Time is recorded in fifteen-minute steps.

In a fictional matter, three time entries are followed through to the invoice, the tax calculation, the document and the payment. The figures match the examples in this guide and use 2026 rates.

1. 01/05

   Time is entered in 15-minute steps

   A client meeting is linked to the case and recorded as 0.75 hours; the duration moves in 0.25-hour steps. By the end of the day three entries add up to 3.5 hours.

2. 02/05

   Entries move to the invoice

   The three entries marked billable become line items on the draft: 3.5 hours × TRY 3,000 = TRY 10,500 (excluding VAT).

3. 03/05

   VAT and withholding are calculated

   VAT at 20 percent adds TRY 2,100, making TRY 12,600. If the client withholds income tax, 20 percent withholding, TRY 2,100, is deducted from the payment; the net amount paid to the lawyer is TRY 10,500.

4. 04/05

   The document is issued and sent

   The document type follows your accountant's decision: a self-employment receipt (e-SMM), an e-archive invoice or an e-invoice. In the example the e-SMM is chosen and sent with a 14-day due date.

5. 05/05

   The payment is recorded

   When the client pays, the payment is verified, the document moves to Paid and is locked; the payment record cannot change afterwards.

Time and billing

Time entriesInvoice

Date

06.10.2026

Case

2026/142 E.

Duration 15 min step

−0.75 h+

Client meeting

Billable

Client meetingNew entry0.75 hTRY 2,250

Contract draft2.5 hTRY 7,500

Phone call0.25 hTRY 750

Day total · TRY 3,000 / hour3.5 h

‹›

01/05

Time is entered in 15-minute steps

A single entry is the raw material of an invoice line. Next to each field is how it is calculated.

Date

6 Oct 2026

The entry is made while the work is done.

Case

2026/142 E.

The entry is tied to a case, so hours per matter are visible in minutes.

Description

Review of the termination clause of the lease and draft notice

The line that goes onto the invoice: what was done, in words the client understands.

Duration

0.75 hour

Steps of 0.25 hour, that is 15 minutes.

Hourly rate

TRY 3,000

The rate in the fee agreement.

Fee (excluding KDV)

TRY 2,250

0.75 × TRY 3,000

KDV 20%

TRY 450

The 2026 general rate.

Total

TRY 2,700

If the client withholds tax, the net amount paid changes; see the KDV and documents step.

The one rule of hourly work is to record time while the work is being done, not when it is finished. Entries filled in from memory in the evening skip the small jobs of the day, and that is work you cannot bill.

Time entries in HukukBis are made against a case with a date, a number of hours and a description, in steps of 0.25 hour, that is 15 minutes. A phone call is recorded as 0.25 and a meeting as 0.75 hour. Settle in one firm-wide rule how you round shorter tasks, for example to the nearest 15 minutes.

The description field is the raw material of the invoice line. An entry that reads "review of the termination clause of the lease and draft notice" instead of "file review" also reduces client objections later.

Linking time entries to the case lets you answer "how many hours went into which work" within minutes. A written record is also your strongest support when a fee is challenged.

Not every entry is billable. A first meeting with a prospective client, internal management, training and correcting your own errors are recorded but not passed on to the client. A billable flag lets you make that distinction when you record the time.

Track expenses as a line separate from fees. Court fees, postage, expert fees and travel are recorded per case, so the invoice shows fees and expenses apart.

You can ask the client for an advance against expenses. The Turkish Bar Association's Professional Rules ask that an advance does not exceed what the work needs, that spending is reported to the client from time to time and that any balance is returned at the end of the matter (Professional Rules art. 42 (opens in a new tab)). Money received on the client's behalf is reported and handed over without delay (art. 43 (opens in a new tab)).

Write the invoice lines in language the client understands: the date range, the type of work and the time spent. If there are many lines, use a summary with an annexed breakdown; the easier a client finds the invoice to read, the lower the chance of an objection.

Practising law is a liberal profession for tax purposes. A professional in a liberal profession must issue a professional receipt (serbest meslek makbuzu) for every collection arising from the activity (Tax Procedure Law No. 213, art. 236 (opens in a new tab)), and in practice the receipt is issued electronically as an e-Serbest Meslek Makbuzu. Confirm the type of document and how to issue it with your accountant.

