To learn Tally step by step, work through one practice business in a fixed order. Create the company, switch on the features you need, build ledgers and stock items, record vouchers, then read the reports those vouchers produce. Each step depends on the one before it, so skipping ahead is what confuses most beginners. With daily practice, the basics usually fit into a month.
This guide uses TallyPrime 7.1 (Release 7.2, out on 12 October 2026, leaves the basic steps here unchanged) and one fictional example business throughout: Anand Stationers, a notebook trader registered for GST in Delhi. Menu names follow TallyHelp as of September 2026.
How can you learn Tally at home? Two things to set up first
Yes, you can learn Tally at home. You need a working copy of TallyPrime and a grip on debit and credit, and both take less time than people expect. TallyPrime installs free on any 64-bit Windows laptop and runs in Educational mode without a licence, so the only cost is your practice time. Accounting basics matter because Tally posts debit and credit to whichever ledger and voucher you pick; it cannot tell you that the pick was wrong.
Plan on an hour or two a day. Keep one practice business from the first step to the last, so every voucher shows up in the reports you read at the end. Work through the ten steps below in order. The only home-study limit is the date rule in Educational mode, explained just below, and every example in this guide already follows it. Not yet sure Tally is the software to learn? Read Tally vs Zoho Books vs Busy first.
- Install TallyPrime. Download it free from Tally’s official site and run it in Educational mode. Our TallyPrime free download guide covers installation and system requirements.
- Revise the golden rules. Tally applies debit and credit for you, but only if you pick the right ledger and voucher. Our explainer on the golden rules of accounting is a 10-minute refresher.
One Educational-mode rule shapes this whole guide: vouchers can only be dated the 1st, 2nd or 31st of a month. Every example date below respects that. If you are comparing home practice with other no-cost options, see our guide to free ways to learn Tally and what they don’t cover. If you are in college, our guide to learning Tally, GST and Excel alongside B.Com shows how to fit this around your classes.
Step 1: Get familiar with the TallyPrime screen
The home screen is called the Gateway of Tally. Everything you do starts from it or from the Go To box.
- Gateway of Tally (centre): Masters (Create, Alter, Chart of Accounts), Transactions (Vouchers, Day Book) and Utilities (Banking). Reports include Balance Sheet, Profit & Loss A/c, Stock Summary, Ratio Analysis and Display More Reports.
- Top menu: Alt+K (Company), Alt+Y (Data), Alt+Z (Exchange), Alt+G (Go To), Alt+O (Import), Alt+E (Export), Alt+M (Share), Alt+P (Print).
- Right-side buttons: F2 (change date), F3 (switch company), F12 (Configure). F11 (Company Features) sits in the top menu.
The most useful habit is Alt+G. Type part of any report or voucher name and press Enter. It works from almost any screen, so you rarely need to go back to the Gateway.
Step 2: Create a practice company
A company in Tally is a separate set of books. Create one for Anand Stationers.
- If no company exists yet, choose Create Company. If one is already open, press Alt+K (Company) > Create.
- Enter the name, address, State (Delhi) and country. The state matters: GST uses it to decide between CGST plus SGST and IGST.
- Set Financial year beginning from to 1-4-2026. Books beginning from defaults to the same date.
- Leave TallyVault and user access off while practising. A lost TallyVault password can’t be recovered.
- Press Ctrl+A to save. TallyPrime opens the Company Features screen next.
Step 3: Switch on the features you need (F11)
TallyPrime shows only basic options until you enable more. On the Company Features screen (or later with F11), set these to Yes for a GST trader:
- Maintain Accounts and Enable Bill-wise entry, so customer and supplier balances are tracked invoice by invoice.
- Maintain Inventory and Integrate Accounts with Inventory, so closing stock flows into the Balance Sheet automatically.
- Enable Goods and Services Tax (GST), then enter the company’s GST details: state, registration type and GSTIN.
Set Show more features to Yes to reveal options such as cost centres, batches and price levels. You don’t need them yet.
