Issuing eTIMS invoices and recording them
How a Kenyan business issues eTIMS invoices through KRA's channels while Achekam does not yet transmit them, and how results are recorded.
By Achekam · · 4 min read · For Running a business businesses in Kenya
Launching soon. Some of the screens this article describes for Nigerian and Kenyan businesses are not reachable in Achekam yet. They are coming soon.
"Is this an eTIMS invoice?" Kenyan suppliers hear the question more and more, and for good reason. A customer who cannot show an eTIMS invoice for a purchase risks losing the expense for income tax and, if it is VAT-registered, the input VAT as well. A supplier who cannot provide one starts to lose customers.
If you keep your books in Achekam, there is one thing to understand from the start: Achekam does not send your invoices to KRA's eTIMS today. You issue them through one of KRA's own channels and record the result in Achekam. Done carefully, that keeps both systems in step. This article shows how.
What the law asks of every Kenyan business
Under section 23A of the Tax Procedures Act, every business in Kenya must issue electronic tax invoices through KRA's system, eTIMS, and keep stock records. A few kinds of income are excluded, including employment income, imports, interest, airline tickets and payments subject to withholding tax. Everything else your business sells needs an eTIMS invoice.
The cost of ignoring it went up with the Finance Act 2026. At the time of writing, failing to use e-invoicing, e-filing or e-payment costs a company the higher of 5% of the tax or KES 100,000, and an individual KES 10,000.
Choosing your eTIMS channel
KRA offers several ways to issue an eTIMS invoice. A business system can connect to eTIMS directly, system-to-system, through what KRA calls OSCU or VSCU, but only after KRA certifies the integration. Most small and medium businesses use one of the other channels:
| Channel | What it is | May suit |
|---|---|---|
| eTIMS Lite | eCitizen on the web, USSD on *222#, or the app | Low volumes, owners on the move |
| eTIMS Client | Software for Windows or Android | A shop or office issuing invoices daily |
| TIMS device | A device at the point of sale | Businesses that already use one |
| An integrator KRA has approved | A third-party system linked to eTIMS | Higher volumes |
One rule applies whichever you pick: a credit note comes from the same solution as the original invoice. If you issued the invoice on eTIMS Client, the credit note must come from eTIMS Client too. Choose one channel and stick with it.
Recording the control-unit number, internal data and signature
Without a live eTIMS connection, a Kenyan business issues each invoice through its eTIMS channel and records three things in Achekam:
- The control-unit invoice number that eTIMS assigned.
- The internal data eTIMS returned with it.
- The receipt signature.
Achekam can give you the invoice data as a file to work from. Issue the invoice in Achekam first, so its number and lines are fixed; then issue it on eTIMS with the same details; then record what eTIMS gave back against the Achekam invoice.
A second person verifies
When the identifiers are recorded, a second person verifies them. Only then does the invoice count as fiscalised in Achekam.
That check catches the error that matters most: the right identifiers recorded against the wrong invoice. The verifier should compare what was typed with the eTIMS receipt itself, not with the screen the first person used. In a two-person office, the owner and the bookkeeper verify each other's entries; in a larger one, give the job to someone outside the sales team.
Achekam is not a KRA-approved integrator
Achekam does not claim to be a KRA-approved eTIMS integrator, and it never generates eTIMS receipt numbers, internal data or signatures itself. Every identifier in your books came from KRA's system through your channel. Where Achekam needs a tax rate for eTIMS purposes, it takes it from KRA's code list.
A direct connection to eTIMS through OSCU has been built, and it can use KRA's sandbox for testing. Sending your invoices to eTIMS in production is not live. It would need KRA to certify the integration, an Achekam platform administrator to record that authorisation, and your business to initialise a production eTIMS device. Until all three have happened, plan on issuing through your own channel and recording the result.
When the identifiers print on the invoice
Achekam prints the eTIMS identifiers on an invoice only once the invoice is fiscalised. Until then, the document says it is not yet fiscalised. A sandbox submission is labelled as test only.
Treat "not yet fiscalised" as a stop sign. An invoice that says it should not go to a customer who needs an eTIMS invoice for their own records.
The VAT return gives you a second net. A Kenyan VAT return in Achekam lists the period's invoices, credit notes and till sales that are not fiscalised. It does not block the return, so read the list and deal with each item before you file.
A daily habit
- Issue each invoice in Achekam, then on your eTIMS channel, the same day.
- Record the control-unit number, internal data and signature at once.
- Have a second person verify before the invoice is sent.
- Issue credit notes from the same eTIMS channel as the invoice.
- Check the list of unfiscalised documents before every VAT return.
Nigeria's e-invoicing works on similar lines through a provider; see fiscalising Nigerian invoices through your provider. Your suppliers' eTIMS invoices matter just as much as your own, as supplier invoices without eTIMS: expenses at risk explains, and VAT registration itself is covered in when a Kenyan business must register for VAT.
Pick your eTIMS channel and agree who verifies. Those two decisions turn eTIMS from a worry into a routine.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
