Step 1: clean up inside Tally first
It is far easier to fix data in Tally, where your team knows it, than after it moves.
- Parties: merge duplicate customers and suppliers. Fill GSTIN, state and PAN for every registered party.
- Ledger groups: check each ledger sits in the right group (Sundry Debtors, Duties and Taxes, Bank Accounts and so on). The group decides where it lands in the new chart of accounts.
- GST ledgers: keep CGST, SGST, IGST and cess ledgers separate for input and output.
- Stock items: one unit of measure each, an HSN code and GST rate, and no unused duplicates.
- Godowns: physical stock counted and matched by godown on the cut-off date.
- Bank: reconciled up to the cut-off date.
- Old open bills: settle or write off bills you will never collect, with your CA’s approval.
Step 2: choose the cut-off date
| Cut-off | Good for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| 1 April | Clean year for accounts, GST, TDS and payroll | You must wait for it |
| 1st of any month | Going live sooner | File that month’s GST returns from Tally first |
| Mid-month | Avoid | Splits a GST period across two systems |
Step 3: export from Tally
- Masters (groups, ledgers, stock items, units, godowns) as XML.
- Closing trial balance on the day before the cut-off.
- Outstanding receivables and payables, bill by bill.
- Closing stock by item and godown, with value.
- Day Book for any past period you decided to bring.
- A backup of the full Tally company, stored safely.
Step 4: check first, then import
- Run the import’s check first: nothing is saved, and you see what would be created and what is missing.
- Read what the check lists: ledgers with no matching account, parties not yet created, names that already exist.
- Fix them in Tally or in the mapping, and check again.
- Import for real.
- Until the tie-out is signed, know how to undo it. In MyRecords a Day Book batch is undone by cancelling its journals.
Step 5: tie out before anyone enters data
| Check | Must match |
|---|---|
| Trial balance on the cut-off date | Tally’s closing trial balance, ledger by ledger |
| Receivables and payables | Party-wise outstanding, bill by bill |
| Stock | Quantity and value by item and godown |
| GST ledgers | Input and output balances, and any credit carried forward |
| Bank | Balance per books and the reconciled statement |
Your CA should sign off the opening trial balance. Keep the signed copy with your Tally backup.
Step 6: run both in parallel, then stop Tally
- Enter the same transactions in both systems for one or two weeks.
- Compare each day’s sales, purchases, payments and stock. Stop when three days in a row match with no manual fix.
- At the first month end, compare the GST return files from the new system with Tally’s figures.
- Lock Tally for new entries. Keep it read-only for old reports.
Moving to MyRecords
- What imports today: party ledgers under Sundry Debtors and Sundry Creditors become customers and suppliers, with their GSTIN; stock groups, units, godowns and stock items with HSN, with opening stock as a draft for you to check; BOMs; and Day Book accounting vouchers as journal entries. Each import is checked first and nothing is saved until you confirm. A voucher already imported is skipped, and Undo cancels a whole voucher import.
- Not yet: item-level vouchers (sales and purchases with stock lines); past years come across as journals. Other ledgers (bank, loans, duties and taxes, expenses) are not created from the file: we add them to the chart of accounts, with an opening journal, as part of setup.
- Back to Tally: journal entries and purchase bills export as Tally XML, for a CA who still works in Tally.
- Tested on: Tally’s own sample export. No client’s real data has been imported yet, so in the pilot programme we run your first import and tie-out with you.
- Quoted with your setup: masters and opening balances from Tally XML are part of setup. Past years and data cleansing are quoted for your business before we start, at our best price. Get a quote.
See switching from Tally and our data migration service.