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A TallyPrime Bank Reconciliation Summary shows a non-zero Difference and the accountant does not know where to start looking.
Difference equals Expected Bank Balance minus statement balance. It comes from unbooked bank lines, missing Opening BRS, items before the beginning date or outside the default period, re-imported manual reconciliations, missing bank allocations or partial matches.
Bank Reconciliation Summary with Available Only in Bank and Available Only in Books reviewed line by line, Opening BRS checked against last year's closing BRS, and the default period setting checked under F12.
Each part of the difference is traced to a cause, the missing vouchers are booked, and the Difference line reads zero.
The Difference line in TallyPrime’s Bank Reconciliation Summary is the Expected Bank Balance minus the Balance as per Bank Statement. It is not zero when an entry sits on only one side (books or bank), when Opening BRS is missing, or when the Reconciliation Beginning Date or period setting leaves older items out.
How is the summary built?
Tally’s reports help lists the lines in this order:
- Balance as per Company Books
- Unreconciled Transactions
- Available Only in Books
- Available Only in Bank
- Reconciled in Subsequent Period
- Expected Bank Balance
- Balance as per Bank Statement
- Difference
Read it top to bottom. Tally starts from your books, adjusts for what is still open, and tells you what the bank should show. If the bank shows something else, the gap is the Difference.
What are the likely causes?
| Cause | Quick check | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Lines Available Only in Bank (charges, interest, direct credits) | Open that section; look for small debits and unknown credits | Pass the missing vouchers, then reconcile |
| Lines Available Only in Books | Are they recent cheques? | Usually nothing; they clear next month |
| Missing Opening BRS | Compare with last year’s closing BRS | Enter the old items in Opening BRS |
| Items before the Reconciliation Beginning Date | Look at the beginning date on the ledger | Reconcile them, add them to Opening BRS or adjust the date with a reason |
| Book entries outside the default period | F12 in the summary; check the default period setting | Set it to As per Reconciliation Beginning Date, or reconcile those entries |
| Manual reconciliation reappearing after import | A bank line you already reconciled shows as new | Link it to the existing voucher |
| Partial amounts | Entries under Partially Reconciled | Correct the voucher or add the difference |
How do Available Only in Books and Available Only in Bank map to a BRS?
These two sections are the same idea as the add and deduct blocks in a manual BRS.
- Available Only in Books are your timing items: cheques you issued that the supplier has not presented, and cheques you deposited that the bank has not credited. They are normal and usually clear in a few days.
- Available Only in Bank are things the bank knows and you do not: bank charges, interest, NACH debits, a customer who paid by NEFT without telling you. These need a voucher in the books.
The first list explains the gap. The second list is work to do.
A worked example
Your books show ₹5,12,400 for the HDFC current account on 31 March. The imported statement shows ₹5,21,150. Difference: ₹5,12,400 − ₹5,21,150 = −₹8,750.
Under Available Only in Bank you find:
- An NEFT credit of ₹10,000 from a customer
- Bank charges of ₹1,250
Net effect on the bank: ₹10,000 − ₹1,250 = ₹8,750. That is exactly the difference.
Pass a receipt voucher for ₹10,000 against the customer and a payment voucher for ₹1,250 to bank charges. Books now show ₹5,12,400 + ₹10,000 − ₹1,250 = ₹5,21,150. Reconcile both lines. Difference: nil.
Why is a voucher missing from the reconciliation list altogether?
Sometimes you are sure a payment was entered but it does not appear in the reconciliation screen. Tally’s setup help points to a missing Bank Allocation, which is common after importing vouchers from Excel. Open the voucher, confirm the bank allocation details, save with Ctrl+A and check the summary again.
When does this stop being a quick fix?
A handful of Available Only in Bank lines is easy to clear. When there are hundreds each month, mostly UPI credits with short narrations, the work becomes finding the right party for each one. Tally’s auto reconciliation helps with exact matches; 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. A cheque dated 2 January can be presented until 2 April. 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. Old cheques sitting in Available Only in Books are a common cause of a difference that never goes away.
What to read next
- Next step: TallyPrime auto or manual bank reconciliation: which should you use?
- Automating reconciliation in TallyPrime
- Opening balance reconciliation
- Tally bank reconciliation
For high-volume Tally accounts, TransactIG matches bank statement lines to the books and places the leftover lines in an exception queue, with audit-ready exports.