Step 4: Create ledgers under the right groups
A ledger is an account. TallyPrime creates two for you, Cash and Profit & Loss A/c, and gives you 28 predefined groups to place the rest under. Create ledgers from Gateway of Tally > Create > Ledger, or press Alt+C while entering a voucher to create one on the fly.
| Ledger for Anand Stationers | Group | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Anand Capital A/c | Capital Account | Owner’s investment |
| HDFC Bank | Bank Accounts | Business current account |
| Ramesh Traders (Delhi) | Sundry Debtors | Credit customer, same state |
| Verma Book Depot (Noida, UP) | Sundry Debtors | Credit customer, other state |
| Gupta Paper Mart (Delhi) | Sundry Creditors | Credit supplier |
| Sales | Sales Accounts | Income from selling notebooks |
| Purchase | Purchase Accounts | Cost of notebooks bought |
| CGST, SGST, IGST | Duties & Taxes | Set type of duty to GST and pick the tax type |
| Electricity Charges, Salary | Indirect Expenses | Running costs |
| Salary Payable | Current Liabilities | Salary owed but not yet paid |
For each party ledger, fill in the state, GST registration type and GSTIN. TallyPrime reads these to calculate the right tax on every invoice.
Step 5: Set up stock items
Inventory masters come next, because sales and purchase invoices need items to pick. Create them from Gateway of Tally > Create:
- Unit: create “Nos” (numbers).
- Stock Group: create “Notebooks”.
- Stock Item: create “A4 Notebook 200 pages” under Notebooks, unit Nos. Enter its HSN code and GST rate in the item’s GST details.
Always take the real GST rate for an item from CBIC’s rate notifications, not from memory. For practice, any rate you set will work; TallyPrime simply applies it.
Step 6: Record vouchers for a practice month
Vouchers are where learning happens. Open Gateway of Tally > Vouchers, press the function key for the voucher type, use F2 to set the date, and save with Ctrl+A. Enter these nine transactions in order.
| Date | Transaction | Voucher (key) | Dr / Cr |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-4-2026 | Anand deposits ₹2,00,000 capital in HDFC Bank | Receipt (F6) | Dr HDFC Bank, Cr Anand Capital |
| 1-4-2026 | Withdraws ₹20,000 from bank for office cash | Contra (F4) | Dr Cash, Cr HDFC Bank |
| 2-4-2026 | Buys 200 notebooks at ₹40 from Gupta Paper Mart on credit | Purchase (F9) | Dr Purchase + CGST + SGST, Cr Gupta Paper Mart |
| 2-4-2026 | Sells 120 notebooks at ₹60 to Ramesh Traders on credit | Sales (F8) | Dr Ramesh Traders, Cr Sales + CGST + SGST |
| 2-4-2026 | Sells 30 notebooks at ₹60 to Verma Book Depot, Noida | Sales (F8) | Dr Verma Book Depot, Cr Sales + IGST |
| 31-5-2026 | Receives ₹5,000 from Ramesh Traders into bank | Receipt (F6) | Dr HDFC Bank, Cr Ramesh Traders (against the April bill) |
| 31-5-2026 | Pays ₹8,000 to Gupta Paper Mart by bank | Payment (F5) | Dr Gupta Paper Mart, Cr HDFC Bank (against the April bill) |
| 31-5-2026 | Pays electricity bill of ₹3,500 in cash | Payment (F5) | Dr Electricity Charges, Cr Cash |
| 31-5-2026 | Salary of ₹12,000 for May is due but unpaid | Journal (F7) | Dr Salary, Cr Salary Payable |
What to watch for while entering
In the sales and purchase vouchers, pick the stock item and quantity; TallyPrime works out the value and adds GST. Notice that Ramesh Traders (Delhi) gets CGST plus SGST, while Verma Book Depot (Uttar Pradesh) gets IGST. That’s the intra-state versus inter-state rule, which CBIC’s GST FAQs explain. If the tax comes out wrong, the state on the party ledger or the company is usually the cause.
