How to export data from TallyPrime for a migration

The export button in TallyPrime is Alt+E. It is available on almost every report and voucher screen. Tally's help says it can export masters, vouchers, reports, GST returns and dashboard tiles. You choose the format, the folder and the file name on the export screen.

The formats offered include Excel, XML, PDF, JSON, HTML and text. For a migration you will mostly use Excel and XML. The exact screens differ a little between TallyPrime releases. If a screen on your system does not look like our description, use the export help in Tally, or ask us.

There is also an export configuration screen reachable from Alt+E where you can set defaults such as folder, file name and whether to open the file after export. Setting a folder once saves time and avoids files landing in odd places.

Our practice: Excel for every report the CA needs to see and review, XML for the vouchers and masters that we will convert. We always keep the PDF of the trial balance as the reference.

These are the items we collect for every Tally migration. The Gateway of Tally and Display More Reports screens are where most of them live.

1. Trial balance as on the migration date, and as on each year end if you are bringing history. Open it from Display More Reports. Export it ledger-wise, not group-wise. Group totals hide the detail you need to reconcile.
2. Balance sheet and profit and loss for the same dates. They are not for loading, but they give the CA a second view to compare.
3. Stock summary as on the migration date, with quantity, rate and value for each item. If you hold stock in godowns, export godown-wise. If you use batches, export batch-wise.
4. Bill-wise outstanding for receivables and payables. Find it under Outstandings. This gives each open bill with its date, due date and pending amount. It is the source for opening balances by party in Zoho Books.
5. Ledger masters with groups, GSTIN, state, address, PAN and credit terms. Export the masters so that you have group and parent details, not only names.
6. Stock item masters with units, HSN or SAC code, GST rate and opening rate.
7. Vouchers for the period to be migrated. For a quick review use Day Book. For the migration itself export vouchers in XML, month by month for large companies, so a single failed file does not hold everything up.
8. GST reports for the months in question: GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B summaries. They become your check totals at the end.
9. TDS outstanding and statutory ledgers, if applicable.

A file that opens is not the same as a file that is right. Spend an hour on checks. It saves days later.

• Open the trial balance export and confirm the debit total equals the credit total.
• Compare the total of Sundry Debtors in the trial balance with the total of the bill-wise outstanding report. They should agree. If they do not, there are on-account entries, advances or opening balances without bill references.
• Do the same for Sundry Creditors.
• Compare the stock summary closing value with the stock value in the trial balance or balance sheet.
• Count vouchers by type in the Day Book export and compare with the count of vouchers shown in Tally for the same period.
• Check dates. Excel sometimes turns dates into text or swaps day and month. Open a few rows and compare with Tally.
• Check for blank GSTINs and states on parties that should have them.

• Report exported with the wrong period. Always look at the period shown at the top of the report before pressing Alt+E.
• Vouchers hidden by a filter or a configuration setting on the report. If you used a filter to look at something, remove it before exporting.
• Opening balances for the first year were entered without bill details. Outstanding by party will not total to the control account.
• Old data from a company split or year-end carry forward that has altered opening balances. Check that the closing balance of one year equals the opening of the next.
• Optional, memorandum and post-dated vouchers. They do not post to the books but may be in your Day Book. Decide whether they should be migrated.
• Special characters in party names that break import files. Clean them in Tally or in the Excel stage.

Make a short log: the date and time, the company, the period, who exported, which files, how many records, and the totals you checked. If a question comes up later (and it will), you can say exactly which data went into the migration.

Store the files somewhere safe and not on a personal laptop. They contain full customer and vendor details.

Once the export is checked, the next job is loading it. Our migration guide covers that. If numbers differ after loading, the guide on trial balance mismatches helps trace why. For a project where exports from four years were reviewed before anything was loaded, see the consultancy case study.