Signing up and onboarding on eTIMS step by step
How a Kenyan business registers for eTIMS and completes onboarding before its first electronic tax invoice, what it costs and where to get help.
By Achekam · · 4 min read · For Running a business businesses in Kenya
The first electronic tax invoice is the one that takes longest. Before it, there is a sign-up, a description of your business, a choice of solution and an installation or set-up, and each step can stall if you do not know what comes next. It is easy to put it off for that reason alone.
The process has become simpler over time. KRA now lets businesses onboard themselves without waiting for KRA to approve a request. This article walks through the steps in order, explains what is free and what may cost money, says where to get help, and shows how to set up your accounting records to sit beside eTIMS.
Who has to onboard, and where it starts
KRA says every VAT-registered taxpayer must onboard on eTIMS by signing up through etims.kra.go.ke. VAT registration is not the only trigger, though: businesses that are not registered for VAT also have to issue eTIMS invoices, as explained in eTIMS when your business is not registered for VAT.
Have these ready before you start:
- your KRA PIN and iTax login;
- a short, accurate description of what the business sells, goods, services or both;
- the device or phone you plan to invoice from;
- the name of the person who will be responsible for eTIMS day to day.
Step one: register and describe the business
Older KRA guidance describes onboarding as signing up and sending a service request. KRA's newer onboarding page says taxpayers can now self-onboard on eTIMS without KRA approving a service request. There is still one step before anything is installed: KRA says you must first register for eTIMS by giving details of the nature of your business.
Take care with that description. It shapes which solution makes sense for you, and a vague answer can lead you to a tool that does not fit how you sell.
KRA's guide on how to onboard on eTIMS sets out self-onboarding, registering the nature of your business first, and the guides for each solution.
Step two: choose and set up a solution
Once registered, you set up the solution you will invoice with. KRA says onboarding on the online portal follows a published step-by-step guide once the taxpayer has registered for eTIMS. Other solutions, such as the eTIMS Client or eTIMS Lite, have their own set-up.
If you have not yet decided which solution suits you, read choosing the right eTIMS solution before this step. Switching later is possible but takes effort.
Whichever you pick, write down the set-up: which solution, which device, and who holds the login. If you choose the eTIMS Client, that note matters more than usual, because KRA says changing devices within the eTIMS Client needs KRA's help. A laptop that is lost, stolen or replaced should not be the moment you discover nobody knows how invoicing was set up.
What is free, and when you might pay
KRA says eTIMS solutions are provided free of charge and include a stock management module. It adds that eTIMS software, including the online portal and the eTIMS Client, is free, but that businesses integrating their own invoicing system may incur costs if they use an approved third-party integrator.
So, for most small and medium businesses, onboarding itself should cost nothing beyond your time and a suitable device. If someone offers to "register you on eTIMS" for a fee, be clear about what you are paying for: help with set-up is a service, while KRA says the software itself is free.
Getting help
KRA offers help in person and by phone. It says taxpayers can get help at any KRA tax service office, or at the eTIMS operation unit at the JKUAT building, 8th floor, Kenyatta Avenue.
KRA's public notice on onboarding non-VAT taxpayers directs enquiries to its contact centre on 020 4 999 999 or 0711 099 999, or by e-mail to callcentre@kra.go.ke. Have your PIN ready when you call, and note the name of whoever helps you and what they advised.
Setting up a Kenyan workspace in Achekam
If you keep your books in Achekam, set up the workspace as Kenyan from the beginning. A workspace can be registered as Kenyan at sign-up. That makes the Kenya pack (KE_ICPAK_2026) its default and, on activation, sets the shilling (KES) and the Africa/Nairobi time zone, unless they were already set. The general set-up steps for a Kenyan business are in setting up a Nigerian or Kenyan business workspace.
Achekam does not issue eTIMS invoices itself today. When automatic sending is not available, a Kenyan business downloads the e-invoice file, issues it through eTIMS, and records the identifiers eTIMS returned. Those identifiers are the control-unit invoice number, internal data and receipt signature, and a second person verifies them before Achekam treats the invoice as fiscalised. Agree now who that second person will be.
A first-week checklist once onboarding is done
- Issue a test sale to yourself or a friendly customer, and confirm you can find it on etims.kra.go.ke.
- Check what the customer receives: the invoice details, your PIN and the QR code.
- Record the invoice in your books with its eTIMS identifiers.
- Train whoever invoices when you are away.
- Write down the steps you followed, including any help KRA gave, for the next person.
- Ask your regular customers for their PINs, so their invoices are right from the start.
- Ask your suppliers for eTIMS invoices, so your expenses can be claimed.
Block out one morning for steps one and two. Most of the work is in the first sitting; after that, eTIMS becomes part of making a sale.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
