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The monthly sales total in Tally does not equal the total in the payment gateway report, and the accountant cannot tell which side is wrong.
Tally records invoices and the gateway records money movement. Match the two by order ID, then classify each difference as unpaid order, timing, refund, fee, failed or duplicate payment, or other channel.
Monthly gateway payments export and Tally sales register exported to Excel, both keyed on order ID or invoice number, plus a gap list with one row per difference.
A short gap list where every rupee of difference has a reason, an owner and a fix such as a credit note, a refund or a cut-off note.
Your payment gateway report is cash-side: it shows captures (money taken from customers), fees, refunds and settlement dates. Tally holds invoices. So the two will rarely agree to the rupee. Match them by order ID, then give each gap a reason. Once every gap has a reason, you have reconciled.
What usually causes the gap?
| Likely cause | Which side is higher | What to look for |
|---|---|---|
| Sale booked at order, payment captured next day | Tally, at month end | Orders dated 31st with captures on 1st |
| Month-end cut-off | Either | Gateway uses capture time; Tally uses invoice date |
| Fees not booked | Gateway gross vs net mix-up | Comparing net settlement with gross sales |
| Refunds without credit notes | Tally | Refund lines in gateway, no matching credit note |
| Failed or unpaid orders invoiced | Tally | Invoices with no capture at all |
| Duplicate payments | Gateway | Two captures on one order ID |
| Other channels in the same ledger | Tally | Cash, COD or marketplace sales in one sales ledger |
A plain-language note: a “capture” is the gateway confirming it has taken the customer’s money. Only captured payments are settled to you.
Should I compare the gateway report with sales, with the bank or with both?
Both, as two separate checks:
- Sales to gateway captures. Did every invoice get paid, and was every payment for a real invoice? Use gross amounts on both sides.
- Gateway settlements to bank. Did every payout arrive in the bank? Here fees, GST on fees and refunds explain the difference between gross and net.
Mixing the two is the most common reason the numbers never tie. If you compare Tally gross sales with bank credits directly, fees, refunds and timing all blur into one number.
Worked example: a ₹27,500 gap
An online store’s Tally sales register shows ₹12,40,000 for September, all through the gateway. The gateway report shows captures, net of refunds, of ₹12,12,500. Gap: ₹27,500.
The accountant matches by order ID and finds three items:
| Item | Effect on gateway vs Tally | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Invoices raised for orders never paid | Gateway lower | − ₹24,000 |
| Refunds processed with no credit note in Tally | Gateway lower | − ₹6,500 |
| Duplicate payment captured on one order | Gateway higher | + ₹3,000 |
| Net gap | − ₹27,500 |
Check: ₹12,40,000 − ₹24,000 − ₹6,500 + ₹3,000 = ₹12,12,500. The fixes: cancel or follow up the ₹24,000 of unpaid invoices, pass credit notes for the ₹6,500 of refunds (which also corrects GST on outward supplies), and refund the ₹3,000 duplicate. Note that the duplicate reduces the gap rather than adding to it, which is why a gap can look smaller than the real problems underneath.
How often should I run this check: daily, weekly or at month end?
- Daily if you take dozens of orders a day. Duplicates and failed orders are easier to fix while the customer still remembers.
- Weekly for a smaller shop.
- Always at month end, before you file GSTR-1, because unpaid invoices and missing credit notes change your outward tax.
In Tally, keep a separate ledger for the gateway receivable, so captures go in and settlements come out. Its balance at any date should equal captures not yet settled. Zoho Books users can do the same with a clearing account.
What does a cut-off difference look like?
Orders worth ₹42,300 were placed late on 30 September and invoiced in Tally that day, but the gateway captured them on 1 October. September’s Tally sales are ₹42,300 higher than September’s captures, and October’s captures are ₹42,300 higher than October’s sales. Nothing is wrong; it is timing. Note it on the gap list so nobody chases it twice.
What to read next
- Platform settlement decomposition in Google Sheets: the line-level recipe.
- PayU settlement reconciliation: matching gateway lines to the order system.
- Payment gateway reconciliation: the full process.
TransactIG matches bank statement credits to your books, with an exception queue for what does not match. Payment-gateway settlement reconciliation is on the TransactIG roadmap.
Content authored by practitioners with experience at Amazon India, Intuit QuickBooks, and the Tata Group. Meet the team →