Pending versus genuinely stuck
A pending invoice is one that has been issued but not yet confirmed as transmitted to KRA. The important distinction is between invoices that are simply waiting, normal when connectivity has been patchy, and invoices that are genuinely stuck, which is less common and points to a setup or system issue.
Most pending invoices are the first kind: they clear on their own when the connection returns and the system syncs. The risk is misreading them as lost and re-issuing, which double-counts the sale. Give the system a chance to sync, confirm whether the pending count is falling, and only treat invoices as genuinely stuck, and escalate, if they remain after syncing with a valid setup. Confirm KRA-side status where needed with KRA.
Most eTIMS errors are not mysteries; they are a missing field, a sync gap or a wrong setting, each quick to fix.
How to fix it, step by step
Work through these in order. Stop when the issue clears.
- 1
Confirm the connection is back
Pending invoices need connectivity to transmit. Make sure the device is properly online.
- 2
Let the system sync and watch the count
Give the system time to sync and check whether the pending count is dropping, which means they are clearing normally.
- 3
Check setup if the count does not fall
If pending invoices are not clearing while online, check the device's eTIMS setup and credentials are valid.
- 4
Escalate the genuinely stuck ones
For invoices that remain pending after syncing with a valid setup, contact your provider or KRA support with the details, rather than re-issuing.
How to stop it happening again
Re-issuing pending invoices
Pending usually means waiting, not lost. Re-issuing double-counts the sale. Let them sync first.
Panicking at a pending count after an outage
A pending count is normal after patchy connectivity. Watch whether it falls on sync before treating it as a problem.
Letting a real backlog sit
If invoices stay pending after syncing with a valid setup, that is genuine and needs escalating, not ignoring.
An owner reads the pending count right
An owner in Nakuru saw a dozen invoices marked pending after a stormy afternoon of dropped internet and worried they were lost.
Rather than re-issuing, she confirmed the connection was back, let the system sync, and watched the pending count fall to zero as the invoices transmitted.
Reading pending as waiting, not lost, saved her from double-counting a dozen sales; the system simply caught up.
Trading without eTIMS-compliant tax invoices risks KRA penalties, blocked VAT input claims for your customers, and receipts a business buyer cannot expense.
Veira signs every sale to KRA eTIMS automatically, so each receipt is compliant the moment it prints, with no separate device to reconcile.
How Veira avoids this
Veira is built so most eTIMS errors never reach you. It issues compliant KRA eTIMS invoices automatically with the right fields and tax treatment, validates as you go, captures the buyer PIN for business customers, and transmits to KRA, recording locally and syncing when you are offline so nothing gets stuck.
When something does need attention, Veira surfaces it clearly and local support helps you resolve it, rather than leaving you to decode a raw error. It runs on a free terminal or the phone you own, from KES 2,999 a month with a 30-day money-back guarantee. See how Veira works, or book a free demo.
Frequently asked questions
Why are my eTIMS invoices stuck pending?
How do I clear pending eTIMS invoices?
Should I re-issue a pending invoice?
How do I stop a pending backlog building?
Will Veira stop this error happening?
Where do I confirm KRA-specific details?
eTIMS invoices stuck pending is usually a quick fix once you know the cause, and with a compliant system like Veira it rarely arises at all. See how Veira works, or book a free demo. Always read the exact error and confirm KRA-specific steps at kra.go.ke.