> ## 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.

# Messages and timeline

> How the Bumara team asks you for things, how to reply, and how to read the history of any record.

Two features keep you and the Bumara compliance team in step: **messages** (tickets raised
against a specific filing or request) and the **timeline** (an unalterable record of everything
that has happened to it).

## Messages

When the Bumara team needs something from you, they raise a message against the specific filing or
service request it concerns — not a general email you have to work out the context of.

### Kinds of message

| Kind                 | Means                                                   |
| -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Document request** | A document is missing or the one provided is not usable |
| **Payment request**  | A fee needs settling before work can continue           |
| **Clarification**    | Something you entered needs explaining or confirming    |
| **Correction**       | The regulator rejected something and it must be fixed   |
| **Limit reached**    | You have hit a plan limit that is blocking the work     |

### Priority

| Priority     | What it means for you                                       |
| ------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Low**      | No hurry                                                    |
| **Normal**   | Deal with it in the next day or two                         |
| **High**     | Deal with it today                                          |
| **Urgent**   | Blocking a submission with an approaching deadline          |
| **Critical** | Immediate risk — a deadline today, or an enforcement matter |

### Replying

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the message">
    From your notifications, or from the Messages panel on the filing or request it belongs to.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Read what is actually being asked">
    The subject is short; the description has the detail. Requests are usually specific — "the
    March statement, not February".
  </Step>

  <Step title="Reply, and attach what was asked for">
    Write your reply in the thread and upload any document to the request's documents panel.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Watch the status">
    The message moves from **Waiting on you** to **Waiting on Bumara**. When it is dealt with it
    is marked resolved and then closed.
  </Step>
</Steps>

### Message statuses

| Status                | Meaning                                    |
| --------------------- | ------------------------------------------ |
| **Open**              | Raised, not yet picked up                  |
| **Waiting on you**    | The team needs your reply or document      |
| **Waiting on Bumara** | You have replied; it is back with the team |
| **Escalated**         | Moved to someone more senior               |
| **Resolved**          | Dealt with                                 |
| **Closed**            | Finished and archived                      |

<Warning>
  A message showing **Waiting on you** stops the work. This is the most common reason a submission
  sits still for a week. Check your notifications daily.
</Warning>

### About replies

Replies cannot be edited once posted. Write carefully — the thread is part of the permanent record
of that filing, and it may be read by a regulator or an auditor later.

Some notes in a thread are internal to the Bumara team and are never shown to you. If a thread
appears to jump, that is why.

## The timeline

Every filing and service request has a timeline: an ordered record of everything that has happened
to it, with who did it and when.

### What appears

| Event               | Recorded when                                  |
| ------------------- | ---------------------------------------------- |
| **Status change**   | Anything moves from one status to another      |
| **Submission**      | A filing or request is lodged with a regulator |
| **Payment**         | A fee is paid or verified                      |
| **Document upload** | A file is attached                             |
| **Comment**         | Someone leaves a note                          |
| **Assignment**      | A task or message is assigned to someone       |
| **Bulk operation**  | A batch update is applied                      |

Each entry records who acted — you, a colleague by name, a Bumara team member, or the system.

### Reading a timeline

Timelines answer the questions that come up under pressure:

| Question                     | Where in the timeline                      |
| ---------------------------- | ------------------------------------------ |
| Was this actually submitted? | The submission event, with its date        |
| Who approved these figures?  | The review task completion, with the name  |
| When did we pay?             | The payment event                          |
| Why is this taking so long?  | The gap — usually a message waiting on you |
| Who changed this?            | The status change, with the name           |

### Timeline entries cannot be edited

Nothing in a timeline can be altered or removed, by you or by Bumara. That is what makes it worth
anything as evidence. If something was done wrongly, the correction appears as a further entry —
the original stays visible.

## Comments on tasks

Separately from messages, you can comment on individual tasks. These are visible to your
colleagues but not part of the ticket thread with the Bumara team.

Use them for internal context: "waiting on the bank statement from Mutinta", "figures confirmed
against the March payroll". Like replies, comments cannot be edited once posted.

## Getting help outside a specific filing

Messages are always attached to something. If your question is general — about your plan, about
how a feature works, about something not tied to one filing — use the support option in
[Settings](/account/organisation-settings) rather than raising a message on an unrelated filing.

<Note>
  Related: [Working a task](/compliance/working-a-task) for blocking, skipping and commenting on
  individual steps.
</Note>