Tally Prime Accounts Vouchers

Accounts Vouchers in Tally Prime

Voucher is a complete & comprehensive record of all Important details related to the transaction.

Voucher Types in Tally Prime

Academically, all types of transactions (Cash or Non Cash) may be entered in Journal Voucher and recorded in Journal Book (as we learn from Accountancy Books).

However, for better control and division of accounting tasks to various persons, the Transactions are classified into several Voucher Types .

Accordingly, different types of vouchers are used to record as per nature of transactions. We now discuss various types of Vouchers available in Tally Prime system.

Accounts Voucher Entry in Tally Prime

GoT & Voucher Type buttons

Select GoT>Vouchers (or Go To> Create Voucher) to get Voucher entry screen. At the rightmost part, you get Buttons (F4 to F9 & F10) for each Accounts Voucher Type. Click the respective button (or type the Function Key) to get respective Voucher entry screen.

Vouchers may be entered in Traditional method in Double (with Dr/Cr sign) or in Computer Style Single Mode. To select desired Voucher entry screen, click H:Change Mode Button (or type Ctrl+H) and select Double Entry / As Voucher to enter in Double Entry Mode (Ledger Amount in Dr / Cr column). In Double entry mode, Voucher would be saved when total debits are equal to total credits of the voucher.

Here we discuss about Double Entry Mode, for better understanding of Accounting concepts of Debit & Credit. Journal Vouchers must be entered in Double Mode.

Once a Voucher Entry mode is selected, next time another voucher type selected would appear in same Entry Mode. When you select Voucher Entry from GoT, the voucher type of previous voucher entry session would appear as default. So, after creating Payment Voucher, next time when you access Voucher Entry screen from GoT, Payment Voucher entry screen will appear. To enter another Voucher Type, click the respective button or Function key.

Contra Voucher in Tally Prime

Contra Voucher (click F4:Contra)is used to record transfer of fund from one Cash / Bank / Bank OCC to another Cash / Bank / Bank OCC a/c (like Cash Withdrawal from Bank, Cash Deposit to bank, Transfer from one Bank Account to another, Transfer between Main Cash and Petty Cash and Petty Cash). So, in contra voucher, you can transact only Cash / Bank / Bank OCC a/c ledgers.

The first entry is always Credit (Cash / Bank Account from where money is taken out). From 2nd entry onwards you may Credit or Debit Cash / Bank Ledger Account (where money is deposited into) under Cash, Bank Accounts and Bank OCC group only.

Contra Voucher

So, you can select Ledger Accounts under Cash Group / Bank Group / Bank OD Group ONLY. Ledger Accounts of other Groups would not be available in Contra Voucher. A Contra Voucher may contain multiple Debit Credits, like Cash Deposit into two or more Bank Accounts, Cash Withdrawal from two or more Bank Accounts, etc.

Payment Voucher in Tally Prime

Payment Voucher is used for any type of money outgo (from Bank / Bank OD or Cash Account). 

Payment Voucher

In Payment voucher (F5: Payment), Ledger Account paid to is Debited and a Cash / Bank / Bank OCC A/c from where money is taken out, is Credited.

The first entry is always Debit (other than Cash / Bank/ Bank OCC a/c) and second entry onwards you may specify Debit or Credit.  The Cash / Bank / Bank OD A/c must be Credited. Multiple Cash Bank transaction may be recorded in Payment Voucher (e,g Payment partly by Cash and Partly from Bank A/c).

Receipt Voucher in Tally Prime

Receipt Voucher is used for any sort of inflow of money (in Bank Account or Cash Account). 

In Receipt Voucher (click F6: Receipt), ledger account received from is Credited, and Cash / Bank/ Bank OCC A/c, where money is going to, is Debited.

The first entry is always Credit (other than Cash / Bank Account), and second entry onwards you may specify Debit or Credit.  The Cash / Bank / Bank OCC A/c must be Debited

Multiple Cash Bank transaction may be recorded in Receipt Voucher (e,g One Voucher in respect of money Received partly by Cash and Partly by Cheque A/c).

Journal Voucher in Tally Prime

Journal Voucher Entry

Journal Voucher is used for all non cash transaction (other than Receipt, Payment & Contra). Click F7:Journal (or press F7).

The first entry is Debit. From next entry onwards, any Ledger Account (other than under Cash, Bank or Bank OCC) may be Debited or Credited in Journal Voucher. Journal Voucher cannot be entered in Single Mode. A Journal Voucher may contain any Ledger Account in Debit or Credit. There is no rule of first ledger account.

