In a startup, accounting is not something to defer until the funding round. If shareholder current accounts, capital structure and expense classification are not set up correctly from the start, fixing them during due diligence is both costly and slow. My focus is keeping the books in a state you can show an investor from day one.
I run this service within Sistem Global Danışmanlık.
Sahin Tuhan sets the approach, the team at Sistem Global Danışmanlık runs the day-to-day work, and you have a single point of contact. How we work.
Who it is forNewly formed or soon-to-raise technology companies.
What we set up, in order, from incorporation to the first round
This order is not a preference but a dependency chain: each step assumes the one before it was set up correctly. The items that cost the most to fix later are the ones at the top.
Choosing the entity type and share structure
The LLC-versus-JSC question is less about tax than about how share transfers will work. In an LLC a transfer needs a notary, which makes an employee share plan hard to run; that is why most companies planning to raise convert to a JSC. Converting later is possible, but it tends to land in the tightest weeks of the round.
Capital structure and the payment schedule
When and how the subscribed capital is paid, whether each payment matches a bank record, and whether the share ledger stays consistent with those movements. The deduction tied to cash capital increases is a multi-year advantage when set up correctly at the outset; it cannot be constructed retroactively.
Keeping the shareholder current account closed from day one
Separating founder money from company money is a habit applied from the first month. Paying a company cost on a personal card, or a personal expense from the company account, looks small each time; explaining that account retroactively two years later becomes the hardest item in any review.
Setting up the expense classification
Which item is tracked in which account, and tagging non-business spending separately at the moment it is recorded. That single habit removes almost the whole problem of unprovable adjustments in a later valuation discussion.
The nature and period of revenue
In subscription models especially, booking a full annual prepayment into the month it was collected is the classic error. On the accounting side it is a cut-off error; on the investor side it is worse, because the growth curve in the deck and the curve in the ledger tell different stories.
The incentive and exemption decision
Which of technopark status, an R&D centre or the service export regime fits this structure, whether its conditions can genuinely be met, and whether that can be documented. The decision is taken early, because fitting the structure to the incentive afterwards is far harder than fitting the incentive to the structure.
Team structure and payroll design
Who sits on the payroll and who invoices: set up correctly at the start, this removes the reclassification risk that would otherwise build. Arrangements that look like flexibility in the early days get priced as employment risk in a review.
Books you can show an investor
Keeping the six items above permanently ready. A review usually looks at the last three years, so the preparation happens at least twelve months before the round opens, not when it does. Correcting records after the process starts does not build confidence.
Who it fits
- A newly formed technology company, or one planning to raise
- A structure where shareholders will be added or an employee share plan is considered
- A company where founder money and company money are not yet separated
- A team that has not yet chosen between technopark, R&D and service export incentives
Who it does not fit
- A company that wants filings only and no reporting
- Sole trader registration; the freelancer page covers that
- A trading company with no plans to raise; the SME page fits better
What is included
- Setting the entity type and share structure, and planning a conversion to a joint stock company where needed
- Matching the capital payment schedule to bank records and tracking the cash capital deduction
- Closing the shareholder current account monthly, keeping founder money separate from company money
- Chart of accounts and expense tagging; separating non-business spending at the moment it is recorded
- Cut-off for subscription revenue: spreading annual prepayments across months
- Deciding which incentive fits the structure: technopark, an R&D centre or the service export regime
- Payroll design: settling from the outset who is on payroll and who invoices
- Monthly bookkeeping, filings and a founder summary you can show an investor
- Pre-round preparation: checking record consistency for the last three years and the data room files
What is not included
- The legal text of the investment and shareholders agreements; handled together with a lawyer
- Valuation reports and investor introductions
- Filing and tracking patents and trademarks
How it runs
- First call: the trial balance, share ledger, ownership documents and bank movements are read together
- Setup: chart of accounts, expense tags, the shareholder current account rule and payroll design are put in writing
- Incentive decision: the fitting incentive is chosen and the conditions that can genuinely be met are marked
- Monthly routine: bookkeeping, filings and a short founder summary
- Round preparation: the list of data room files and closing the gaps
What you receive
- Chart of accounts and an expense tagging guide
- Monthly trial balance, the filings and a founder summary
- Shareholder current account tracker
- A note on the incentive decision with its condition list
- Pre-round checklist and the data room file list
Timing
Setup takes two to four weeks, and the monthly routine starts running at the end of the first month. The early time for round preparation is twelve months out, since a review usually looks at the last three years.
Fees
The engagement runs on a monthly advisory fee. What sets it is the number of transactions and payroll records, the incentive used, the reporting frequency and whether there is a foreign shareholder. Professional rules do not allow work below the minimum fee tariff. Incorporation, entity conversion and correcting past periods are priced as separate work. After the first call, once I have seen the file, I send a written proposal.
What sets an accounting fee in Türkiye?
Frequently asked
- I already have an accountant. Does this replace what they do?
- Not necessarily. Filing returns and keeping the books investor-ready are two different jobs, and the second can be built on top of your current setup. The difference is that the items you would otherwise have to explain later never arise: the shareholder current account, expense classification and subscription revenue cut-off. Running both from one place is also an option.
- Should I set up an LLC or a joint stock company?
- The question is less about tax than about how share transfers will work. In an LLC a transfer needs a notary, which makes an employee share plan hard to run. If raising is on the plan, a joint stock company is easier from the start; converting later is possible but tends to land in the tightest week of the round.
- Should we move into a technopark, or is the service export deduction enough?
- Which one fits depends on where the work is actually done and where the client is; they are not interchangeable choices. One difference drives the decision: the technopark exemption can be deducted in the minimum corporate tax calculation, while the foreign service earnings deduction cannot. Even in a year that looks like a loss, that distinction changes the tax payable.
A one-off review with a fixed scope
Funding-Round Readiness Review
Who it is forCompanies planning to raise within the next year, and founders who want to see the state of the file before due diligence begins.
Scope
- The shareholder current account and the items that cause problems in due diligence
- The consistency of capital structure and shareholding records
- Whether the chart of accounts and expense labelling support investor reporting
- The conditions attached to incentives in use or available
- A pre-round checklist and a data room file list
OutputA written report setting out the open items and who owns each one.
How it startsA free thirty-minute intro call. The periods the review covers are agreed in the call; scope and fee are confirmed in writing beforehand.
Book an intro callThe other three reviews are on the fees page.