Bank reconciliation is the month-end job everyone knows and nobody enjoys: take the bank ledger in Tally, take the bank's statement, and explain every rupee of difference between them. Tally Prime has two ways to do it — a manual one that works everywhere, and an automatic one that works very well if you have the right kind of statement file.
This guide covers both, plus the part most tutorials skip: what to do when your client has only sent you a PDF.
What reconciliation actually does in Tally
Every bank entry you record in Tally has a voucher date — the day you recorded it. Reconciling adds a second date: the bank date, the day that entry actually appears on the bank statement. Entries with a bank date are reconciled. Entries without one are the reasons your book balance and the bank balance differ — the cheque you issued that the supplier hasn't deposited yet, the cheque you deposited that hasn't cleared.
The Bank Reconciliation screen then does the arithmetic for you: it starts from the balance as per your books, adjusts for everything not yet reflected in the bank, and arrives at what the bank balance should be. If that matches the closing balance on the statement, you're done.
Before you start
- The bank ledger exists under the Bank Accounts group, with the right opening balance.
- The statement covers the whole period — every page, with opening and closing balances visible.
- Last period's loose ends are known. If you're starting reconciliation mid-way through a company's life, items that were outstanding before your start date go into the Opening BRS (Alt+H from the reconciliation screen), so they're not mistaken for new differences.
Method 1 — Manual reconciliation
This works in every version and with any statement format, including a paper one. You're simply telling Tally, entry by entry, when the bank recorded it.
Open Bank Reconciliation for the account
Go to Gateway of Tally → Banking → Bank Reconciliation and select the bank ledger. You'll see every unreconciled entry for the period.
Switch to manual mode if needed
If auto reconciliation is set up for this bank, the screen opens in that mode. Press Alt+R (Manual Recon) to switch. If manual is already your default, skip this.
Enter the bank date against each entry that cleared
Work down the statement. For every transaction that appears on it, find the matching entry in Tally and type the date shown on the statement into the Bank Date column. Leave the bank date blank for anything that isn't on the statement yet — those are your reconciling items.
Use Ctrl+B (Basis of Values) to show only deposits or only withdrawals when the list is long. Working through one side at a time is much faster.
Accept and read the summary
Press Ctrl+A. The summary at the bottom now shows the balance as per your books, the amounts not yet reflected in the bank, and the resulting balance as per bank. Compare that last figure with the statement's closing balance.
Method 2 — Auto reconciliation with an imported statement
Tally Prime can read the bank's own statement file, match it against your books, and reconcile the exact matches in one go. You then deal only with what's left.
Enable auto reconciliation for the bank ledger
Alter the bank ledger and turn on its auto reconciliation setting. This is a one-time step per bank account.
Import the statement
Go to Gateway of Tally → Alt+O (Import) → Bank Statement, select the bank ledger and the file, then press Ctrl+A. Tally shows a preview; press I to complete the import. You can also import from inside the Bank Reconciliation screen with B (Import).
Reconcile the exact matches
Entries where the book and bank sides agree appear under Exact Match. Select them and press F8 (Reconcile).
Review potential matches, then the leftovers
Alt+S shows Potential Matches — entries Tally thinks belong together but won't link on its own, such as a different date or a slightly different amount. Confirm the right ones with F8.
Whatever remains sits under Available Only in Books (usually uncleared cheques) or Available Only in Bank (usually charges, interest and direct credits you haven't recorded). For bank-only items, Tally can create the voucher from the bank line instead of you typing it.
The catch: Tally won't import a PDF
This is the part that trips people up. Tally's help documentation is explicit that bank statement import accepts Excel, CSV or MT940 files downloaded from the bank's portal — and that it does not accept a PDF, or an Excel/CSV file that was converted from a PDF. It also expects the file not to have been edited.
That rule is reasonable — Tally is reconciling against the bank's record, so it wants the bank's file. But in practice, clients send PDFs. So here's how to handle each situation:
For the voucher-import route, see how to import a bank statement into Tally Prime. To get a PDF into Excel, BankXL converts it and checks every running balance against the statement before you download — which matters here, because a converted statement with one missing row is a BRS that will never tie.
Why books and bank differ
Nearly every reconciling item falls into one of two groups. Timing differences clear on their own next month. Unrecorded items need a voucher in your books.
When the BRS won't tie
You've set every bank date and passed every missing voucher, and the balance as per bank still doesn't equal the statement. Check these, in this order:
1. Is the opening position right?
If the difference is the same in every month, the problem is before your period: the bank ledger's opening balance, or items missing from the Opening BRS.
2. Is the statement complete?
A missing page — or a row lost while copying a PDF into Excel — creates a difference no Tally entry can explain. The quick test: every statement row should satisfy previous balance + credit − debit = balance. Where it doesn't, something is missing right there. Our free statement checker runs that test on every row of a PDF.
3. Is the difference a number you recognise?
Search the statement for the exact difference amount. If it's divisible by 9, suspect two transposed digits (₹5,630 typed as ₹6,530 is a difference of ₹900). If it's double an amount on the statement, suspect an entry posted on the wrong side.
4. Was anything reconciled that shouldn't have been?
Two ₹5,000 payments in the same week are easy to cross-link. View reconciled entries (Ctrl+H → View Reconciled) and check the bank dates of any repeated amounts.
Shortcut cheat sheet
Want to see the arithmetic behind the screen? Our bank reconciliation statement format guide works through a full example in Excel. Questions: support@banlxlai.com.
Only have the PDF?
Turn it into a clean Excel file — every balance checked against the statement — and reconcile side by side in a fraction of the time.
Convert a statement free →