What are the alternatives for Tally in 2020?

Table of Contents:

A)The future is in the cloud

B) Can Cloud Accounting Ever Replace Tally?

C) Why Organizations Rely on Cloud Accounting Software? – A Quick Overview

D) Difference between conventional accounting and cloud accounting

E) The drawbacks of Tally

F) Tally vs cloud: Advantages of cloud accounting software

The future is in the cloud

The journey of transformation from abacus to ledgers, to calculators and finally cloud has been quite thrilling for human beings especially the ones in the accounting industry. The cloud concept revolutionized the business cycle of both the corporations and private sectors. The primary factor that contributes to cloud computing being implemented in large numbers is its efficiency compared to other business models. It’s easy-to-customise ability and multiple perks cannot be ignored.

The usability of the cloud varies in proportion to business size. Startups, for example, are operational on a limited budget so their entire operations can be managed via the cloud. The corporations, on the contrary, can use the cloud for seamless management of data without physical location posing a hindrance. The concept of cloud further made its way into all sectors ranging from food to gaming, music industry, and even our smartphones. Even a sector as data-heavy as tally accounting is benefited from the cloud. This only means that you can carry your data in your pockets and get much more than just access to it. Let us see how.

Types of cloud platforms

Cloud computing is classified based on location or the service offered. Based on location, the categories include Public, Private, Hybrid, and Community Cloud. In terms of the service, they are categorized as IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service), PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service), SaaS (Software-as-a-Service), and or, Storage, Database, Information, Process, Application, Integration, Security, Management, Testing-as-a-service. Let us understand these in detail.

Public Cloud

– In this type, the entire computing infrastructure is located on the premises of a cloud computing company offering the service.

Private Cloud

This enables hosting all the computing infrastructure yourself and is not shared. It has the highest security and control level. 

Hybrid Cloud

 This means using both private and public clouds, depending on the purpose. While you can host the most important applications on your own servers, the secondary applications can be stored elsewhere.

Community Cloud

This is shared between organizations that have a common goal or fit into the same scheme of things.

The services are of four types and are also known as the cloud computing stack. This is because they build on top of one another. 

Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS)

The most basic category of cloud computing services. It allows for renting IT infrastructure (servers or VMs) from a cloud provider on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Platform as a service (PaaS)

This is the supply of an on-demand environment for developing, testing, delivering and managing software applications. It can help in quick creation of web or mobile apps, leaving aside the worry of setting up or managing the underlying infrastructure.

Software as a service (SaaS)

This method is used to deliver software applications over the Internet, however, according to demand and on a subscription basis. It helps the users in hosting and managing the software application and underlying infrastructure. Apart from this, it helps in handling any maintenance issues such as software upgrades and security patching.

FaaS (functions as a service)

In this, developers are completely insulated from everything in the stack below their code. By reducing the hassles of virtual servers, containers, etc., they can upload narrowly functional blocks of code, and set them to be triggered by a certain event. Even a sector as data heavy as tally accounting is benefited with cloud. Let us see how.

Can Cloud Computing Ever Replace Tally?

The emergence of technology is encouraging more and more accountants and businesses to shift to cloud-based accounting solutions like the one offered by GIDDH accounting software. Cloud-based accounting software are a perfect alternative of Tally and given the popularity, this ain’t slowing down anytime soon.

As per statistics, nearly 88% SMEs demand cloud solutions because the implementation of these software’s within their operation cycle benefits the organizations in a lot of ways like:

• It minimizes the overhead expenses of the corporations
• Stores the entire data on remote servers accessible to users 24*7*365
• Users can access the applications from anywhere, anytime reducing the computing costs

Despite learning the benefits, if you’re still skeptical of why you should transit to cloud-based accounting software here’s a quick breakdown on how cloud computing can change the future of accountancy in your organization.

Why Organizations Rely on Cloud Accounting Software: A Quick Overview

Back in the days, small-sized organizations relied on pen-and-paper to manually calculate their transactions, while few big hotshots opted for Tally (desktop-based accounting software) to manage their accounts.

But, the numerous benefits of Tally crippled the processing of organizations and made the bookkeeping process tiresome for accountants. The drawbacks made the organizations look for better Tally alternatives like GIDDH which assure flexibility, quick response time, and were solely based on the cloud.

The contributing factors that majorly influence and encourage the organizations to trust these cloud accounting softwares are:

• They seamlessly optimize the businesses
• They come encapsulated with a multitude of features like – invoice creation, tax filing, inventory management, bank reconciliation, etc.

Difference between conventional accounting and cloud accounting

Conventional accounting software like Tally gets installed on a desktop PC indicating a single-user interface. Software installation, licensing, hardware/software maintenance, database management are additional hassles in a desktop-based accounting environment. Also, there’s an increased probability of committing a manual error in bulk entries.

