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Getting started

About twenty minutes for your organisation details and regulator connections, provided you have your certificates to hand. Adding employees, customers and stock items takes longer and depends on how many you have — use the bulk imports.
No. If your business does not exist yet, you can register it through Bumara. Start with name clearance.
Yes. One login can belong to several organisations, and you switch between them. Data never crosses between them.
Run a compliance health check first. It establishes exactly what is outstanding, including penalties and interest, so you catch up from facts rather than guesses.

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Compliance

Yes. You prepare the filing and request submission; the Bumara team lodges it with the regulator and returns the acknowledgement to your vault. Nothing is filed without you requesting it.
Regulator portals are inconsistent, go down, change formats, and reject submissions for reasons that are not obvious. Having a trained team handle lodgement means a rejection is dealt with by someone who has seen it before.
Preparation and lodgement is usually quick. How long the regulator takes to accept varies — some confirm immediately, others take days. You are notified at each stage.
The filing stays on your list, flagged as overdue, and remains your responsibility. File it as soon as you can — penalties generally increase with time. If you have missed several periods, run a health check.
Yes, almost always. That is a nil return, with a reason. An unfiled nil return attracts the same late-filing penalty as one with figures.
Not directly. Raise it through the messages panel on that filing — the team will advise on amendment, since the process differs by regulator and circumstance.

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Money and fees

Two things, always shown separately: the regulator fee, set by the regulator, and Bumara’s handling fee. See Paying fees.
Yes. Your monthly subscription covers your use of Bumara. Regulator and handling fees are charged per filing or service request.
Usually a reference mismatch — the reference on the payment panel must be used exactly. Bank transfers also take longer than mobile money. Upload your proof of payment to speed up matching.
Regulator fees are subject to that regulator’s rules, which are generally strict. Whether a second fee applies on resubmission is shown before you resubmit.

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Invoicing

Because the customer has a copy. Changing your version behind their back means your records disagree, and an edited invoice sequence is exactly what a ZRA audit questions. Correct with a credit note.
It depends on whether your business falls within its scope. If it does, invoices must be transmitted. Bumara handles the transmission once you have registered your device.
Approval always succeeds. In real-time mode the transmission fails and is retried; in scheduled mode it simply waits for the next batch. A ZRA outage never blocks you from invoicing.
Your default currency is set in organisation settings, normally ZMW. Check your settings for what is available to your account.

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Payroll

Before payment, yes — reverse the approval, correct, and re-run. After employees have been paid, correcting in the following month is almost always better, because reversing affects payslips, statutory returns and your bank reconciliation at once.
Different rates and different bases. NAPSA is 5.5% of gross pay; NHIMA is 1% of basic salary. An employee with large allowances sees a wide gap.
Yes, if you invite them with the Employee role. They see their own and nobody else’s, which removes the monthly distribution task.
Not the person who ran it. That separation is the main control in payroll, and Bumara supports it through roles.
That is treated far more seriously than simply being late with your own tax. The deduction is not your money. If cash flow is the problem, address it before the deduction, not after.

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Inventory

Because then no quantity would have a history. Every change is recorded as an operation with a reason and an author, which is what lets you explain any balance later.
A negative balance means your records and reality have diverged. Carrying on makes it worse. Find the cause. An administrator can override where genuinely necessary, with a reason.
Cycle count a subset weekly or monthly, and do a full count quarterly. Cycle counting catches problems earlier and avoids shutting down for a full count.
Not until it completes. Set lay-by goods aside physically and label them, since your available stock figure still includes them.

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Team and access

One on Start, two on Plus, five on Pro, unlimited on Enterprise. See Plan and billing.
Yes — that is what roles are for. The full matrix of who sees what is in Team and roles.
It stays. Invoices they raised, payroll they ran and documents they uploaded all remain, and the timeline still records that they did it. Your audit trail must survive staff turnover.
No. It destroys the audit trail — you cannot tell who did what — and it cannot be revoked for one person without locking out everyone. Upgrade instead.

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Data and security

Sensitive fields — NRC, passport, TPIN, bank details, regulator credentials — are encrypted, and access is controlled by role. See Security and privacy.
No. For a health check you can provide statements and notices yourself instead. That regulator’s review will simply take longer.
Yes — invoices, payroll, documents and most reports. Do this before an audit, at year end, and before closing your account.
Export your data, complete or cancel anything in flight, settle outstanding fees, and contact support to close the account. Your regulatory obligations continue regardless — make arrangements for how they will be met.
Not answered here? Try Troubleshooting, or raise a message on the specific record you are asking about.
Last modified on August 4, 2026