KRA eTIMS Compliance Checklist for Kenyan Businesses (2026)

Step-by-Step

1. 1. Confirm the taxpayer and business activity

   Use the legal taxpayer that makes the sale, confirm its KRA PIN and registered details, and document the branches, users, goods or services and sales channels that the invoicing process must cover.

2. 2. Choose an appropriate KRA eTIMS solution

   Match the workflow to an official web, USSD, mobile, portal, Client, OSCU or VSCU route. Eligibility, connectivity, transaction volume, branches and integration needs matter more than a generic claim that one channel is best.

3. 3. Complete onboarding and access controls

   Finish the registration or service-request steps required for the selected route, verify the taxpayer profile, give each operator appropriate access and keep KRA credentials out of shared messages and third-party support conversations.

4. 4. Configure items and tax treatment

   Create clear goods or service records, confirm classifications and units where required, and assign tax treatment based on the seller and supply. Exempt, zero-rated and non-VAT treatment are not interchangeable.

5. 5. Issue and review the invoice

   Capture the buyer where applicable, items, quantity, price, discount, payment method, taxable amount, tax and total. Review the transaction before submitting it through the configured eTIMS channel.

6. 6. Confirm KRA acceptance

   Treat draft, pending, queued, retrying or failed records as unresolved. File or share the final tax invoice only after the issuing solution confirms acceptance and returns the receipt or control-unit details required by that channel.

7. 7. Correct mistakes through the issuing solution

   Preserve an accepted transaction and use the linked credit-note or correction process supported by the solution that created it. Do not edit the downloaded PDF or silently replace the accounting record.

8. 8. Reconcile and retain evidence

   Regularly compare eTIMS outcomes with sales, payment and accounting records. Retain invoices, returned receipt data, corrections and supporting documents for the period applicable to the business.

1. Scope the Compliance Process Before Choosing Software

Start with the business process rather than an app screen. List every place a sale can begin: counter, field team, WhatsApp order, website, marketplace, recurring service, branch or integrated POS. Then identify who creates the invoice, who reviews exceptions and where the final record enters the accounts.

KRA's public eTIMS guidance says persons engaged in business should onboard and issue electronic tax invoices, while its FAQs and guides describe different solutions and taxpayer situations. A general checklist cannot decide every exclusion, exemption or unusual transaction. Record the questions that need a taxpayer-specific answer instead of forcing them into a default tax code.

• ✓Legal entity and KRA PIN used by each selling operation.
• ✓VAT status, other relevant obligations and the nature of each supply.
• ✓Main branch and any additional branches, outlets or operating locations.
• ✓People allowed to create, approve, correct and export invoices.
• ✓Sales channels, payment methods and accounting systems that must reconcile.
• ✓Exceptions that require KRA or professional advice before configuration.

Practical note: A clean scope prevents a common failure: registering one channel successfully while cash sales, field invoices or another branch continue outside the agreed process.

2. Select the eTIMS Route That Fits the Workflow

KRA provides several official solutions and allows businesses to choose according to their operating model. A free official route may be entirely suitable. A commercial product can be valuable when it adds workflow, integration, support or reporting, but paying a vendor does not change the underlying taxpayer obligations or guarantee KRA availability.

3. Registration, Onboarding and User Access

KRA's onboarding page says taxpayers can self-onboard and should register by providing information about the nature of the business before installing or using the selected solution. Do not treat a login screen, submitted service request or locally saved profile as evidence that end-to-end invoicing works.

For a connected product, separate KRA credentials and returned integration secrets from ordinary user passwords. Store them through the product's protected configuration, limit who can change them and keep a record of production-enablement decisions.

• ✓The taxpayer name and KRA PIN shown in the selected channel match the intended seller.
• ✓The business has completed the registration, activation or integration steps required for that channel.
• ✓The correct branch or operating unit is selected before production invoicing begins.
• ✓Operators use individual or appropriately controlled access instead of a password shared across staff and support providers.
• ✓Password-reset, OTP and account-recovery contacts are current and controlled by the business.
• ✓A named owner can contact KRA or the solution provider when onboarding is incomplete or a profile is wrong.