The KDV (value added tax) rate is set by presidential decision (VAT Law No. 3065, art. 28 (opens in a new tab)); as of 2026 the general rate of 20 percent applies to legal services. If the client is an institution or business that must withhold income tax, income tax withholding is also deducted from the payment (Income Tax Law No. 193, art. 94 (opens in a new tab); general rate 20 percent). Rates can change; the figures in this guide are for 2026.

HukukBis billing works out line items and KDV together, and the e-invoice and e-archive integration lets you run the document process from the software. Your accountant decides which document to issue; the software makes that decision easy to apply.

Advances and up-front payments fall under the same document rules: every sum received from a client, fee or advance, must be recorded and covered by the proper document. Tracking fee and expense receipts under one client account therefore makes it easier to give your accountant a clean statement at period end.

An invoice should go out with a due date. State the due date in the fee agreement as well; a short, clear period such as fourteen days is the cheapest collection tool you have.

In HukukBis an invoice moves through Draft, Sent, Overdue and Paid. An invoice past its due date is moved to Overdue automatically, and it becomes Paid only on a verified payment result. Paid and cancelled invoices are locked, so the collection record cannot change afterwards.

Terms such as late-payment interest or a contractual penalty must be written in the fee agreement; adding a term at invoice stage that was not in the agreement invites a dispute.

Set up a follow-up routine for overdue invoices: a check on the due date, a short reminder after the first delay, a phone call at the second stage. Overdue invoices show in the list and in reports; assign the follow-up to one person on the team.

Friction is the main enemy of collection: copying an IBAN, waiting for a receipt, matching the payment. Online payment starts a payment from the invoice; the client pays by card through the iyzico payment provider, the result arrives in the system with a signed confirmation and the invoice becomes Paid. The guide to online payments for law firms covers the same flow in legal and practical detail.

Payment states are tracked as Pending, Under review, Successful and Failed. A notification goes out when payment completes, so you do not have to ask whether the payment arrived. The payment form is provided by iyzico.

Online payment will not suit every client; corporate clients mostly pay by bank transfer. The invoice record, due date and status tracking stay the same in that case too. Stating the payment method in the fee agreement removes questions on the due date before they arise.

Billing results do not improve unless they are measured. Three figures are enough: the amount invoiced, the amount collected and the collection rate (collected ÷ invoiced). Also look at the time summary: how many of the hours recorded were invoiced?

Reporting and dashboard shows invoice, expense and time summaries and the collection rate. Going through the list of overdue invoices at a monthly meeting is a small habit that makes a large difference.

When time entries, invoices and collections are tied to the same file, you also see in numbers which type of work consumes more hours than planned; revisit your fee model with that data.

Use reports not only for management but for client conversations. Seeing the total time spent for a client, the amount invoiced and the open balance on one page puts a fee discussion on numbers.

A lawyer's engagement agreement in Turkey is freely drafted, but it has to cover a defined piece of legal assistance and a sum or value; an agreement that is not in writing is proved under the general rules (Attorneys' Law No. 1136, art. 163 (opens in a new tab)). Put the fee model in a written agreement before you start work.

There are three basic models. An hourly fee is fair for open-ended or long matters but needs disciplined time recording. A fixed fee gives the client predictability for well-defined work such as drafting a contract or a single petition. A mixed model combines an up-front sum with an hourly rate.

A success-based fee has a ceiling: a percentage of the value of the claim or of the amount awarded can be agreed as the fee, but it cannot exceed twenty-five percent. The same article says that a fee below the Attorneys' Minimum Fee Tariff cannot be agreed (Attorneys' Law art. 164 (opens in a new tab)).

The tariff is renewed every year. The 2025-2026 tariff was published in the Official Gazette of 4 November 2025 (issue 33067) (Attorneys' Minimum Fee Tariff (opens in a new tab)). Check the current text for your year, and any later amendments, in the Official Gazette.

The fee agreement should contain the following: the scope of the work and what falls outside it, the fee model and amount, the payment schedule and due date, who bears expenses and any advance, and the terms on which the engagement ends and the lawyer may withdraw. Writing out-of-scope work down clearly prevents a later argument that it was included.

The same job under three fee models

1. 01/03

   Hourly: 20 hours × TRY 3,000

   TRY 60,000
2. 02/03

   Fixed: scope set out in the agreement

   TRY 55,000
3. 03/03

   Mixed: TRY 20,000 up front + 20 hours × TRY 1,500

   TRY 50,000

The amounts are illustrations. Whichever model is chosen, the fee cannot be agreed below the Attorneys' Minimum Fee Tariff.