eTIMS - Overview

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) introduced a new system of online tax invoicing called eTIMS to make the tax compliance and invoicing processes easier for businesses. This allows them to issue invoices online through the KRA and helps improve tax accuracy.

When you connect the eTIMS portal with Zoho Inventory, you can set up branch-wise e-Invoicing in your organisation. You can easily push items, customers, invoices, bills, and users to the eTIMS portal and upload them to the KRA.

Note: The KRA mandates that all businesses, whether VAT-registered taxpayers or non-VAT-registered taxpayers, must switch to eTIMS by 31 March 2024.

Enable Taxpayer Portal in KRA

Prerequisite: Generate the device serial number in your Zoho Inventory organisation to connect with your eTIMS taxpayer portal.

Generate Device Serial Number

If you’re using eTIMS for the first time, you will require a device serial number to set up e-Invoicing in your organisation. This number will be generated for each branch in Zoho Inventory. To generate the device serial number:

Go to Settings.
Select e-Invoicing under Taxes & Compliance.
Click Generate Device Serial Number next to the branch for which you want to set up e-Invoicing.

The device serial number will be generated for the selected location. Once it’s generated, the Steps to Integrate Zoho Inventory With eTIMS pop-up will appear. Simply follow the instructions provided and click Okay, Got It to complete the setup.

Set Up eTIMS Taxpayer Portal

To set up the eTIMS taxpayer portal, you must fill the service request form. Here’s how:

Sign up into the eTIMS taxpayer portal and select the sign up type as Pin.
Enter your organisation’s pin, verify the other details.
Once the sign up process is complete, access the eTIMS portal using the credentials(KRA Pin and Password).
Click Service Request in the portal and select eTIMS as the required service.
The Service Request form will be displayed. Enter the Device Serial Number and the Integration Token, and select the eTIMS Type as OSCU (Online Sales Control Unit).
Click Send.

Note: To generate the integration token, contact our support team at support@zohoinventory.com and share your KRA PIN and Device Serial Number.

After processing your service request form, you’ll receive an SMS within 24 hours, and you can integrate your Zoho Inventory organisation with eTIMS.

Set Up e-Invoicing in Zoho Inventory

Once the processes on the KRA website are complete, you can set up e-Invoicing in your Zoho Inventory organisation. Here’s how:

Go to Settings.
Select e-Invoicing under Taxes & Compliance.
Click Connect Now next to the respective branch.
In the pop-up that appears, the VAT Registration Number and the Device Serial Number will be auto-populated.
Enter the Stock Update Time at which you want to push the end-of-day inventory details to the eTIMS portal.
Click Connect Now.

Your Zoho Inventory organisation is set up with eTIMS, and you can now start pushing your items, contacts, and transactions to the eTIMS Taxpayer portal.

Functions in e-Invoicing

The following actions are available in Zoho Inventory as part of e-Invoicing.

Create Items

Apart from the fields available by default while creating an item, the government mandates additional fields for e-Invoicing.

The mandatory fields for the Items module are:

Fields	Description
Product Type	Select whether the item you created in Zoho Inventory is a Raw Material or a Finished Product. Note that the Product Type under eTIMS Additional Information appears only if the item you created in Zoho Inventory is classified as Goods.
Packaging Unit	Select the packaging unit for the item.
Item Classification Code	Select the item classification code for the item.
Origin Country	Select the country of origin for the item.

Once you create the item with the required details and save it, the item’s status will be marked as Pushed.

Note: You can create transactions for the item only after it is pushed to the eTIMS portal.

Push Items to eTIMS

If the item is not automatically pushed to the eTIMS portal, you must push it manually. Here’s how:

Go to Items on the left sidebar and select Items.
Select the item you want to push to the eTIMS portal.
Click Push to eTIMS in the top right corner of the item’s details page.

The item’s status will be changed to Pushed.

If the push fails, resolve all the errors listed in the item’s details page and try pushing it to the eTIMS portal again.

Note: Similarly, you can also push Composite Items to eTIMS.

You can also push items to eTIMS in bulk. Here’s how:

Go to Items on the left sidebar and select Items.
Click the dropdown next to All Items filter at the top of the page and select Not Pushed for e-Invoicing.
Select the items you want to push to the eTIMS portal and click Push to eTIMS at the top of the item’s list page.

The selected items will be initiated to be pushed to eTIMS. You’ll receive an email when the push succeeds or fails, including the failure reason if any.

Fetch Items from eTIMS

If you have migrated to Zoho Inventory from a different inventory management software and previously pushed items to the eTIMS portal, you can fetch those items into your Zoho Inventory organisation.

To do this:

Go to Items on the left sidebar and select Items.
Click the More icon in the top right corner of the page and select Fetch Items From eTIMS from the dropdown.

The items will be fetched into your Zoho Inventory organisation from the eTIMS portal.

