An order comes in, the invoice issues itself

E-invoice and e-archive integration means that the invoice for an order from your website or a marketplace is created without anyone typing it up, sent to the Turkish Revenue Administration (GİB) system through an authorized service provider, and delivered to the customer. A company receiving five orders a day can handle this by hand; at fifty orders a day, one person spends the whole day copying invoices and the chance of error grows every day.

First, let's separate two concepts in plain terms. An e-invoice (e-Fatura) is an invoice issued electronically between two businesses that are both registered for e-invoicing. An e-archive invoice (e-Arşiv) is the electronic document used when the buyer is not registered for e-invoicing, for example when you sell to an individual customer. Which document you issue depends on the buyer's registration status; who is required to move to these systems is set out in the Revenue Administration's current regulations. We recommend confirming your own obligations with your accountant.

Where should the invoice be issued?

The first decision is which system creates the invoice. There are two common models:

• Through the ERP: The website sends the order to the ERP, the invoice is created in the ERP and goes out through the e-invoice service provider the ERP is connected to. Accounting records stay in one place.
• Directly from the website: The website connects to the service provider's API and issues the invoice itself; the invoice details are then posted to the ERP.

For most companies the first model is healthier, because stock, customer accounts and accounting entries are already created in the ERP. The second model suits businesses without an ERP or with very basic bookkeeping software. Whichever you choose, one system has to own invoicing so that the same order is never invoiced twice.

From order data to invoice data

A correct invoice depends on collecting the right information at the order stage. Settle these fields on the checkout page:

• Whether an individual or a company invoice is requested
• For companies, the registered name, tax office and tax number
• For individuals, full name and billing address; the Turkish national ID number only if it is truly required
• An option for a billing address different from the delivery address

When a tax number is entered, the service provider can check whether the buyer is registered for e-invoicing. The system then decides on its own whether to issue an e-invoice or an e-archive invoice, and the accounting team doesn't have to check this for every order.

One point not to forget is KVKK (Türkiye's Personal Data Protection Law). Don't collect any personal data the invoice doesn't need; ask for sensitive fields such as the ID number only where the regulations require it, and mention it in your privacy notice. For details, see our KVKK compliance service.

Invoice timing

When the invoice is issued depends on the business model:

If the invoice is tied to the moment of handover to the carrier in most cases, you avoid issuing unnecessary invoices for orders that are canceled or turn out to be out of stock, and then having to cancel them. Check the legal rules on document issuing deadlines with your accountant as well.

Then there is batch invoicing. Issuing invoices for pending orders all at once at certain times of the day, for example just before the carrier pickup, eases the warehouse flow. When choosing between one-by-one and batch issuing, take into account both the service provider's limits and how your team works.

Returns and cancellations need their own flow

On a return, the invoice isn't deleted. Depending on the buyer's status, a return invoice is issued or the e-archive cancellation process is followed. If this part is left out of the automation, the sales report and the accounting records won't match at the end of the month. When a return is approved, creating the related document in the ERP, putting the stock back and recording the refund should all be planned together. We cover matching on the payment side in our post on virtual POS and bank reconciliation.

Setup checklist

• One clear system is responsible for issuing invoices
• Individual and company invoice fields on the checkout page are correct
• The document type is selected automatically via the registration check
• Extra items such as shipping and commissions are mapped to invoice lines
• The invoice PDF or link is emailed to the customer
• The return and cancellation flow has been tested
• If the service provider is unreachable, the invoice waits in a queue instead of getting lost
• The daily number of orders is compared with the number of invoices issued

How we do it at Globya

First we listen to your current invoicing process together with your accountant or accounting team. We clarify which service provider you work with, how your ERP handles this and what information the website needs to collect. Then we build the connection between the website, the ERP and the service provider as part of our integration service and test it with real scenarios. Once invoice data flows cleanly into the ERP, it also becomes easier to make sales and collection reports meaningful on the ERP reporting side.

Frequently asked questions