Corporate Accounting
with Tally Prime

🎯 Module goal: Build the mental model every accountant runs on — what books measure, who reads them, why the accounting equation never breaks, and exactly when to debit or credit any account — so that Tally Prime later feels like typing, not thinking.

1.1 What accounting actually measures — and who is reading it

Accounting is the language of business health. Every rupee that enters or leaves a business, every promise to pay later, every unsold box sitting in the godown — accounting captures all of it as numbers that tell a story: Is this firm growing? Can it pay its bills next month? Where is money leaking? Without these records an owner is driving at night with the headlights off.

Different people read the same books for different reasons. Investors want to know whether their money will grow. Banks examine repayment capacity before sanctioning loans. The government checks that GST and income tax were computed correctly. Managers use reports to decide pricing, hiring and expansion, while auditors verify nothing fishy hides in the entries. As an accountant you are the person preparing this story accurately — which is precisely why the role exists in every organisation, from a Kirana shop billing in Tally to a listed company filing quarterly results.

1.2 The accounting equation: Assets = Liabilities + Equity (forever)

The entire subject rests on one identity: Assets = Liabilities + Equity. Assets are things of value the business owns — cash, bank balance, stock, machinery, amounts customers owe you. Liabilities are what the business owes outsiders — bank loans, unpaid supplier bills, taxes payable. Equity (capital) is the owner's stake after outside claims are settled.

Why must this equation always balance? Because it answers a single question: where did all the resources come from? Every asset was funded either by outsiders (liabilities) or by the owner (equity) — there is no third source. If the two sides ever disagree, someone recorded something wrongly, and finding that error is literally your job.

Buy a delivery van ₹2,00,000 using ₹1,50,000 bank loan + ₹50,000 cash:

Assets                          = Liabilities + Equity
Van            +2,00,000          Bank Loan    +1,50,000
Cash           -50,000
----------------------------------------------------------
Net change      +1,50,000        Net change     +1,50,000   (balanced)

1.3 The five account types: assets, liabilities, equity, revenue, expenses

Every ledger a business will ever create falls into one of five buckets. Assets: resources owned — Cash, Bank, Sundry Debtors, Closing Stock, Furniture. Liabilities: obligations owed — Sundry Creditors, Bank Loan, Outstanding Rent, GST Payable. Equity: the owner's stake — Capital, and Drawings when the owner pulls money out. Revenue: income earned from selling goods or services — Sales, Service Income, Commission Received. Expenses: costs incurred to earn that revenue — Purchases, Rent, Salaries, Electricity.

This classification is not academic trivia — Tally Prime asks you to pick a group for every ledger you create (Sundry Debtors, Indirect Expenses, Sales Accounts…), and each group maps straight back to these five types. Classify correctly here and half your software work becomes automatic.

1.4 Debit/credit rules demystified — no memorization panic

Forget scary mnemonics for a moment. Debit simply means the left side of an account and credit means the right side — nothing more. What trips beginners is assuming debit means "bad" or "money out". It does not; cash increases with a debit! The trick is to learn how each account type responds to debits and credits:

DEBIT increases:  Assets | Expenses | Drawings        ("real accounts grow on the left")
CREDIT increases: Liabilities | Equity | Revenue      ("claims grow on the right")

Example — pay office rent ₹15,000 in cash:
Rent A/c ............ Dr.   15,000     (expense ↑, so DEBIT)
     To Cash A/c                15,000   (asset ↓, so CREDIT)

Example — receive ₹40,000 from debtor Ramesh Traders:
Cash/Bank A/c ....... Dr.   40,000     (asset ↑, DEBIT)
     To Ramesh Traders          40,000   (asset/debtor ↓, CREDIT)

Notice the pattern hiding inside every entry: one account receives value (debit) and another supplies it (credit). Sell goods for cash? Cash comes in (Dr), Sales goes out (Cr). Take a loan? Bank comes in (Dr), Loan liability rises (Cr). Once you think in terms of "what came in, what gave it", the rules stop being memorization and become logic.

1.5 GAAP concepts: going concern, accrual, matching, prudence

Generally Accepted Accounting Principles are the ground rules that keep financial statements comparable and trustworthy. Going concern assumes the business will continue operating — that is why machinery is spread over ten years instead of written off today. Accrual says record revenue when earned and expenses when incurred, regardless of cash movement. Matching extends accrual: pair this month's sales with this month's selling costs so profit is honest, not flattered. Prudence (conservatism) instructs you to anticipate probable losses but never imaginary profits — hence provisions for doubtful debts and stock valued at cost or market price, whichever is lower.

Employers care about these because auditors test against them. When an auditor asks why a ₹2 lakh insurance premium covering next year sits in prepaid assets rather than this year's expense, the answer is matching. When they question why you created a provision against a customer who filed for insolvency, the answer is prudence. Speaking this language in interviews signals you understand books, not just buttons.

1.6 Cash vs accrual basis — why it changes everything

Under the cash basis, you record a sale only when money lands and an expense only when paid. Simple — but misleading. Under the accrual basis (which Indian companies must follow under the Companies Act and which Tally supports naturally), December's sale invoiced on 28 December and collected on 10 January still belongs to December's books, with the customer sitting as a debtor until payment arrives.

Sale ₹1,00,000 on credit, 28 Dec; collected 10 Jan.

Accrual basis:                    Cash basis:
Dec: Debtor A/c Dr 1,00,000       Dec: (nothing recorded)
        To Sales     1,00,000
Jan: Cash A/c    Dr 1,00,000      Jan: Cash A/c Dr 1,00,000
        To Debtor    1,00,000           To Sales     1,00,000

Result: Dec profit differs by ₹1,00,000 between the two systems!

This distinction drives almost everything you will do later: debtors and creditors exist only under accrual; outstanding and prepaid adjustments exist only under accrual; GST returns match invoices raised, not cash collected. Master the accrual mindset now and Modules 2–4 become straightforward bookkeeping drills.

🎯 Module goal: Take raw paperwork — invoices, receipts, bills — and convert it into a clean trial balance using journals, ledgers and subsidiary books: the exact daily pipeline of every accounts office in India.

2.1 Analyzing source documents: invoices, receipts, bills

No entry exists without evidence. A tax invoice proves a sale or purchase; a receipt voucher proves money received; a supplier's bill plus a goods-received note (GRN) together prove stock actually arrived. Before touching any book, an accountant reads the document and asks four questions: What happened? Which accounts are affected? What direction (in/out)? How much?

This habit is called vouching, and it is the backbone of auditing too — auditors trace entries back to documents, never forward from them. In practice, your speed at reading a GST invoice (supplier GSTIN, HSN code, taxable value, tax split) directly decides how fast you post entries in Tally later. Sloppy document reading produces wrong ledgers, which produce wrong returns — the most expensive kind of mistake in this profession.

