eTIMS Compliance Checklist: Is Your Pharmacy Ready?
Printing a receipt and being eTIMS-compliant are not the same thing. KRA's electronic invoicing requirements go beyond producing a piece of paper at checkout — they cover how the invoice is generated, what data it carries, and whether it is actually transmitted to KRA in the required format. Many pharmacies discover gaps only when an audit or a customer dispute forces a closer look.
The checklist
- Every sale generates an invoice through an eTIMS-compliant system, not just a generic till receipt.
- VAT is broken down per line item on the invoice, matching each product's correct classification.
- Invoices carry the required KRA reference information, not just a store-generated receipt number.
- Returns and refunds generate proper credit notes linked back to the original invoice, rather than being handled as a verbal adjustment or a manually edited receipt.
- Your business's KRA PIN and registration details are correctly configured in the system and appear on every invoice.
- Reports can be generated showing total invoiced sales and VAT collected over any given period, ready for filing.
A receipt printer is not a compliance strategy
A till that prints a receipt-shaped piece of paper says nothing about whether the underlying invoice data meets KRA's eTIMS format and reporting requirements. The two are easy to confuse and only one of them protects you in an audit.
Where pharmacies most often fall short
The most common gap is not having no system at all — it is having a system that handles cash sales correctly but breaks down on edge cases: returns, partial refunds, split payments, and insurance-covered sales. Each of these still needs to produce a compliant invoice trail, and a setup that was never tested against them tends to quietly skip the requirement rather than fail loudly.
See PharmaPOS handle this in your own pharmacy.
Getting from "mostly compliant" to fully compliant
The fastest way to find out where the gaps actually are is to run a full day of representative transactions — cash, M-Pesa, split payment, a return, and an insurance-covered sale — through the system and check that every single one produces a correct, compliant invoice. If you want to see what that looks like end to end before changing anything in your own setup, the live demo walks through exactly this with sample data.
eTIMS compliance is not a one-time setup task. New products, new payment methods, and new staff all introduce small chances for the chain to break. A periodic check against this list — not just a one-time installation — is what actually keeps a pharmacy audit-ready.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does printing a receipt mean a pharmacy is eTIMS-compliant?
Not necessarily. eTIMS compliance depends on the invoice data format and whether it is transmitted to KRA correctly — not just on whether a receipt-shaped document is printed at checkout.
What transaction types most often break eTIMS compliance?
Returns, partial refunds, split payments, and insurance-covered sales are the most common gaps, since systems are often only tested against straightforward cash sales.
How often should a pharmacy check its eTIMS compliance?
Periodically, not just at initial setup — new products, payment methods, and staff can all introduce gaps over time.
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