4. Item, Service and Tax Configuration

The quality of every invoice depends on the catalogue behind it. Use descriptions that a buyer and reviewer can understand, maintain the units and classifications required by the chosen channel, and avoid creating near-duplicate items with inconsistent tax treatment.

Tax codes are application labels for a legal treatment; they are not a substitute for deciding how a supply should be treated. Confirm uncertain goods, services, exemptions or rates before the item becomes a reusable default.

5. Invoice-Creation Checks Before Submission

A useful review is short enough to perform consistently but specific enough to catch expensive mistakes. Put the highest-risk fields—seller, buyer PIN, items, tax and total—before the submit action. If the channel supports saved items or customers, review their defaults periodically rather than assuming saved data remains correct forever.

• ✓The seller profile, branch and invoice date belong to the actual transaction.
• ✓Buyer name and PIN are captured accurately when they apply; an ID number is not substituted for a KRA PIN.
• ✓Each item or service, quantity, price, discount and tax treatment matches the supply.
• ✓Payment method describes the transaction without being treated as proof that the tax invoice was accepted.
• ✓Taxable amount, tax amount and final total reconcile before submission.
• ✓The operator submits once and keeps the same record while the outcome is uncertain.

6. What Counts as a Completed eTIMS Invoice

A professional-looking PDF, payment confirmation, local invoice number or QR-shaped image is not enough by itself. The issuing solution should show a completed submission and retain the returned receipt or control-unit information appropriate to its KRA route.

When a buyer needs independent confirmation, use KRA's Invoice Number Checker or the invoice's KRA verification route and compare the returned seller, buyer where applicable, date, tax and total with the document received.

7. Pending, Failed and Duplicate-Risk Controls

8. Corrections, Credit Notes and Audit Trail

The same system that issued the accepted transaction may control its correction workflow. Moving the replacement to another channel without preserving the link can leave the business with two documents but no clear audit trail. Confirm the supported process before an urgent correction is needed.

• ✓Correct a draft before submission whenever possible.
• ✓After acceptance, preserve the original transaction and use the correction or credit-note route supported by the issuing solution.
• ✓Link the original invoice, correction, replacement and commercial reason in the accounting records.
• ✓Do not edit buyer details, tax or totals directly in an accepted PDF.
• ✓Assign ownership for unresolved corrections so they do not disappear between sales and accounts teams.

9. Records, Returns and Reconciliation

eTIMS invoicing does not replace the rest of the tax and accounting process. The business still needs sales, payment, expense and return records that agree with the electronic invoices and corrections. Keep the final document together with returned receipt data and any evidence needed to explain changes.

Use the record-retention period and filing timetable applicable to the taxpayer rather than copying a generic deadline from an article. Tax obligations can differ, and current KRA or professional guidance should control high-stakes decisions.

10. Monthly Management Review

• ✓Count unresolved pending, failed and rejected invoices and assign every item to an owner.
• ✓Review repeated error reasons and fix the catalogue, training or integration control causing them.
• ✓Sample accepted invoices and compare seller, buyer, items, tax, total and returned receipt details.
• ✓Confirm new staff, branches and sales channels are included in the invoicing process.
• ✓Check that correction and credit-note records reconcile to their originals.
• ✓Review access, departed users and credential ownership.
• ✓Confirm the current KRA guidance and product release notes before changing a regulatory workflow.

Practical note: A useful compliance dashboard shows what is accepted, what is unresolved, who owns the exception and what changed since the previous review. It should not hide uncertainty behind a single green percentage.

Where Risiti Fits

Risiti is the getrisiti.com product from PesaStack Limited, separate from KRA and from KRA's Risiti Legit verification app. Its business product prepares invoices, submits them through its configured OSCU workflow, keeps submission states visible, renders accepted receipt PDFs and supports sharing and controlled retry handling.

Risiti can support an operating process, but it cannot decide a taxpayer's legal position, guarantee KRA availability or turn an unresolved submission into an accepted invoice. KRA's official channels may be the better fit for a business with occasional or simple invoicing needs.

Official KRA Sources

Frequently Asked Questions