Investing in accounting software is one of the best things you can do for your business. A quality program can free up your time and prevent costly mistakes. Plus, it makes compliance easier and streamlines complex accounting tasks. However, a staggering 18 percent of small businesses in the U.S. don't use accounting software. If you fall into this category, it's time to make a change. Consider switching to a simple, intuitive program such as Tally.

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Tally is a popular accounting program that allows for a wide range of financial operations, such as payroll management, accounting, resource planning and automatic bank reconciliation.

How Does Tally Software Work?

Tally is a powerful yet easy to use accounting program for both small and large businesses. It was developed in India in 1998 and has more than 1 million customers worldwide. It's widely used across all industries, including education, health care, retail and hospitality.

Business owners can choose from different types of software programs depending on their needs. Tally ERP 9, for instance, is Tally's main product. It features single and multi-user licenses and can handle a wide range of tasks, from payroll and tax management to accounting and resource planning. This intuitive software program was launched in 2009.

The best way to define Tally software is to focus on its core features. This program uses what's known as a concurrent multi-lingual accelerated technology engine, which allows it to perform complex tasks, yet its interface is intuitive and user-friendly so that anyone can operate it.

Tally ERP 9 is designed for enterprise planning. That's what the acronym ERP stands for. This program does a lot more than just accounting work. It's suitable for purchase order management, stock management, financial analysis error detection and advanced reporting. It comes with a seven-day free trial, which allows users a chance to test it.

Applications of Tally

Tally's software programs appeal to any kind of business, big or small. Their ease of use is hard to beat. You can track your revenue and expenses with just a few clicks. Common uses of Tally ERP 9 include:

  • Sales, inventory and purchase management
  • Integrated payroll management
  • Access and security control
  • Statutory compliance
  • GST invoicing
  • Budgets and scenario management
  • Payroll accounting
  • Business forecasting
  • Variance reporting
  • Auto bank reconciliation
  • Data backups and data synchronization

With Tally ERP 9, business owners and accountants can easily determine direct and indirect taxes, monitor cash flows and handle payroll compliance checks. They can also create ledger accounts and voucher entries, analyze financial data and make transactions in multiple currencies. Other popular applications of Tally include project management, email integration, POS invoicing and trading excise registers.

Disadvantages and Limitations

Like everything else, Tally has its limitations, depending a which version you're using. The free version of Tally ERP 9, for example, doesn't have the same features as the full version. It lacks automatic bank reconciliation, multi-account printing, data sync capabilities and remote data access.

Users say that certain functions, such as recovering lost data and making changes to the journal voucher, are difficult to perform with Tally. Additionally, customization options are limited. Furthermore, the software does not allow you to work on more than one ledger at a time or open the same transaction screen from multiple PCs.

It's up to you to decide whether or not Tally is suitable for your business. If you have a small company or a nonprofit organization, this program offers everything you need and much more. However, it may not be the best option for large organizations and multinationals since it lacks the security features and customization capabilities required for handling complex operations.