> ## 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.

# Troubleshooting

> The problems people actually hit in Bumara, and how to resolve each one.

## Access and visibility

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="A section is missing from my sidebar">
    Three possible causes, in order of likelihood:

    1. **Your role does not include it.** Check with an Owner or Admin. See
       [Team and roles](/account/team-and-roles).
    2. **Your plan does not include it.** NHIMA needs Plus; local councils need Pro. See
       [Plan and billing](/account/plan-and-billing).
    3. **The regulator is not connected.** See [Set up your business](/start/set-up-your-business).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="I can see less than I could yesterday">
    Almost always a role change. Ask an Owner or Admin whether your role was changed — Bumara does
    not notify people when it happens.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="My inventory dashboard shows nothing">
    You are probably not assigned to any location. In a multi-location business, users see only
    their assigned locations. Ask an Admin to assign you.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="I cannot see the data I expect">
    Check the organisation switcher at the top of the sidebar. If your login belongs to more than
    one organisation, you may be looking at the wrong one.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Filings and submissions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="I cannot request submission">
    The blockers panel at the top of the filing names exactly what is missing. It will be one of:

    * A **required task** not done
    * A task that is **blocked** — this stops submission even if the task is optional
    * A **required document** not uploaded
    * A **fee** not yet paid and verified

    See [Submitting to a regulator](/compliance/submitting-to-a-regulator).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="It says 8 of 10 tasks done but is still not ready">
    Progress and readiness are different things. Readiness requires all **required** tasks done,
    **no** blocked tasks, and all **required** documents uploaded. Two optional tasks outstanding
    does not block; one required task does.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="My submission has not moved for days">
    Check the Messages panel on that filing. A message showing **Waiting on you** stops the work
    entirely, and it is the commonest cause. See
    [Messages and timeline](/compliance/messages-and-timeline).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="An obligation I do not owe has appeared">
    Check your entity type in organisation settings, and which tax types you ticked on your ZRA
    connection. Ticking both turnover tax and income tax, or ticking PAYE with no employees, are
    the usual causes.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="An obligation I do owe is missing">
    Same two causes in reverse. Also check that the relevant regulator is connected and that your
    plan includes it.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="My annual return due date looks wrong">
    Check your financial year end in organisation settings. Correcting it fixes future filings but
    not ones already created — those keep the dates they were made with.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="My submission was blocked by authorisation">
    Your authorised representative is missing or expired. This is not checked when you request
    submission, only when the team goes to lodge. See
    [Authorised representative](/compliance/authorised-representative).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Payments

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="I paid but the filing still shows Awaiting payment">
    Most likely a reference mismatch. The payment must be matched to your specific request.

    1. Check you used the exact reference shown on the payment panel
    2. Upload your proof of payment to the request
    3. Raise a message on the filing if it has been more than a few hours

    Bank transfers also simply take longer than mobile money.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="My payment failed">
    Retry, or use a different method. If your bank shows the money as debited but Bumara shows the
    payment as failed, raise a message so it is tracked — do not simply pay again.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Invoicing

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="I cannot edit an invoice">
    Only drafts can be edited. Once sent, correct it with a
    [credit note](/invoicing/credit-and-debit-notes) or void it and reissue.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="My ZRA transmission failed">
    Open the invoice and read the rejection reason. Usually:

    | Reason                           | Fix                                     |
    | -------------------------------- | --------------------------------------- |
    | Customer TPIN missing or invalid | Correct it on the customer record       |
    | Invalid tax code                 | Check the tax rate on the affected line |
    | Device not initialised           | Re-initialise in Settings               |
    | Connection failure               | Retry                                   |

    Bumara retries automatically a limited number of times, then stops. After that it waits for you.
    See [Smart Invoice](/invoicing/smart-invoice).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="My transmitted count is lower than my invoice count">
    The difference is invoices ZRA does not have. Filter your transmissions to failed and work
    through them. Check this monthly rather than quarterly.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="An invoice total does not match what I expected">
    Check whether your products are set up as tax-inclusive or tax-exclusive, and whether the
    setting is consistent across the lines. Mixing the two is the usual cause.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Payroll