Sales Voucher in Tally Prime

Sales Voucher is created to record all sorts of Sales Transactions (Cash Sales or Credit Sales).

Sales Voucher Entry

At Voucher entry screen , Click F8: Sales button (or press F8 key). At first ledger, select a Party Account (for Credit Sales) or Cash / Bank A/c (for Cash Sales), to be Debited. The next ledger account would be a Ledger under Sales Group and must be Credited. In Sales Voucher, a ledger account under Purchase Group cannot be transacted.

At Sales Voucher Entry screen, click F12:Configure and set the Configuration Options as desired.

Cash Sales may be entered in Receipt Voucher & Credit Sales may be entered in Journal Voucher. But it is advisable to enter all sorts of Trade Sales transactions (whether Cash or Credit Sales) in Sales Voucher only, to get proper Sales Register showing all Trade Sales in one register.

You should enter Sales Voucher for Sale of usual Trade transactions only. For example, sale of Fixed Asset should be entered in Journal Voucher / Receipt Voucher (not in Sales Voucher). In Sales Voucher, multiple Sales Accounts may transacted (both Debit & Credit), but ledger account under Purchase Group cannot be transacted.

Purchase Voucher in Tally Prime

Purchase Voucher Entry

Purchase Voucher (click F9:Purchase) is created to record all sorts of Purchase Transactions (Cash Purchase or Credit Purchase).

At first ledger, you must select a Party Account (for Credit Purchase) or Cash / Bank A/c (for Cash Purchase) to be Credited. The next ledger account would be a Ledger under Purchase Group and must be Debited.

At Purchase Voucher Entry screen, click F12:Configure and set the Configuration Options as desired

In Purchase Voucher, multiple Purchase Accounts may transacted (both Debit & Credit), ledger account under Sales Group cannot be transacted. Cash Purchase may be entered in Payment Voucher & Credit Purchase may be entered in Journal Voucher. But it is advisable to enter all Purchase Voucher (whether Cash or Credit Purchase) in Purchase Voucher  only, to get proper Purchase Register showing all Trade Purchase in one register.

Debit / Credit Note voucher in Tally Prime

Debit & Credit note voucher are normally used for adjustment, supplementary bills, rebates, goods returns, etc.  These are supplementary Debits / Credits on Party, in respect to Sales / Purchase transactions.

Normally, Debit Note is commonly issued by Buyer on Seller, for Purchase Returns, Rebates, Claims, Discount. But, sometimes, Debit Note may be issued by Seller on Buyer, for supplementary Bills, additional charges etc.

In the same way, Credit Note is commonly issued by Seller, in favour of Buyer, for Sales Returns, Rebates, Claims, Discount.

Debit / Credit Note Voucher Type selection

In Tally PRIME, the buttons of Debit & Credit Note Vouchers are not visible in main Voucher Entry screen. Click F10:Other Voucher and then select Debit Note (Alt+F5) Credit Note (Alt+F6) or press (Alt+F5) / (Alt+F6) to get the Debit Note / Credit note entry screen directly.

As explained for Sales / Purchase, any trade transaction between  with Buyer / Seller related to Sales / Purchase, should be entered through Sale / Purchase Debit / Credit note voucher only (not through payment / Receipt / Journal Voucher).

Accounting Effect of Debit / Credit Notes: The Party (e.g Party X) issuing Debit Note, debits the account of the other Party (e.g Party Y) on whom the Debit note is issued. On the other hand, the other Party (Party Y) issues a Credit Note in favour of the Party issuing Debit Note (Party X), to match their Accounts.

Debit Note Voucher Entry Rules in Tally Prime

Debit Note Voucher Entry

In Debit Note, the First ledger account must be under Sundry Debtor / Creditor / Cash Bank Account to be Debited. Subsequently, any ledger accounts (normally Sales / Purchase) may be credited / debited. At  Entry screen, click F12: Configure and set the Configuration Options as desired.

Credit Note Voucher Entry Rules in Tally Prime

Credit Note Voucher Entry

In Credit Note, the First ledger account under Sundry Debtor / Creditor group to be Credited. Subsequently, any ledger accounts (normally Sales / Purchase) may be debited/ credited.

At Credit Note Voucher Entry screen, click F12:Configure and set the Configuration Options as desired.

Components of Voucher Entry Screen in Tally Prime

Tally provides a standard Accounts Voucher entry Form for all types of Accounts Vouchers. We describe the Rules of Voucher Entry (Account Heads, Debit / Credit) for each Voucher Type.

