Turn PDF and photo bills into Tally entries

Short answer: You can type bills into TallyPrime, import them from Excel (Release 4.0 onwards), or use a service that reads a PDF or photo into an entry. In TallyNexa, you upload the bill, Nexa AI reads the supplier, GSTIN, items and totals, you check it beside the paper, and on your yes it is posted into TallyPrime through the connector.

Start by collecting the bills in one place

Whatever method you use, gather bills before entry: photos from WhatsApp, PDFs from mail, scans of paper bills. Keep them by supplier and month. A bill that never reaches the accountant is one of the most common causes of a GSTR-2B mismatch.

Tally’s own ways

Type the voucher

Open a purchase voucher (F9) or a sales voucher (F8), pick the party, enter the invoice number and date, the items, quantities and rates. With GST details set on the stock items and the party, TallyPrime works out the tax.

Import from Excel

From Release 4.0, TallyPrime can import vouchers and masters from Excel using its templates. It suits bills that already arrive as spreadsheets, or a batch someone keys into Excel first.

AI document reading from Tally

Tally Solutions has also introduced an AI service that reads documents into entries (offered as Docs by Ira at the time of writing). See Tally’s site for the release it needs, what it reads and its pricing.

Menus and features change between TallyPrime releases. Check Tally’s help for the release you have.

The TallyNexa way

TallyNexa reads your masters from TallyPrime through its connector and posts approved entries back the same way.

1. Upload. Add a photo or PDF of a purchase or sales bill in TallyNexa.
2. Read. Nexa AI reads the supplier, GSTIN, items and totals.
3. Check. You see what it read beside the paper, and correct anything that is wrong.
4. New supplier. If the supplier is not yet in Tally, its ledger is created with its first bill.
5. Approve. Nothing goes to Tally without your yes. On yes, the entry is posted into TallyPrime through the connector.
6. Spot-check. Open the Day Book in TallyPrime and look at the entry.

Posting into Tally is available on the Business plan and above. On the Insight plan and during the free trial, entries stay as drafts you can check but not post.

What to check before you say yes

• Supplier and GSTIN: the right party, and the GSTIN on the bill matches the ledger.
• Invoice number and date exactly as printed; GSTR-2B matching depends on them.
• Items, quantities and rates, especially on handwritten bills.
• Tax: CGST and SGST for a supplier in your state, IGST from outside it, at the right rate.
• Totals: the entry total equals the bill total, including round-off.
• Not a duplicate: the same bill has not come in twice, once by mail and once by WhatsApp.

Good habits

• Photograph bills flat, in good light, with all four corners showing.
• Prefer the supplier’s PDF to a photo of a print-out.
• Keep the paper or file with the entry; the auditor will ask for it.
• Post bills weekly rather than at month-end, so GSTR-2B differences show up while the supplier still remembers the bill.

Which way suits you

A handful of bills a month: typing them is fine. Bills that already come as spreadsheets: Excel import. Dozens or hundreds of PDFs and photos: a reader that fills the entry for you to check saves the most time, as long as someone still looks at each bill before it reaches the books.

Why the check step matters

A reader can mistake a 1 for a 7 on a faded photo, or pick up the buyer’s GSTIN instead of the supplier’s. Those errors are cheap to catch beside the paper and costly to find later, in a GSTR-2B mismatch or a supplier statement that does not agree.

Keep the check with one person who knows your suppliers. They will spot a rate that has changed, a bill sent twice or an item booked under the wrong ledger faster than any rule can.

After the entries are in

• Match the month’s purchase bills with GSTR-2B, so missing or different bills show up early.
• Compare supplier balances with their statements once a quarter.
• Keep the bill file and the entry together, by supplier and month.