Decide the migration date first
Everything else follows from this date. Zoho’s guide gives the example of moving on 1 April: you export the stock summary and the trial balance from Tally as on 31 March, and the voucher data for the year that just closed. A mid-year move works too, with the trial balance taken on the migration date, but a year start keeps your opening numbers aligned with the audited accounts.
What to export from Tally
Zoho lists four reports to export before you start:
- Stock summary, for opening stock.
- Master data, for the chart of accounts, taxes, customers, vendors and items.
- Voucher data, for transactions such as invoices and bills.
- Trial balance, for the closing balances of each account.
Clean the data in Tally before you export it. Duplicate ledgers, misspelt party names and missing GSTINs are far easier to fix at the source than after import.
How Tally terms map to Zoho Books
Zoho documents these equivalents:
| Tally | Zoho Books |
|---|---|
| Account Masters | Chart of Accounts |
| Sundry Debtors | Accounts Receivable |
| Sundry Creditors | Accounts Payable |
| Receipt Vouchers | Payments Received |
| Payment Vouchers | Payments Made |
| Debit Note | Vendor Credits |
The order of the move
- Set up the organisation and GST. Zoho’s guide covers the organisation profile, tax rates and GST settings, including the 15-digit GSTIN.
- Import the chart of accounts. Zoho provides a sample file and a field-mapping step for each import. Check that your bank accounts came across: Zoho notes that you cannot enter opening balances without them.
- Enable the modules you need, such as quotes or recurring bills, and set their preferences.
- Import customers and vendors. Zoho lists GST treatment and GSTIN among the mandatory fields, and allows opening balances to travel in the same file.
- Import items. If you track stock, turn on inventory tracking first and set the inventory start date to the same date as your opening balances.
- Enter opening balances under Settings, with the migration date set to the date of your Tally trial balance.
- Import open transactions in Zoho’s stated order: projects, purchase transactions, sales transactions, then manual journals.
- Sync backdated transactions with the opening balances, as Zoho describes, so the trial balance is accurate.
How to check the result
Zoho gives two checks for opening balances: debits must equal credits, and the Opening Balance Adjustments account must be zero. We add a third before go-live: the trial balance in Zoho Books must match the Tally trial balance on the migration date, account by account, and the receivables and payables lists must agree party by party.
How we can help
Our data migration service runs this move for you, with trial migrations and a reconciled trial balance before go-live, and our Zoho Books implementation covers the GST and approval set-up around it.
Frequently asked questions
Can Zoho Books read a Tally company file directly?
Zoho's guide describes exporting reports from Tally and importing them into Zoho Books module by module, using each module's import option and sample file. Plan the move as an export, clean-up and import rather than a direct file transfer.
Which date should we migrate on?
The start of a financial year is the cleanest. Zoho's guide gives the example of migrating on 1 April, with the stock summary and trial balance exported as on 31 March of the year before.
How do I know the opening balances are right?
Zoho states two checks. Total debits and total credits must be equal after you enter the opening balances, and the Opening Balance Adjustments account must be zero.
Do I have to bring across every old voucher?
No. Many businesses bring masters, opening balances and open transactions only, and keep the older history in Tally for reference. Decide this with your accountant before you start, because it changes the work involved.