The Kenya Revenue Authority's electronic Tax Invoice Management System (eTIMS) requires businesses to generate and transmit tax invoices to KRA in real time. Following the Finance Act 2023, the requirement extends beyond VAT-registered businesses to all persons carrying on business, and KRA has tied the deductibility of business expenses to their being supported by valid eTIMS invoices.
For any organisation issuing more than a handful of invoices, the practical question is not whether to comply but how to do it without retyping invoices from the ERP into a separate tool.
The main integration options
- eTIMS client and web portal: suitable for very low invoice volumes, but each invoice is entered manually.
- Online Sales Control Unit (OSCU): a system-to-system integration for businesses whose billing system is online, with invoices signed by KRA as they are issued.
- Virtual Sales Control Unit (VSCU): a system-to-system integration suited to high volumes and to environments that need to keep invoicing during connectivity interruptions.
Most businesses using an ERP or a modern point-of-sale system should integrate through OSCU or VSCU, usually via a certified third-party integrator or an integration layer that sits between the ERP and KRA.
Design points that matter
- Validate before you submit: check customer PINs, tax codes and item classifications in the ERP so KRA does not reject invoices.
- Return the control data to the invoice: the KRA signature, control number and QR code must print on the invoice the customer receives.
- Handle credit notes properly: returns and corrections need their own eTIMS flow, linked to the original invoice.
- Plan for outages: decide what happens when KRA or your internet connection is unavailable, and how queued invoices are sent afterwards.
- Keep an audit trail: store each signed invoice and its KRA response so any invoice can be produced on request.
Supplier invoices matter too
Because expense deductibility depends on valid eTIMS invoices, accounts payable teams should check supplier invoices on receipt. Building a check into the purchase-to-pay process avoids discovering gaps at year-end.
A sensible rollout
Start with a review of every place invoices are created, including branch tills, e-commerce, manual invoices and recurring billing. Integrate the highest-volume source first, test with real scenarios such as discounts, multiple tax rates and credit notes, and then roll out branch by branch with close monitoring of rejected invoices.