In the receipt and payment against bills, choose Agst Ref and select the April invoice. That keeps the outstanding reports accurate.
Step 7: Check your GST reports
Open Alt+G > GSTR-1 and Alt+G > GSTR-3B for April 2026. GSTR-1 should show your two sales invoices, one to a registered Delhi party and one inter-state. GSTR-3B should show the tax on those sales and the input tax credit from the purchase.
TallyPrime flags incomplete or mismatched entries as exceptions in these reports. Clearing those exceptions is a real office task, so practise it. On a licensed copy with TSS, the same screens let you upload returns straight to the GST portal. The law behind these returns, and how to file them properly, is the subject of a dedicated GST course.
Step 8: Read the financial reports and check your work
Reports are how you prove your entries were right. Open each one with Alt+G and compare it with what you expect.
| Report | What you should see for Anand Stationers |
|---|---|
| Day Book | All nine vouchers, on their dates |
| Stock Summary | 200 in, 150 out, 50 notebooks in hand |
| Trial Balance | Debit total equals credit total |
| Profit & Loss A/c | Sales of ₹9,000; purchases of ₹8,000 less closing stock; electricity and salary as expenses |
| Balance Sheet | Capital, bank, cash, debtors, creditors, GST ledgers, Salary Payable and closing stock |
| Bills Receivable | Ramesh Traders’ April invoice with ₹5,000 received and the rest pending |
Press Enter on any figure to drill down to the vouchers behind it. If a number looks wrong, drilling down usually shows which entry caused it.
Step 9: Back up and restore your practice company
Backups protect weeks of practice. In TallyPrime 7.x, press Alt+Y (Data) > Backup & Restore; in Release 6.2 and earlier it’s Alt+Y (Data) > Backup. Select the company and save the backup outside the TallyPrime folder. Restore works from the same menu. Release 7.0 also added scheduled automatic backups, which offices use daily.
Step 10: Build speed with shortcuts
Once entries feel natural, speed becomes the goal. Learn these first: Alt+G (Go To), Ctrl+A (save), Esc (back) and F2 (date). Then add Alt+C (create a master on the fly), Ctrl+Enter (alter a master from a voucher) and Alt+D (delete). The full list, checked against Tally’s official table, is in our TallyPrime shortcut keys guide.
A six-week plan for learning Tally at home
The ten steps above fit into about a month for someone who already knows accounting basics. If you are starting from zero, or can practise only an hour or two a day, spread the same work over six weeks and begin with an accounting refresh. Each week ends with a checkpoint; do not move on until you can pass it without help.
| Week | What to learn | Checkpoint |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Accounting refresh; Gateway of Tally; create a company; F11 features (steps 1 to 3) | Create a company for a trading business and explain every option you switched on |
| 2 | Groups and ledgers; the six basic vouchers: contra, payment, receipt, journal, sales, purchase (steps 4 and 6) | Record 30 transactions for one month and get a Trial Balance that agrees |
| 3 | Bill-wise details, debit and credit notes, bank reconciliation | Show each customer’s outstanding bills and reconcile one month’s bank statement |
| 4 | GST: company GST details, tax ledgers, HSN and rates, GST invoices, GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B reports (step 7) | Record intra-state and inter-state sales and explain why one shows CGST and SGST and the other IGST |
| 5 | Inventory: stock groups, items, units, godowns; purchase and sales with stock (step 5) | Stock Summary matches the quantities you bought and sold |
| 6 | Reports, backup and restore, shortcut speed (steps 8 to 10) | Finish a month’s entries for a small business in one sitting and explain the results |
If you can study only at weekends, stretch each week into two. The order matters more than the speed. Work from simple paper bills and bank statements rather than neat lists, because offices hand you documents, and now and then post an entry to the wrong ledger on purpose, then find it through the reports. Tracing errors is a skill interviewers test.