View Fetched Items

To view the items fetched from the eTIMS portal:

Go to Items on the left sidebar and select Items.
Click the More icon in the top right corner of the page and select View Fetched Items from the dropdown.
The list of items fetched from the eTIMS portal will be displayed. The following actions are available on the fetched items:
- Create: Create the fetched item as a new item in your Zoho Inventory organisation.
- Match: Match the fetched item with a similar item already created in your Zoho Inventory organisation.

Once you create or match the fetched item, it will be automatically pushed to the eTIMS portal.

If the push fails, resolve all the errors listed on the item’s details page and try pushing it to the eTIMS portal again.

Create Transfer Order

When you create a transfer order in Zoho Inventory, it will be marked as Initiated Transfer and the first branch’s details are pushed to the eTIMS portal. Once the transfer order’s status is changed to Marked as Transferred, the second branch’s details are pushed to the eTIMS portal.

Create Customers

Apart from the fields available by default while creating a customer, the government mandates additional fields for e-Invoicing.

The mandatory field required for the customers module is:

Field	Description
Branch Code	Enter the branch code where you record the customer’s transactions in your Zoho Inventory organisation.

Once you create a customer with the required details and save it, the customer’s status will be changed to Pushed.

If the push fails, resolve all the errors listed in the customer’s details page and try pushing it to the eTIMS portal again.

You can also push customers to eTIMS in bulk. Here’s how:

Go to Sales on the left sidebar and select Customers.
Click the dropdown next to All Customers filter at the top of the page and select Not Pushed for e-Invoicing.
Select the customers you want to push to the eTIMS portal.
Click the More icon at the top of the page and select Push to eTIMS from the dropdown.

The selected customers will be initiated to be pushed to eTIMS. You’ll receive an email when the push succeeds or fails, including the failure reason if any.

Create Invoices

Once you’ve created an invoice, if transaction approval is enabled, ensure that the approvers have approved it before pushing. To push an invoice to eTIMS:

Go to Sales on the left sidebar and select Invoices.
Select the invoice that you want to push to the eTIMS portal.
On the details page of the invoice, click Push to eTIMS.

The invoice will be pushed to the eTIMS portal. The invoices pushed to the eTIMS portal will additionally contain SCU Information and a QR Code at the bottom of the transaction PDF page. If the push has failed, resolve all the errors listed in the invoice’s details page and try pushing the invoice again.

If you’ve previously pushed invoices to the iTax portal manually or pushed them to eTIMS, they may still appear in your organisation. To prevent pushing them again through eTIMS, you can mark them as pushed. Here’s how:

Go to Sales on the left sidebar and select Invoices.
Select the required invoice.
Click the More icon at the top of the invoice’s Details page and select Mark as Pushed from the dropdown.
In the Associate Push Details pop-up, enter the Receipt Number, Receipt Signature, Date, and Internal Data of the invoice.
Click Save.

The invoice’s status will be changed to Marked as Pushed. Similarly, you can also mark a credit note as pushed.

Create Bills

Prerequisite: To connect to the eTIMS portal, you must enter the VAT Registration Number in the VAT Settings page. This applies to both VAT-registered and non-VAT registered businesses.

Note: If transaction approval is enabled in your organisation, ensure that the bill is approved before pushing it to eTIMS.

To push a bill to eTIMS:

Go to Purchases on the left sidebar and select Bills.
Select the bill you want to push to the eTIMS portal.
On the bill’s details page, click Push to eTIMS.

The bill will be pushed to the eTIMS portal.

As the KRA mandates all businesses to report purchase transactions, you can apply VAT to bills through eTIMS even if your organisation is not registered for VAT.

If you’ve previously pushed bills to the iTax portal manually, they may still appear in your Zoho Inventory organisation. To prevent pushing them again through eTIMS, you can mark them as pushed. Here’s how:

Go to Purchases on the left sidebar and select Bills.
Select the required bill.
Click the More icon at the top of the bill’s details page, and select Mark as Pushed from the dropdown.
In the Associate Push Details pop-up, enter the Receipt Number of the bill that is pushed to eTIMS.
Click Save.

The bill’s status will be changed to Marked as Pushed. Similarly, you can also mark a vendor credit as pushed.

Fetch Bills from eTIMS

If you have migrated to Zoho Inventory from a different inventory management software and previously pushed bills to the eTIMS portal, you can fetch those bills into your Zoho Inventory organisation. Then, you can either match the fetched bills to the bills created in Zoho Inventory or create them as new bills.

To do this:

Go to Purchases on the left sidebar and select Bills.
Click the More icon in the top right corner of the page and select Fetch Bills from eTIMS from the dropdown.

The bills will be fetched from the eTIMS portal.

View Fetched Bills

To view the bills fetched from the eTIMS portal:

Go to Purchases on the left sidebar and select Bills.
Click View Bills at the top of the page to view the bills fetched from the eTIMS portal.
The list of bills fetched from the eTIMS portal will be displayed. You will be able to perform the following actions on the fetched bills:
- Create: Create the fetched bill as a new bill in your Zoho Inventory organisation.
- Match: Match the fetched bill with a similar bill created in your Zoho Inventory organisation.

