Designing an Item Master for eTIMS: Item Codes, Product Types, Unit Conversions and Stock Movement Types

By Isaac Muthui, CEO, Tamalaki Business Network Ltd. Originally published at factoraerp.com.

If you are building or integrating an ERP for a food factory in Kenya, the item master is the schema everything else joins to — and with eTIMS stock tracking it becomes an external contract, not just an internal table. Five design decisions matter most:

1. Identity — one internal item key per physical SKU, never reused, plus a separate mapped eTIMS item code (itemCd, unique, up to 20 characters in KRA's OSCU spec v2.0) and classification code (itemClsCd, up to 10 characters).
2. Type — an enum that maps cleanly to eTIMS product type (itemTyCd: 1 raw material, 2 finished product, 3 service without stock), with your own sub-types (packaging, intermediate, by-product) layered on top.
3. Units — a base unit per item and explicit conversion rows for purchase, issue and sales units, mapped to eTIMS packaging unit (pkgUnitCd) and quantity unit (qtyUnitCd) codes.
4. Tax — a locked, audited taxTyCd per item (A exempt, B 16%, C 0%, D non-VAT, E 8% in the spec's code list), set with a tax adviser, never inherited by copy.
5. Movements — stock in/out events typed to the spec's movement codes (import, purchase, return, stock movement, processing, adjustment in; sale, return, stock movement, processing, discarding, adjustment out), with recipes referencing the same item keys so processing out and processing in reconcile.

A simplified item save payload in KRA's OSCU requirements and communication protocols looks like this (fields and sample values abridged from the spec's own item save example; PIN, branch and user fields omitted):

{"itemCd":"KE1NTXU0000006","itemClsCd":"5059690800","itemTyCd":"1",
 "itemNm":"test material item 3","orgnNatCd":"KE","pkgUnitCd":"NT",
 "qtyUnitCd":"U","taxTyCd":"B","btchNo":null,"bcd":null,
 "dftPrc":3500,"useYn":"Y"}

The spec also explains the item code structure — country of origin, product type, packaging unit, quantity unit, then an incrementing sequence — and gives an optional batch number field of only up to 10 characters, which is worth knowing before you design lot codes.

Below is the 12-point operational checklist I recommend for Kenyan food and agro processors, with an item master template and FAQ. Full references on the canonical post.

What the guidance and the specification actually say

KRA stock management for electronic invoicing. On its stock management functionality page, KRA informs taxpayers that they must maintain accurate and up-to-date stock records while invoicing through TIMS/eTIMS, in accordance with section 23A(2)(b) of the Tax Procedures Act, 2015. The records should cover stock received, purchased, sold, transferred, returned, adjusted or otherwise disposed of, and should align with the transactions invoiced through TIMS/eTIMS.

System-to-system integration. KRA's eTIMS system-to-system integration page describes two options for connecting an invoicing or ERP system: the Online Sales Control Unit (OSCU), for taxpayers whose invoicing is always online, and the Virtual Sales Control Unit (VSCU), suited to bulk invoicing where the system is not always online.

What an item looks like to eTIMS. KRA's published OSCU requirements and communication protocols (version 2.0) define the item record an integrated system saves. Required fields include an item classification code, a unique item code, an item type, the item name, the country of origin, a packaging unit code, a quantity unit code, a taxation type and a default unit price. Optional fields include a barcode and a batch number. The specification says the item code is mandatory and must be unique, and shows how it is built — for example, KE2NTBA0000012 is country of origin (KE), product type (2, finished product), packaging unit (NT), quantity unit (BA) and an incrementing sequence. The product type code list has three values: 1 raw material, 2 finished product, 3 service without stock. The taxation type list in the same document runs A (exempt), B (16%), C (0%), D (non-VAT) and E (8%).

Stock movements have types too. The same specification lists stock in/out types, including incoming import, purchase, return, stock movement, processing and adjustment, and outgoing sale, return, stock movement, processing, discarding and adjustment. For a food processor, "processing" in and out is where raw materials become finished goods — which is why the recipe and the item master have to agree.

Manufacturers' open questions. The Star (2 October 2026) reported that the Kenya Association of Manufacturers has asked for clarity on how stock functionality will sit beside existing ERP systems and how the conversion of raw materials into finished goods — including wastage, by-products, damaged goods and samples — will be captured. People Daily (10 October 2026) added a point that is really about master data: multi-branch businesses need consistent product codes and transfer records so goods do not appear twice or vanish.

Treat the specification as KRA's technical reference for integrators, not as tax advice. Which tax type applies to which product is a question for your tax adviser.

