Units of Measure Configuration in Tally

Units of Measure Configuration in Tally

We have discussed Simple Unit of Measure , where an item is measured in one Simple Unit of Measure only. However, sometimes, an Item may be measured in multiple Units of Measure and Compound Unit of Measure

Alternate Unit of Measure: Sometimes, a stock Item Quantity may be expressed in any of two units, called Dual Units(like Bags or Kg, Box or Pcs). One is called Base Unit and another is called Alternate Unit. For Example, Steel Rods may be sold in Pcs or in Kg. Here either Pc or Kg may be specified as Base unit, and the other is specified as Alternate Unit. In Alternate (Dual) unit, there is a specified relationship (called Conversion factor) for conversion of quantity between the Main & Alternate Unit
Compound Unit of Measure: When a stock Item is expressed in combination of two Units (like Hr-Min, Strip-Tabs, Box-Pcs etc). The larger one is called Main Unit and the smaller one is called Tail Unit. In Compound unit also, there is specified relationship (called Conversion factor) for conversion of quantity between the Main Unit & Tail Unit.

Alternate Units of Measure in Tally

Sometimes, an Item may be measured in either of 2 alternate UoM (also referred as Dual UoM). For example, Nuts & Bolts may be measured in Pcs as well as in Kg. Hessian cloth may be measured in Metres & in Kg. Cables & Wires may be measured in Coils / Rolls & Mtrs. Here, the first unit is called the Base Unit and the second unit is referred as Alternate Unit, through a relationship between them (e.g 1 Pc = 25 Grams, 3.23 Kg = 17 Pcs, 480 Sheets = 23.5 Kg, 1 Roll = 25 Mtrs etc).

Alternate Units Set Up in Tally

Activation for Alternate Unit : At Gateway, click F12: Configure and select Accts /Inv Info to get Accounts / Inv Info Configuration screen. Set Yes at Use Alternate Units for Stock Items, to activate Alternate Unit feature for the Company.
Creation of Alternate Unit Master : First create an Alternate Unit in the same way as creation of Simple Unit. Alternatively, you may also create the Alternate Unit from within the Stock Item Entry screen, as explained next.

Alternate Unit set up in Stock Item Master in Tally

Having activated Alternate Unit feature for the Company, In Item Master Entry / Alteration screen, after entry of Base Unit (e.g Mtrs), at Alternate Units field, select the Alternate Unit (e.g Roll) from the list of Units defined (or Click Alt+C at Alternate Units field to get Unit creation screen and create the Alternate Unit, if alternate Unit is not created). Select the Alternate Unit (e.g.Roll)

Conversion Factor : At where field, enter the conversion factor between the Base Unit & Alternate Unit. Enter the value of Alternate Unit (e.g Roll) and then enter the equivalent quantity in Base Unit (Mtrs). [e.g 1 Roll (Alternate Unit) = 25 Mtrs ( Base Unit].
Rate UoM: In Dual (Alternate) Unit, the Rate can be specified in any of the Unit (Base or Alternate). So, you have to specify the Rate Unit also from the list of Units (in which both the units are available for selection).
Standard Rates entry for alternate units in Stock Item master : To set Standard Rates also, at Stock Item master alteration screen, set Yes at Set Standard Rates, to get at Standard Rate entry screen. At Standard Rate entry screen, enter Rates (Standard Cost and Standard Selling Price) of the Item either in Base Unit, or Alternate Unit, as usual.

Alternate Unit in Stock Item master

Item Rate entry for Basic and Alternate unit

Inventory Voucher entry with Alternate UoM in Tally

In Inventory Voucher, you may enter Quantity in Base Unit and Rate in Base or in Alternate Unit. The unit at which the Rate (Price) is entered is called the Rate Unit.

Inventory Voucher entry in Base & Alternate unit

Quantity : In Inventory Voucher, the Base Unit may be entered at Quantity field. The equivalent Quantity in Alternate unit would be displayed in parenthesis, just below the Base Quantity, as per the conversion factor specified in the Item master. To specify the Unit for the quantity entered, type the quantity and then type the first letter (or letters) of the Unit. For example to enter 5 Mtrs, type 5m. To enter 2 Rolls, type 2r. If the Base & Alternate Unit Name starts with same letter, type more letters to make both distinctive [for e.g for Pc (pieces) & Pk (packets), both starting with P, type 2Pk, 5Pc]
Enter quantity in Base unit (specify the Base Unit), the computed quantity in Alternate unit would be displayed in parenthesis as per the conversion factor specified in the Item master.
If you attempt to enter quantity in Alternate unit (i.e select Alternate Unit at Quantity column), Tally will instantly replace it with the equivalent quantity in Base unit (as per the conversion factor) and show at Quantity field. The Quantity entered in Alternate Unit would be shown below (in parentheses).

