Purchase bill entry in TallyPrime: step by step (and how to stop typing it)

Every purchase bill your business receives has to reach your books: for your expenses, your stock and, above all, your GST input tax credit. In TallyPrime that is a Purchase voucher. Here is how to enter one, and what to check so the credit is not lost.

Enter a purchase bill in TallyPrime

1. From Gateway of Tally, open Vouchers and press F9 (Purchase).
2. Set the date to the bill date, and type the supplier's invoice number in Supplier Invoice No. (with its date). This is what GST matching uses.
3. Choose the supplier as the party account. Check that the party ledger has the supplier's GSTIN and state: they decide CGST + SGST or IGST.
4. Choose the purchase ledger, then enter the items or the taxable amount.
5. Add the tax ledgers (Input CGST and SGST, or Input IGST, and cess where it applies). The total must match the bill to the rupee; put any round-off in a Round Off ledger.
6. Save with Ctrl+A, and file the paper or PDF bill where you can find it again.

Mistakes that cost you input tax credit

• A wrong or missing supplier GSTIN: the credit won't match GSTR-2B.
• The bill entered in the wrong month, or with a different invoice number than the supplier reported.
• CGST/SGST used for a supplier from another state (it should be IGST), or the other way round.
• The bill itself is lost before the return is filed: input tax credit needs the tax invoice in hand.

How long does it take?

Typing one bill carefully takes a few minutes. With a hundred or more bills a month, that is days of work for you or your accountant, every month.