The Basic Accounts Voucher entry screen  may be broadly divided into 3 areas :

Voucher HeaderLedger DetailsVoucher Footer
Voucher Type/Number Voucher Date/DayTo/By(or Dr/Cr) Ledger Account Ledger AmountVoucher Narration Voucher Amount

Voucher Header in Tally Prime

At Voucher Header, you enter the following :

  • Voucher Number: In automatic voucher numbering system, Tally auto generates voucher number in chronological order, for each Voucher type. In such case, you do not to manually enter Voucher Number.
  • Voucher Date: The Current Date is carried at this field as  Date of Voucher. To change the Voucher Date, press F2: Date button. The next Date is carried as default Voucher Date would be shown as Current Date as explained in earlier chapter. You may change it as needed. Alternatively, you may press Shift+Tab to get back to the Date field and enter the Voucher Date, without changing the Current Date.

Voucher Ledger Account details in Tally Prime

This is a tabular area where each Ledger Transaction data is entered .

  • Ledger Sign : At first column, Type D (for Debit) or C (for Credit) at first column to indicate Debit or Credit the ledger that you select at Particulars Column. The Debit or Credit nature of the first Ledger Account in the Voucher is pre-determined by Tally according to Voucher Type. So, you have to enter D/C only from second entry onwards.
  • Ledger Account : At Particulars field, select the Ledger Account from List of Ledgers pop-up.
  • Ledger Amount : As per Dr/Cr entry in the first column, the cursor would move to Debit or Credit column. Type the Amount for the Ledger Account.

Voucher Narration in Tally Prime

At the Voucher Narration, describing the essential details of voucher transactions briefly (upto 3 lines), for future reference. Based on Configuration setting of respective Voucher Type, Ledger Narration may be entered after each Ledger account entry in Voucher

10.1 New Ledger Accounts creation during voucher entry : During voucher entry, if the ledger account to be transacted is not yet created, press Alt+C (or select Create option from List of Ledgers) at the ledger account (Particulars) column to get Ledger Accounts entry screen, without exiting from the current voucher.  Now create the new ledger account as usual. You will get back the voucher entry screen at the same point. Select the ledger account in the voucher entry screen.

This way, you may enter many Debit and Credit entries in a voucher. The Ledger entries will be terminated as soon as the total of Debit and Credit is equal.

10.2 Voucher Data Saving : After complete entry of the voucher, you get Save Y/N box to save the voucher,

  • Saving the Voucher: Press  <Enter> or type Y at Accept? Yes or No  to save the voucher. The current voucher will be saved.

To modify any data before saving, type N (or No) to go back to the top field, edit as desired and then save the voucher.

  • Quit without Saving : To close the voucher entry screen without saving the current voucher being entered, press Q: Quit button at the bottom of the screen (or press Ctrl+Q).
  • Quick Saving : To save the current voucher quickly (without confirmation), press A: Accept button  at the bottom of the screen (or press Ctrl+A).

Continuing Voucher Entry : After saving the current voucher, a blank Voucher entry screen would appear to continue voucher entry. To terminate voucher entry, press <Esc>. Type Yes at Quit? Yes or No. to quit. To enter any other type of Voucher, click the respective voucher type button.

Voucher Alteration Deletion & Cancellation in Tally Prime

After entry of Voucher, to make any Alteration in the Voucher Data (or Delete the voucher), you have to access the Voucher from proper report, depending on info available about the voucher to edit. Normally Day Book is the most convenient place, if you know the Voucher Type & Voucher Date (or even probable range of Voucher Date).

To View / Alter or Delete any saved Voucher, select Display>Day Book, Click F2:Date (if you know the voucher date) or F2:Period. Enter the Voucher Date (at F2:Date prompt) or the Period (at F2:Period  prompt) to get the list of the Vouchers (Day Book) for the selected Date / Period.

To access the voucher quickly (if the Day Book shows long list of Vouchers), Click You may also click F4:Voucher Type and select the desired Voucher Type, to show filtered list of Vouchers for the selected Voucher Type. Now, find and drill down through the desired voucher (place the cursor on the voucher record and double click or press <enter>) to get the Voucher Alteration screen (similar to voucher entry screen). 

At Voucher Alteration screen:

  • Voucher Alteration : Take the cursor on the desired field and make necessary alteration of data, as desired. Press Alt+A to save the changed voucher.
  • Voucher Deletion: Press Alt+D and type Y at Delete Yes / No to confirm deletion of the voucher (view the voucher before confirming deletion to ensure you are deleting right voucher). The voucher is removed from from Tally Database, without leaving any trace.
  • Voucher Cancellation : Press Alt+X and type Y at Cancel Yes / No to confirm deletion of the voucher. All data of the voucher are removed, but the Voucher is shown as Cancelled in Day Book.

