> ## 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. # Glossary > Every term Bumara and the Zambian regulators use, explained in plain language. ## Bumara terms | Term | Meaning | | ----------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Obligation** | A recurring thing you must file, such as a monthly PAYE return. Created when you connect a regulator | | **Filing** | One period of an obligation — "PAYE for March 2026" — with its own due date | | **Service request** | A one-off job with a regulator, such as registering a company or changing a director | | **Task** | One step inside a filing or service request. Filings are not ready until required tasks are done | | **Blocker** | Something stopping a filing from being submitted — a missing task, document or payment | | **Readiness** | Whether a filing has cleared all three gates and can be submitted | | **Submission request** | Asking the Bumara team to lodge a filing with the regulator on your behalf | | **Gate snapshot** | A permanent record of exactly what was complete at the moment you requested submission | | **Ticket** | A structured message from the Bumara team about a specific filing or request | | **Timeline** | The unalterable history of everything that has happened to a record | | **Document vault** | Where all your documents are held, attached to the records they belong to | | **Health check** | A review of your standing at every regulator. Also called a liability assessment | | **Finding** | One issue discovered during a health check | | **Recommendation** | What Bumara suggests you do about a finding | | **Health score** | A 0–100 rating of your compliance position | | **Organisation** | Your business in Bumara. One login can belong to several | | **Authorised representative** | The named person allowed to act for your business with a regulator | ## Regulators | Term | Meaning | | ----------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **PACRA** | Patents and Companies Registration Agency — company and business name registration | | **ZRA** | Zambia Revenue Authority — taxes | | **NAPSA** | National Pension Scheme Authority — employee pensions | | **NHIMA** | National Health Insurance Management Authority — health insurance | | **WCF** | Workers' Compensation Fund — workplace injury levy | | **ZPPA** | Zambia Public Procurement Authority | | **Local council** | Trading licences and business levies | ## Tax terms | Term | Meaning | | ----------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **TPIN** | Taxpayer Identification Number — ten characters, required for almost everything | | **PAYE** | Pay As You Earn — tax deducted from employees' pay and remitted to ZRA | | **VAT** | Value Added Tax — charged on sales if you are registered for it | | **Turnover tax** | A simplified regime: 5% of gross turnover, for businesses under K5,000,000 annually | | **Withholding tax** | Tax you deduct when paying for certain services, and remit on the supplier's behalf | | **Gross emoluments** | An employee's total earnings before deductions | | **Chargeable emoluments** | The taxable portion of an employee's earnings | | **Nil return** | A return filed for a period with no activity. Still required | | **Tax clearance certificate** | ZRA confirmation that your tax affairs are in order. Required for tenders | | **Smart Invoice** | ZRA's system requiring sales invoices to be transmitted electronically | | **VSDC** | The device registered with ZRA for Smart Invoice transmission | ## Company terms | Term | Meaning | | ------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | **Entity type** | What kind of business you are — company, business name, partnership, trust or NGO | | **Limited by shares** | A company where liability is limited to the value of shares held | | **Limited by guarantee** | A company where members guarantee a fixed amount. Used by non-profits | | **Business name** | A registered trading name. Not a separate legal entity — liability is personal | | **Annual return** | A yearly PACRA filing confirming your registered particulars | | **Financial year end** | The date your accounting year closes. Drives annual return due dates | | **Name clearance** | PACRA approval of a proposed business name, before registration | | **Strike-off** | Removal from the register for persistent non-compliance. The company ceases to exist | | **Restoration** | Getting a struck-off company back on the register | | **Registered office** | The official address where correspondence is sent | ## Invoicing terms | Term | Meaning | | ------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Quote** | An estimate sent before invoicing. Converts to an invoice when accepted | | **Credit note** | A document reducing what a customer owes you | | **Debit note** | A document reducing what you owe a vendor | | **Delivery note** | Documents goods dispatched, without charging | | **Purchase order** | Your formal order to a vendor | | **Aging** | Grouping what is owed by how overdue it is | | **Allocation** | Linking a payment to the specific invoices it settles | | **Void** | Cancelling a document. It stays visible, marked void | | **Statement** | Every transaction with one customer or vendor, with the balance | ## Payroll terms | Term | Meaning | | ------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Pay run** | One month's payroll processing | | **Monthly inputs** | The figures that vary each month — absence, overtime, advances | | **Cutoff day** | When monthly inputs must be submitted | | **Payment day** | When staff are paid | | **Allowance** | An amount added to pay — housing, transport, meal | | **Deduction** | An amount taken from pay | | **Basic salary** | Contractual pay before allowances. NHIMA is calculated on this | | **Gross pay** | Basic plus allowances plus overtime. NAPSA is calculated on this | | **Net pay** | What the employee actually receives | | **Deduction cap** | The maximum share of gross that can be deducted, commonly 50% | | **Payslip** | The employee's record of what they earned and what was deducted | ## Inventory terms | Term | Meaning | | ----------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Item** | Anything you hold in stock | | **Location** | Anywhere stock is held — a shop, warehouse or vehicle | | **Movement** | A permanent record of a stock change | | **Balance** | The current quantity of an item at a location | | **Adjustment** | An operation increasing or decreasing stock, with a reason | | **Transfer** | Moving stock between your own locations | | **In transit** | Shipped but not yet received | | **Stock count** | Comparing physical stock against records | | **Variance** | The difference between counted and system quantities | | **Posting** | Making a draft operation real. Irreversible except by voiding | | **Reorder level** | The quantity at which you want to be warned | | **Lay-by** | Goods held for a customer paying in instalments | | **Cash-out** | Money taken out of the till | | **SKU** | Your unique code for an item | ## Status words | Word | Generally means | | -------------------- | ---------------------------------------- | | **Draft** | Being prepared. Nothing has taken effect | | **Pending** | Waiting for something | | **In progress** | Work has begun | | **Ready** | Everything required is complete | | **Submitted** | Sent to the regulator | | **Accepted** | Confirmed by the regulator | | **Needs correction** | Returned with something to fix | | **Posted** | Made permanent | | **Void** | Reversed, but still visible | | **Locked** | Permanently sealed | See [Statuses explained](/help/statuses) for what each status means in each specific part of Bumara.