance with the German Arbeitszeitgesetz (Working Time Act). The company serves over 3,000 customers across IT services, consulting, agencies, legal/tax advisory, and architecture/engineering verticals, with named enterprise references including Mercedes-Benz, LVMH, DB Cargo, and Fraunhofer.

Commercially, ZEP employs a hybrid go-to-market combining product-led growth (14-day free trial across all tiers, low-friction self-service onboarding) with sales-assisted enterprise conversion. Revenue is generated through per-seat recurring subscriptions, add-on module subscriptions, and minor hardware sales (ZEP Terminal). Distribution leverages integration partnerships with DATEV, Personio, Lexware, and HubSpot as indirect channels into their established German DACH customer bases. The company operates with 11–50 employees as a privately held GmbH with no disclosed external funding, founder/independently operated, and is recognized on the OMR Top 100 DACH 2025 list.

Name

ZEP

Legal name

ZEP GmbH

Website

https://zep.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ZEP GmbH is a Ditzingen-based SaaS provider offering modular time tracking, project management, and Professional Services Automation for German-speaking professional services firms, with native DATEV, Personio, HubSpot, and Lexware integrations and 3,000+ customers including Mercedes-Benz, LVMH, and DB Cargo.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Services Automation / Time Tracking Software

NAICS

Other Computer Related Services (541519)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Core ERP Suites (Financials, Procurement, Projects) (HDAEAEAA)

Keywords

• Time tracking software
• Project management software
• Professional services automation
• Workforce management platform
• Project time tracking

Headquarters

HQ city

Ditzingen

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. Subscription SaaS (Per-User): Tiered per-user subscription model with three product tiers: ZEP Clock (2€/user), ZEP Compact (7€/user), and ZEP Professional (18€/user). Monthly or annual billing. Revenue scales with customer headcount and tier upgrade (land-and-expand motion).
2. Add-on Modules: Optional modular extensions available for ZEP Clock (3 add-on modules) and ZEP Compact/Professional (8 add-on modules). Modules include Document Management, Project Planning, Invoicing, Travel Expense Management, Resource Planning, Ticketing System, and more.
3. Terminal Hardware Sales: Physical time clock terminals available as optional hardware accessory for workplace time recording.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

ZEP provides a modular cloud-based SaaS platform for working time tracking, project time tracking, and Professional Services Automation targeted at German-speaking professional services firms. The product suite includes three tiers (ZEP Clock, ZEP Compact, ZEP Professional) priced per user per month, along with optional add-on modules covering invoicing, travel expenses, resource planning, and document management. The platform integrates natively with DATEV, Personio, Lexware, and HubSpot, and is hosted on German servers with ISO 27001 certification and GDPR compliance.

Product overview

ZEP is a modular platform for time tracking and project management, offered in three product tiers: ZEP Clock (starting at 2€ per user) for working time recording, ZEP Compact (starting at 7€ per user) adding project and customer-specific time tracking with project management, and ZEP Professional (starting at 18€ per user) providing full Professional Services Automation including controlling and travel expenses. The platform includes 10 integrated modules covering absences and overtime, proposals, document management, project planning, invoicing, travel expense management, resource planning, locations and departments, ticketing, and revenue and cost tracking. ZEP Clock can be extended with 3 add-on modules, while Compact and Professional support 8 additional modules. All products offer mobile apps, browser access, automated workflows, and integrations with accounting systems like DATEV and Lexware, HR systems like Personio, and CRM platforms like HubSpot.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ZEP Clock: Digital time clock for seamless tracking of working time
• ZEP Compact
• ZEP Professional