2.2 Journal entries: formats, narration discipline

The journal is the book of original entry where transactions first become accounting language, in strict chronological order. Every line follows the same skeleton — debit account with amount, credit account(s) indented beneath, then a narration beginning "Being…". The narration seems trivial until a colleague must reconstruct why ₹18,400 was debited to Printing & Stationery eleven months later; good narrations make books self-explaining.

JOURNAL of M/s Sharma Enterprises
Date       Particulars                              Dr (₹)     Cr (₹)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
2026-04-03 Purchases A/c ...............Dr.         50,000
              To Ashok Traders A/c                    50,000
           (Being goods purchased on credit from Ashok Traders)

2026-04-07 Bank A/c ......................Dr.         30,000
              To Sales A/c                            30,000
           (Being goods sold, payment received via NEFT)

2026-04-10 Rent A/c ......................Dr.         12,000
              To Cash A/c                             12,000
           (Being April office rent paid in cash)

2.3 Compound entries; opening entries; adjustment entries

Real life batches things. A compound entry merges several effects into one journal line set — e.g., a single salary payment covering salaries plus PF remittance. An opening entry starts fresh books by debiting all assets and crediting all liabilities plus capital from last year's balance sheet. Adjustment entries capture events that produced no document yet — outstanding wages, prepaid insurance — and you will drill these fully in Module 3.

Compound entry:
Salary A/c .............Dr.   60,000
PF Contribution A/c ....Dr.    9,000
      To Bank A/c                  69,000
(Being March salaries paid and PF contribution remitted)

Opening entry (from previous balance sheet):
Cash A/c ...........Dr.  1,20,000 | Stock A/c .......Dr.  2,00,000
Furniture A/c ......Dr.    80,000
      To HDFC Loan A/c                 1,00,000
      To Capital A/c                   3,00,000
(Being opening balances brought forward)

2.4 Ledger posting: T-accounts and running balances

A ledger collects all movements of one account in one place — the journal tells the story chronologically, the ledger reorganises it account-wise. Posting means transferring each journal line to its ledger: debits stay on the debit side, credits on the credit side. Old-school T-accounts build intuition; the running-balance format below is what Tally prints and what offices actually file.

CASH ACCOUNT (running-balance format)
Date       Particulars        Vch No   Debit    Credit   Balance
2026-04-01 To Capital A/c     OP-1    5,00,000      -    5,00,000 Dr
2026-04-10 By Rent A/c         PYT-3        -   12,000   4,88,000 Dr
2026-04-12 To Sales A/c         REC-2   40,000       -    5,28,000 Dr

Balancing at month end:
Total Dr side = Total Cr side ± closing balance (c/d)
Next period opens with "To Balance b/d"

Balancing closes each account periodically: if debits exceed credits, the difference is written as "By Balance c/d" and reopens next period as "To Balance b/d". Asset and expense accounts normally end with debit balances; liability, capital and revenue accounts carry credit balances. When you see a rent account showing a credit balance, something is definitely wrong.

2.5 Subsidiary books: sales/purchase/cash daybooks concept

Journalising every transaction one by one collapses under real volume — a trading firm may raise forty invoices daily. Subsidiary books (daybooks) specialise by transaction type: Purchases Book for credit purchases only, Sales Book for credit sales only, Purchase/Sales Returns Books for goods going back, Cash Book for all cash-and-bank movement, Bills Receivable/Payable Books for usance instruments, and the Journal Proper for everything left over.

Tally Prime automates exactly this split through voucher types — a Sales voucher feeds the sales daybook, a Payment voucher feeds cash/bank. Understanding the manual structure explains why Tally's Daybook looks the way it does, and why cash sales famously go into the Cash Book while credit sales go into the Sales Book — mixing those up is the classic fresher error interviewers test.

2.6 Trial balance preparation; finding common errors

The trial balance extracts every ledger's closing balance into one list to prove total debits equal total credits — your first full-system checkpoint before financial statements. Prepare it by listing each account's net balance under Dr or Cr columns, then total both columns; they must match.

When columns disagree, hunt systematically: re-add the columns, check each ledger's balancing arithmetic, verify posting directions, and confirm the opening balances. Beware — some errors hide even when the TB agrees: a transaction omitted entirely, equal amounts posted to the wrong accounts (commission instead of rent), or compensating errors canceling each other. A matching trial balance means arithmetically correct, not necessarily fully correct.

🎯 Module goal: Convert a trial balance into the three documents every stakeholder actually reads — Trading Account, Profit & Loss Account and Balance Sheet — including the year-end adjustments that separate trained accountants from data-entry operators.

3.1 Adjusting entries: accruals, deferrals, prepaid/outstanding

A raw trial balance is incomplete because some costs and incomes straddle the accounting year. Adjusting entries enforce the matching principle from Module 1. The four classics: outstanding expenses (used but unpaid — add to expense, create liability), prepaid expenses (paid in advance — split off the unexpired part as an asset), accrued income (earned but not received), and income received in advance (collected but not yet earned — a liability until you deliver).

Year-end adjustments for FY 2025-26:

1) Wages due but unpaid ₹8,000:
   Wages A/c ...........Dr.  8,000
        To Outstanding Wages A/c    8,000

2) Insurance paid ₹24,000 covering 12 months from 01-Jan-2026:
   Prepaid Insurance A/c .Dr. 18,000      (9 months unexpired)
        To Insurance Premium A/c       18,000

3) Rent of shop received in advance ₹15,000:
   Rent Received A/c .....Dr. 15,000
        To Rent Received in Advance 15,000

In Tally these are plain Journal vouchers, and every audit adjustment you will ever receive is one of these four wearing a different costume. Recognise the pattern — "does the benefit cross the year boundary?" — and adjustments stop being exam puzzles.

3.2 Depreciation & bad debts adjustments at period end

Depreciation spreads an asset's cost over its useful life so each year bears a fair share instead of the purchase year bearing everything. Straight-line method (cost × rate%) is what most SMEs use and what Tally's depreciation masters automate. Bad debts arise when debtors fail; prudence demands writing them off and often adding a provision on the remaining debtors.

Machinery ₹5,00,000 @ 10% straight line:
Depreciation A/c .........Dr. 50,000
     To Machinery A/c              50,000

Bad debts written off ₹6,000 + 5% provision on remaining ₹94,000 debtors:
Bad Debts A/c ............Dr.  6,000
     To Debtors A/c                 6,000

P&L Appropriation for provision:
P&L A/c ..................Dr.  4,700
     To Provision for Doubtful Debts   4,700   (5% of 94,000)

3.3 Trading Account: gross profit mechanics

The Trading Account answers question number one of any trading business: how much did goods themselves earn before overheads? It gathers opening stock, purchases (net of returns and direct expenses like freight inward) against sales (net of returns) and closing stock. The balancing figure is Gross Profit — the money available to cover operating costs and still leave profit.

