> ## 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.

# ZRA Smart Invoice

> Registering your device with ZRA, transmitting invoices, choosing when they go, and fixing failures.

ZRA Smart Invoice requires businesses within its scope to transmit sales invoices to ZRA
electronically. Bumara handles the transmission — you set it up once, then invoice normally.

## Setting it up

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Settings, then ZRA Smart Invoice">
    From the Invoicing sidebar.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Register your device">
    Choose **Register device** and enter your VSDC serial number, as issued to you by ZRA.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Initialise it">
    Choose **Initialise** on the new device.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Enter your identifiers">
    | Field           | Format                                                          |
    | --------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- |
    | **TPIN**        | Ten characters                                                  |
    | **Branch ID**   | Three characters                                                |
    | **Environment** | Test or live — use test until you have transmitted successfully |
  </Step>

  <Step title="Initialise with ZRA">
    The device connects to ZRA and receives its credentials. Once it shows **Active**, you can
    transmit.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Warning>
  Test in the test environment first. Invoices transmitted to the live environment are real
  submissions to ZRA and cannot simply be undone.
</Warning>

## Transmitting an invoice

Once the device is active, every approved sales invoice can go to ZRA.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Create and approve the invoice">
    As normal. See [Create and send an invoice](/invoicing/create-and-send-an-invoice).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Transmit">
    Either automatically on approval, or by choosing **Transmit to ZRA** on the invoice.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Check the result">
    A successful transmission returns a ZRA receipt number, signatures and a QR code, all recorded
    against the invoice.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## When invoices are sent

You choose one of two modes for your organisation.

### Real time

The default. The invoice goes to ZRA the moment you approve it.

|                  |                                                                   |
| ---------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Advantage**    | Immediate confirmation. You know at once whether ZRA accepted it  |
| **Disadvantage** | Approving takes a second or two longer, and hangs if ZRA is down  |
| **Best for**     | Lower invoice volumes, and anyone who wants certainty per invoice |

### Scheduled

Approval records the invoice as pending. Bumara sends it to ZRA in batches afterwards.

|                  |                                                                       |
| ---------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Advantage**    | Approval is instant. A ZRA outage does not block your invoicing       |
| **Disadvantage** | Confirmation arrives later, not at the moment of approval             |
| **Best for**     | Higher volumes, and anyone invoicing where connectivity is unreliable |

Under scheduled mode you also choose the cadence:

| Cadence      | Behaviour                                                 |
| ------------ | --------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Interval** | Transmit every 5, 15, 30 or 60 minutes                    |
| **Daily**    | Transmit once a day at a time you choose, in Zambian time |

### Changing mode

Change it in Settings → ZRA Smart Invoice. It takes effect immediately, with no interruption to
invoicing.

<Note>
  Whichever mode you choose, approval always succeeds. A ZRA problem never blocks you from
  approving an invoice — it only delays the transmission.
</Note>

## Transmission statuses

| Status          | Meaning                                   | What to do                                    |
| --------------- | ----------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------- |
| **Pending**     | Queued, not yet sent                      | Wait                                          |
| **Transmitted** | ZRA accepted it                           | Nothing. The receipt number is on the invoice |
| **Failed**      | ZRA rejected it, or the connection failed | Read the reason and act                       |

## When a transmission fails

A failure does not undo the invoice. The invoice remains approved and valid; only the transmission
failed.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the invoice">
    The failure and its reason are shown in the transmission panel.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Read the rejection reason">
    ZRA rejections are usually specific — a missing customer TPIN, an invalid tax code, a figure
    that does not reconcile.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Fix the underlying cause">
    | 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               | Usually temporary — retry               |
  </Step>

  <Step title="Retry">
    Use the **Retry** button on the invoice.
  </Step>
</Steps>

Bumara retries failed transmissions automatically a limited number of times before stopping. Once
it stops retrying, the invoice waits for you to fix the cause and retry manually — it will not
resolve itself.

<Warning>
  Check your failed transmissions weekly. An invoice ZRA never received is, from their point of
  view, a sale you never declared. Do not discover a month of failures at the end of the quarter.
</Warning>

## Credit notes

If you credit an invoice that was transmitted, the credit note must be transmitted too. Otherwise
ZRA still holds a sale you have since reversed.

See [Credit and debit notes](/invoicing/credit-and-debit-notes).

## Other document types

The transmission modes above cover **ordinary sales invoices**. Mineral exporters also transmit
commercial, provisional and final invoices, each with its own rules and its own place in the export
chain. Those are not affected by the real-time or scheduled setting.

See [Mining and export invoices](/invoicing/mining-and-export-invoices).

## Compliance reports

Smart Invoice supports the reports ZRA expects:

| Report             | Purpose                                       |
| ------------------ | --------------------------------------------- |
| **X report**       | An interim reading without closing the period |
| **Z report**       | The end-of-day closing report                 |
| **Daily report**   | Summary of a day's transmissions              |
| **Monthly report** | Summary of a month's transmissions            |

Generate them from Settings → ZRA Smart Invoice.

## Monitoring

| Check                                             | How often |
| ------------------------------------------------- | --------- |
| Failed transmissions                              | Weekly    |
| Device status is Active                           | Monthly   |
| Transmitted count against invoices issued         | Monthly   |
| Credit notes transmitted alongside their invoices | Monthly   |

If your transmitted count is lower than your invoice count, the difference is invoices ZRA does
not have. Find and fix them.

<Note>
  Related: [Setting up invoicing](/invoicing/setting-up) and
  [ZRA overview](/regulators/zra/overview).
</Note>