Products and services

• ZEP Clock Digital time clock solution for seamless and legally compliant working time tracking for German businesses, including automated workflows, mobile app and browser access, unlimited reporting, and GDPR compliance. Priced from €2 per user per month with optional 3 add-on modules, interfaces, and terminals available.
• ZEP Compact Project and customer-specific time tracking product with project management and controlling capabilities, including project master data, customer master data, and task management. Builds on ZEP Clock by adding project time tracking and project controlling. Priced from €7 per user per month with optional 8 add-on modules, interfaces, and terminals available.
• ZEP Professional Full Professional Services Automation platform that combines all ZEP Clock and Compact features with project planning, receipt capture, hourly and daily rates, travel expense management, and revenue & cost calculation. Priced from €18 per user per month with optional 8 add-on modules, interfaces, and terminals available.
• ZEP Terminal Physical time clock terminal hardware for on-site employee check-in and time recording, available as an optional hardware accessory that integrates with the ZEP software platform.

Quantifiable outcome

• Replace multiple previous tools with a single unified platform
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

AI capability1 record

Feature12 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• DATEVcoreTechnology or IntegrationDATEV integration allows ZEP to export invoices, receipts, and working hours to DATEV accounting and payroll systems in DATEV XML format. ZEP syncs employee master data and absences with DATEV Lohn & Gehalt and DATEV LODAS. This is a flagship integration for German market penetration given DATEV's dominance in German accounting.
• PersoniocoreTechnology or IntegrationBidirectional integration syncing employee master data, time entries, and absences between Personio HR system and ZEP time tracking. Customers can configure whether ZEP or Personio is the lead system for absence management.
• LexwaremajorTechnology or IntegrationLexware integration allows export of invoices, expense reports, creditors, and debtors from ZEP in Lexware-compatible CSV format for import into Lexware accounting software.
• HubSpotmajorTechnology or IntegrationHubSpot integration automatically synchronizes customer data, contacts, and deals into ZEP. Winning deals in configured phases are automatically created as billable ZEP projects.

Scale indicators3 records

Broad incumbents

• DATEV: Dominant German accounting, payroll, and tax advisory software cooperative. While a ZEP integration partner, DATEV's own workflow tools overlap with ZEP's invoicing and time export features and it controls distribution to a large German SMB base.
• Lexoffice: Cloud accounting software from Haufe/Lexware targeting German SMBs and freelancers. Comparable invoice and expense management functionality and serves overlapping buyer profiles with ZEP.
• Personio: Leading European HR and people operations platform with native time tracking, absence, and increasingly project/PRO features. Competitor and integration partner of ZEP; serves overlapping mid-market and enterprise customers in DACH.
• sevDesk: German cloud accounting platform with invoicing, expense management, and time tracking features for SMBs. Overlaps with ZEP's invoicing and travel-expense modules for small German service businesses.

Emerging players

• Kimai: Open-source time tracking and project management tool popular with developers and small consultancies, including DACH users. Comparable core feature set at the lower end of ZEP's market; self-hosted variant resonates with German data-sovereignty buyers.

Direct peers

• Clockodo: German cloud-based time tracking and project management SaaS targeting SMBs and professional services firms. Most direct DACH competitor to ZEP Clock and Compact, with overlapping pricing tiers and DATEV integration.
• Timetac: German/Austrian time tracking and absence management platform serving SMBs and mid-market. Comparable product scope (working time, projects, vacation) and DACH-focused go-to-market overlap directly with ZEP.
• Harvest: Time tracking and invoicing SaaS with strong adoption among agencies and consultancies worldwide. Directly comparable in project time tracking and client billing use cases overlapping with ZEP Compact and Professional.
• Toggl Track: Global time tracking and project management SaaS widely used by agencies, consultancies, and IT services firms. Closely comparable core offering (time entries, projects, billing) to ZEP Clock/Compact, though without ZEP's DACH regulatory depth.
• Timebutler: German time tracking, vacation management, and project time software for SMBs. Closely overlaps ZEP Clock and Compact functionality and targets similar German professional services buyers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubdeveloper.zep.de/de
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/provantis-it-solutions
• Xx.com/provantis
• Facebookfacebook.com/zeiterfassung.fuer.projekte

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ZEP