What is the e-Archive Portal and When Is It Used?

You learned that you need to switch to e-Archive invoices and you found yourself at a crossroads: the official TRA (GİB) portal or a dedicated software.

One is free. The other isn't. If the decision seems that simple, you probably haven't seen what the portal doesn't cover yet.

What exactly is the portal?

It is a free web application provided by the Revenue Administration (Gelir İdaresi Başkanlığı) for taxpayers who need to issue e-Archive invoices. You log in via your browser, fill out the form, and issue the invoice.

The document it generates is completely valid. There is no legal difference between an e-Archive invoice issued through the portal and one issued through software. The difference lies entirely in the workflow.

The portal is for e-Archive, not e-Invoices. We explained the difference between the two in a separate article: e-Invoices are issued to e-Invoice taxpayers, and e-Archive invoices are issued to everyone else.

Who is the portal actually enough for?

The honest answer: it is more than enough for some businesses. If you fit this profile, there is no need to rush into getting software.

• You issue a few invoices a month.
• Your customer base is small and their details rarely change.
• You don't track inventory, or your inventory tracking is very basic.
• You can easily track collections in your head.
• You are a self-employed professional or a single-person service business.

With this profile, you spend fifteen minutes a month on the portal and you're done. Buying software would mean paying for a problem it doesn't solve.

The limits of the portal

The portal is a document issuance tool, not a business management tool. What it doesn't cover:

Each of these missing features can be tolerated individually. The problem is that they are all missing at the same time: you keep customer balances in Excel, inventory in a ledger, collections in your head, and you issue invoices on the portal. Data kept in four separate places cannot cross-verify itself.

Friction felt in daily use

Here are the common complaints from portal users:

• Entering customer details every single time. If you issue three invoices a month to the same customer, you enter their title and tax ID three times. The risk of a typo is recreated each time.
• Entering product details every single time. Price lists are not kept; you have to remember unit prices.
• Inability to perform bulk operations. If you have twenty orders, you fill out the exact same form twenty times.
• Inability to pull reports. The answer to "How much did I sell this month, and who owes me how much?" doesn't exist on the portal.
• Logins and access. Steps requiring a financial seal or e-signature can waste time right when you need to issue an invoice in a hurry.

Additionally, volume and scope conditions for portal usage may be updated over time. Taxpayers exceeding a certain turnover or document count may be required to switch to an integrator or special integration methods — rely on TRA announcements and your financial advisor for your specific situation.

Signs that it's time to switch

If the portal is starting to feel too restrictive, you can tell by these symptoms:

• Issuing invoices takes half an hour of your day.
• You can't instantly answer the question, "How much was my receivable from this customer?"
• You are entering the same information separately into the portal, Excel, and WhatsApp.
• You started selling on marketplaces and your order volume increased.
• The number of invoices issued with incorrect amounts or to the wrong customer is rising.
• Your financial advisor asks for missing documents every month.

If you are experiencing three of these at once, the issue is no longer just issuing invoices, but having visibility over your business. We outlined the transition steps in our guide on switching from the portal to software.

The portal isn't the only free option

The most common justification for choosing the portal is cost. But framing the comparison as "free portal vs. paid software" is incomplete.

Micro-accounting software has free tiers. On Qolay.App, you can work without paying a fee for up to 500 sales/purchase invoices per calendar year, and use e-invoices and e-archives together with current accounts, inventory, and collection tracking. Therefore, for most small businesses, the decision isn't about "paying money or not," but rather "gathering everything in one place or keeping it scattered."

Frequently asked questions

Is an invoice issued through the portal considered invalid?

No. An e-Archive invoice issued via the portal is completely valid. The difference is operational, not legal.

Can I issue e-invoices on the portal as well?

The e-Archive portal is for e-Archive invoices. Separate methods apply for documents to be issued to e-Invoice taxpayers; ask your financial advisor about your specific scope.

What happens to my old invoices when I switch from the portal to software?

Documents issued on the portal are recorded on the TRA side. Switching to new software does not invalidate past documents; your obligation to store them continues.

Can I use both together?

While technically possible, it is not recommended. Issuing documents from two places leads to numbering series confusion and missing records.

In summary: the portal solves the task of issuing invoices; it doesn't solve the task of seeing your business. If your volume is low, it is more than enough; when it grows, the problem isn't the invoice, it's everything else.

By opening a free account on Qolay.App, you can manage e-archives and e-invoices from a single screen along with current accounts, inventory, and collection tracking.

This article is for general informational purposes. Portal terms of use and taxpayer scope are subject to change; the official source is the TRA (GİB). Consult your financial advisor for your specific obligations.