Rate : You may enter Rate in either unit.

Amount : The value is computed as per Rate Unit specified. So, if the Rate in both units does not correspond as per conversion factor, differences will result.

Normally, the price of larger unit is comparatively lower than smaller unit (e.g Rs 300 / Roll of 25 Mtrs, Rs 13 per Mtr). Keeping in mind that you can enter quantity in Base unit only (equivalent quantity in alternate unit will be displayed for info).

You should decide the Base Unit & Alternate Unit. There is no hard & fast rule that Base Unit should be larger or smaller (but computation will be simpler when smaller unit is base unit). You can have in any way as convenient to you.

If you sell mostly in Mtrs, then Mtrs should be Base unit and Rolls should be alternate unit, with relationship as 1mtr = .04 Rolls. Remember to set sufficient places of decimals for larger unit to avoid error due to fractions.

The Quantity is to be entered in Main Unit, while the Rate may be entered in Alternate Unit. The value is computed as per Rate Unit and the Quantity in the corresponding Rate Unit.

Compound Unit of Measure in Tally

Normally, the Unit of Measure contain only one element of Unit (like Pc, Kg- called Simple Unit of Measure), But sometimes an Item may be expressed in Compound Unit composed of two component units. For example, a Box of 10 Pcs, Strip of 20 Tablets, Tin of 4 Kgs. Traders like to maintain such units as trade is normally done in both units (whole sale / large trades in bigger unit & small / retail trades in smaller unit).

In such case, 2 units are created and the quantity in one unit (e.g Box) is defined in terms of the other unit (e.g Pcs). Compound units show the quantity two components – Main Unit (the bigger unit) and the Tail unit (the smaller unit)

Several compound units composed of same simple unit may even be created (like Bottle of 100 Tabs, Bottle of 20 Tabs, Tin of 2 kg, Tin of 4 kg etc).

The following table shows some examples of Compound Units and how the Quantity is expressed in Compound Units]

1^st Unit (Basic unit)	2^nd Unit (Tail unit)	Compound UoM	Relationship	Quantity	Representing
Tin	Kg	Tin of 4 Kg	1 Tin=4Kg	1-2 2-0 0-2	1 Tin 2 Kg= 6 Kg 2 Tin = 8 Kg 2 Kg
Strip	Tab	Strip of 20 Tabs	1 Strip=20 Tab	1-9 2-0 0-12	1 Strip 9 Tab = 29 Tab 2 Strip = 40 Tab 12 Tab

Compound Unit of Measure Creation in Tally

Compound Unit Creation

To create Compound Unit of Measure, at Gateway, select Inventory Info> Unit of Measure to get Unit Creation screen.

Creation of Constituent Simple Units : First, the constituent simple units are to be created as usual. For example, to create Unit of Roll of 25 Metres, both the Units – Roll & Mtrs, must be created first, as Simple Units, as explained earlier. At larger unit (e.g Roll), provide sufficient number of decimal places to express fractional values (e.g 3 decimal places like, 25.000).

Creation of Compound Unit : To create compound unit, at Unit Creation screen, select Compound at Type field (press Backspace at the first field to get the cursor at Type field ) to get Compound Unit creation screen.

At Compound Unit creation screen, at First Unit field, select the First unit from the list of Units. Then enter the conversion factor (relationship) between Main & Tail unit. Next, select the Tail Unit. Now the Compound Unit (which is another Unit distinct from the 2 constituent Simple Units) is created.

So, for Compound unit, (Roll of 25 Mtrs) 3 units are to be created, 2 Simple Units (Roll & Mtrs) and 1 Compound unit (Roll of 25 Mtrs). In the respective Item Master, the Compound Unit should be specified as the UoM of the Item (not the constituent simple units). During voucher entry, the compound unit would be specified for Quantity & Rate (not the constituent Simple Units).

Compound Unit set up in Stock Item Master in Tally

Compound Unit in Stock Item master

Having created the Compound Unit Master, you may select the Compound Unit at UoM at Units field, the same way you specify UoM in Stock Item.

You may still specify Alternate UoM even when you specify Compound Unit as Base Unit

Inventory Voucher Entry with Compound Unit

In Inventory Voucher entry, against the Stock Item, enter the Quantity in Compound Unit (in Main & Tail Unit). You may enter Rate either in Main unit or in Tail unit and compute the value accordingly

Voucher showing Stock Item transaction with Compound Unit

Display of Compound UoM during Voucher Entry in Tally

In voucher using Compound Unit, you may set the display & computation of Quantity in Compound Unit as follows:

Quantity & Rate Entry in Compound UoM : In voucher using Compound Unit, to set the display of Quantity & Rate entered, at Invoice Entry Configuration screen (GoT>F12:Configure>Invoice / Orders Entry), at Show Compound Unit of Item Based on Rate.