Cloud-based software are flexible, offer multi-user interface since data is stored on remote servers, requires no software installation or hardware maintenance minimizing overhead expense for the organization. Anytime, anywhere accessibility from an internet-enabled device, real-time updates, automated backups & financial calculations reducing calculation error are additional perks one gets by implementing cloud software.

Different cloud-based software’s like Giddh are your perfect alternatives to Tally since they omit all expenses incurred on hardware/software licensing, maintenance, etc. and thus are cost-effective.

The Drawbacks of Using Tally

• There may be a need for a double entry for certain functions. 
• The GUI interface may not be attractive, and the entire process can end up being very time-consuming. 
• The other drawbacks include inefficient customer support and the fact that tally is not an entire package for ERP solution but rather a product. 
• The biggest disadvantage is that one may not be able to see two ledgers at the same time. 

With the use of software, it becomes easy to perform work related tasks. While businesses spent time and resources into managing accounts, the availability of accounting software has made it easier to store large amounts of data. While a tally accounting software is beneficial in this regard, it also has certain disadvantages. For instance, it is not user friendly since it is important to have accounting knowledge to be able to use Tally accounting software.

One also does not see any graphical improvement in Tally’s older version. Despite launching newer versions recently, the GUI interface still resembles an old DOS-based accounting software. The other drawbacks are as follows.

• It is not possible to amend a Journal Voucher once created.
• One cannot do batch-wise invoicing in Tally accounting software.
• It is not possible to maintain the re-order level of inventory stock in Tally ERP software.
• One of the most complex tasks in Tally ERP Software is last price inquiries 
• It is also difficult to address pricing issues such as supplying different customers at multiple price lists.
• When compared to other alternative accounting software, cost-wise Tally is expensive. 
• There is limited customization and the lack of a web-based option makes things difficult. In case, the user forgets the password, it can become difficult and time-consuming to retrieve the lost data.
• Tally ERP software is not a modular application and not real-time. It can only be used to record detailed accounting debits and credits.

Tally vs cloud: Advantages of cloud accounting software

While Tally is India’s most popular accounting software product, there are many advantages to using cloud accounting software over it. The basic difference lies in the ease of transacting and viewing, and this is where cloud accounting software scores heavily.

Anytime, anywhere access

Cloud solutions can be accessed from any device and any place. There are no hassles of operating systems, machines and even the updates are automatic in nature. One update addresses all the clients. Tally, on the other hand, is not web based and real time. There is also a need for periodic ‘synchronization’.

Accessibility is a great reason why cloud-based accounting tools are an effective tally alternative. Cloud software like Giddh can be accessed from any device that has access to a stable internet connection. This means that you can go through your account data from anywhere with the help of devices like a laptop, personal computer, tab, and smartphone. Tally is not accessible like cloud-based software because it has to be installed on a computer and you have to export the file if you want to access it. Also, if you use Tally only a single person can use it at one time. However, with cloud-based accounting, multiple users can work with it, simultaneously.

Security

While Tally has a simple security system, there is a need for authorized access in a cloud accounting solution system. Once a user gets access, they cannot access all aspects of the software. For instance, inputting and editing of vouchers can only be done by a data entry operator. Similarly, certain personal ledgers may not be visible to users with lower access privileges.

Data expenses

This is an added advantage of using an alternative to tally because cloud accounting software acts as an insurance policy that you can cash in at any time and anywhere, especially if your computer experiences a failure or a virus attack. Cloud accounting ensures that all your financial data is safe and secure, and it will back up your data parallely as you work. Your details and password are encrypted and it will provide you with ban-grade security. These features are not available on Tally because it’s offline and it’s a single device software, which leaves your device vulnerable.

Backup

Cloud accounting solutions have automatic back-up functions installed which happen at regular intervals. This ensures that even the disaster management plan is more robust and there is no loss of relevant data.

Setup

One of the major reasons cloud accounting software are great alternatives to Tally is because they are easy to get started and set up because it’s an online software. All you have to do is sign up for the cloud accounting software and you can start using it within five minutes. While Tally can be used as an offline software, you will still have to install the software on every computer that has to be used for accounting. Also, you can immediately start using cloud accounting, which is not the case with Tally; a technician will have to activate Tally on every computer that you want to use the software for.

Multi-site

With cloud accounting solutions, users can gain access in real time and data can be synchronized across multiple sites. One can get a consolidated view of the company or its branches with a single click. However, Tally does not offer any real time synchronization and lacks these features.

