How a company registers for eTIMS
A limited company is a separate legal person with its own KRA PIN, and eTIMS registration follows that: the company registers and issues invoices under the company PIN, distinct from any director's personal PIN. Using the right PIN from the start avoids tangled records later.
Beyond the PIN, a company often has more to set up than a sole trader: multiple users who issue invoices, possibly multiple branches, and a product catalogue to map to the right tax treatment. So registering a company for eTIMS is onboarding under the company PIN and then configuring users, branches and products so the whole operation issues compliant invoices consistently. Because the exact company onboarding steps change, confirm them with KRA.
A company registers in its own name, which sounds obvious and is the exact thing that trips people up in practice: invoices are issued under the company PIN, not a director’s personal one, and a director’s PIN is not an acceptable substitute on a day when the usual person is unavailable.
That makes authority and access worth settling deliberately. Decide which people can act on the account, where the credentials live, and what happens when that person leaves. Credentials held informally by whoever set them up is the arrangement most companies drift into, and it fails at the least convenient moment.
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How to register your company
A practical path for a Kenyan business.
- 1
Use the company KRA PIN
Register and issue invoices under the company's KRA PIN, not a director's personal PIN.
- 2
Onboard the company onto eTIMS
Complete eTIMS onboarding for the company and choose the option that suits its size and setup.
- 3
Set up users and branches
Add the users who issue invoices and configure any branches so the whole company is covered.
- 4
Configure products and go live
Map products to the right tax treatment, then issue and verify a compliant invoice before going live.
- 5
Register under the company PIN
Not a director’s. An invoice issued under a personal PIN is not an invoice from the company.
- 6
Record who holds access, and where
Write it with the company’s other records so a resignation does not become a lockout.
Common mistakes to avoid
Registering under a director's personal PIN
A company issues invoices under the company PIN. Using a personal PIN tangles the company's records.
Forgetting users and branches
A company often has multiple users and branches. Set them up so everyone issues compliant invoices consistently.
Skipping product setup
Without products mapped to the right treatment, company invoices fail validation. Configure them before go-live.
A company onboards its branches
A company in Nairobi with two branches initially had a director issuing some invoices under a personal PIN, which muddled the company's records.
It registered properly under the company PIN, added the users at each branch, configured the product catalogue with correct tax treatment, and verified a test invoice.
Every branch and user now issued compliant invoices under the company PIN, and the company's records were clean and consistent.
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 makes this simple
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, 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, terminal included on annual billing and a 30-day money-back guarantee. See how Veira works, or book a free demo.
Frequently asked questions
How does a company register for eTIMS?
Can I use a director's PIN for the company?
How do I set up multiple users and branches?
What if my company invoices fail validation?
Do I register eTIMS under the company PIN or the director’s?
What happens if the person holding eTIMS access leaves?
Can a company have more than one eTIMS user?
Does Veira handle this for me?
Where do I confirm the current rules?
how to register a company for eTIMS is straightforward once you know the essentials, and with a compliant system like Veira the day-to-day part is handled for you. See how Veira works, or book a free demo. Reconcile recorded sales against transmitted invoices each month, and most of the compliance question answers itself.
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