Once you create or match the fetched bills, they will be pushed to the eTIMS portal.

Fetch Imported Items

You can fetch the imported items from the eTIMS portal and create a bill of entry for them.

To fetch the imported items:

Go to Purchases on the left sidebar and select Bills.
Click the More icon in the top right corner of the page and click Fetch Imported Items from the dropdown.

The imported items will be fetched from the eTIMS portal and you can view them along with the list of fetched bills in your Zoho Inventory organisation.

View Fetched Imported Items

You can view the imported items that are fetched from the eTIMS portal and create a bill of entry for them.

To do this:

Go to Purchases on the left sidebar and select Bills.
Click the More icon in the top right corner of the page and select View Fetched Bills from the dropdown.
Click Create to create a new bill for the item, or click Match to match the line item with an item created in your Zoho Inventory organisation.
Create a bill of entry for the line items.

To create a bill of entry:

Go to Purchases on the left sidebar and select Bills.
Select the bill for which you want to create a bill of entry.
Click the More icon at the top of the bill’s details page and select Create Bill of Entry from the dropdown.
In the bill of entry creation page, enter the required details and click Save.

Once you create a bill of entry for the imported item, the bill of entry will be marked as Pushed. If the push fails, resolve all the errors listed in the bill of entry’s details page and try pushing it to the eTIMS portal again.

Create User

Apart from the fields available by default while inviting a user to your organisation, the government mandates additional fields for e-Invoicing.

The mandatory fields for inviting a new user to your organisation include:

Fields	Description
Address	Enter the address of the user.
Contact Number	Enter the contact number of the user.
Remarks	Enter remarks for the user you want to invite to your organisation.

Once you provide these details, select the branch for which you are inviting the user and click Invite.

Push Users to eTIMS

Once the user is invited to your Zoho Inventory organisation, you must push the user to the eTIMS portal. Here’s how:

Go to Settings.
Select Users under Users & Roles.
Select the required user you want to push to the eTIMS portal.
Click Push to eTIMS in the top right corner of the page.
Click Push.

The user will be marked as Pushed in your Zoho Inventory organisation, and will be able to access the eTIMS portal set up for e-Invoicing in your organisation.

Statuses in e-Invoicing

Here are the statuses related to e-Invoicing in Zoho Inventory:

Status	Description
Pushed	The transaction has been pushed to the eTIMS portal, and a QR code has been generated.
Yet to be Pushed	The transaction is yet to be pushed to the eTIMS portal for e-Invoicing.
Failed	The transaction could not be pushed to the eTIMS portal. Resolve the errors listed in the transaction’s details page and try pushing it again.

Other Actions

Let us have a look at the various actions that can be performed on the e-Invoicing page.

View Notices

You can view the notices sent by the KRA or the eTIMS portal within your Zoho Inventory organisation.

To view the notices:

Go to Settings.
Select e-Invoicing under Taxes & Compliance.
Click View Notices next to the respective branch ID for which you want to view notices.

A list of notices will be displayed in the right pane. Click View next to the respective notice to view it on the KRA website.

View Details

To view other details about the e-Invoicing set up in your Zoho Inventory organisation with the eTIMS portal:

Go to Settings.
Select e-Invoicing under Taxes & Compliance.
On the e-Invoicing page, click the More icon next to the respective branch ID and select View Details from the dropdown.

Fetch Code List

The code list includes codes for taxation type, country, payment type, quantity unit, etc., that are part of the transaction details pushed to the eTIMS portal. You can fetch and view the code list in your Zoho Inventory organisation. Here’s how:

Go to Settings.
Select e-Invoicing under Taxes & Compliance.
On the e-Invoicing page, click the More icon next to the required branch ID and select Fetch Code List from the dropdown.

The code list will be fetched from the eTIMS portal. To view the fetched code list:

On the e-Invoicing page, click the More icon next to the required branch ID and select View Details from the dropdown.
Switch to the Additional Details tab.
Click the required section to view the list of codes fetched from the eTIMS portal.

Fetch Item Classification Code

The item classification code includes different codes for VAT Act, Goods, Exempt Goods, etc. used for pushing item details to the eTIMS portal. You can fetch and view these codes in your Zoho Inventory organisation. Here’s how:

Go to Settings.
Select e-Invoicing under Taxes & Compliance.
On the e-Invoicing page, click the More icon next to the required branch ID and select Fetch Code List from the dropdown.

The item classification codes will be fetched from the eTIMS portal. To view them:

On the e-Invoicing page, click the More icon next to the required branch ID and select View Details from the dropdown.
Switch to the Additional Details tab.
Click Item Classification Code.

You can now view the list of codes fetched from the eTIMS portal.