Why item masters go wrong in food plants

Item masters rarely fail on day one. They decay.

A new supplier arrives and stores creates a new item instead of linking the existing one. A pack size changes and someone edits the old item's description rather than creating a new SKU, so last year's sales and this year's sales now share a name but not a weight. Promotional bundles are sold under the single-unit code. Units of measure are implied ("bags") rather than defined. By-products such as bran, whey or pulp are not items at all, so they are sold off-system. Tax types are copied from the last item created. Nobody owns the list, so everybody edits it.

None of that is visible on a normal day. It all becomes visible when stock movements and invoices are expected to tell one story.

The 12-point item master data checklist for food processors

Govern the list

1. Name one owner and one change process.

Decide who can create, change and retire items — typically one person in finance or supply chain, with a named backup. Requests come from stores, production, QA or sales with a reason. No one creates items "just for today". A shared spreadsheet that anyone can edit is not an item master.

2. Write a naming convention and apply it to every item.

For example: product or material, variant, net quantity, pack format — "Maize flour, sifted, 2 kg, packet". Names must be readable on a pick list and on an invoice. Keep a separate field for the supplier's name for the same material, rather than renaming your item to match each supplier. The KRA specification provides for a supplier item code and name on purchase records for exactly that reason.

3. Clean duplicates before you integrate.

Export the item list, sort by name and by barcode, and look for the same physical item under two or more codes. Merge or block the duplicates, move their history to the surviving code where your system allows, and record what you merged. Integrating a duplicate-ridden list simply sends the duplicates to eTIMS faster.

Define what each item is

4. Classify every item by type: raw material, finished product, or service.

Ingredients, packaging, consumables you track, semi-finished goods, finished goods and by-products all need a type decided on purpose. The eTIMS product type list distinguishes raw material, finished product and service without stock. Decide internally how you treat packaging, intermediates and by-products, and document the rule so it is applied the same way every time.

5. Map each item to the right classification code.

eTIMS integrations retrieve standard item classification codes from KRA's system, and each saved item carries one. Map your items to codes deliberately with your integrator — not by picking the first match. Record the mapping in the item master so a new joiner can see why sugar, maize, milk powder and PET preforms sit where they do.

6. Define units of measure and conversions explicitly.

For every item, record the base unit (kg, litre, piece), the purchase unit, the issue unit, the sales unit, and the conversion factors between them. Map your units to the eTIMS packaging unit and quantity unit codes — the specification's lists include, for instance, bag, carton, kilogram and litre. "Bag" without a weight is not a unit. Unit confusion is one of the commonest causes of variances that disappear on recount, as in our stock count reconciliation checklist.

7. Give every pack size and bundle its own SKU.

A 500 g and a 1 kg packet are different items. A 12-pack shrink-wrapped tray is a different item from the single unit, unless your system handles it as a defined packaging level with a fixed conversion. If you change the net quantity of a product, create a new item rather than editing the old one. Our net quantity and pack weight checks and label control checklist depend on the SKU meaning one declared quantity.

Connect the item to tax, recipes and lots

8. Set the tax type per item with your tax adviser — and lock the field.

The eTIMS item record carries a taxation type. Decide each item's type with your tax adviser, record the basis, and restrict who can change it. Copying the tax type from "the last item we created" is how a zero-rated or exempt product ends up invoiced at the wrong rate, or the reverse.

9. Make recipes use the same item codes as stores and purchasing.

Every ingredient and packaging line on a bill of materials should point to the item that stores actually receive and issue — not a recipe-only description. Declare by-products, co-products and waste as items where they have value or must be disposed of, so processing out (raw materials consumed) and processing in (finished goods and by-products made) can be reconciled. This is the conversion question KAM has raised. See our batch costing and yield tracking guide.

10. Decide which items are lot-controlled, and with which dates.

Food-contact ingredients, packaging and finished goods usually need lot or batch tracking for traceability and recall; some consumables do not. Record per item whether lots, expiry or best-before dates and shelf-life rules apply, and keep lot codes consistent with what you print. Note that the specification's batch number field on the item record is short (up to 10 characters in version 2.0), so agree your lot code format with your integrator early. See FEFO and batch expiry tracking and how to run a mock recall.

Keep it true over time

11. Use consistent codes across every branch, depot and warehouse.

One item, one code, everywhere. Depots must not create local versions of central items. Transfers between sites should move stock of the same item code out of one location and into another. People Daily's warning on multi-branch businesses is, in practice, a master data rule.

