The short answer
eTIMS Client is software installed on a machine at the business and eTIMS Lite on USSD is a lightweight channel for businesses issuing few invoices. The choice follows from how your business issues invoices: how many, how fast, and whether the connection holds while you do it.
Side by side
| eTIMS Client | eTIMS Lite on USSD | |
|---|---|---|
| Kind of thing | An application installed on a device the business owns, rather than a page in a browser. | A USSD menu dialled from any mobile phone, working over the mobile network rather than over data. |
| Runs on | Windows, Android, a laptop, a desktop, a smartphone, a tablet | a basic phone, a smartphone |
| Connection | Copes with drops | Mobile network, not data |
| Invoice rhythm | Steady, through the trading day | Occasional, a few invoices |
eTIMS Client
Software installed on a machine at the business. KRA documents a Windows option and an Android one, so this covers both a counter PC and a handset. Steady invoicing through the day from a fixed point. It assumes there is a counter and that the counter has a machine on it.
eTIMS Lite on USSD
The USSD route into eTIMS Lite: a shortcode dialled from a phone, with no app and no smartphone required. Single, short invoices. The format itself sets the ceiling: what fits through a USSD menu is what you can issue.
How to choose between them
Our reading, not a rule. Nothing below is a statement of what KRA requires.
eTIMS Client gets awkward when
A business with no machine of its own, where a handset is the only computer. Several branches, because each one is a separate installation to keep current. Anywhere nobody is responsible for updates, which is how a working setup quietly stops working.
eTIMS Lite on USSD gets awkward when
Invoices with more than a couple of lines, because a USSD session is a small window. Anything you need a copy of on a screen afterwards. A session that times out halfway, which is the normal frustration of the format.
What the rules say
Stated by the publisher from the cited KRA material. Our reviewer has not yet re-checked it against the source, so confirm anything you are about to act on with KRA directly.
KRA identifies several categories of eTIMS solution, among them eTIMS Online, the eTIMS Client, eTIMS Lite, system-to-system integration, reverse invoicing and buyer-initiated invoicing. Which one suits a business depends on how it issues invoices rather than on what it sells.
KRA documents eTIMS Client options for Windows and for Android, and makes eTIMS Lite reachable through eCitizen, through USSD and as a mobile solution.
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.
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.
Common questions
Which is better, eTIMS Client or eTIMS Lite on USSD?
Neither, as a general matter. They assume different invoicing patterns, and the one that suits a business follows from how many invoices it issues and how reliable its connection is.
When would eTIMS Client be the wrong choice?
A business with no machine of its own, where a handset is the only computer.
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.
Sources
- officialeTIMS (Electronic Tax Invoice Management System) — Kenya Revenue Authority, checked 2026-09-18
- officialKenya Revenue Authority — Kenya Revenue Authority, checked 2026-09-18