ERPNext in Kenya: KRA eTIMS-Ready ERP for Growing Businesses

Inventory gets complicated when stock is held in Nairobi warehouses, Mombasa depots, upcountry branches in Kisumu, Nakuru or Eldoret, and retail outlets across the country. ERPNext records every stock movement in one system, so authorized users can see quantities, values and transfers across all locations in real time and make better purchasing and allocation decisions.

Most imports arrive through the port of Mombasa, and many businesses move goods along the Northern Corridor to Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan and the DRC. Landed cost vouchers add import duty, Import Declaration and Railway Development Levy fees, freight, clearing and transport to the goods received, giving a true shilling cost per item even when suppliers invoice in US dollars. Batch and expiry tracking supports pharmaceutical, food and agro-chemical businesses, while serial numbers help vehicle, equipment and electronics dealers manage warranties and after-sales service.

• Multiple warehouses & branches
• Stock receipts
• Stock transfers
• Stock issues
• Batches & expiry dates
• Serial numbers
• Landed cost vouchers
• Reorder levels
• Stock valuation in KES
• Delivery notes
• Inventory reports

Kenyan manufacturers, from food and beverage, dairy and edible oil producers to plastics, packaging, steel, chemicals and building materials plants, and agro-processors of tea, coffee, horticulture and grain, need clear visibility across raw materials, production and costs. In ERPNext, a Bill of Materials (BOM) defines the materials and operations for each product and drives material requirements planning, work orders and job cards on the factory floor.

Because production is linked to inventory, purchasing, sales and accounting, you can see the actual cost of each batch in shillings, including imported inputs bought in US dollars. Quality inspections can be recorded at goods receipt and during production to support Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) and customer requirements, and batch tracking follows export produce from intake to shipment.

• Bills of Materials
• Work Orders
• Production planning
• Material requests
• Stock entries
• Workstations
• Operations
• Job Cards
• Quality inspections
• Batch costing
• Subcontracting workflows
• Manufacturing reports

Kenyan distributors supply consumer goods, building materials, agricultural inputs, pharmaceuticals and industrial products from Nairobi and Mombasa to every county, and often onward to Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan and the DRC. A typical workflow covers buying from suppliers, receiving goods, taking customer orders, planning deliveries, invoicing and collecting payment, and ERPNext connects every step.

Sales teams create quotations and sales orders using customer-specific price lists and credit limits. Warehouse teams pick, pack and dispatch against delivery notes. Every sales invoice is transmitted to eTIMS, and M-Pesa and bank receipts are matched to customer accounts, while finance follows up using debtors age analysis and management reviews margins, stock turns and receivables from one set of data.

• Consumer goods (FMCG)
• Building materials
• Agricultural inputs
• Pharmaceuticals
• Industrial equipment
• Spare parts
• Electronics
• Regional exports

Winning and keeping customers in Kenya means handling enquiries from walk-ins, phone calls, WhatsApp, your website, and public and private tenders. ERPNext CRM captures every lead and opportunity in one place, so your sales team follows up on time and management can see the full pipeline.

Quotations can be issued in Kenya shillings or US dollars and converted into sales orders and invoices without retyping. Because CRM is part of the same system as stock and accounts, sales staff can check availability and a customer’s outstanding balance before committing to a deal, and customer records can hold consent and contact preferences to support Data Protection Act compliance. Sales reports show performance by salesperson, region and product.

• Leads
• Opportunities
• Tenders
• Customers
• Sales activities
• Quotations in KES or USD
• Sales orders
• Sales invoices
• Credit limits
• Sales reports

ERPNext HR and Payroll brings employee records, attendance, leave, expense claims and payroll into one system for Kenyan businesses, with salary structures set up for KRA PAYE, NSSF, SHIF, the Affordable Housing Levy and NITA, so payslips, payroll journals and statutory returns all come from the same data.

Kenyan payroll rules configured in ERPNext (2026)

• PAYE: 10% on the first KES 24,000 of monthly taxable pay, 25% to KES 32,333, 30% to KES 500,000, 32.5% to KES 800,000 and 35% above that, less personal relief of KES 2,400 a month.
• NSSF (Year 4, from February 2026): 6% from the employee and 6% from the employer on pensionable pay up to KES 108,000 a month, split into Tier I up to KES 9,000 and Tier II above it, a maximum of KES 6,480 each.
• SHIF: 2.75% of gross salary from the employee, with a minimum of KES 300 a month.
• Affordable Housing Levy: 1.5% from the employee and 1.5% from the employer on gross salary.
• NITA: KES 50 per employee per month, paid by the employer.

NSSF, SHIF and the Housing Levy are deducted before PAYE is calculated, and PAYE, NSSF and SHIF are due by the 9th of the following month, with the Housing Levy due by the ninth working day. ERPNext produces the P10 data, payroll totals and schedules your team needs for iTax, NSSF and SHA submissions, and P9 forms at year end. When rates change, we update the salary components once and every payroll run picks up the new values. Leave, notice and service pay can be configured in line with the Employment Act and your own HR policies.

• Employee records
• Departments & branches
• Designations
• Leave policies
• Attendance & biometrics
• Expense claims
• Employee onboarding
• Performance management
• Payroll with PAYE & personal relief
• NSSF, SHIF & Housing Levy
• P9, P10 & statutory reports