Leave payroll, TDS, manufacturing and job work, multi-currency and budgets until these basics are solid. Connected services such as e-invoice, e-way bill and direct GST filing need a licence with an active subscription, so practise the manual reports first.
How do you know you are job-ready in Tally?
Employers test by giving you a set of documents and a time limit. You are ready when you can do all of this without notes:
- create a company and set up GST from scratch;
- enter a month of purchases, sales, payments and receipts with correct GST;
- show party-wise outstanding and reconcile a bank account;
- produce the Trial Balance, Profit and Loss account, Balance Sheet and GST reports;
- find and correct a wrong entry when asked;
- take a backup of company data.
Then rehearse with our TallyPrime interview questions for freshers.
Common mistakes beginners make
Most errors in practice companies come from a handful of habits. Catch these early:
- Customers under Sales Accounts. TallyHelp specifically warns against this. Customers go under Sundry Debtors; Sales Accounts holds sales ledgers only.
- Skipping Integrate Accounts with Inventory. Closing stock then has to be entered by hand, and the Balance Sheet won’t match the Stock Summary.
- Wrong state on a party ledger. This flips IGST and CGST plus SGST, and your GSTR-1 goes wrong with it.
- Dates the Educational mode rejects. On the 30th of a month, or the 28th of February, the voucher won’t save. Use the 31st of a 31-day month.
- Deleting instead of cancelling. Alt+X cancels a voucher and keeps its number in sequence; Alt+D deletes it outright.
Once you can run a month like this without notes, move on to payroll, TDS, bank reconciliation and cost centres. Our Tally Prime course syllabus lays out that full sequence, and the six-week plan above turns the basics into a weekly schedule. If you prefer guided practice with a trainer, IPA’s Tally course in Delhi runs a one-month basic and a two-month advanced course.
How we teach this at IPA
IPA teaches Tally in the same order this guide follows: company creation, ledgers and groups, then vouchers, and only after that GST, inventory and payroll. In the Tally course you post entries from realistic bills, watch how each one moves the ledgers and reports, and correct your own mistakes with the trainer beside you.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to learn Tally step by step?
Basic accounting entries, GST invoices and reports usually take about a month of regular practice. Advanced topics such as payroll, TDS, inventory controls and MIS reports take another month or two. Speed comes only from repeated practice on real-looking entries.
Can I learn Tally without a commerce background?
Yes, but learn the accounting basics alongside the software. Tally records whatever you tell it, so you need to know why rent is a debit and a customer is a debtor. Spend the first few days on golden rules and journal entries before touching vouchers.
Can I learn TallyPrime for free?
Yes. TallyPrime’s Educational mode is free with no time limit and includes every feature except connected services. The only restriction is that vouchers can be dated just the 1st, 2nd or 31st of a month. That’s still enough for a complete practice year.
Should I learn Tally first or GST first?
Learn basic Tally entries first, then GST inside Tally. You need to be comfortable with ledgers and vouchers before GST settings make sense. GST law itself, such as returns, input tax credit and deadlines, is worth studying separately once the software feels familiar.
Is it still worth learning Tally.ERP 9?
No, start with TallyPrime. It replaced Tally.ERP 9 in 2020, and Tally’s current releases, GST features and support are all built on it. The accounting logic is the same, so anyone trained on TallyPrime can still read an old ERP 9 file after migration.
Can I learn Tally on a Mac or a phone?
Not directly. TallyPrime installs only on 64-bit Windows, and Tally’s system requirements list no Mac or mobile version. Use a Windows laptop or desktop for practice; a phone is fine for revising shortcuts and theory, but not for entering vouchers.
Is a Tally certificate needed to get a job?
Not always. Employers usually test you on the software in the interview. A certificate helps you get shortlisted, but a practical test decides the offer. Tally Education, Tally Solutions’ training arm, runs its own TallyEssential certification in three levels (35, 35 and 36 hours), open to 12th pass students in any stream.