Glossary
ERP and regulatory terms in plain language
We explain what common business software and regulatory terms mean, how they work, and which IWB module covers each one. Regulatory entries link to their official sources.
01ERP and infrastructure
- Bookkeeping (ön muhasebe)Bookkeeping (ön muhasebe) is the regular recording and tracking of a business's day-to-day transactions: invoices issued and received, customer and vendor balances, cash and bank movements, checks and promissory notes, and expenses. It's the source of the accounting entries posted to the statutory books, but it doesn't replace those books.
- Cash flowCash flow is the money that comes into and goes out of a business's cash and bank accounts over a given period. A cash flow forecast lists the receipts and payments you expect over the coming weeks and months, with their dates, so you can see in advance how much cash you'll have on each day and when a shortfall will occur.
- Cloud ERPCloud ERP is a deployment model in which the ERP software and its data are hosted on servers operated by a service provider, and users reach them over the internet. The business doesn't install servers or apply updates; where the data is kept and how it's protected are matters for the contract with the provider.
- ERPERP (enterprise resource planning) is business software that runs functions such as sales, inventory, manufacturing, and accounting on a shared database. Data is entered once, and quotes, orders, invoices, and accounting entries stay linked to each other.
- User permissionsUser permissions are the rules that decide who can see which records in business software and who can take which actions. Permissions are usually granted to roles that match job functions rather than to individuals: a user who gets a role inherits its permissions, and when their job changes, only the role changes.
02e-Invoicing and tax
- DepreciationDepreciation is how a business expenses the cost of an asset it uses for more than a year, and that wears out or loses value, over the asset's useful life. In Turkey, Articles 313-321 of the Tax Procedure Law (VUK) define which assets are depreciable, the straight-line and declining-balance methods, and the rules on depreciation periods.
- e-Archive invoice (e-Arşiv fatura)An e-Archive invoice (e-Arşiv fatura) is an invoice created electronically that falls outside Turkey's e-Invoice system. It's issued to taxpayers who aren't registered for e-Invoice and to individuals who aren't taxpayers. The buyer receives it on paper or electronically, as they prefer, and the issuer keeps its copy electronically.
- e-Invoice (e-Fatura)An e-Invoice (e-Fatura) is an invoice issued electronically in the format set by the Turkish Revenue Administration (GİB) and delivered through GİB between two users registered with the e-Invoice system. It has the same legal standing as a paper invoice, and its procedures are set out in Tax Procedure Law General Communiqué No. 509.
- e-Waybill (e-İrsaliye)An e-Waybill (e-İrsaliye) is the electronic document that replaces the paper waybill when goods are shipped in Turkey. It's delivered to the recipient and stored electronically. Tax Procedure Law General Communiqué No. 509 makes the e-Waybill mandatory for certain sectors and groups of taxpayers.
- GİB-licensed e-invoicing integrator (özel entegratör)An e-invoicing integrator (özel entegratör) is a company licensed by the Turkish Revenue Administration (GİB) to create, sign, and send e-Invoices, e-Archive invoices, e-Waybills, and other electronic documents for taxpayers. GİB tests and evaluates its technical capability before granting the license. The list of licensed integrators is published at ebelge.gib.gov.tr.
03Sales, inventory, and manufacturing
- Bill of materials (BOM)A bill of materials (BOM) lists, level by level, the raw materials, subassemblies, and parts that go into a finished product, with the quantity of each needed for a given output. Production orders, material requirements planning (MRP), and product costing all rely on it.
- Customer and vendor accounts (cari hesap)A cari hesap is the running account a Turkish business keeps with each customer or vendor it trades with regularly, recording what each side owes the other. Invoices create a receivable or a payable, receipts and payments settle it, and whatever remains open is the account's balance.
- MRPMRP (material requirements planning) is a planning method that suggests which materials to buy or make, how much, and when. It breaks demand such as sales orders and forecasts down into components using the bill of materials, takes stock on hand and orders already placed into account, and sets dates based on lead times.
- Subcontract manufacturing (fason)Subcontract manufacturing (fason) is when a company supplies its own materials and pays another firm to make the whole product or carry out one step, such as cutting, painting, or coating. The company keeps ownership of the goods, and the subcontractor (fasoncu) invoices for the work it does on them.
04Field service and laboratory
- LIMSA LIMS (laboratory information management system) is software for recording a laboratory's work. At each step, from sample receipt and analysis through evaluation against limits, approval, and the report, it records who did the work, when, and with which method and instrument.
- RMAAn RMA (return merchandise authorization) is the permission a customer gets from the seller before sending back a faulty or defective product. The term also covers the process that tracks the return through receipt and inspection until it closes with a decision such as repair, replacement, or a refund.
- SLAAn SLA (service level agreement) is a provider's measurable commitment to the level of service its customer will get. In support and field service, it's usually set as first response and resolution times that vary by priority. When a ticket misses its target, it counts as an SLA breach.
05Projects, tenders, and contracts
- Multi-year construction (yıllara sari inşaat)Multi-year construction and repair work (yıllara sari inşaat ve onarım işi) spans more than one calendar year. Under Article 42 of Turkey's Income Tax Law, profit or loss is determined definitively in the year the work is completed and counts entirely as that year's income. While the work is underway, tax is withheld from progress billing payments.
- Performance bond (kesin teminat)A performance bond (kesin teminat) is the guarantee the winning bidder in a Turkish public tender gives the contracting authority before signing, to secure contract performance. Under Law No. 4734, it is generally 6% of the contract price. In construction works, once the conditions are met, half is released after provisional acceptance and the rest after final acceptance.
- Progress billing (hakediş)Progress billing (hakediş) is the document that measures the work a contractor completed in a given period, prices it, and ties it to a payment. The net amount payable is the work amount minus deductions such as advance recovery, retention, taxes, and penalties. In Turkish public construction works, the General Specification for Construction Works sets the rules.
06Human resources and data
- Attendance sheet (puantaj)An attendance sheet (puantaj) records each day of an employee's month as a workday, leave, sick leave, a holiday, or an absence, and totals the days worked, hours worked, and overtime at month-end. In Turkey, it's the input for payroll and overtime pay.
- KVKK (Turkish data protection law)KVKK is Law No. 6698 on the Protection of Personal Data, Turkey's data protection law, published on April 7, 2016. It places obligations on individuals and organizations that process personal data, such as informing data subjects, keeping data secure, and erasing or anonymizing it. Employee, customer, and contact person data in an ERP falls within its scope.