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Junior accountants using TallyPrime manual reconciliation leave entries unreconciled or reconcile them in the wrong month because the Bank Date is blank or wrongly typed.
In manual mode TallyPrime treats an entry as reconciled only when it has a Bank Date. The date must be the date shown on the bank statement, not the date the voucher was passed.
Bank Reconciliation screen opened for one statement period at a time, Bank Date typed from the statement for each matched entry, then saved with Ctrl+A.
Entries are reconciled in the month the bank processed them and the reconciliation summary shows only genuine outstanding items.
In TallyPrime’s manual reconciliation, the Bank Date is the date the bank actually processed a transaction, copied from your bank statement. An entry counts as reconciled only when it has a Bank Date. Entries without one stay on the unreconciled list, which is how Tally knows a cheque has not yet cleared.
How does the Bank Date work in manual mode?
Open the bank ledger’s reconciliation screen (from the Bank Reconciliation Summary, Alt+R gives the manual reconciliation view). You see each book entry with its voucher date, instrument number and amount, and an empty Bank Date column. You work down the statement, find each line in the list and type its statement date into the Bank Date column. When done, press Ctrl+A to save.
Anything left with a blank Bank Date is still outstanding. On your BRS those are cheques issued but not presented, or cheques deposited but not yet credited.
Is the Bank Date the statement date, the instrument date or the voucher date?
There are three dates on most bank entries:
- Voucher date: when you passed the entry in Tally.
- Instrument date: the date on the cheque or the transfer.
- Bank Date: when the bank processed it, as shown on the statement.
For NEFT, RTGS and UPI payments, all three are often the same day. For cheques they can be days apart. Tally’s help says the Bank Date can be filled from the instrument date or the voucher date where that is appropriate, which saves typing for same-day electronic payments. The rule to follow is still the statement: use whatever date the bank shows.
A worked example
You issue a cheque for ₹39,500 to a supplier on 28 March and pass the payment voucher that day. The supplier deposits it and your bank pays it on 3 April.
| Date | |
|---|---|
| Voucher date | 28 March |
| Instrument date | 28 March |
| Bank Date | 3 April |
When you reconcile March, the cheque is not on the March statement. You leave the Bank Date blank. On the 31 March BRS it is a cheque issued but not presented, ₹39,500.
When you reconcile April, you find it on the statement and enter 3 April. It is now reconciled and drops off the list.
If you had typed 28 March as the Bank Date, Tally would treat it as cleared in March. The March reconciliation would show a ₹39,500 difference that seems to come from nowhere.
What goes wrong when the Bank Date is typed incorrectly?
| Mistake | What you see | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Bank Date left blank for a cleared entry | Entry stays in the unreconciled list; summary shows a difference equal to its amount | Enter the statement date |
| Wrong month typed (for example 03-05 instead of 03-04) | Entry seems reconciled later than it was; earlier month shows a difference | Unreconcile and enter the correct date |
| Instrument date used for a cheque that cleared later | Entry reconciled too early; month-end BRS misses an outstanding cheque | Unreconcile and use the statement date |
| Bank Date entered on the wrong one of two equal amounts | Both look fine until the other one never clears | Check cheque numbers, not just amounts |
To correct a reconciled entry, open the Bank Reconciliation Summary, view reconciled entries (F5), select the entry and use Set Status (F9) to return it to unreconciled. Then enter the right date. The undo guide covers this in more detail.
When does manual Bank Date entry stop being practical?
Typing Bank Dates is fine for a few dozen lines a month. With hundreds of UPI and NEFT lines, it becomes slow and error-prone. TallyPrime also offers auto reconciliation from an imported statement for supported banks; see TallyPrime auto or manual reconciliation.
How long is a cheque valid in India?
Under the RBI circular of 4 November 2011, cheques, drafts, pay orders and banker’s cheques are valid for three months from the date on the instrument, down from six months. The rule applies to instruments dated on or after 1 April 2012. The ₹39,500 cheque dated 28 March can be presented until 28 June; if the supplier has not deposited it by then, it will never clear. After that the bank will not pay it, so an unpresented cheque past that date is stale and should be reversed in the books, not carried forward. If a cheque you deposited is returned unpaid, the bank’s return memo is your evidence; a dishonoured cheque can also give rise to a claim under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, which is a matter for your lawyer, not the reconciliation.
What to read next
- Next step: Why does my TallyPrime bank reconciliation show a difference?
- Automating reconciliation in TallyPrime
- Reconciliation in SAP, Oracle and Tally
- Tally bank reconciliation
When the line count outgrows manual entry, TransactIG matches bank statement lines to your Tally books and sends only the exceptions to a queue, with audit-ready exports.