Get started with Veira

The Veira business glossary.

72 Kenyan SME terms explained in plain English. Every entry connects to a tool, a feature or a guide.

Side-by-side: Till vs Paybill, eTIMS vs ETR and more

Direct answers to the questions owners search

Calculators for VAT, PAYE, margin and M-Pesa fees

Full guides on eTIMS, M-Pesa and running a shop

Finance

Gross Profit Margin

Profit kept on every shilling of sale, before operating costs.

Net Profit Margin

Profit kept after all costs, expressed as % of sales.

Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)

The direct cost of what you actually sold in a period.

Markup vs Margin

Markup uses cost as the base. Margin uses selling price.

Money in minus money out, in a period.

Working Capital

Current assets minus current liabilities.

Cash Conversion Cycle

Days from buying stock to collecting cash.

Business Valuation

What a business is actually worth to a buyer, not what it cost you.

Break-Even Point

The sales level where you stop losing money and start making it.

Fixed Costs vs Variable Costs

Fixed costs stay the same regardless of sales. Variable costs move with them.

SACCO (Savings and Credit Co-operative)

A member-owned co-operative that takes savings and lends to its members.

An informal Kenyan savings and investment group, usually among friends, family or colleagues.

BOSA (Back Office Service Activity)

The core co-operative side of a SACCO: member deposits that build borrowing capacity.

FOSA (Front Office Service Activity)

The banking-style front counter some SACCOs operate, with withdrawable accounts.

SACCO Share Capital

Your ownership stake in a SACCO. Generally not withdrawable while you remain a member.

SACCO Member Deposits

Accumulated member contributions. The balance your borrowing capacity is measured against.

Loan Multiplier

The factor a SACCO applies to your deposits to set your borrowing ceiling.

Guarantor (SACCO)

A member who commits their own deposits against another member's loan.

A return paid on share capital, declared at the annual general meeting.

Interest Rebate (SACCO)

A return paid on member deposits, separate from the dividend on share capital.

The assessment a SACCO makes before approving a loan.

Borrowing more on an existing loan, with the old balance settled from the new one.

Loan Refinancing

Replacing an existing loan with a new one, usually on different terms.

Loan Restructuring

Changing the terms of a loan a borrower is struggling to service.

Loan Rescheduling

Changing when a loan is repaid, without necessarily changing the amount owed.

Non-Performing Loan (NPL)

A loan on which repayment has fallen sufficiently behind to be classified as impaired.

Inventory

Inventory Turnover

How many times your stock cycles in a year.

Days of Inventory (DOH)

How many days your current stock would last at current sales.

Inventory that has not sold within a category threshold.

Stock Reorder Point (ROP)

The stock level that triggers a reorder.

Buffer inventory to absorb demand spikes and supplier delays.

Days from order placed to stock received.

Stock Shrinkage

The gap between recorded and actual stock.

Sales & POS

Point of Sale (POS)

The system that takes payment and prints a receipt.

Average Transaction Value (ATV)

Revenue divided by number of transactions.

Kenya’s dominant mobile money platform.

Till vs Paybill

Till = walk-in counter. Paybill = invoiced with reference.

Till Reconciliation

Matching POS sales to physical/M-Pesa receipts at end of day.

Sales Conversion Rate

Percentage of visitors who become buyers.

An M-Pesa prompt that pops up on a customer's phone asking them to enter their PIN to pay.

eTIMS & KRA

ETR (Electronic Tax Register)

Kenya's legacy electronic tax receipt system, now replaced by eTIMS.

A tax-recognised sales receipt issued through an Electronic Tax Register.

The physical device VAT businesses once had to use to issue tax-compliant receipts.

Electronic Tax Register

A digital system that records sales for tax compliance, now usually software.

eTIMS (Electronic Tax Invoice Management System)

KRA’s digital invoicing system that replaced ETR.

A tax invoice that shows net, VAT and gross.

Monthly KRA filing of output VAT minus input VAT.

Personal Identification Number issued by KRA for tax matters.

Turnover Tax (TOT)

A simplified tax on gross sales for small businesses below the VAT threshold.

Withholding Tax

Tax deducted at source by the payer before paying certain suppliers or professionals.

HR & Payroll

PAYE (Pay As You Earn)

Monthly income tax deducted from salaries by employers.

SHIF (Social Health Insurance Fund)

The 2.75% health contribution that replaced NHIF in October 2024.

NSSF (National Social Security Fund)

Pension contribution: 6% employee + 6% employer up to KES 108,000 (from Feb 2026).

Salary before any deductions.

Take-home pay after all statutory deductions.

Deductions taken from salary by an employer and remitted directly to a SACCO.

Marketing

Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)

Total gross profit one customer brings over their lifetime.

Business Structure & Legal

Sole Proprietorship vs Limited Company

A sole proprietorship is you and the business as one; a limited company is a separate legal person.

AGPO (Access to Government Procurement Opportunities)

A Kenyan government program reserving a share of public tenders for youth, women and PWD-owned businesses.

SASRA (Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority)

The Kenyan authority that licenses and supervises regulated SACCOs.

Deposit-Taking SACCO (DT SACCO)

A SACCO licensed by SASRA to take withdrawable deposits from members.

Non-Withdrawable Deposit Taking SACCO (NWDT SACCO)

A SACCO taking only non-withdrawable member deposits, with no front office.

Co-operative Society

A member-owned body registered under Kenya's co-operative law. Every SACCO is one; not every one is a SACCO.

The shared characteristic that defines who may join a particular SACCO.

Capital Adequacy

Whether a regulated SACCO holds enough capital against the risks it carries.

The permanent capital base of a SACCO, as defined in the regulations.

Institutional Capital

The part of a SACCO's capital built from retained surplus rather than member subscriptions.

Liquidity (SACCO)

Whether a SACCO can meet withdrawals and commitments as they fall due.

AGM (Annual General Meeting)

The members' meeting where a SACCO's accounts are approved and distributions declared.

Bylaws (Co-operative)

The registered rules governing a SACCO: membership, governance, meetings and surplus.

Supervisory Committee

The elected member body that oversees a SACCO's board and controls.

The periodic reports a regulated SACCO files with its regulator.

Knowing the terms is one thing; having software that handles them is another. Veira issues eTIMS invoices, reconciles M-Pesa and tracks stock, so most of the words on this page become things you no longer have to think about.

Get started with Veira See how Veira works

Need help, or want to talk it through first? Chat with us on WhatsApp