eTIMS for spare parts shops

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. Garages and fleet operators are business customers who need invoices to claim the cost, and they reconcile those invoices against job cards. Part numbers on the invoice are not cosmetic; they are what the customer matches against.

A retailer of vehicle parts and accessories, selling to garages, fleet operators and individual owners.

How stock behaves in this trade

Tens of thousands of part numbers that fit specific models and years, where the wrong part number is a returned sale and slow-moving parts for older models tie up capital indefinitely. The usual lines are engine and service parts, filters, oils and consumables, body parts and panels and tyres and batteries.

What invoicing actually looks like here

Garages and fleet operators are business customers who need invoices to claim the cost, and they reconcile those invoices against job cards. Part numbers on the invoice are not cosmetic; they are what the customer matches against.

What tends to go wrong

• Part-number accuracy and returns
• Deep, slow-moving stock for older models
• Garage credit accounts running over
• Genuine versus aftermarket pricing confusion

Customers here usually pay by m-pesa, cash, garage credit accounts and fleet account billing.

How customers pay in this trade

Payment in a spare parts shop usually comes through m-pesa, cash, garage credit accounts and fleet account billing. 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
• invoice contents
• customer pin
• credit notes

What the rules say

Common questions

More for spare parts shops

• Who must comply for spare parts shops
• Registering for eTIMS for spare parts shops
• Choosing an eTIMS channel for spare parts shops
• Issuing an eTIMS invoice for spare parts shops
• Credit and debit notes for spare parts shops
• Expenses and deductibility for spare parts shops
• Working offline for spare parts shops
• Records and audit for spare parts shops
• VAT registration for spare parts shops
• Turnover Tax for spare parts shops
• What eTIMS costs for spare parts shops
• Stock and inventory control for spare parts shops
• M-Pesa reconciliation for spare parts shops
• Staff and shrinkage for spare parts shops
• Choosing a POS system for spare parts shops
• Pricing and margin for spare parts shops
• Suppliers and purchase records for spare parts shops

Related trades

• Garages
• Hardware stores
• Electronics shops

Where spare parts shops cluster

Spare parts shops are a named sector in 6 of the towns covered here.

• Spare parts shops in Thika
• Spare parts shops in Kitale
• Spare parts shops in Kitengela
• Spare parts shops in Voi
• Spare parts shops in Narok
• Spare parts shops in Webuye