Fintech
Fintech Accounting in Türkiye: From Business Model to Close
A practical guide to licence boundaries, revenue, customer-money risks, funding, product costs and data-to-ledger reconciliation for fintech companies.
Key takeaways
- Fintech is a market label; a payment institution is a regulated legal status.
- Map the actual product and money flow before designing accounts.
- Payment volume is not revenue.
- Funding proceeds are equity or a liability, not sales.
- Daily product-provider-bank-ledger reconciliation is the foundation of scalable reporting.
Important information
This article provides general information and is not legal, tax or investment advice. The outcome depends on the facts, the parties and current legislation.
Classify the model before the accounting
A SaaS vendor to banks, a marketplace, a scoring platform and an embedded-payments product do not have the same legal or accounting profile. Document who receives payment instructions, who holds or controls money, who owes the end customer and who sets the price. If the service approaches the activities listed in Law 6493, confirm the licence or licensed-partner model.
Revenue map
| Model | Revenue candidate | Key judgement |
|---|---|---|
| SaaS/API | Subscription or usage | Service period and performance obligation |
| Marketplace/referral | Commission | Principal-versus-agent; gross or net |
| Embedded-finance technology | Platform and usage fee | Roles of licensed provider and technology vendor |
| Analytics/scoring | Data or report fee | Delivery and data rights |
Volume-to-revenue bridge
- Total processed volume
- Customer/partner money excluded
- Refunds and chargebacks
- Company fee earned
- Provider and scheme cost
- Net revenue and gross margin
Funding and product development
Record equity funding, share premium and convertible instruments according to their legal terms. Do not capitalise all developer payroll automatically: separate research, development that meets the applicable criteria, maintenance and general overhead, retaining evidence for the judgement.
Monthly close pack
- Product volume to revenue
- Provider and bank reconciliation
- Deferred revenue
- Funding and cap-table movements
- Restricted versus free cash
- Burn and runway
- Open exceptions by owner and age
Transaction-state accounting
| State | Accounting question | Control |
|---|---|---|
| Authorised | Has a financial asset or liability arisen? | Product status and contract |
| Captured | Is revenue earned or only volume created? | Performance and cancellation window |
| Settled | Did provider and bank cash agree? | Value date and payout bundle |
| Refunded | Which original sale and fee are reversed? | Stable transaction link |
| Charged back | Liability, receivable or loss? | Dispute and recovery evidence |
Control ownership
- Product owns event definitions
- Data engineering owns completeness and lineage
- Finance owns accounting policy and reconciliation
- Treasury owns bank and free-cash status
- Legal/compliance owns licence and customer-money boundaries
- Management owns material unresolved exceptions
Illustrative volume bridge
If a platform processes TRY 100 million and contractually earns 1%, the starting revenue candidate is TRY 1 million—not TRY 100 million. Refunds, fee waivers, partner shares and principal-versus-agent conclusions can reduce or change presentation. The bridge should be reproducible from transaction data to invoice and ledger.
Frequently asked questions
Is total payment volume revenue?
No. Revenue is generally the company's fee or other consideration, while principal and customer funds are balance-sheet flows.
How often should reconciliation run?
High-volume payment operations generally require daily or more frequent automated controls with exception ownership.
Can payment volume be recognised as revenue?
Generally not. Principal may belong to customers or merchants; revenue is the contractual fee or service consideration, subject to the entity's role and accounting analysis.
What are the minimum reconciliation sources?
At least the product/operational system, bank or network data and the ledger. Merchant, wallet and clearing files may also be needed.
Official sources
Legislation last reviewed: 1 August 2026
Mikail Ege
Certified Public Accountant · SMMM
Mikail Ege works across accounting, tax, financial reporting, financial advisory, fintech and payment institutions.
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