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HelloBooks — The AI Accountant for Kenyan Small Business

The AI accountant for Kenyan SMBs. VAT3-ready books, reconciled by AI. KES invoicing, multi-currency books reconciled by AI, OCR bill capture, AI-driven month-end close, and KRA VAT (VAT3) return preparation. KRA e-filing and PAYE/NSSF/SHIF/AHL payroll on the roadmap. Free Plan, no credit card.

HelloBooks is AI accounting software for Kenyan small businesses — an AI agent that runs categorisation, bill capture, bank reconciliation, and month-end close end-to-end against retained source evidence on every entry, with AI-reconciled KES bank feeds, and prepares the KRA VAT3 return from your posted lines. Direct KRA e-filing and statutory payroll are on our build roadmap.

The AI agent keeps your books close-ready year-round — categorised, reconciled, and evidenced — so month-end is a review, not a scramble. The monthly KRA VAT3 (16%) return is prepared today; direct iTax e-filing, PAYE, NSSF, SHIF (the October 2024 replacement for NHIF), the Affordable Housing Levy and NITA payroll, withholding tax, eTIMS invoice integration, and Turnover Tax for sub-KES 25M businesses are on the roadmap.

The Free Plan unlocks the core accounting features for up to 2 users with 2,500 AI credits to get started, no credit card required. Kenyan SMBs and accounting firms pick HelloBooks when they want the AI agent to run the close — categorise, reconcile, and keep books audit-ready — with VAT3 preparation today and the rest of the KRA statutory cycle (e-filing, PAYE, NSSF, SHIF, AHL) on the way.

The AI accountant for Kenyan SMBs.
VAT3-ready books, reconciled by AI.

KES invoicing, multi-currency books reconciled by AI, OCR bill capture, AI-driven month-end close, and KRA VAT (VAT3) return preparation. KRA e-filing and PAYE/NSSF/SHIF/AHL payroll on the roadmap. Free Plan, no credit card.

KES invoicing
KRA VAT3 prep
Free Plan
Start FreeBook a Demo
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Product Tour
The HelloBooks dashboard mid-tour — income, expenses, cash balance and net profit for a demo companyWatch the 23-step guided tourTake the product tour

Recognized by

  • HelloBooks featured on Product Hunt
  • HelloBooks on the Apple App Store
  • HelloBooks on Google Play

You stay in control

Powerful AI. You approve every move.

HelloBooks does the heavy lifting, but it never files or posts behind your back. The AI proposes; you and your accountant dispose — with a full audit trail and an undo on everything.

  • AI drafts, you approve

    HelloBooks reads bills, categorises transactions and matches your bank feed — then hands you the result. Nothing posts to your ledger until you (or your accountant) confirm it.

  • Every action is on the record

    A full audit trail logs what the AI suggested, what actually changed, who approved it and when — so month-end and any review start from a clean, defensible history.

  • Always reversible

    Edit or unwind any AI-assisted entry, match or categorisation. Nothing is a one-way door, so an automation can never quietly corrupt your books.

  • Your accountant stays in the loop

    Invite your CA or bookkeeper with reviewer or read-only access. Bills route through approval before payment, and returns wait for a human sign-off before they are filed.

Why HelloBooks in Kenya

Why Kenyan businesses choose HelloBooks

Six reasons Kenyan SMEs choose HelloBooks over QuickBooks, Sage and Zoho Books — with the KRA position spelled out rather than glossed over.

  • KRA VAT (VAT3) return preparation at 16%

    VAT is tracked at the 16% standard rate with zero-rated and exempt treatments per line, and the VAT3 return is prepared from your posted ledger with each figure traceable to source. Direct iTax e-filing is on our roadmap — the return is prepared for you, the submission is still yours to make.

  • AI that closes the month without a bookkeeper on staff

    The AI Accounting Agent captures bills by OCR, categorises at 95%+ accuracy, reconciles the ledger and drafts the closing entries — the work most Kenyan SMEs currently outsource monthly or leave until year end. You review a finished month instead of building one.

  • Statement upload with AI parsing for bank and mobile money

    Upload a PDF or CSV statement from KCB, Equity, Co-operative Bank, Absa or NCBA — or a mobile-money statement — and the AI parses, categorises and matches every line against your invoices and bills. No feed integration required to start reconciling.

  • KES books with USD and EUR, unlimited users

    Import-facing Kenyan businesses invoice in KES and pay suppliers in USD or EUR. Live-rate multi-currency is in every paid plan alongside unlimited user seats, so adding your accountant and branch staff never changes the bill.

  • HelloTime posts payroll journals into your ledger

    Attendance, leave and payroll run in HelloTime on the web, and the payroll journals are written into HelloBooks so wages reconcile automatically. PAYE, NSSF, SHIF and AHL statutory payroll handling is on our roadmap. The HelloTime Attend mobile app for shift workers ships Q3 2026.

  • Free Plan with no turnover ceiling, Pro at $20/mo

    A Kenyan SME can run its whole ledger on the Free Plan: core accounting, 2 users, 2,500 AI credits, no credit card and no turnover ceiling. Pro is a flat $20/month with unlimited users — a fraction of a part-time bookkeeper.

Bank connections in Kenya

Statement import

Direct bank feeds via Plaid are live in 20 countries today (the US, UK, Canada and Europe). For Kenya, the fastest way to get your bank data into HelloBooks is statement import — and it works with any bank:

  1. 1. Upload a statement

    Export a PDF, CSV, or Excel statement from any bank in Kenya and drop it into HelloBooks.

  2. 2. AI does the data entry

    Every line is extracted, categorised, and matched to invoices or bills — in your local currency.

  3. 3. Review and reconcile

    Confirm the AI's suggestions and reconcile the period. Nothing posts to your books without your say-so.

Multi-currency throughout, and your data stays private — HelloBooks never asks for your online-banking login. As open-banking coverage expands, direct connections will reach more markets over time.