Trading Account for year ended 31-Mar-2026          Dr         Cr
Opening Stock .................................. 40,000
Purchases 2,10,000 − Returns 10,000 ............ 2,00,000
Freight Inward ................................. 12,000
Wages .......................................... 58,000
Gross Profit c/d ............................... 95,000
                                              ─────────
                                               4,05,000
Sales 3,85,000 − Returns 15,000 ...............           3,70,000
Closing Stock ..................................            35,000
                                              ─────────
GP% = 95,000 / 3,55,000 net sales ≈ 26.8%

3.4 P&L Account: operating vs non-operating items

The Profit & Loss Account continues where trading stops: it absorbs gross profit plus indirect incomes (commission received, interest earned) and pays all indirect expenses — office salaries, rent, advertising, bank charges, depreciation, bad debts. The result is Net Profit, transferred to capital. The professional skill here is classification: operating items flow from the core business, non-operating ones (interest on investments, loss on asset sale) do not. Analysts strip out non-operating noise to judge whether the core engine is healthy.

P&L Account for year ended 31-Mar-2026
To Salaries            72,000 | By Gross Profit b/d      95,000
To Office Rent         36,000 | By Commission Received    6,000
To Depreciation        50,000 |
To Bad Debts + Prov.   10,700 |
To Bank Charges           800 |
To Net Profit c/d     (bal.) → transferred to Capital A/c

3.5 Balance Sheet construction: marshalling order

The Balance Sheet is not an account — it is a statement of assets and liabilities at one instant, proving the Module 1 equation. Presentation follows marshalling: either liquidity order (most liquid first) or permanence order (least liquid first). Indian practice typically lists current assets like cash first under the liquidity form, while company schedules follow the Schedule III permanence pattern. Whatever the order, the two totals must agree — if they don't, return to your TB, not to panic.

3.6 Reading real company statements — orientation tour

Open any listed company's annual report (TCS, D-Mart, Titan — all free on their websites) and find three sections: the Statement of Profit and Loss, the Balance Sheet with numbered schedules, and notes to accounts. You now know the grammar: revenue lines feed operating profit, provisions and depreciation sit near the bottom, schedules expand single lines like "Inventories" into detail. Notes reveal accounting policies — which depreciation rates, how stock is valued — exactly the concepts you just learned.

This tour matters for interviews: candidates who can say "I read D-Mart's latest annual report and compared its inventory turnover" instantly stand out from candidates who only practiced textbook sums. Spend thirty minutes monthly on one annual report and within a quarter you'll read statements faster than many commerce graduates.

🎯 Module goal: Explain why profitable companies still run out of money, and prepare a full cash flow statement using the indirect method — the analysis skill that moves you from bookkeeper to the finance table.

4.1 Why profit ≠ cash; the three activities framework

A firm can report ₹10 lakh profit and still bounce a salary cheque. How? Profit is measured when earned; cash arrives when collected. Credit sales inflate profit while debtors hold your cash hostage; a big stock build-up quietly swallows bank balance; depreciation reduces profit but consumes no cash at all. Cash flow accounting exists to expose this timing gap.

AS-3 (Accounting Standard 3) organises all movements into three buckets. Operating activities: cash generated by the core business — collections from customers, payments to suppliers, salaries, taxes. Investing activities: buying/selling long-term assets — machinery, vehicles, investments. Financing activities: dealing with capital providers — loans raised or repaid, dividends paid, fresh capital. Every rupee of movement must land in exactly one bucket.

The headline every manager reads:
Net profit ................. ₹ 2,00,000
Cash from operations ....... ₹ 40,000   ← why only 40k? Read §4.2
Cash used in investing ..... ₹(1,50,000)
Cash from financing ........ ₹(30,000)
Net change in cash ......... ₹(1,40,000)

4.2 Operating activities: indirect method walkthrough

Indian practice overwhelmingly uses the indirect method: start with net profit and reverse out everything that wasn't cash. Add back non-cash charges (depreciation), remove non-operating gains (profit on asset sale, interest income), then adjust for working-capital movement: increases in debtors or stock are cash absorbed (subtract); increases in creditors are free credit obtained (add).

Cash Flow from Operating Activities (Indirect)
Net Profit before tax ...................... 2,00,000
+ Depreciation ............................. +50,000
− Profit on sale of furniture .............. −10,000
= Operating profit before WC changes ....... 2,40,000
Working capital adjustments:
− Increase in Sundry Debtors ............... −35,000
− Increase in Stock ........................ −20,000
+ Increase in Sundry Creditors ............. +25,000
− Tax paid ................................. −60,000
= NET CASH FROM OPERATIONS ................. 1,50,000

4.3 Investing & financing sections built from BS movements

You never need extra data for these two sections — they fall straight out of comparing two consecutive Balance Sheets. Asset side movements tell investing: fixed assets grew from ₹8,00,000 to ₹9,50,000 after depreciation of ₹50,000? Then purchases = 9,50,000 − (8,00,000 − 50,000) = ₹2,00,000 cash outflow (adjust for any asset sold at book value). Liability and equity movements tell financing: loan rose ₹1,00,000 → ₹70,000 means repayment of ₹30,000 outflow; share capital up ₹5,00,000 is an inflow; dividends paid are an outflow.

Investing:
Purchase of machinery ...................... (2,00,000)
Proceeds from sale of furniture (book) .....    10,000

Financing:
Repayment of HDFC loan .....................  (30,000)
Dividend paid ..............................  (50,000)

Check: Operating 1,50,000 − Investing 1,90,000 − Financing 80,000
       = Net decrease in cash 1,20,000 ✓ must equal BS cash movement

4.4 Reconciling net profit to operating cash flow

The reconciliation bridge — net profit down to operating cash — is what interviewers actually make you explain aloud. The logic chain: profit includes non-cash expenses (add back), includes non-operating items (strip out), and assumes revenue equals cash (correct it via working capital). A healthy trading firm shows operating cash close to profit; a persistent gap where cash lags far behind profit signals aggressive credit sales or stock piling faster than sales can clear it.

4.5 Red flags professionals spot instantly in cash flows

Trained eyes scan three danger patterns. First, negative operating cash flow with positive profit for consecutive years — the classic sign of window-dressed sales or uncollectible debtors. Second, operating cash consistently funding investing expansion is fine, but if financing borrowings keep plugging operating holes, the business is borrowing to survive. Third, asset sales propping up cash: selling family silver (machinery, land) to pay salaries buys one quarter of time at the cost of future capacity.

