The reports that make compliance easy
eTIMS records a lot of data, and the value comes from pulling the right reports from it. The reports a Kenyan business actually needs are practical: transmitted sales totalled by tax rate, the purchase invoices received against your PIN, and a reconciliation that ties both to your books.
These reports do two jobs. At filing time, sales by standard, zero-rated and exempt give you the figures for your VAT and income tax returns directly, so filing is a summary rather than a reconstruction. In a KRA review, the same organised data means you can show what you sold, what you bought and how it reconciles, quickly, which is the difference between a smooth review and a stressful one. Confirm the current return formats with KRA.
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. The exposure is driven by the gap between recorded sales and transmitted invoices, which is why reconciling monthly does more to limit it than knowing any particular figure.
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How to use eTIMS reports
A practical path for a Kenyan business. Work through it in order.
- 1
Pull sales by tax rate for the period
Total transmitted sales split into standard, zero-rated and exempt. This feeds your VAT and income tax returns directly.
- 2
Pull received purchase invoices
Total the compliant purchase invoices issued to your PIN, which supports your expenses and input VAT.
- 3
Run a reconciliation against your books
Match the eTIMS figures to your books and resolve any differences before you file.
- 4
Keep the reports with your records
Retain the period reports so the same organised data is available if KRA reviews your business.
- 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. Thresholds, exemptions and deadlines are revised, so a figure quoted anywhere carries a date whether or not it shows one.
Common mistakes to avoid
Only looking at totals, not splits
A single sales total is not enough. You need the standard, zero-rated and exempt splits, which is what your return and a review rely on.
Pulling reports only at the deadline
Running reports as you go catches issues early. Leaving them to the deadline means errors surface under pressure.
Not keeping the reports
The reports are part of your records. Keep them so a review is quick rather than a scramble.
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.
An owner prepares for a review
An owner in Nairobi received notice of a KRA review and, on the old manual setup, would have spent days assembling sales and purchase figures from scattered records.
Because the business used a compliant system, the owner pulled sales by tax rate, the received purchase invoices and a reconciliation in minutes, all already organised.
The review went smoothly because the data told a clear, consistent story, rather than being reconstructed under pressure.
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, terminal included on annual billing and a 30-day money-back guarantee. See how Veira works, or book a free demo.
Frequently asked questions
What reports can I get from eTIMS?
Which eTIMS report do I need for VAT filing?
How do eTIMS reports help in a KRA review?
How often should I pull reports?
Does Veira generate these reports?
Does Veira handle this automatically?
How much does eTIMS-compliant software cost?
eTIMS reports 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. Reconcile recorded sales against transmitted invoices each month, and most of the compliance question answers itself.
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