How eTIMS and Sage connect
Sage handles your accounting; eTIMS is KRA's compliance layer. Integration is a bridge that takes invoices from Sage, signs and transmits them to eTIMS through your control unit, and returns the control number to record against the invoice.
You connect them through a KRA-certified integrator or middleware that supports Sage. The certification confirms the bridge meets KRA's requirements, which is why it matters.
What actually crosses the bridge is not your Sage invoice document but a structured submission: seller PIN, buyer PIN where the buyer will claim, an item classification code per line, quantity, unit price, tax rate and tax amount. Your control unit signs it and KRA returns an invoice number, which a well-built connection writes back so Sage shows which invoices are cleared.
The mapping between the two is the real project, and it is worth budgeting time for. Sage item codes and tax ledgers reflect how your business has described itself for years; eTIMS wants its own classification and defined rates. Nothing translates itself, and an unmapped line produces a rejection rather than a warning.
Confirm too how corrections will flow, because that is the path most often left until the first return. A credit note has to reference the eTIMS invoice it reverses, so it needs a defined route through the same bridge rather than a manual adjustment posted in Sage.
The mapping between the two is the real project, and it is worth budgeting time for. Sage item codes and tax ledgers reflect how your business has described itself for years; eTIMS wants its own classification and defined rates. Nothing translates itself, and an unmapped line produces a rejection rather than a warning.
Want to see it running in your own business first?
Sign UpHow to set up eTIMS with Sage
- 1
Confirm your eTIMS account and control unit
Ensure the business is registered on eTIMS with its control unit set up, since the integration signs invoices through it.
- 2
Choose a KRA-certified integrator for Sage
Pick a certified integrator or middleware that supports your version of Sage.
- 3
Map items, tax codes and customers
Align Sage items, tax codes and customer records to what eTIMS expects so invoices carry the right classification, tax and buyer details.
- 4
Test in the sandbox
Run test invoices through the eTIMS sandbox to confirm they sign and transmit before affecting real records.
- 5
Go live and reconcile
Switch to live and confirm control numbers flow back into Sage so you can see which invoices are compliant.
- 6
Name your exact Sage product and version
Sage covers several distinct products with different data models. An integrator supporting one is not evidence of support for another, so ask to see it working against yours.
- 7
Define the credit-note path before go-live
A credit note must reference the invoice it reverses, so returns need an agreed route through the bridge rather than a manual adjustment in the ledger.
Mistakes to avoid
Treating Sage as compliant by itself
Sage records the invoice but does not sign and transmit it to KRA without the integration or a compliant POS.
Tax code mismatches
Sage tax codes that do not map to eTIMS tax types cause rejections. Align them first.
No sandbox testing
Going live untested risks failed invoices during real trading. Test first.
Ignoring reconciliation
Without checking control numbers return, you cannot confirm compliance.
A worked example
A distributor running Sage needed to stay compliant without moving off Sage, which its finance team knew well.
It connected Sage to eTIMS through a certified integrator, mapped the tax codes, and tested in the sandbox. After go-live, each Sage invoice was signed and transmitted, and control numbers came back into Sage for reconciliation.
The finance team kept working in Sage as before, with eTIMS handled in the background.
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 helps
For businesses that would rather not run a separate integration, Veira handles eTIMS natively and produces reports you can reconcile with Sage, so compliance happens at the point of sale rather than as a separate process.
That suits shops, restaurants and trade counters that want selling, compliance and records in one step. See how Veira works or book a demo.