Banks apply exactly these tests before sanctioning working capital limits, which makes this module directly billable knowledge: SME clients pay accountants precisely to prepare projected cash flows that survive banker scrutiny. Master sections 4.2–4.5 and you can defend any number on your statement under questioning — the difference between preparing reports and understanding them.

🎯 Module goal: Set up a working company in Tally Prime from installation to daily voucher entry, and navigate its reports confidently — the exact muscle memory every "Tally operator" job description assumes on day one.

5.1 Installing educational mode; company creation & features

Tally Prime's educational mode is free, fully functional, and only restricts voucher dates to the 1st, 2nd and last day of any month — plenty for practice. Download from Tally's official site, install, launch, and you land on the Company Info screen. Creating a company asks for name, financial year beginning date, books beginning date, currency symbol, and then the Features screens where you switch on what this business needs: GST under Statutory & Taxation, inventory if goods are tracked, payroll for staff.

Gateway of Tally > Create Company
  Name                  : Sharma Traders
  Financial year begins : 01-04-2026
  Books beginning       : 01-04-2026   (or actual start date)

Gateway of Tally > F11 (Features)
  Accounting features    : Maintain accounts WITH inventory
  Statutory & Taxation   : Enable Goods and Services Tax (GST): Yes

5.2 Masters: ledger groups mapped to Module 1 concepts

Masters are your chart of accounts: ledgers for parties and expense heads, stock items later. Every ledger must sit inside a group, and each predefined group is Module 1 theory wearing software clothes — Sundry Debtors (asset), Sundry Creditors (liability), Capital Account, Sales Accounts (revenue), Indirect Expenses, Duties & Taxes for GST payable, Bank Accounts and Cash-in-Hand. Some groups are reserved by design: reports depend on their fixed nature, so Tally blocks altering them.

Gateway of Tally > Create > Ledger
  Name : Ramesh Traders     Under : Sundry Debtors
  Name : Ashok Suppliers    Under : Sundry Creditors
  Name : Office Rent        Under : Indirect Expenses
  Name : GST Payable        Under : Duties & Taxes

5.3 Chart of accounts design for a trading firm

Before creating anything, sketch the full list on paper. Party ledgers: every customer and supplier individually — never lump customers into one ledger, or receivables tracking and reminder letters die instantly. Expense ledgers: granular enough for analysis without absurd splitting (Rent, Salaries, Electricity, Freight Inward vs Freight Outward as separate ledgers because GST treatment differs). Bank ledgers matching each real account, income ledgers, tax ledgers.

The design principle employers care about: reports must answer management questions without manual rework. If the boss asks "what did we spend on transport this quarter?", that should be one drill-down in the Trial Balance — which only happens if Transport has its own ledger from day one. Renaming and regrouping later is possible via Alter masters, but starting clean is faster and looks professional when an auditor opens your data.

5.4 Voucher types: payment/receipt/journal/sales/purchase

Vouchers are how transactions enter the books, and each type maps straight back to Module 2's subsidiary books: Payment (F5) records money going out, Receipt (F6) money coming in, Journal (F7) handles non-cash adjustments like depreciation and provisions, Sales (F8) raises credit-sale invoices, Purchase (F9) records credit purchases, and Contra (F4) moves cash between cash and bank.

Payment voucher (F5):
  Credit : HDFC Bank A/c ............ 12,000
  Debit  : Office Rent .............. 12,000
  Narration: Being April office rent paid by NEFT

Sales voucher (F8):
  Party   : Ramesh Traders (Sundry Debtor)
  Sales   : Local Sales GST 18%
  Item    : LED Bulb 9W x 200 pcs @ Rs.60 + GST auto-computed

Switch type anytime inside Vouchers: F4/F5/F6/F7/F8/F9

Notice Dr/Cr happens automatically by voucher type — a Payment voucher debits the expense or party and credits the bank without asking. This is why Module 1 still matters: automation cannot catch a wrong ledger name or a misclassified expense; only an operator who understands entries can spot those before month end.

5.5 Daily bookkeeping workflow: entering a week of business

Professional rhythm beats random posting. Morning routine: open Tally, check Gateway of Tally > Day Book for yesterday's unpostedExceptions, collect documents sorted by date. Then post in document order — purchases first (they create input tax credit), then sales invoices, then receipts and payments, then any journal adjustments. End of day: glance at Cash/Bank ledgers to confirm book balances look sane, and lock the day mentally by reviewing the Daybook count against physical vouchers in hand.

Weekly habits separate reliable operators from struggling ones: reconcile bank ledger against the passbook download, chase missing bills for entries you had to estimate, and print/backup. This cadence is exactly what your first employer will expect — most SME accounting interviews now include a live Tally test of precisely this workflow.

5.6 Daybook, ledgers, trial balance reports navigation

Gateway of Tally > Day Book              : chronological vouchers,
                                           press Enter to drill/edit
Gateway of Tally > Display More Reports
   > Account Books > Ledger              : one account's full story
   > Trial Balance                       : group-wise balances
Gateway of Tally > Display More Reports
   > Statements of Accounts > Outstanding
      > Receivables / Payables           : ageing + bill-wise dues

The Daybook is your editing cockpit — every correction happens by opening the offending voucher, not by "adjusting" later. Ledger view shows a single account's running story with monthly summaries. Trial Balance proves arithmetic health at any date, and Bill-wise outstanding reports are what make Tally indispensable for collection calls — knowing not just that Ramesh owes ₹85,000 but which specific bills from which months compose it.

5.7 Backup, restore and data safety habits

Tally data corruption and laptop theft are career-defining disasters when books vanish. Build the habit now: take a backup daily via Gateway of Tally > Alt+Y (& Data) > Backup, storing to a different drive or USB/cloud folder, never only inside the data directory. Restore reverses the process. Keep company credentials off shared machines, note your financial-year path structure, and verify backups occasionally by restoring into a test copy — an unverified backup is a hope, not a backup.

🎯 Module goal: Track goods through Tally Prime — from stock masters and HSN-coded items to orders, challans and invoices — so your books always know what is in the godown, what it cost, and when to reorder.

6.1 Stock groups, categories, units, godowns

Inventory masters organise chaos before any transaction flows. A stock group clusters similar items for reporting (all LED bulbs in one group, all wires in another); a stock category offers a second, independent classification (e.g., by brand or season) so you can slice reports two ways. Units of measure define counting — pieces, dozens, kilograms — including compound units like "1 box = 100 pieces" that let you buy wholesale and sell retail without mental conversion.