Compound UoM Configuration Options set up

Set Yes to convert the Quantity entered in terms of Rate entered. In that case, the Quantity is converted in terms of Rate. For example when you enter Quantity in Roll, e.g 1-3 Roll (when 1 Roll =25 Mtrs), then at Rate & Unit :
- Enter Rate / Roll, 250/Roll, then the computation will be @250 per Roll =Rs.280
- Enter Rate / Mtr, 11/Mtr, then the Quantity will be converted in terms of Rate Unit, i.e Mtrs. So, 1-3 Roll will be converted into 28 Mtrs and amount would be computed as computation will be @28 per Mtr =Rs.308
Set No, the Quantity and Rate would be shown as entered and amount would be computed as per Rate unit (without converting the Quantity as per Rate Unit)

Compound Unit Quantity & Rate entry in Tally

Compound Unit Quantity & Rate conversion in Tally

Compound Unit Quantity details in Voucher

Compound Unit Quantity details display

Having set Yes at Show Compound Unit Based on Rate , at Show Full Details of Compound Unit :

Set Yes to show the full details of Compound unit showing the Name of Constituent Units. For example 1-3 Roll is shown as 1 Roll 3 Mtrs
Set No to show the Quantity of Compound Unit as entered in Compound Unit (e.g 1-3 Roll)

Fractional Quantity in Compound Unit in Tally

If you have specified number of decimal places in First Unit of the compound unit (e.g in Stp), you may enter the Quantity in fractions also. Tally will instantly replace it with equivalent quantity in terms of main and tail unit. So, when you enter 10.50 Stp, it will be converted to 10-6 indicating 10 Strip and 6 Tabs (0.5 Stp=6 Tabs).

You cannot have any constituent Unit of a Compound Unit as Alternate Unit. For example, you can not have Roll of 25 Metres and Metres as Base Unit & Alternate Unit, as Metre is also a constituent unit of Roll.

You may have several compound unit of same constituent units, For example Tin of 4 kg, Tin of 20 Kg. Roll of 25 Mtrs, Roll of 91 Mtrs, but in the UoM, in both cases, Roll will be displayed. To clarify, it is better to give the value of the compound unit in the description for clarification.

You cannot use numeric numbers as part of name or Short Name of Simple Unit. For example, Tin4 (to indicate 4 kg Tin, Tin12 etc) are not accepted in Name or Short Name of an UoM.

Compound & Alternate Unit in Stock Item in Tally

You may even use Alternate and Compound Unit in Stock Item master, as main unit and Alternate unit simultaneously, as explained through following example of trade of Yarn.

In wholesale trade, Yarn is normally sold in Bales. A Bale contains several Bundles (a bundle contains several hanks). Special Yarns are sold in bundles also (like Dyed Yarn). So, normally the Yarn traders use compound unit like Bales- Bundle as selling unit. For example, if one Bale consists of 40 Bundles (1 Bundle =4.54 kg), they will specify like,

2-20 (2 Bales, 20 Bundles) instead of 100 Bundles
0-20 (0 Bales, 20 Bundles) instead of 20 Bundles
1-30 (1 Bale, 30 Bundles) instead of 70 Bundles

However, the Sale Rate is expressed in Rs./ Kg, irrespective of UoM of Quantity. In such case, a combination of Units, Alternate Unit and Compound is to be used:

Create the constituent simple units
Create the compound unit
Specify the Main & Alternate Units in Item master
Enter quantity in compound Units in Invoice

Creation of Unit Masters

Compound Unit in Stock Items

Create the constituent simple units : First create the constituent Simple Units: 1.Bales (Bale) 2. Bundles (Bdl), 3. Kilogram (Kg), as usual
Create the compound unit : Having created all theconstituent Simple Units, create the Compound Unit Bale of 40 Bundles, enter as follows :

First Unit (Main Unit)	Conversion	Second Unit (Tail Unit)
Bale	40	Bdl

Specify the Units in Item Master : Through Item master creation / alteration, specify the compound unit (Bale of 40) as Basic Unit and Kg as Alternate unit at the Stock Item Master and specify the conversion factor (1 Bdl=4.54 kg).

In Description field, you may enter the details for Bale / Bundle for reference. This may optionally be printed in Invoice.

Invoice Entry with Compound and Alternate UoM in Tally

Now enter the quantity in compound unit, in 2 components. The details (like weight of Bale etc) is entered in Description field in Stock Item is displayed in entry screen for reference.

Invoice with Compound & Alternate Unit

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