Guides· CFO Playbook· Updated 4 Nov 2026

The first 100 days as CFO of a Turkish subsidiary

A practical plan for a new finance head: what to map in the first month, what to stabilise in the second, what to build in the third, and the five questions the parent will ask.

Many foreign groups run their Turkish subsidiary through a local accounting firm and a parent-company controller who visits twice a year. That works until the business grows, a tax audit starts or the auditors qualify the IFRS pack. This guide is a practical plan for a new CFO or finance head taking over a Turkish entity, written from the perspective of someone who has built multi-country finance functions from scratch.

Days 1 to 30: understand what you inherited

• Map the money. List every bank account, signatory, credit line, guarantee letter and FX position. In Türkiye, letters of guarantee (teminat mektubu) and blocked deposits are often spread across several banks and rarely appear in the group treasury report.
• Read the last three statutory and tax filings, not only the IFRS pack. Corporate tax returns, the transfer pricing form, the last provisional tax returns and the VAT position tell you where the open risks are.
• Find out who signs what. Check the trade registry signature circular (imza sirküleri) and the authorities registered for the e-government, tax office and social security systems. Outdated powers are a common control gap.
• Meet the external accountant (mali müşavir) and the auditor. Ask what they would fix first. Their answer is usually the fastest diagnostic you will get.
• List the deadlines. Put the monthly 26th, 28th and month-end cycle into one calendar. Our compliance calendar is a starting point.

Days 31 to 60: stabilise the core

• Close calendar. Agree a fixed day-by-day close that meets both the Turkish statutory cycle and the group reporting deadline. See our month-end close checklist.
• Chart of accounts bridge. Turkish statutory books use the uniform chart of accounts (Tekdüzen Hesap Planı). Build one maintained mapping table to the group chart instead of re-mapping in spreadsheets every month.
• Cash forecast. Run it daily or weekly, in TRY and in hard currency, including tax and social security outflows on fixed days. A balance that goes negative on a single day stops payroll and supplier runs.
• FX policy. Decide which currency the company holds, how far ahead it converts, and who approves forwards. Write it down and get it approved by the board.
• Approval matrix. Payment approvals, purchase approvals and contract signing limits, aligned with the signature circular.

Days 61 to 100: build for scale

• Systems. Check whether the ERP produces e-invoices, e-ledger and Ba/Bs data natively or through manual uploads. Manual steps are where penalties come from.
• Intercompany. Put written agreements behind every intercompany charge (services, royalties, loans, recharges) and align them with the group transfer pricing policy before the next corporate tax return. Our cash repatriation guide covers the options.
• Tax health check. Re-run the corporate tax forecast under both the standard rate and the 10% minimum tax with the minimum tax check, and confirm that provisional tax is being paid on the right base.
• Reporting pack. One monthly pack with nominal TRY, real growth and parent currency views, so management stops arguing about which number is right. The real growth and FX bridge helps.
• Team. Decide what stays in-house and what stays with the external accountant. A typical split keeps payroll filing and statutory books outside, and brings cash, reporting, controlling and intercompany inside.

The five questions the parent will ask

1. How much cash can we take out this year, and through which route?
2. What is our real growth, not the lira growth?
3. What is our tax exposure if we were audited tomorrow?
4. Are we protected against the next lira move?
5. Can the subsidiary close and report on time without heroics?

If you can answer all five with numbers after 100 days, the finance function is under control.

Need hands-on support?

We can introduce you to tax, payroll and legal advisors in Türkiye, or discuss an interim or fractional CFO to run this plan for you.

General information based on practical experience, not tax or legal advice. Last checked 4 November 2026.

For information only; not tax, legal or investment advice. Rules change, so check the official source before acting.