Godowns are storage locations: a single shop may need just Main Godown, but a distributor tracks Shop Floor, Warehouse and Transit separately because stock sitting in transit legally belongs to you but physically doesn't — a distinction that matters during audits and insurance claims. Design these four masters first, exactly like chart-of-accounts thinking from Module 5: structure now saves rework later.

Gateway of Tally > Create > Stock Group   : "LED Lighting"
Gateway of Tally > Create > Unit          : Nos (pieces)
                                          : Box (100 Nos)
Gateway of Tally > Create > Godown        : "Main Warehouse"
                                          : "Shop Counter"

6.2 Stock items with HSN codes and standard pricing

Each stock item carries its commercial DNA: name under a group, base unit, HSN code (the harmonised tariff number that decides its GST rate), standard selling and purchase rates, opening balance with per-unit cost. The HSN code is not decoration — GST invoices must print it, returns match against it, and wrong codes trigger notices. For electronics, lighting, cables etc., learn to look codes up on the CBIC/GST portal rather than guessing.

Gateway of Tally > Create > Stock Item
  Name              : LED Bulb 9W
  Under (Group)     : LED Lighting
  Units             : Nos
  HSN/SAC           : 9405       (luminaires & fittings → 12% GST)
  Standard Sale Price    : 60.00
  Standard Cost Price    : 42.00
  Opening Balance   : 500 Nos @ 42.00 = Rs.21,000

6.3 Purchase/sales orders → delivery challans → invoices flow

Real trade runs on documents preceding money. A purchase order tells the supplier what you want; their goods arrive with a delivery note you verify against the PO (quantity, quality) — this check is called GRN in bigger firms. On the sales side, a customer's sales order books demand; a delivery challan ships goods where final pricing/return isn't settled (samples, job work, approval sales); finally the tax invoice converts the shipment into a legal GST document creating liability and receivable.

Tally chains these: Gateway of Tally > Vouchers > Ctrl+H > Order Delivery & Invoice mode lets you record Sales Order, then Delivery Challan, then convert to invoice without retyping line items. Pending-order reports then show exactly what remains unfulfilled — the difference between a shopkeeper's memory-based business and a professionally run one.

Flow inside Tally:
Sales Order (Alt+F5 in order mode)
  → Delivery Challan / Stock Issue
     → Sales Invoice (F8)         [creates Debtor + GST liability]
Purchase side mirrors it:
Purchase Order (Ctrl+F in order mode)
  → Goods Receipt Note (GRN)
     → Purchase Invoice (F9)      [creates Creditor + ITC claim]

6.4 Stock journal (manufacturing) entries

Not every stock change is a buy or a sell. A stock journal records internal transformation: combining items into new ones (10 kg flour + 2 kg sugar + packing → 20 gift hampers), repacking bulk into retail units, or transferring between godowns. No invoice exists, but inventory reality changed — so the books must reflect it without touching P&L.

Gateway of Tally > Vouchers > Ctrl+F7 (Stock Journal)
Source (consume):  Loose Dry Fruits  5 kg @ 800
                   Gift Box (empty)  50 Nos @ 15
Destination (make): Premium Gift Hamper 50 Nos
Cost split automatically values each hamper at Rs.95

Employers in food, pharma, hardware and any assembly-adjacent trade use stock journals daily — it is also how scrap recovery and by-products get captured. Master the source/destination logic and you can handle "we packed 200 combo packs yesterday" requests in two minutes flat.

6.5 Valuation methods: FIFO vs weighted average in practice

When identical bulbs arrive at ₹40, then ₹44, then ₹48, what does remaining stock cost? FIFO assumes oldest lots sell first — closing stock reflects newest prices, and gross profit tracks current market swings sharply. Weighted average smooths every lot into one blended rate — steadier margins, simpler explanations to management. Indian SMEs overwhelmingly run weighted average inside Tally (set per stock group/item), while FIFO suits businesses with expiry dates or fast-moving component prices.

Purchases: Jan 100 pcs @ 40 = 4,000 | Feb 100 pcs @ 44 = 4,400
Sales in March: 120 pcs

FIFO:              COGS = 100x40 + 20x44 = 4,880
                   Closing = 80 x 44    = 3,520

Weighted average:  Rate = 8,400 / 200   = 42.00
                   COGS = 120 x 42      = 5,040
                   Closing = 80 x 42    = 3,360

Same sales, different GP: FIFO shows 3,520 vs W Avg 3,360 of
stock value — method choice visibly moves reported profit!

6.6 Stock summary, movement analysis, reorder levels

Tally's inventory reports turn raw entries into decisions. Gateway of Tally > Display More Reports > Inventory Books > Stock Summary shows quantity in/out plus closing value per item, drillable to every voucher. Movement Analysis reveals which items actually rotate versus gathering dust. Set reorder levels on each item (minimum + reorder quantity) and Tally's Reorder Status report lists what to purchase today before a stockout costs you a customer.

This trio — valuation accuracy, movement visibility, reorder discipline — is precisely what interviewers mean by "inventory handling experience" in Tally operator postings. Being able to say you caught slow-moving stock worth ₹40,000 through movement analysis is portfolio gold.

🎯 Module goal: Book GST-compliant sales and purchase entries in Tally Prime, split CGST/SGST/IGST correctly by state logic, and generate return-ready GSTR reports — the single most demanded skill in Indian accounting job ads.

7.1 GST structure: CGST/SGST/IGST — when each applies

Goods and Services Tax replaced a pile of VAT, service tax and excise with one system from July 2017. Its split depends on one question only: where does the supply land? Sell within your own state (intra-state)? The tax splits equally into CGST (central government) and SGST (your state government). Sell across state lines (inter-state), or import? The full amount goes to IGST, settled centrally between states. Rates commonly run at 5%, 12%, 18% and 28% depending on the product's HSN classification.

The mechanics matter because input tax credit (ITC) flows differently: IGST paid is credited first against IGST output, then CGST/SGST; you cannot use CGST credit to pay SGST or vice versa. Get the state logic wrong and returns mismatch — which is exactly what GST notices are made of.

7.2 Enabling GST in Tally; registration details setup

Tally computes everything automatically once configured honestly. Enable GST in F11 features, then fill company GST details: registration type (regular composition/unregistered), GSTIN (15 characters: 2-digit state code + PAN + entity digit + 'Z' + check digit), state, and default taxability. Then each stock item needs its HSN and rate, each party ledger their GSTIN and state (Tally uses the party's state to auto-decide intra vs inter!), and each sales/purchase ledger its tax head.

