Working alongside Tally
Tally alternative or Tally companion? Run both.
Most businesses on Tally should keep it, but stop using it for work it was not built for: promised stock, enquiries, quotes, dispatch and money owed. Keep Tally for the CA. Run the business in Ordence, which keeps its own books too. The example is a roll and batch trader, since that pack runs at a foil trader today.
Last reviewed 11 October 2026. What TallyPrime does depends on its release, edition and connected services; check Tally's own documentation. Tally and TallyPrime are trademarks of their owner. Ordence is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Tally; it is named only to compare.
What Tally is excellent at
Why most businesses keep it, and are right to.
Tally is fast. A skilled accountant never touches the mouse, so two people can keep the accounts of a thirty-person business. Your CA, auditor and bank all expect Tally data.
Tally is not the problem. Most of a trader's day is not accounting: answering an IndiaMART enquiry, promising a shade by Friday, deciding if the last two reels of a lot can go to two parties.
The four places a roll or batch trader outgrows it
Where the work stops fitting, each with a test you can run this week.
- Reels and lots you can promise. Tally holds quantities by godown. Reel numbers, shades, widths, mill lots and what is already promised sit in a sheet or one person's head. It starts to hurt at about two godowns, or thirty to forty orders a month.
- The sale before the invoice. Enquiry, quote, sample, follow-up, why a deal was lost: none is a transaction, so none is in Tally.
- It lives in the accounts room. Sales and godown staff photograph a screen onto WhatsApp, and by afternoon the photo is out of date.
- Input tax credit checked by hand. You only get the credit if your supplier filed the invoice. On ₹40 lakh of monthly purchases at 18%, about ₹7 lakh a month depends on other people's filing. Often the check is a spreadsheet rebuilt after the 14th.
What lives where when you run both
Ordence runs the order and keeps its own books. Tally stays with the CA.
| The work | Runs in Ordence | In Tally |
|---|---|---|
| Enquiries, quotations, follow-ups | All of it; IndiaMART and WhatsApp enquiries arrive on their own | None. Tally never held them |
| Reels, lots, slitting, dispatch | Barcoded reels, cut plans, shade-checked dispatch | None |
| Sales invoices and credit notes | Made from the order, with GST worked out | Received as Tally-ready XML if your CA wants them |
| Purchase bills and GSTR-2B | Recorded and matched against GSTR-2B (the monthly list of invoices your suppliers filed) | Received as XML if needed |
| Bank reconciliation | Statement import and matching; a person confirms each match | Optional |
| Ledger, trial balance, P&L, balance sheet | Ordence's own double-entry books, with a period lock | The CA's set, kept in step by export and checks |
| Returns | GSTR-1 and e-way bill JSON prepared for upload; the IRN recorded on the invoice | Your CA uploads and files as today |
How the two talk
Files both ways, plus an optional connector. Ordence never creates ledgers or deletes anything in Tally, so your CA keeps working there.
Import
Ordence reads TallyPrime or Tally.ERP 9 data as XML or CSV, for several companies if needed, so nothing is retyped.
In week one: three years of party names, GSTINs and ledgers come across from the CA's file.
Reconcile
Ordence lists every difference from the Tally import, such as a missing invoice or a party balance that differs, before the CA finds it.
Export
Ordence makes Tally-ready XML for your CA to import. No one retypes invoices.
At month-end: the CA imports one file, and the Tally sales register matches what left the godown.
Connect, if you want it
An optional connector on the Tally PC moves vouchers both ways. If a voucher names a ledger Tally does not have, it refuses and names the ledger. It never deletes anything in Tally.
For the CA: no ledger appears that the CA did not create. File export still works.
Ask
A read-only link lets you ask Claude plain questions about your Tally books, such as which parties are over 90 days. It never posts.
What it costs in time and disruption
Three costs: one person's time, some data decisions and a short overlap.
First, one person who knows how the work really runs: a few hours a week during setup, nearer a day a week in the pilot. Without them, software will not save the project.
Second, a clean-up: four spellings of one customer, a reel list that does not match the godown, an opening balance no one can explain. You must decide which record is right.
Third, about a fortnight where the two systems disagree while people learn. Moving operations alongside Tally, without downtime covers it. Check against a figure you already trust, such as total receivables or closing stock value, never the new system's own totals.
When to stay as you are
Five reasons to wait on Ordence.
- Under ten people, one godown, under about thirty orders a month, and no reel or lot tracking. Tally can carry that.
- Matching your sheets to your books takes under half a day a month.
- Your peak season starts within six weeks. Go live after it.
- You need e-invoice numbers (IRNs) generated straight from the government portal (IRP). Ordence only prepares the file; Tally's connected services can generate them.
- No one on your side can own the project: a real person with hours set aside, not just a name.
Questions
Replacement, testing, and the accountant.
So is Ordence a Tally replacement?
It can be. Ordence keeps its own full double-entry books. Many businesses still keep Tally for their CA and send it Tally-ready XML. You and your CA choose.
Is there a connection to Tally, or only files?
Both. An optional connector on the Tally PC moves vouchers both ways, and files work too. Ordence never creates ledgers or deletes anything in Tally.
What should we test first?
Import a month of your Tally data and read the differences list. Load the exported XML into a copy of your Tally company and check where vouchers land. Ask Claude a question about your Tally books you already know the answer to.
Our accountant is against this.
Bring them in early. Usually they fear losing Tally. They will not. If they still object after seeing the export and checks, listen: they know your books.
Bring one month of your Tally data.
Mention it in your application and bring it to the fit call. We will tell you what imports cleanly, what does not, and whether you should just stay as you are for another year.
Questions first? Email the founders.