What eTIMS record keeping involves
Issuing compliant invoices is only half of compliance; keeping the records is the other half. Your eTIMS records, the sales invoices you issue and the compliant supplier invoices you receive, are the evidence behind your returns, and KRA can review them well after the fact.
The goal is records that are organised and reconciled rather than reconstructed from a drawer of receipts when a review lands. That means your sales recorded by date and tax rate, your purchases supported by compliant invoices issued to your PIN, and the two tied to your books. KRA can review going back several years, so the retention period matters; confirm the current period with KRA. A system that keeps records reconciled as you trade makes this effortless.
Get this right and it runs quietly in the background of your business. Get it wrong and you risk rejected invoices, disallowed expenses for your customers, and exposure during a KRA review under the Tax Procedures Act. Confirm the current rules and any penalty amounts with KRA, as they change.
Compliance is not extra admin if the system does it for you on every transaction.
How to keep eTIMS records well
A practical path for a Kenyan business. Work through it in order.
- 1
Keep every sales invoice you issue
Retain your transmitted sales invoices, organised by date and tax rate, as the record of your income.
- 2
Keep every compliant purchase invoice
Retain the supplier invoices issued to your PIN that support your expenses and input VAT.
- 3
Reconcile records to your books
Tie your eTIMS records to your books as you go, so the two always agree and nothing needs reconstructing.
- 4
Retain for the required period
Keep records for the period KRA requires, which can be several years. Confirm the current retention period with KRA.
- 5
Keep reconciled records
Reconcile what you issue and receive as you go, so any reporting and filing summarise records you already hold rather than a month-end reconstruction. KRA can review records going back several years.
- 6
Confirm the current rules with KRA
Rates, thresholds, exemptions and deadlines change. Before relying on a specific figure, confirm the current position at kra.go.ke or with your tax adviser.
Common mistakes to avoid
Keeping records only on paper in a drawer
Paper receipts in a drawer are hard to search and easy to lose. Keep organised digital records that reconcile.
Discarding records too early
KRA can review going back several years. Discarding records before the retention period ends leaves you exposed.
Not reconciling as you go
Records that are never reconciled become a reconstruction job at review time. Reconcile as you trade.
Waiting for a deadline before getting compliant
Every uncompliant transaction is a gap you have to explain later. Getting compliant now is cheaper than catching up under pressure.
Relying on a system that cannot work offline
Connectivity is not guaranteed everywhere in Kenya. Use a system that records offline and transmits to KRA when the connection returns, so you never fall out of compliance during an outage.
A business handles a late query
A business in Mombasa received a KRA query about a period more than a year earlier. On a paper-only setup, finding and reconciling those records would have taken days.
Because it used a compliant system that kept sales and purchase records organised and reconciled, the owner pulled the period's records and reconciliation in minutes.
The query was answered quickly with clear, organised evidence, rather than a stressful hunt through old receipts.
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 handles this for you
Veira is built for Kenyan businesses. It issues compliant KRA eTIMS invoices automatically on every sale, applies the right tax treatment per item, captures the buyer KRA PIN for business customers, keeps your records reconciled and ready for filing, and reconciles M-Pesa and Pochi payments to each sale.
It runs on a free handheld terminal or the phone you already own, keeps working offline, and runs from KES 2,999 a month with a free terminal and a 30-day money-back guarantee. See how Veira works, or book a free demo.
Frequently asked questions
How long should I keep eTIMS records in Kenya?
What records do I need to keep for eTIMS?
Can I keep eTIMS records digitally?
Why does record keeping matter for a KRA review?
Does Veira keep my records for me?
Does Veira handle this automatically?
How much does eTIMS-compliant software cost?
eTIMS record keeping comes down to recording the right thing, the right way, through a compliant system, and Veira does exactly that without extra work. See how Veira works, or book a free demo. Always confirm current KRA rules and rates at kra.go.ke, as they can change.