Gateway of Tally > F11 > Statutory & Taxation
   Enable GST: Yes ; Type: GST Regular ; Set/Alter: Yes

Gateway of Tally > Create > Ledger
   Name : CGST 9%      Under : Duties & Taxes ; GST Type: CGST
   Name : SGST 9%      Under : Duties & Taxes ; GST Type: SGST
   Name : IGST 18%     Under : Duties & Taxes ; GST Type: IGST

Party ledger (Ramesh Traders): State = Karnataka,
   GSTIN filled → Tally marks it inter-state automatically

7.3 Tax-accurate sales & purchase voucher entry

With masters set, entry becomes near-foolproof: pick the party, pick items, and Tally pulls rates, splits taxes by state and shows the tax breakdown live. Your job shifts to verification — confirm the HSN printed, the place of supply, and that round-off lands sensibly. Purchases mirror this while creating input credit; always book purchases with the supplier invoice number in the reference field so GSTR-2B reconciliation later matches line to line.

7.4 Intra vs inter-state invoice scenarios drilled

Drill the split until it is reflex. Same product, same rate — only destination changes the breakup:

SALE: 100 LED bulbs @ Rs.60, taxable value Rs.6,000, GST 18%

Intra-state (Pune customer):
   Ramesh Traders ....... Dr. 7,080
        To Sales .................... 6,000
        To CGST @9% .................. 540
        To SGST @9% .................. 540

Inter-state (Bengaluru customer):
   Krishna Enterprises ... Dr. 7,080
        To Sales .................... 6,000
        To IGST @18% ............... 1,080

Total tax identical; only the buckets differ.

Tally does this split for you the moment the party's state is set — which is why master hygiene from §7.2 is everything. In practice you will also meet reverse scenarios: inter-state purchases creating IGST input, credit notes reducing earlier tax, and freight charged separately with its own GST treatment.

7.5 GSTR-1/GSTR-3B report generation orientation

Returns are where books meet the government. GSTR-1 reports every outward supply (sales invoices, credit/debit notes) month by month; your customers see these details in their GSTR-2B and claim ITC against them. GSTR-3B is the monthly self-declared summary: total output liability minus eligible ITC equals net payable, paid via challan. Miss deadlines and late fees plus interest at 18% p.a. accrue daily — real money for skipping a filing date.

GSTR-3B logic (illustrative month):
Output CGST+SGST on sales ............. 27,000
Output IGST on sales .................. 18,000
Less: ITC - CGST/SGST (from purchases). 15,000
Less: ITC - IGST ...................... 10,000
Net payable: CGST 6,000 + SGST 6,000 + IGST 8,000 = Rs.20,000

In Tally: Gateway of Tally > Display More Reports > Statutory Reports > GST > GSTR-1 / GSTR-3B generates return-ready summaries from your vouchers. Your reconciliation habit — matching Tally's report against entries booked, and later against the portal's own figures — is precisely the "GST reconciliation experience" recruiters shortlist.

7.6 TDS entries basics; e-way bill awareness

Beyond GST, two adjacent statutory items round out your employability. TDS (Tax Deducted at Source): when paying certain parties above thresholds — contractors, professionals, rent — you deduct tax before paying and deposit it under their PAN; they later claim the credit. In Tally this means enabling TDS in F11, marking ledgers as "Assessee" or expense heads with nature of payment, then booking journal/payment entries that split gross expense into net paid + TDS payable.

Pay consultant fees Rs.20,000, TDS @10% u/s 194J:
Professional Fees A/c ...... Dr. 20,000
     To Bank ................................ 18,000
     To TDS Payable (194J) ................... 2,000

E-way bill: any consignment above ₹50,000 moving between places needs an electronic way bill generated on the portal using invoice details, valid for distance-based periods. Accountants don't always generate them, but must know that missing e-way bills void ITC claims and invite penalties during transit checks — flagging this to the despatch team is part of the job's advisory side.

🎯 Module goal: Run complete monthly payroll with statutory PF/ESI/PT deductions inside Tally Prime, and master bank reconciliation — the two routines every accounts executive owns from month one on the job.

8.1 Payroll masters: employees, salary structures, attendance

Payroll starts with structure, not salaries. Enable Payroll in F11 features, then build three layers of masters. First, employee groups and employees — production staff separate from office staff, each employee with name, designation, DOJ and PAN. Second, salary structure components: earnings (Basic, HRA, Conveyance) and deductions (PF, ESI, Professional Tax) created as payroll heads under the right ledger types — Basic and HRA as earnings heads, PF as a deduction head linked to Duties & Taxes style liability treatment.

Third, attendance/voucher-produced pay data: simple firms feed present-days per month; larger ones import attendance. The design decision that matters: Basic typically anchors the structure because PF is calculated at 12% of Basic while ESI applies to gross salary up to ₹21,000 — knowing which base drives which deduction prevents classic recomputation errors when someone's salary changes mid-year.

Gateway of Tally > Create > Payroll Heads
   "Basic"       Type: Earnings   ; Computed on Attendance/Days
   "HRA 40%"     Type: Earnings   ; Flat % or fixed amount
   "EPF 12%"     Type: Deductions ; On Basic
   "ESI 0.75%"   Type: Deductions ; On Gross (eligibility ≤ Rs.21,000)
   "Prof Tax"    Type: Deductions ; Slab-based (state specific)

8.2 Salary processing with PF/ESI/professional tax deductions

Statutory deductions are where theory meets law. EPF: 12% of Basic withheld from the employee plus an equal 12% employer contribution — total 24% flowing to the EPFO account monthly by the 15th. ESI: applicable while gross stays ≤ ₹21,000; employee contributes 0.75%, employer 3.25%. Professional Tax: state-level slab tax (e.g., ₹200/month in Maharashtra, capped ₹2,500/year) deducted and remitted to the state. Missing these deadlines invites interest and penalties charged to the company — which is why payroll clerks who get them right first time become indispensable.

Employee: Anjali (Gross Rs.25,000 → above ESI limit)
  Basic 15,000 | HRA 6,000 | Conveyance 4,000

Deductions:
  EPF employee share      = 12% x 15,000        = 1,800
  Prof Tax (Maharashtra)                        =   200
  Take-home               = 25,000 - 2,000       = 23,000

Employer adds (cost to company):
  EPF employer share                            = 1,800
Total PF remittance = 1,800 + 1,800           = 3,600

8.3 Payroll vouchers and payslip generation

Processing itself is a two-voucher rhythm per month. First, a Payroll voucher (Gateway of Tally > Vouchers > Ctrl+F4) books the month's salary cost: debit Salary expense heads with gross earnings, credit each statutory payable and net salary payable. Second, a Payment voucher clears those payables: salaries paid to employees' bank accounts, then PF/ESI/PT remitted to authorities when due — each payment closing its liability to zero.