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="An employee's pay is lower than expected">
    In order of likelihood:

    1. An allowance's **effective date** has not started yet
    2. Days absent were entered in monthly inputs
    3. A new deduction started this month
    4. A loan instalment began
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="An employee's pay is higher than expected">
    Usually a temporary allowance whose end date was never set, or overtime hours entered wrongly.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="PAYE looks too low">
    A taxable allowance is probably configured as non-taxable. See
    [Pay elements](/payroll/pay-elements). Correct the element rather than the return.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="NAPSA looks wrong">
    Either an allowance is excluded from the gross base when it should be included, or the employee
    is above the ceiling and the contribution has correctly been capped.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="NHIMA does not look proportional to NAPSA">
    That is correct. NAPSA is 5.5% of **gross**; NHIMA is 1% of **basic salary**. An employee with
    large allowances will show a much wider gap.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="A deduction did not fully apply">
    The deduction cap was reached — total deductions cannot exceed your configured percentage of
    gross. The shortfall carries into next month.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="My statutory return was rejected">
    Nearly always a missing regulatory number. Every employee needs a TPIN, a NAPSA number and an
    NHIMA number. Add them to the employee record and re-run the pre-fill.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="An employee is missing from the return">
    Check whether they were marked inactive before the run they should have been on. A leaver must
    be included in the month they were last paid, then made inactive after that run.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Inventory

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="I cannot post — it says stock would go negative">
    Your records show less stock than the operation needs. Either goods were received and never
    entered, or a previous operation was recorded wrongly.

    Find the cause in the item's movement history rather than overriding the block. An override is
    for the case where you know goods have physically arrived and simply have not been entered yet.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="An item is not showing at the till">
    Items with zero stock are hidden by default. Either the stock is genuinely zero, goods were
    received but not entered, the stock is at a different location, or the item is archived.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="My barcode scanner finds nothing">
    Check the item has a barcode recorded, that it is the right barcode, and that the item is not
    archived. Then check the light and the label condition. See [Scanning](/inventory/scanning).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The visual scanner does not recognise a product">
    It needs a reference photo on the item. If a photo exists but recognition is poor, retake it —
    plain background, good light, product filling the frame.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="A stock balance is wrong">
    Open the item's movement history and work backwards until the numbers stop making sense. Every
    change is recorded with its reason and who made it, so the cause is always findable.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Available stock includes goods on lay-by">
    Correct behaviour. Stock is only deducted when a lay-by completes. Set lay-by goods aside
    physically and label them.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Notifications

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="I am not receiving emails">
    Check, in order: your email address in Settings → Profile; your spam folder; your preferences
    in Settings → Notifications; and whether your role gives you access to that area — you are not
    notified about what you cannot see.

    If in-app notifications are arriving but emails are not, the problem is delivery. Start with
    spam.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="I am getting too many notifications">
    Do not turn them all off. Narrow the channels instead — keep deadlines on email and move
    routine items to in-app only. Constant low-stock alerts usually mean reorder levels are set too
    high.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Plan limits

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="I cannot create another service request">
    You have used this month's allowance. Upgrade, or wait for the monthly reset. If a deadline is
    involved, upgrade — the deadline does not wait.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="I cannot invite anyone else">
    You are at your user limit. Upgrade, or remove someone who has left.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="I cannot upload documents">
    You are at your storage limit. Add the extra storage add-on, or remove duplicates. See
    [Document vault](/account/document-vault).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## When to contact support

Raise a **message on the specific filing or request** when the question is about that item — a
rejection you do not understand, a submission that has stalled, a figure that looks wrong.

Use **support in Settings** for anything else — how a feature works, a billing question, a problem
with your account, or something that does not belong to one record.

<Note>
  Including what you already checked makes any support request faster to resolve. "The blockers
  panel says the payroll summary is missing, but I uploaded it on Tuesday" gets a better answer
  than "my filing is stuck".

  If your question is "how does this work?" rather than "why is this broken?", try the
  [frequently asked questions](/help/faq).
</Note>