12. Retire, don't delete — and review the list every month.

Items you stop buying or selling should be blocked or marked unused, not deleted, so history, stock and invoices still resolve. The eTIMS item record includes a used/unused flag for the same reason. Once a month, review new items created, items changed, items with stock but no movement, items with movement but no recipe or price, and any item whose tax type or units changed. Keep the change log: master data changes are part of the records behind your stock and invoices, and section 23 of the Tax Procedures Act, 2015 sets a general five-year retention period for documents required under a tax law.

A simple item master template

Field	What to record
Internal item code	Unique, never reused
Item name	Per naming convention (product, variant, net quantity, pack)
Item type	Raw material / finished product / service; internal sub-type (packaging, intermediate, by-product)
eTIMS classification code	Mapped with integrator; basis noted
eTIMS item code	As generated for your integration; unique
Origin	Country of origin
Units	Base, purchase, issue and sales units; conversion factors
eTIMS units	Packaging unit code; quantity unit code
Tax type	Agreed with tax adviser; field locked
Barcode	Where used; one barcode per SKU
Lot control	Yes/no; expiry or best-before; shelf-life rule
Recipe links	BOMs using the item; by-product / waste declared
Supplier links	Supplier item codes and names
Status	Active / blocked / unused; date and approver
Change log	Who changed what, when and why

If two people in your plant would give the same product two different item codes, your eTIMS stock record will too.

An illustration

This is an illustrative example, not a real case. A maize miller buys grain in tonnes, issues it to the mill in kilograms and sells flour in 1 kg and 2 kg packets and 24 kg bales. Over three years the item list grows to four codes for the same 2 kg packet — one per depot and one from a promotion. Bran is sold for cash at the gate but is not an item. Two packets are set up with a different tax type from the others because they were copied from an old item. The 24 kg bale has no item of its own, so each bale is invoiced as twelve 2 kg packets.

Every month the stock report shows large swings: depots appear short of the 2 kg packet while head office is long, flour output never reconciles to grain consumed, and nobody can tell bale stock or bale sales apart from loose packets. A recount changes nothing. Under KRA's stock-management expectation — stock received, processed, sold, transferred and adjusted, aligned with invoices — that business would struggle to explain any single month. The fix is not another count. It is checks 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 11.

How FactoraERP helps

FactoraERP keeps one item master for purchasing, stores, production, QA and sales, with item types, units of measure and conversions, lot and expiry control, and status (active or blocked) on each item. Recipes reference the same items stores receive and issue, and can declare primary product, co-product, by-product or waste, so material consumed and output produced can be reconciled. Stock is held by item, lot, location and status, and receipts, issues, output, transfers and dispatches are recorded as they happen. See factoraerp.com.

Free download: eTIMS readiness checklist for factories

Kenyan manufacturers increasingly need their item lists, stock records and invoices to tell one consistent story. If you want a free eTIMS readiness checklist for factories, sign up for the FactoraERP Insights newsletter at https://isaacmuthui.substack.com. You will get practical operations notes for food and agro manufacturers. No spam; unsubscribe anytime. For background, see our guide to eTIMS for food and agro manufacturers and our month-end close checklist.

FAQ

What is item master data in a food factory?

It is the controlled list of every material, packaging item, intermediate, finished product and by-product you buy, make, hold or sell, with its code, name, type, units and conversions, tax type, lot rules, recipe and supplier links and status.

Why does item master data matter for eTIMS?

KRA expects stock records to align with TIMS/eTIMS invoices. In KRA's OSCU specification, each item saved by an integrated system carries a classification code, a unique item code, a product type, packaging and quantity unit codes and a taxation type. Duplicate, mis-typed or badly measured items make that alignment hard.

What product types does eTIMS use?

The OSCU specification (version 2.0) lists three product types: raw material, finished product, and service without stock. Agree with your integrator and adviser how packaging, intermediates and by-products are treated.

Should a new pack size get a new item code?

Yes. A different net quantity or pack format is a different item. Editing an existing item's size mixes history and breaks stock and sales comparisons.

How do by-products like bran or whey fit in?

Where they have value or must be disposed of, set them up as items and declare them on the recipe, so production output and stock movements account for them. KAM has asked KRA for clarity on how wastage and by-products will be captured; confirm current guidance.

Who should own the item master?

One named owner, usually in finance or supply chain, with a documented request and approval process. Stores, production, QA and sales request changes; they do not create items freely.

Can a small plant manage its item master in a spreadsheet?

It can start there if one person owns it, codes are unique, units and conversions are written down, duplicates are removed and changes are logged. Once you have several sites, many SKUs, lot control or an eTIMS integration, a system with controlled fields and history is safer.

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Isaac Muthui, CEO, Tamalaki Business Network Ltd