Exclusive interview with Robert Reiz: The man behind ZEIT.IO

Prepare for an exciting interview with Robert Reiz, the innovative founder and managing director of ZEIT.IO, a brand of REIZ Solutions GmbH. Discover how a visionary from Ardud, Romania, is turning the world of time tracking and project billing upside down and why his latest project is the perfect solution for recruiters and freelancers.

Robert Reiz' journey began in 1981 in Romania, followed by a dramatic escape to Germany in 1988. From graduating as an information and communication technology assistant to earning a degree in computer science from FH Mannheim – Robert never stopped pursuing his dreams. After various roles as a software developer and the successful founding and sale of his first company, PLOIN GmbH, his path led him to San Francisco. There, he took over as Managing Director at WildGigs before returning to Germany to found VersionEye GmbH.

Yet the highlight of his career is undoubtedly ZEIT.IO. Launched in 2020, ZEIT.IO offers a groundbreaking solution for recruitment agencies and consulting firms working with freelancers and suppliers. In our interview, Robert reveals how ZEIT.IO helps companies automate time tracking and billing, streamline the approval process, and strengthen customer loyalty at the same time. With integrations to SAP, DATEV, JIRA, GitHub, and more, ZEIT.IO ensures that managing your projects runs as efficiently as possible.

Imagine: no more tedious management of project times, no overbooked budgets, and no chaos in billing. ZEIT.IO transforms the most complicated processes into seamless, automated routines that save both time and nerves.

Dive into the world of Robert Reiz, discover the challenges and triumphs that inspired him to develop ZEIT.IO, and learn about his exciting plans for the future. This interview is a must for anyone working in the world of recruitment and freelancer management. Get inspired and find out how ZEIT.IO can revolutionize your workflow too.

Silicon Valley Europe: Mr. Reiz, your journey began in Romania and took you through several stages in the technology industry. What were the key moments in your career that inspired you to found ZEIT.IO?

Robert Reiz: When I started my first company, PLOIN GmbH, time tracking for projects was already an issue. I had a handful of permanent employees and freelancers working for me, all of whom had to track their time across various projects. At first, we used Excel. The billing and controlling at the end of the month was a nightmare!

Back then, I already started building my own time tracking solution tailored to my company’s needs. During the 2008 financial crisis, my company struggled, but I was lucky in misfortune—I could sell it to REUTAX AG thanks to the time tracking solution. REUTAX was also looking for a time tracking system for their freelancers and chose my solution. During my time at REUTAX and WildGigs, I gained a completely different perspective on the topic and had to handle it from the viewpoint of a large staffing agency. A few years later, REUTAX went insolvent, and my solution was scrapped entirely.

I then spent about 10 years focusing on other topics. During a hike in 2020 with two managing directors of a freelancer agency, the issue of project time tracking and billing came up again. And, long story short, that was the start of ZEIT.IO! A few months later, those two hiking companions became my customers.

Silicon Valley Europe: ZEIT.IO was founded in 2020 and aims to revolutionize time tracking and billing for freelancers and staffing agencies. What are the main problems or challenges that you’ve solved with ZEIT.IO?

Robert Reiz: What takes up most of the accounting time at a recruitment agency is the verification of proof of performance and incoming invoices! At the beginning of the month, several hundred proof of performance documents and incoming invoices from consultants (freelancers) arrive. This flood of documents is usually checked manually, and only then can outgoing invoices be created for customers. We can completely eliminate this verification effort at the beginning of the month with ZEIT.IO!

With ZEIT.IO, the verification of proof of performance is outsourced to the customer, and incoming invoices are replaced by automated credit notes! When the customer approves a proof of performance, we generate a credit note for the freelancer and an outgoing invoice for the agency. Two minutes after approval, the customer also receives the invoice, and the freelancer gets their credit note! This not only eliminates manual verification at the agency but also manual invoice creation. This naturally also leads to savings in personnel costs!

Silicon Valley Europe: How do the needs and requirements of recruitment agencies and freelancers in time tracking and billing differ from those of traditional companies?

Robert Reiz: Companies that do not need to bill time do not really need time tracking at all. Unless perhaps to meet the requirements of statutory working time recording.

Companies that bill project time AND work with freelancers have entirely different requirements. For example, they need to map multiple cost and billing rates per project and user to calculate the contribution margin correctly. The classic example is when a customer pays two different hourly rates for a consultant on a project—one for remote work and one for on-site assignments. Accordingly, the agency has also agreed on two cost rates with the freelancer. That makes four hourly rates per project and user. Most time tracking systems can’t handle that. ZEIT.IO is where it really starts. We can map multiple cost and billing rates and we can also handle daily rates and fixed-price projects.