Voucher

Cloud accounting solutions provide a complete audit trail and it is possible to know who edited what and when. However, with Tally, this kind of access to real time updates is not possible.

Sales

When compared to Tally, Sales Analytics is better in cloud accounting software. There are multiple graphs and pivot tables provided to users which help in the better visual understanding of a company’s sales profile.

Invoicing

Cloud-based accounting software like Giddh is a good alternative of tally because it can customize your invoice according to your business. This is important because invoicing is a central part of accounting. Cloud accounting will help you send invoices to your vendors and suppliers through texts and emails. You don’t have to worry about GST calculations because the invoices will calculate them for you. When it comes to Tally, you need to have a thorough knowledge of debit and credit entries. Cloud software like Giddh is designed in a way that all you have to do is fill in important fields and the rest will be taken care of by the accounting software.

Collaboration

Cloud-based accounting software has a leg up on Tally because of the “User and Role” feature, this makes them efficient tally alternatives because you can provide access to different users so that you can give them authority to view or edit your documents. You can’t do this with Tally since the software is rigid and won’t allow you to share data unless you export the file, which is not a pleasant experience for the user.

Provides a daily business summary

Cloud accounting software, like Giddh, is a great tally alternative because it has an interactive feature that is not present in Tally. The software will have a dashboard that will provide you with essential statistics that help you make a vital decision and also forecast any future trends. Giddh’s dashboard provides you with data that is a real-time of total payables, receivables, the company’s cash flow, top expenses, total incomes, total payables, and expenses.

Real-time customer support

Cloud accounting software, like Giddh, have fast remote excellent customer service. The customer support has a chat option that will help you out while using the support. You can contact the support team if you have any doubts or problems, and the team will help get your problem resolved, immediately over remote desktop connections.

Advanced handling of foreign currency

Cloud accounting solutions help in advanced understanding and handling of foreign currency. Tally does not have any such concept – neither of reporting currency nor ledger currency. However, with cloud accounting software, it is possible to see the accounts in any currency based on automatic conversion.

Balance sheets and other templates

There are user-defined templates in a cloud accounting software, and this is for both balance sheets, invoices and P&L statements. This is one of the biggest plus points and accrues advantages for auditors. This is because they are saved the bother of doing excel manipulations for preparing the final reports. Tally, however, does not have these features.

Mobile enabled

Perhaps the best feature of a cloud accounting software is that it is mobile friendly. Once the user’s mobile is registered, it becomes possible to view various reports and also drill down till the voucher level. Vendors and clients can review statements of accounts, access invoices, and perform other tasks as well. The best aspect is the self-serve option which offers flexibility like no other and keeps all stakeholders on the same page.

Connectivity

It is possible to integrate cloud accounting software with other third-party software seamlessly. However, given that Tally has its own proprietary database and a restricted xml export feature, this is not possible.

Friendly and interactive UI

As mentioned, earlier, Tally is not user friendly. There will be a need to remember keys. Cloud accounting on the other hand is extremely interactive and color coded. Although available, there is also no need for shortcut keys and even the navigation options are much better. One can view spreadsheets simultaneously and users can jump from one view to another very easily.

Multiple transactions

Cloud accounting software enables in processing multiple transactions easily. However, Tally does not usually enable going beyond 50,000 transactions.

Prints and reports

With cloud accounting software, users can get multiple formats for ledger print including tabular excel formats . The reports are also formatted in a better manner with an extensive reporting modules and advanced filtering functions when compared to Tally.

Push Reporting / Web Services

Cloud accounting software can be programmed to email reports at intervals set by the user. It allows for different reports to be sent to multiple users. One can also generate reports alternatively – on a weekly or monthly basis. These can be stored on the user’s common drive. There is controlled access and reports are made available as per demand.

Audit module

With cloud accounting software, it is possible to track every change that is made to the voucher/ledger opening balances. It also allows auditors to lock vouchers/mark vouchers that need clarification. In case there are changes made after an audit, reports can be generated listing these changes out.

There are many great alternatives to tally, and cloud-based accounting software is one of the best alternatives. Now, users can choose the software that suits their needs the best.

While Tally is used even to this day by accountants across India, cloud accounting software allows for many features that may not be present in it. Cloud accounting software is highly suitable for both small and medium-sized businesses and eliminates the need for dedicated accounting professionals. It is also a great choice for businesses where the entrepreneurs themselves want to manage accounting information and need easy access to them anywhere, anytime.

Tally, on the other hand, is outdated accounting software, which is made as per old Indian regulations and business practices. While it can handle the accounting information of any small to large-sized businesses in India, it would also need to partner with the right talent in the business. Tally is the staple of the Indian accounting ecosystem but with the arrival of cloud accounting solutions and software, things are changing.