> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.bumara.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Document vault

> Every certificate, receipt and acknowledgement in one place, attached to the record it belongs to.

The vault holds everything: what you upload, what Bumara generates, and what regulators send back.
Every document sits against the record it belongs to, so an audit is a matter of opening a page
rather than searching four inboxes.

## What is in it

| Source                       | Examples                                                              |
| ---------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **You upload**               | Payroll summaries, bank statements, board resolutions, identification |
| **Bumara generates**         | Invoice PDFs, payslips, statutory return files, payment receipts      |
| **Regulators return**        | Certificates, acknowledgements, tax clearance certificates            |
| **The compliance team adds** | Submission acknowledgements, evidence supporting findings             |

## Document kinds

| Kind            | What it is                                                                   |
| --------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Source**      | Something your business produced or received, used as the basis for a filing |
| **Workpaper**   | Working documents supporting a calculation                                   |
| **Submission**  | What was actually sent to the regulator                                      |
| **Receipt**     | Proof of payment                                                             |
| **Certificate** | Something issued to you by a regulator                                       |

## Finding a document

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the vault">
    From Settings, or from a regulator workspace to see only that regulator's documents.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Filter">
    | Filter            | Finds                                           |
    | ----------------- | ----------------------------------------------- |
    | **Regulator**     | Everything filed with or received from one body |
    | **Kind**          | All certificates, or all receipts               |
    | **Linked record** | Everything attached to one filing or request    |
    | **Date range**    | Everything from a period                        |
  </Step>

  <Step title="Search by name">
    Which is why filenames matter — see below.
  </Step>
</Steps>

You can also reach a document from the record it belongs to. Open a filing and its documents panel
shows everything attached to it.

## Naming that survives an audit

| Instead of     | Use                                               |
| -------------- | ------------------------------------------------- |
| `scan001.pdf`  | `PAYE-summary-2026-03.pdf`                        |
| `IMG_4471.jpg` | `NAPSA-receipt-2026-03.jpg`                       |
| `document.pdf` | `Board-resolution-director-change-2026-02-14.pdf` |
| `cert.pdf`     | `PACRA-certificate-of-incorporation.pdf`          |

Include what it is, which regulator or record it relates to, and the period or date.

## Uploading

<Steps>
  <Step title="Go to the record it belongs to">
    A filing, a service request, an employee, an invoice.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Upload against the specific requirement">
    Where one exists. This is what links the document to the right task and makes it count towards
    readiness.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose the kind">
    For supporting documents that do not satisfy a named requirement.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Name it properly">
    Before uploading, not after.
  </Step>
</Steps>

Uploading against a named requirement usually completes its matching task automatically. See
[Documents and evidence](/compliance/documents-and-evidence).

## Locked documents

Once a filing is submitted, its documents are locked. They cannot be replaced or deleted.

This is the point of the vault. Evidence that could be swapped after submission would be worth
nothing. If a locked document is wrong, raise it through the messages panel on that filing — the
correction is recorded as a new event with its own document.

## Storage

| Plan       | Included storage |
| ---------- | ---------------- |
| Start      | 500 MB           |
| Plus       | 1 GB             |
| Pro        | 5 GB             |
| Enterprise | As agreed        |

Extra storage is available as an add-on. See [Plan and billing](/account/plan-and-billing).

### Keeping within it

* **Upload PDFs rather than photographs** where you have a choice. Much smaller, and more legible.
* **Compress large scans** before uploading.
* **One document per requirement.** Do not combine a year of statements into one file.
* **Do not upload the same thing twice.** Attach the existing document to the second record instead.

## Who can see what

Access follows role. Someone who cannot see payroll cannot see payroll documents. Someone limited
to their own department sees only their department's.

See [Team and roles](/account/team-and-roles).

## Exporting

You can export documents individually, or in bulk filtered by regulator, period or kind.

Do this:

* Before an audit, so your auditor has everything in one place
* At year end, for your accountant
* Before closing your Bumara account
* Periodically, as your own backup

## Retention

Zambian regulators expect records to be kept for several years. Bumara retains your documents for
as long as your account is active.

<Warning>
  Keep your own copy of anything critical — certificates of incorporation, tax clearance
  certificates, submission acknowledgements. Relying on any single system as your only copy of an
  irreplaceable document is a risk worth avoiding, whichever system it is.
</Warning>

## A monthly habit

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the vault filtered to last month">
    Look at what accumulated.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Check every filing has its evidence">
    Any filing missing a required document will show it in its documents panel.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Check receipts are attached to payments">
    Payments without receipts are difficult to evidence later.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Rename anything badly named">
    While you still remember what it is.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Note>
  Related: [Documents and evidence](/compliance/documents-and-evidence).
</Note>