# The Links tab: all documents of a deal in one place

URL: https://bimpsoft.com/en/help/basics/document-links/
Updated: 2026-11-06

> The "Links" tab shows, as a tree, all documents created based on the current one: payments, shipments, supplier orders. Open a document, go to the "Links" tab, and you immediately see whether it was paid, whether the goods were shipped and whether they were ordered from a supplier. Clicking a row opens that document.

## What the Links tab shows

The "Links" tab shows the structure of the whole deal: the document you opened and all documents linked to it, as a tree. One deal usually accumulates documents: a [Customer order](https://bimpsoft.com/en/help/sales/customer-order/), a [payment](https://bimpsoft.com/en/help/sales/customer-payment/), a [shipment](https://bimpsoft.com/en/help/sales/shipment/), a [Supplier order](https://bimpsoft.com/en/help/purchasing/purchase-order/). The tab collects them together, so you do not need to search through different menu sections. All articles in this section are listed on the “[Working with documents: the basics](https://bimpsoft.com/en/help/basics/)” page.

It immediately answers the questions: was there a payment, were the goods shipped, were they ordered from a supplier.

**Example.** A manager opens an old Customer order and goes to the "Links" tab. They see a "Customer payment" (the money arrived) and a "Supplier order" (the goods were ordered), but there is no "Sales of goods and services" document. So the customer has not received the goods yet. This is clear in a few seconds, without building any reports.

## How to open the Links tab

1. Open a deal document, for example a Customer order (**Sales → Orders**).
2. Go to the **Links** tab.
   [Скріншот: An open Customer order with the "Links" tab and a document tree: payment, sale, supplier order]
3. Expand the tree branches and click the row of the document you need to open it.

The root document branches into subordinate ones, like a folder tree. Which documents are linked depends on how you created them: the chain includes documents created through ["Create based on"](https://bimpsoft.com/en/help/basics/create-based-on/).

## Buttons and search on the tab

Above the tree there are three buttons, to the left of the "Search" field:

| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Expand all (a list with a down arrow) | Opens all branches of the tree and shows all nesting levels |
| Collapse all (a list with an up arrow) | Collapses the tree to the main documents |
| Refresh (a curved arrow) | Pulls in documents created just now, for example a payment posted in a neighboring browser tab |

The **Search** field helps you find a document in a long chain, when a deal has dozens of payments and partial shipments. Enter a document number or part of a counterparty name, and Bimp highlights the row you need.

## How to use links in your work

The "Links" tab is good for a quick check of a deal's state:

- **Is it paid?** Look for "Customer payment" in the tree.
- **Is it shipped?** Look for "Sales of goods and services" (for services, a certificate of completed work).
- **Was it ordered from a supplier?** Look for "Supplier order" and the Goods receipt linked to it.

For the full picture by order status, see [Order statuses](https://bimpsoft.com/en/help/sales/order-statuses/).

> [!TIP] Create the next documents of a deal only through "Create based on". Then they automatically appear in the link tree, while a document entered separately may not appear in it.

## FAQ

**How do I find out whether an order is paid and shipped?**

Open the order and go to the "Links" tab. If the tree has a "Customer payment", the money has arrived; if it has "Sales of goods and services", the goods have been shipped.

**Why is a document I just created missing from the list of links?**

The tab does not refresh by itself if the document was created in another browser tab. Click the "Refresh" button to the left of the search field.

**Which documents appear on the "Links" tab?**

Those created based on the current document and those the document itself was created from. That is why you should create the next documents of a deal through "Create based on".