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Kenya Invoice Template: Field Reference and eTIMS Rules

This is a reference layout for invoices in Kenya: your KRA PIN, your customer's KRA PIN, the VAT treatment of each supply and the totals in Kenyan shillings. Use it to plan and check your data, as a quotation or pro forma, or as a courtesy copy. It is not a valid Kenyan tax invoice. The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) requires all persons carrying on business, including those not registered for VAT, to generate and transmit their invoices through the electronic Tax Invoice Management System (eTIMS) from 1 September 2023. Since 1 January 2024, a business expense not supported by a valid electronic tax invoice is not deductible for income tax. A printed copy of this layout, or a PDF made in InvoiceQuickly, is not an eTIMS invoice, so your customer could not use it to claim the expense or the input VAT. KRA's eTIMS solutions are free. The layout downloads as an editable HTML file.

Preview this editable document

Download the HTML file to edit its fields, then print or save as PDF. Totals are entered manually.

What This Template Includes

  • Supplier KRA PIN
  • Customer KRA PIN (business customers)
  • VAT treatment: 16%, zero-rated (0%) or exempt
  • Amounts in Kenyan shillings (KES)
  • eTIMS invoice number (on the copy, once issued in eTIMS)
  • Original eTIMS invoice number (for a credit note)

How to fill in this Kenya Invoice

  1. Download the template. It opens as an editable HTML file in your browser.
  2. Replace each bracketed field with your details. Totals are not calculated for you, so check the arithmetic.
  3. Print it or save it as a PDF from your browser. InvoiceQuickly does not create or store this document type.

Recommended Payment Terms

Agree payment terms with your customer in writing and state them on the invoice, for example "Payment within 30 days of the invoice date". Add how you want to be paid: your bank account details, or your M-PESA Paybill or Till number with the account reference the customer should use (such as the invoice number), so you can match each payment to its invoice.

Tax Information

KRA lists two VAT rates: 16%, the general rate for all taxable goods and services other than zero-rated supplies, and 0% for the supplies in the Second Schedule to the VAT Act, 2013. The former 8% rate on petroleum products was deleted by the Finance Act, 2023. Exempt supplies (First Schedule) carry no VAT, and a business making only exempt supplies does not register for VAT. KRA states that a tax invoice should be serially numbered and generated from eTIMS. VAT returns and payment are due by the 20th of the following month, and a VAT-registered buyer can deduct input tax only within six months after the end of the period of the supply. InvoiceQuickly cannot produce Kenyan tax invoices: it has no eTIMS connection, copies saved tax IDs to new invoice PDFs, and KES is not one of the currencies offered in its invoice editor.

Industry context (2026)

Kenya introduced electronic tax invoices through the VAT (Electronic Tax Invoice) Regulations, 2020 (Legal Notice 189), and the Finance Act, 2023 extended the obligation to every business. KRA's public notice of 27 December 2023 set 1 January 2024 as the date from which expenses without a valid electronic tax invoice stop being deductible. KRA is now enforcing this in returns: from 1 January 2026, for 2025 income tax returns, iTax validates claimed expenses and purchases against the TIMS/eTIMS invoices transmitted under the buyer's PIN, and declared turnover against TIMS/eTIMS sales, citing section 16(1)(c) of the Income Tax Act (KRA, iTax Enhancements, December 2025 and January 2026). KRA provides the eTIMS software free of charge; businesses that use an approved third-party integrator may pay that integrator.

Worked example

Wanjiru Digital, a VAT-registered web developer in Nairobi, builds a booking website for Pwani Safaris Ltd in Mombasa (an illustrative example). Lines: website design and build KES 120,000.00; hosting setup and first-year configuration KES 30,000.00. Subtotal KES 150,000.00, VAT at 16% KES 24,000.00, total KES 174,000.00. She first sends the figures on this layout as a quotation. After the work is done, she issues the tax invoice in eTIMS (KRA describes the Online Portal for service-only businesses), with her KRA PIN and Pwani Safaris' KRA PIN, and gives her M-PESA Paybill number for payment. Because the invoice is transmitted under the buyer's PIN, Pwani Safaris (VAT-registered) can claim KES 24,000.00 as input VAT and the KES 150,000.00 as a business expense in its income tax return. If part of the work is later cancelled, the credit note must be raised in the same eTIMS solution as the original invoice. In a non-VAT variant, a sole-proprietor photographer billing KES 40,000.00 charges no VAT but still issues the invoice through eTIMS, for example eTIMS Lite by USSD (*222#).