Payroll voucher (Ctrl+F4), April:
   Dr  Salary - Basic            15,000
   Dr  Salary - HRA               6,000
   Dr  Salary - Conveyance        4,000
         Cr  EPF Payable (employee)      1,800
         Cr  Prof Tax Payable              200
         Cr  Salary Payable             23,000

Payment vouchers:
   F5: Cr Bank 23,000 → Anjali's account (salary out)
   F5: Cr Bank  3,600 → EPFO on the 15th (both shares)

Payslips print straight from Tally: Gateway of Tally > Display More Reports > Payroll > Payslip, filter by employee or all staff. A clean payslip showing earnings, deductions and net pay is a legal-grade document employees challenge when numbers look off — your reconciliation of "expected vs actual" before distribution prevents the awkward walk-backs.

8.4 Bank reconciliation statement: concept + Tally workflow

Your cash book says one balance; the bank statement says another. Usually both are right — timing differs. Cheques issued but not yet presented, deposits in transit, bank charges and interest you never recorded, direct NEFT credits customers made without telling you. The Bank Reconciliation Statement (BRS) explains every difference so both balances agree — and it doubles as fraud detection, catching unauthorised debits only a comparison would expose.

BRS as on 30-Apr-2026
Balance as per cash book ......................... 84,500
+ Cheque deposited not yet credited .............. +12,000
- Cheque issued not yet presented (Ch#2211) ...... -6,300
- Bank charges not yet recorded ..................    -350
+ Interest credited not yet recorded .............    +900
= Balance as per bank statement .................. 90,750 ✓

Tally streamlines this: enable bank details on the bank ledger, then Banking > Bank Reconciliation lets you import the e-statement (.xlsx/CSV from net banking), auto-match against posted vouchers, and leave unmatched lines for investigation. Every unreconciled item needs an action: post the missing charge, chase the stale cheque. Monthly BRS is non-negotiable professional hygiene — auditors sample it, banks demand it, and employers test it.

8.5 Post-dated cheques, auto bank allocation

Two banking conveniences keep ledgers realistic. Post-dated cheques: received today, dated next month — record them now via the PDC setting so they sit outside current balances until the date arrives, then flow automatically into books. This mirrors how banks treat them and stops receivable ageing from lying. Auto bank allocation: configure default transaction types (NEFT/RTGS/UPI/cheque) per bank ledger with instrument ranges, so Payment/Receipt entries pre-fill instrument details — making BRS matching nearly automatic later.

Together these turn month-end from firefighting into routine: entries land correctly on day one, PDCs surface on their dates, statements reconcile in minutes. This module plus GST is the exact daily toolkit of a ₹3–5 LPA accounts executive role — practice it until it feels boring, because boring means reliable.

🎯 Module goal: Turn raw statements into decisions using liquidity, profitability, efficiency and solvency ratios — and present them in a one-page dashboard that makes managers act, the skill that lifts you from recording to reporting.

9.1 Liquidity: current ratio, quick ratio — healthy ranges

Liquidity asks the survival question: can we pay what's due within a year? The current ratio divides current assets (cash, debtors, stock) by current liabilities (creditors, short-term loans); around 1.5–2:1 is classically comfortable. Below 1 means bills could outpace resources; far above 3 may signal lazy cash or hoarded stock earning nothing. The quick ratio sharpens it by evicting stock — inventory is the slowest asset to become money, and in a crunch nobody pays your creditors with unsold bulbs.

Current assets : Cash 40k + Debtors 90k + Stock 70k = 2,00,000
Current liabilities: Creditors 80k + O/D 40k         = 1,20,000

Current ratio = 2,00,000 / 1,20,000 = 1.67   (healthy)
Quick ratio   = (2,00,000 - 70,000) / 1,20,000 = 1.08  (fine)
Quick below ~0.8 with heavy stock = red alert for trading firms

9.2 Profitability: GP%, NP%, ROCE storytelling

Profit ratios tell different stories. Gross profit % judges the buying-and-selling engine: pricing power and procurement quality. Net profit % judges the whole operation after overheads. ROCE (Return on Capital Employed = EBIT ÷ capital employed) answers the investor's ultimate question: is this business earning more than money would earn elsewhere? A firm can show fat GP% yet thin NP% — meaning overheads eat the margin — which immediately directs attention to rent, salaries or marketing spend rather than product economics.

Sales 10,00,000 | Gross profit 2,60,000 | Net profit 90,000
Capital employed (equity + long-term loans) = 6,00,000

GP%   = 2,60,000/10,00,000 = 26%
NP%   =    90,000/10,00,000 =  9%
ROCE  =    90,000/6,00,000  = 15%   vs FD rate ~7% → worth running

Storytelling line for managers:
"Margins are fine at 26%, but overheads consume 17 points —
the lever is admin cost, not price."

9.3 Efficiency: inventory turnover, debtor days

Efficiency ratios measure how hard assets work. Inventory turnover = COGS ÷ average stock: how many times yearly you sell through your stock. Six turns means roughly two months of goods sitting; two turns means half a year's capital sleeping on shelves. Debtor days = (debtors ÷ credit sales) × 365: how long customers actually take to pay versus your stated 30-day terms. Every extra debtor day is free credit you're extending at your bank's expense.

COGS 7,40,000 | Avg stock (50k+70k)/2 = 60,000
Inventory turnover = 7,40,000 / 60,000 ≈ 12.3 turns (~30 days)

Credit sales 10,00,000 | Debtors closing 90,000
Debtor days = 90,000/10,00,000 x 365 ≈ 33 days

If terms say 45 days → collections excellent.
If terms say 15 days → chase receivables harder.

9.4 Solvency: debt-equity, interest coverage

Solvency asks whether the business can survive its own borrowings long-term. Debt-equity ratio = total debt ÷ shareholders' equity: how aggressively the firm is leveraged. Around 1:1 is conventional for trading firms; above 2:1 starts worrying lenders unless cash flows are contract-like. Interest coverage = EBIT ÷ interest expense: how many times profit could pay the interest bill. Below 2× means one bad quarter threatens default — the number credit officers compute first when you submit a loan file.

Long-term debt 4,00,000 | Equity 6,00,000
Debt-equity = 4,00,000/6,00,000 = 0.67   (comfortable)

EBIT 1,50,000 | Interest 30,000
Interest coverage = 1,50,000/30,000 = 5x   (strong; banks like ≥3x)

9.5 Building a one-page financial health dashboard (Excel tie-in!)

Nobody acts on a spreadsheet of forty ratios; everybody acts on one page with eight numbers and arrows. Pull two years of figures from Tally's reports into Excel, lay out the four families in quadrants — liquidity top-left, profitability top-right, efficiency bottom-left, solvency bottom-right — each cell showing this year vs last year with conditional-format arrows up/down. Add sparklines for GP% and debtor days across months and a traffic-light column flagging any ratio outside rule-of-thumb bands.

