The short answer
Whether a business in this trade has to issue eTIMS invoices follows from the rules that apply to any Kenyan business, not from the trade itself; the rules on who must comply are what decide it. What the trade changes is the shape of the job. Invoice trade where the document often has to separate the agency fee from pass-through media spend, because the client treats the two differently and so does the tax position.
A creative or marketing firm billing for campaigns, production and media, often passing through third-party costs.
How stock behaves in this trade
No inventory, but pass-through media and production costs that must be billed accurately and separated from the agency's own fee. The usual lines are campaign and creative work, media buying, production and content and retainer management.
What invoicing actually looks like here
Invoice trade where the document often has to separate the agency fee from pass-through media spend, because the client treats the two differently and so does the tax position.
What tends to go wrong
- Pass-through costs absorbed instead of billed
- Client approvals delaying invoicing
- Withholding tax on professional fees
- Freelancer costs against project margins
Customers here usually pay by bank transfer, m-pesa and corporate accounts.
How customers pay in this trade
Payment in a agency usually comes through bank transfer, m-pesa and corporate accounts. That mix decides how hard reconciliation is: every separate channel is a separate record that has to agree with the sales it paid for, and the trades that struggle most are the ones running three or four at once without anything joining them up.
Compliance angles that apply to this trade
- vat registration
- withholding tax
- invoice contents
- customer pin
- digital service tax
What the rules say
This page explains how a requirement generally works. It is not tax advice, and it cannot account for the specifics of any one business. For a position you intend to rely on, confirm with KRA directly or with a registered tax agent.
Tax rules in Kenya change with each Finance Act and with regulations made during the year. Before acting on any figure, deadline or threshold, check the current position on KRA's own website.
What we are not stating here. Some of the specific requirements relating to this topic have not yet been verified against their primary source by our reviewer, so they are withheld from this page rather than stated from memory. That means you will not find a threshold, rate, deadline or penalty figure below. For those, check KRA directly. Everything else on this page explains how the mechanism works and is not affected.
Common questions
Does a agency need to issue a tax invoice for every sale?
Invoice trade where the document often has to separate the agency fee from pass-through media spend, because the client treats the two differently and so does the tax position.
What usually goes wrong with records in a agency?
The recurring problems in this trade are pass-through costs absorbed instead of billed; client approvals delaying invoicing; withholding tax on professional fees; freelancer costs against project margins. Each of them shows up in the records before it shows up in the bank balance.
How should a agency keep stock records?
No inventory, but pass-through media and production costs that must be billed accurately and separated from the agency's own fee. Records that do not reflect that pattern will not tell you anything useful, whatever system produces them.
How do I know this information is current?
Tax rules in Kenya change with each Finance Act and with regulations made during the year. Before acting on any figure, deadline or threshold, check the current position on KRA's own website.
More for agencies
- Who must comply for agencies
- Registering for eTIMS for agencies
- Choosing an eTIMS channel for agencies
- Issuing an eTIMS invoice for agencies
- Credit and debit notes for agencies
- Expenses and deductibility for agencies
- Working offline for agencies
- Records and audit for agencies
- VAT registration for agencies
- Turnover Tax for agencies
- What eTIMS costs for agencies
- Stock and inventory control for agencies
- M-Pesa reconciliation for agencies
- Staff and shrinkage for agencies
- Choosing a POS system for agencies
- Pricing and margin for agencies
- Suppliers and purchase records for agencies
Related trades
Sources
- officialeTIMS (Electronic Tax Invoice Management System) — Kenya Revenue Authority, checked 2026-09-18
- officialValue Added Tax Act, 2013 (Act No. 35 of 2013) — National Council for Law Reporting (Kenya Law), checked 2026-09-18
- officialKenya Revenue Authority — Kenya Revenue Authority, checked 2026-09-18