Common mistakes to avoid

Issuing PDF or paper invoices outside eTIMS

Your customer cannot deduct the expense or claim the input VAT, and KRA's notices refer to penalties in law for failing to issue electronic tax invoices. Issue every sale in eTIMS.

Missing or wrong customer KRA PIN

KRA matches the buyer's claimed expenses to eTIMS invoices by PIN. A missing or mistyped PIN means the purchase does not show up for your customer.

Assuming non-VAT businesses are exempt from eTIMS

VAT registration and eTIMS are separate. Sole proprietors, turnover tax payers and suppliers of exempt services must still issue eTIMS invoices.

Raising a credit note in a different eTIMS solution

Each solution has its own invoice number sequence, and KRA allows a credit note only in the solution where the original invoice was raised.

Charging 16% VAT on zero-rated or exempt supplies

Check the First and Second Schedules to the VAT Act, 2013 for your goods or services before you set the rate.

Invoicing Tips

  • 1Pick the eTIMS solution that fits your business. KRA describes the Online Portal for service-only businesses, eTIMS Client for goods or goods and services, eTIMS Lite on eCitizen, by USSD (*222#, for individuals and sole proprietors) or as a mobile app, and VSCU or OSCU to connect your own invoicing or ERP system.
  • 2Ask business customers for their KRA PIN before you invoice. KRA validates the expenses a buyer claims in its income tax return against the eTIMS purchase invoices transmitted under the buyer's PIN.
  • 3Not registered for VAT? You still need eTIMS. KRA names sole proprietors, schools, hospitals, tours and travel agents and NGOs in business among those that must onboard.
  • 4Buying from a small business or small-scale farmer with annual turnover up to KES 5 million? KRA says the buyer issues the tax invoice on the seller's behalf, using its Buyer Initiated Invoicing solution on eCitizen.
  • 5Check an invoice you receive by scanning its QR code or entering its number in the invoice number checker on the iTax portal.

Related Resources

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need eTIMS if I am not registered for VAT?

Yes. KRA requires all persons carrying on business, including those not registered for VAT, to generate and transmit their invoices through eTIMS from 1 September 2023. Its examples include sole proprietors, schools, hospitals, tours and travel agents and NGOs in business. Without an eTIMS invoice, your business customers cannot deduct what they paid you.

Can I send a PDF or Word invoice to a Kenyan customer?

Not as your tax invoice, if you carry on business in Kenya. Since 1 January 2024, KRA does not allow an income tax deduction for a business expense that is not supported by a valid electronic tax invoice, and VAT-registered buyers also need it to claim input VAT. Issue the invoice in eTIMS. A PDF can go with it as a courtesy copy.

Which expenses do not need an eTIMS invoice?

KRA lists salaries and wages, imports, air passenger ticketing, investment allowances, interest, fees charged by financial institutions, expenses subject to a final withholding tax, and services from a non-resident without a permanent establishment in Kenya. Everything else a business claims must be supported by an electronic tax invoice.

What VAT rate applies in Kenya?

The general rate is 16% on taxable goods and services. Supplies in the Second Schedule to the VAT Act, 2013 are zero-rated at 0%, and those in the First Schedule are exempt. Only a VAT-registered business charges VAT on its invoices.

Can InvoiceQuickly create eTIMS invoices?

No. InvoiceQuickly has no eTIMS connection, copies saved tax IDs to new invoice PDFs and does not offer KES in its invoice editor. Use one of KRA's free eTIMS solutions to issue invoices in Kenya. This layout can serve as a quotation, a data checklist or a courtesy copy.

I am a freelancer outside Kenya. Can I use this template for a Kenyan client?

KRA excludes services from a non-resident person without a permanent establishment in Kenya from the eTIMS invoice requirement for the buyer's expense claim, so an ordinary invoice can work. Add your client's KRA PIN if they ask for it, and check your own country's invoice rules.