Apart from Day Book, you may access a Voucher from any Report, right from Balance Sheet, P L Statement at GoT main menu, and other reports from Display More Report menu like, Trial Balance and Account Books. From these reports, you will ultimately reach Ledger Voucher or Voucher Register, from where select the desired Voucher to Edit / Delete. In Automatic Voucher numbering scheme, on Deletion of Voucher, all voucher number of all subsequent Vouchers (of the Voucher Type) would be renumbered. So, be carful. Similarly, changing the Voucher Date, all subsequent Vouchers from that date onwards would be re-numbered serially. So, be careful. Instead of Deleting the voucher Cancel the Voucher to prevent voucher renumbering. However, on creation of back dated voucher, or change of Voucher Date, vouchers would get renumbered automatically. The earlier contents of Deleted / Cancelled voucher cannot be viewed, nor such Voucher can be viewed later on.

Dormant Vouchers in Tally Prime

We have so far discussed about vouchers which makes immediate effect in accounts. So, the entry is reflected immediately in ledger accounts, Trial Balance, Final Accounts etc. However, tally provides following Dormant vouchers, which do not affect the accounts immediately.

  • Optional  (L:Optional): These voucher are created to make provisional entry, to be regularized later on. Click L:Optional  toggle button to convert to Optional and vice versa.
  •  Post Dated (T:Post dated): Entered in advance of the date of transaction. Often traders give post dated cheques, which are regularized when Banked. Click T:Post Dated  toggle button to convert to Post dated and vice versa

Usefulness of Optional Vouchers : Optional Vouchers are very useful if intelligently planned and implemented by Management. But many people do not understand its immense convenience in planning, easing accounting work, reducing mistakes.

When a Voucher is entered and saved, it immediately updates Accounts. So, in tally, you can enter the Voucher when the transaction has been completed. This means that the voucher is first written manually, transaction (like Payment / Receipt/ Contra) is carried. So, it does not reduce manual writing of the voucher in most cases. Optional Vouchers may be entered in Tally before the transaction is carried. The voucher entry would be checked (for correctness) & Approved by authorised person. The transaction is then carried, just regularising the checked & approved Optional Voucher to regular Voucher. This ensures correctness of voucher as everything is prechecked before the transaction is carried. So, Manager/ owner/ Accountant may pre plan and pre-create voucher for transactions for a certain period to be carried. The assistant would then carry out transaction strictly as per pre approved voucher, even in absence of owner / accountant. Better control. Correct Accounts.

Post dated Vouchers : It is common practice for big organizations to demand Post Dated cheques, to ensure guaranteed timely payment of their dues, without chasing for it. The debtor gives post dated cheques for committed due dates in advance, ensuring that the cheque would be honoured on due date. The creditor then deposits the cheques on due date.

Similar to Voucher Editing, access the desired Post Dated Cheque, click T:Post Dated toggle button to covert Post dated to Reguslar and vice versa.

In case of Post Dated cheque, the voucher is entered as per cheque date, marked as Post dated. So, like Provisional Voucher, it is not reflected in Accounts immediately. On due Date, the Post Dated Voucher is converted to Regular Voucher. The effect is reflected in Accounts. Through Post Dated voucher works as Provisional Voucher, it is reflected in Outstanding Statement, so that the creditor does not chase for Payment, as cheque is already received.

Single / Invoice Mode Voucher Entry in Tally Prime

So far, we have explained Voucher Entry in Double Mode, entering Amount in Debit / Credit column. This is the traditional way of Voucher entry, as taught in Accounting Books. To enter voucher more naturally, without specifying Debit / Credit (these terms often confuses Non-Accountants), voucher may be alternatively entered in Single / Invoice Mode, without specifying Debit Credit. The Debit Credit nature is auto interpreted and Voucher data is internally saved in same way, irrespective mode of Entry. So, a voucher may be edited / displayed in any mode, irrespective of the mode in which the voucher was originally created.

As explained earlier, at Voucher Entry screen click H:Change Mode and select Single Entry / Accounting Invoice from the list of options. Journal Voucher cannot be entered in Single Mode .

In Single Mode, enter Cash / Bank Account in Header and other Accounts in detail line. There is no Debit / Credit column in Single mode voucher entry.

The entry screen of Contra, Payment, Receipt, Sale, Purchase, Debit Note & Credit Note  Voucher entry are almost similar.

Tally provides some unique tricks to enter vouchers quickly .

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