This is where our Excel course compounds your accounting value: XLOOKUP pulls ledger balances automatically, PivotTables build the trend layer, and a print-ready PDF of this dashboard monthly makes you the person management actually reads. "Prepared monthly MIS dashboard tracking 8 KPIs" is a resume line that survives screening software and impresses humans alike.

9.6 Common manipulation red flags analysts check

Ratios can be massaged, so learn to smell it. Revenue growing while operating cash flow shrinks year after year suggests paper profits — check the §4.5 bridge. Debtor days ballooning alongside record sales hints at channel stuffing or fictitious invoices. Inventory outgrowing sales signals demand trouble being hidden as "growth in stock". Sudden one-off gains rescuing NP% (asset sales, revaluation) mean core operations are weaker than headline numbers claim. And related-party purchases at inflated prices quietly leak margin away.

Auditors and lenders apply exactly these tests, which is why this module is interview gold: candidates who explain why a ratio moved — not just what it equals — get remembered. Your practice task mimics that standard deliberately.

🎯 Module goal: Run an entire computerised accounting cycle solo — company setup through four audited-ready statements — and package the output into interview-proof proof of skill.

10.1 New company setup from scratch in Tally Prime

The capstone begins like a real job's first week: a fresh company with nothing inherited. Create it deliberately — correct legal name matching registration documents, financial year beginning 1 April, features enabled per business profile (inventory yes, GST yes, payroll if staff exist). Then build the full chart of accounts in one planned sitting: group structure first (trading firm template from Module 5), party ledgers with GSTINs verified on the portal, expense heads granular enough for the management questions you already anticipate from Module 9.

Treat every screen as practice for day one at work: your future employer hands you exactly this task with their own details, and speed-plus-accuracy here is the live test many SME interviews actually run. Target: complete setup inside 45 minutes without referring to notes.

10.2 Opening balances from a provided balance sheet

You'll receive last year's audited balance sheet — real companies never start empty. Enter opening balances via Gateway of Tally > Balance Sheet, pressing on each line: debit asset balances, credit liabilities and equity. Party-wise dues need bill-wise detail so receivable ageing stays truthful; stock needs item-wise opening quantities valued per the valuation method chosen in Module 6.

Gateway of Tally > Balance Sheet > press Enter on each line
   Cash/Bank ............ Dr (as per statement)
   Sundry Debtors ....... Dr (bill-wise: ref no + date + amount)
   Closing Stock ........ Dr (item-wise qty x rate)
   Capital .............. Cr
   HDFC Loan ............ Cr
   Sundry Creditors ..... Cr (bill-wise)

Checkpoint: Tally shows "Difference in opening balances = 0"
Never proceed until this reads zero!

10.3 A full quarter of realistic transactions (~80 entries)

Now run April–June like a live desk. Your dataset mixes everything the course taught: credit purchases with GRNs, intra and inter-state sales, receipts against specific bills, payments including part-payments, contra transfers, payroll for three staff, a stock journal repacking, one sales return with credit note, bank charges auto-debited by the bank (easy to forget — they only appear on statements!), and at least one post-dated cheque surfacing mid-quarter.

Weekly rhythm (repeat 12 times):
  Mon: post last week's purchases + GRN matching
  Tue-Wed: sales invoices + delivery challan linkage
  Thu: receipts/payments; apply bill-wise
  Fri: banking — import statement, reconcile, clear PDCs
Month end: see §10.4 before closing the month

The professional habit under test is same-week closure: books never more than seven days behind reality. Employers consistently rank this discipline above speed — an operator whose daybook always matches documents is trusted with bigger data.

10.4 Month-end: adjustments, provisions, depreciation entries

Each month closes with the Module 3 ritual executed inside Tally via Journal vouchers: book outstanding expenses (electricity bill not yet arrived), amortise prepaid portions, accrue interest income, charge monthly depreciation on the machinery block, review debtor ageing and top up provision for doubtful debts, then verify GST liability versus ITC available so GSTR-3B figures are ready before filing dates.

Monthly journal set (June example):
   Dr Electricity Expense      Cr Outstanding Liabilities
   Dr Depreciation             Cr Machinery (monthly SL amount)
   Dr P&L / Prov. expense      Cr Provision for Doubtful Debts
   Dr GST Payable balance      Cr Bank (on payment date)

10.5 Generate TB, P&L, Balance Sheet, cash flow from system

Quarter end proves the whole machine: Gateway of Tally > Display More Reports > Trial Balance (verify zero difference), Profit & Loss A/c and Balance Sheet with drill-downs intact, plus your hand-built cash flow using Module 4's indirect method fed by two month-end balance sheets you exported to Excel. Cross-checks that must pass: Balance Sheet tallies, stock value in TB equals Stock Summary closing, GST payable ledger matches GSTR-3B computed figure.

10.6 Data verification checklist auditors use

Before declaring done, run the verification pass auditors will run on you: sample five vouchers back to source documents; confirm no voucher lacks narration; check suspense/difference accounts are nil; scan Day Book for back-dated or duplicate entries; verify bank ledger reconciles to statements for all three months; confirm party ledgers show sensible balances (no creditor sitting as debit without explanation); and recompute one ratio set to ensure exports match system reports.

Verification checklist (tick all):
[ ] Difference in opening balances = 0
[ ] Trial balance tallies at quarter close
[ ] No unadjusted suspense/difference in opening balances line
[ ] BRS clean for Apr/May/Jun
[ ] Stock Summary = Closing Stock per TB
[ ] GST report totals = Duties & Taxes ledgers

10.7 Job-hunt packaging: skills summary + practice portfolio

Convert the capstone into evidence. Package one folder: company backup file, exported Excel of TB/P&L/BS/cash flow, the one-page ratio dashboard from Module 9, your GST reconciliation sheet, and a half-page memo interpreting the quarter's performance. Then write the resume bullets this course has earned you: "Maintained complete Tally Prime books for a trading firm (~80 vouchers/quarter) including bill-wise receivables tracking", "Prepared GSTR-1/3B-ready data with intra/inter-state tax splits", "Built monthly MIS dashboard tracking liquidity/profitability/solvency KPIs".

In interviews, open the dashboard first — let them see output before they quiz process. When asked anything from golden rules to e-way bills, answer in the pattern every module drilled: what it is, why businesses need it, how it runs in Tally. That structure alone separates trained accountants from software-only operators, and it's exactly what this roadmap promised you'd become.