> ## 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.
# Obligations and filings
> Where your obligations come from, how due dates are calculated, and how to work a filing from start to finish.
An **obligation** is a recurring requirement. A **filing** is one period of it. You never create
obligations by hand — Bumara works them out from what kind of business you are and which
regulators you connected.
## Where your obligations come from
When you connect a regulator, Bumara looks at three things and creates the obligations that match:
| Input | Effect |
| -------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Entity type** | A company files annual returns; a business name does not |
| **Tax types you selected** | Ticking PAYE creates a monthly PAYE obligation; ticking turnover tax creates a monthly turnover tax obligation |
| **Your plan** | Some regulators are only available on higher tiers |
Each obligation records its regulator, its frequency, and the rule used to calculate due dates.
## Reading the obligations list
| Column | Meaning |
| --------------- | ------------------------------------------------ |
| **Name** | What it is — "PAYE Return", "Annual Return" |
| **Regulator** | Who it is filed with |
| **Frequency** | Monthly, quarterly, annually, or one-off |
| **Next filing** | The next period and its due date |
| **Status** | Active, or paused if it no longer applies to you |
Open an obligation to see every filing it has ever produced, including past ones.
## How due dates are calculated
Bumara does not ask you for due dates. It applies the rule the regulator uses:
| Rule | Used by | Example |
| -------------------------------- | ------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Period end plus a number of days | Most ZRA monthly returns | March period ends 31 March, due 14 April |
| Financial year end plus months | PACRA annual returns | Year end 31 December, due within the statutory window that follows |
| Fixed calendar date | Certain annual levies | The same date each year regardless of your year end |
This is why your **financial year end** and **entity type** in
[Set up your business](/start/set-up-your-business) matter so much. Get them wrong and every
annual due date is wrong.
Changing your financial year end later does not move filings that already exist — they keep the
due dates they were created with. Only filings created after the change use the new date.
## Common due dates
| Obligation | Frequency | Due |
| ------------------- | --------- | --------------------------------------------------------- |
| ZRA PAYE return | Monthly | 10th of the following month |
| ZRA turnover tax | Monthly | 14 days after period end |
| ZRA withholding tax | Monthly | 14 days after period end |
| NAPSA contributions | Monthly | Monthly, per NAPSA's schedule |
| NHIMA contributions | Monthly | Monthly, per NHIMA's schedule |
| PACRA annual return | Annually | Within the statutory window after your financial year end |
Always trust the due date shown on the filing itself over this table — it is calculated for your
specific business.
## Working a filing
From Compliance → Filings, or from the regulator workspace. The header shows the period,
the due date, the current status and how many days remain.
At the top of every filing is a panel telling you either **Ready for submission** or exactly
what is still outstanding — which tasks, which documents, whether payment is needed.
Each task links straight to the place you complete it. See [Working a task](/compliance/working-a-task).
The documents panel lists what is required and what has been provided. Uploading a required
document usually completes its matching task automatically.
Some filings have a figures section — PAYE totals, turnover for the month. These are often
pre-filled from your payroll or invoicing data for you to check.
When the last required item is done, the filing moves itself to **Ready for submission**.
You do not have to mark it ready.
Press **Request submission**. See [Submitting to a regulator](/compliance/submitting-to-a-regulator).
## What is on a filing page
| Section | Contents |
| ------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Header** | Period, due date, status, days remaining |
| **Blockers** | What is stopping submission, or confirmation that nothing is |
| **Progress** | Tasks done out of total, documents provided out of required |
| **Tasks** | The checklist, in order |
| **Figures** | The numbers being filed, where the obligation has them |
| **Documents** | Required and supporting documents |
| **Payment** | The fee, if one applies, and its status |
| **Timeline** | Everything that has happened to this filing, with names and times |
| **Messages** | Any tickets raised by the Bumara team about this filing |
## Filing statuses
| Status | Meaning | What you do |
| -------------------------- | ------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------- |
| **Pending data** | Created, nothing done yet | Start the checklist |
| **In progress** | Work has begun | Finish the checklist |
| **Ready for submission** | Everything required is complete | Request submission |
| **Awaiting payment** | A fee is due before it can go | Pay the fee |
| **Submission in progress** | With the Bumara team | Nothing — you will be notified |
| **Submitted** | Filed with the regulator | Nothing — awaiting their response |
| **Accepted** | The regulator confirmed it | Nothing. Acknowledgement is in your vault |
| **Needs correction** | The regulator wants something changed | Read the reason, fix it, resubmit |
| **Waived** | Not required for this period | Nothing |
| **Cancelled** | No longer applicable | Nothing |
## Nil returns
If you had no activity in a period — no employees paid, no turnover — you usually still have to
file. This is a **nil return**.
Do not ignore it. An unfiled nil return is still an unfiled return.
In the figures section, choose the nil return option.
No employees, below threshold, temporarily inactive, seasonal, staff on unpaid leave, or
other. The regulator expects a reason.
A nil return typically has a much shorter checklist and often becomes ready immediately.
## Missed and late filings
A filing that passes its due date is flagged as overdue and stays on your list. It does not
disappear, and it does not stop being your responsibility.
If you have missed several periods, do not work them one at a time in isolation — run a
[compliance health check](/start/compliance-health-check) so the full picture and any accrued
penalties are established first.
Reminders about upcoming and overdue filings are sent according to your preferences. Set them
up in [Reminders and notifications](/account/notifications) — this is the single most valuable
five minutes of setup in Bumara.