Free Invoice Generator (Kenya)

Every business, not only VAT-registered ones, must issue its invoices through KRA's electronic Tax Invoice Management System (eTIMS). That includes sellers of VAT-exempt services such as private schools, clinics and tour operators, and anyone filing turnover tax or rental income tax. The software is free. Sign up at etims.kra.go.ke and pick a solution: the eTIMS Lite web version on eCitizen, the *222# USSD menu for sole proprietors, the eTIMS Lite mobile app, the downloadable eTIMS Client for shops with several tills or branches, or a VSCU or OSCU link if you already run an accounting or point-of-sale system. KRA's service charter promises automatic approval of onboarding within one day.

If you buy from a farmer or a small trader whose annual turnover is not above KSh 5 million, you raise the invoice yourself through Buyer Initiated Invoicing on eCitizen or *222#. Enter the seller's ID or PIN, the goods, quantity and price; the seller gets an SMS and must accept within 30 days or the invoice is rejected automatically. The system refuses buyer-initiated invoices for VAT-registered sellers.

An invoice typed in Word or exported as a PDF from ordinary software is not a tax invoice in Kenya: section 23A of the Tax Procedures Act requires invoices used to work out tax to be generated through eTIMS. Salaries, imports, air tickets, interest, bank charges and payments to non-residents without a permanent establishment are outside the rule. Since 1 July 2026, if KRA rejects your reasons for not issuing an electronic invoice, the penalty is 5% of the tax due or, if higher, KSh 100,000 for a company and KSh 10,000 for an individual (section 86, as replaced by the Finance Act 2026).