> ## 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.
# Findings and recommendations
> Working through what your compliance health check found — reading findings, disputing them, and acting on recommendations.
A [compliance health check](/start/compliance-health-check) produces **findings** — the specific
issues discovered at each regulator — and **recommendations** — what Bumara suggests you do about
each one. This page is about working through them.
## Reading your findings
Each finding is one issue, at one regulator, for one period.
| Column | What it tells you |
| --------------- | ------------------------------------------------ |
| **Severity** | Critical, Warning or Info |
| **Description** | What was found, in plain language |
| **Regulator** | Which body it concerns |
| **Period** | The tax or levy period covered |
| **Principal** | The original amount owed |
| **Penalties** | What has been added as a penalty |
| **Interest** | What has accrued since |
| **Status** | Confirmed, or Disputed if you have challenged it |
### Severity
| Severity | Means | Priority |
| ------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------- |
| **Critical** | Serious exposure — enforcement, suspension, strike-off, or a large liability | Deal with this week |
| **Warning** | Real but contained — arrears, a late return, an expired certificate | Deal with this month |
| **Info** | Worth knowing, not urgent | Note it |
### Accruing findings
A finding marked **accruing** has penalties or interest still growing. Two findings of the same
size are not equally urgent if one is accruing and the other is fixed.
Deal with accruing findings first, whatever their severity.
## What kinds of issue are found
Unpaid income tax, VAT, withholding tax, turnover tax or PAYE. Property transfer tax. Accrued
interest on tax debt. Penalties levied. Tax clearance certificate expired or never issued.
Unfiled returns. Flags for audit or enforcement action.
Contribution arrears. Penalties assessed. Employees who should be registered but are not.
Employer registration lapsed.
Annual returns filed late or not at all. Strike-off notice received. Restoration required.
Director changes, share transfers or address changes never filed. Outstanding penalties.
Missing compliance certificates.
Contribution arrears. Penalties assessed. Employer registration inactive.
Premium arrears. Outstanding levy assessments. Registration inactive.
Trading licence expired. Business levy arrears. Fire safety certificate expired. Council
penalties outstanding.
## Disputing a finding
Only findings marked **Confirmed** can be disputed. A finding already under dispute cannot be
disputed again.
"Paid 14 March 2026, bank reference 4471, receipt attached" carries weight. "This is wrong"
does not.
Receipt, bank statement, regulator acknowledgement — whatever supports your position.
The finding is marked **Disputed** and the Dispute button is disabled while it is reviewed
against the regulator's records.
| Outcome | What happens |
| -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Dispute accepted** | The finding is dismissed. It leaves your totals, your score improves, and any recommendation attached to it is cancelled |
| **Dispute rejected** | The finding returns to Confirmed. You are told why, through a message on your account |
## Recommendations
Every confirmed finding produces a recommendation. Related findings at the same regulator are
bundled into one — you get a single "regularise your PACRA position" rather than one
recommendation for the late return and another for the penalty it caused.
### What each type means
| Type | What Bumara will do if you proceed |
| ---------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Service request** | Raise a one-off job with the regulator, such as a restoration |
| **New obligation** | Set up a recurring filing you should have been making |
| **Backfill filings** | Create filings for the periods you missed, so you can catch up |
| **Payment required** | Start a payment for the outstanding amount |
| **Information needed** | Ask you for a document or detail before advising further |
| **Escalated** | Hold for senior review — used for audit flags and enforcement matters |
| **Accepted risk** | Record that you know about it and have chosen not to act |
| **Not remediable** | Nothing can be done — usually a historical period that has closed |
### What a recommendation shows
* The type and the regulator
* What Bumara suggests, in plain language
* The original finding it came from, for context
* Estimated days to resolve
* Estimated cost, where one applies
* A link to the relevant service, where one exists
## Acting on a recommendation
Every recommendation shows the original finding text. Understand the problem before choosing
the fix.
Estimated cost and estimated days are shown where known.
Described below.
| Choice | Effect |
| ----------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Proceed** | Bumara starts the work. A service request, obligation, backfill or payment is created and appears in your account |
| **Defer** | Not now. You can add a reason. It stays in your list, marked deferred |
| **Dismiss** | Removed from your view. Use this when you have dealt with it another way |
### Awaiting review
Some recommendations show **Awaiting review** rather than Proceed and Defer. These are serious
enough — critical findings, audit flags, enforcement matters — that a Bumara manager reviews them
before you can act. You will be notified when they are released.
### In progress
Once Bumara has started work on a recommendation you accepted, it shows **In progress**. The
service request or obligation it created appears in your normal compliance lists and is worked
exactly like anything else.
## Priority order
If you have many findings, work them in this order:
1. **Critical and accruing** — the exposure is growing and the consequences are severe
2. **Critical** — strike-off notices, suspensions, enforcement
3. **Warning and accruing** — penalties still building
4. **Warning** — arrears and late returns
5. **Info** — note and move on
Strike-off notices and account suspensions are time-limited. A company struck off the register
costs considerably more to restore than to keep. Deal with these first regardless of the amount
involved.
## After you have cleared them
Once you have worked through your findings, you can run a fresh health check. This creates a new
assessment and marks the old one as superseded — but every past assessment is kept, so you can
show a regulator, a bank or an investor how your compliance position has improved over time.
Related: [Compliance health check](/start/compliance-health-check) for how the assessment is
carried out and how the health score is calculated.