GO Tally

GoTally is an AGPL-3.0 Based Tally Prime Features Pure Web

Open Source

Fintech

GitHub

Accounting

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# GoTally — Project Plan ## What this is A web-based clone of TallyPrime — the same accounting capabilities (ledgers, vouchers, GST, inventory, reports) that businesses already know from Tally, but running as a website instead of desktop software. No installation, works on any system with a browser, accessible remotely. This is **not** a general-purpose ERP like Odoo or ERPNext. It does not aim to cover HR, manufacturing planning, CRM, or e-commerce out of the box. It aims to do what TallyPrime does — accounting, GST compliance, inventory, standard financial reports — and do it well, in a browser. **UI/UX approach:** the screen layout, navigation, and workflow match TallyPrime as closely as possible — same voucher entry flow, same report structure, same mental model — so existing Tally users don't have to relearn anything. The only intentional difference is visual theme (colors, typography, light/dark mode). This is a re-skin of a familiar layout, not a redesign. **One addition beyond a pure Tally clone:** an Administrator-only system-health panel inside the app — database size, storage usage, app usage patterns/spikes, and an access/activity log. This is an operations tool for whoever runs the server, not an accounting feature, and it is not visible to Owner or Data Entry-level users. User roles themselves are TallyPrime's own model (Administrator, Owner, Data Entry, Remote User, Remote Auditor, plus any custom security levels an Administrator defines) — we are not inventing a new role scheme. Everything else — permissions and all functional requirements — stays exactly as scoped below; this is the one addition, not a new direction. AI features (smart search, auto-suggestions, natural-language reports) are a **later addition**, not part of the core product. The core has to work correctly and simply first. ## License GoTally is licensed under **AGPL-3.0**. In practice this means: anyone can use, self-host, and modify GoTally, but if they run a modified version as a network service (which is exactly what this product is), they must make their modified source available to the users of that service. This keeps the project open and prevents a closed-source fork from being offered as a competing SaaS without contributing back. ## Why this instead of Tally itself | | TallyPrime (desktop) | GoTally (this project) | |---|---|---| | Access | Installed on one Windows PC, or LAN-shared with extra setup | Any device with a browser, anywhere | | Multi-user, remote | Needs Tally Server / VPN setup | Native — it's a website | | Updates | Manual TSS renewal + install | Instant, server-side | | Cost model | Per-seat licensing | Flexible (subscription/hosted) | | Look and feel | Desktop grid UI, keyboard-driven, dated look | Modern web UI, works the same way underneath | Nothing about the accounting logic changes — the same voucher types, the same double-entry rules, the same GST forms. Only *how you reach it* changes. ## Scope: what's in, what's out **In scope (v1):** - Company setup, Chart of Accounts (Groups + Ledgers) - All core voucher types: Sales, Purchase, Payment, Receipt, Contra, Journal, Debit Note, Credit Note - Party (customer/supplier) ledgers with bill-wise tracking - Basic inventory: stock items, units, godowns, stock ledger - Core reports: Trial Balance, Ledger, Day Book, Balance Sheet, Profit & Loss - GST fields on ledgers/items (GSTIN, HSN/SAC, rate) and GST-ready vouchers - Multi-company support - User accounts with role-based access (who can see/edit what) **Explicitly out of scope for v1** (can be added later, one at a time, same as Tally itself added them over the years): - Direct GST portal filing (GSTR-1/3B e-filing) - Bank feed integration / auto-reconciliation - Payroll - Manufacturing / Bill of Materials - Multi-currency - AI features of any kind **Never in scope** (this is not an ERP): - CRM, HR, manufacturing planning, e-commerce, project management — if the client needs these, that's an Odoo/ERPNext conversation, not this one. ## How it's built (short version) - **Backend:** Go + PostgreSQL. Every financial transaction goes through one internal "posting engine" that enforces double-entry correctness (debits always equal credits) before anything is saved — this is the same rule real accounting systems rely on, done in the database from day one. - **Frontend:** A standard web app (works on desktop and mobile browsers), laid out to match TallyPrime's own screens and navigation — same voucher forms, same report layout — with a modernized visual theme on top (colors, type, dark mode). Familiar to existing Tally users on day one. - No dependency on TallyPrime itself. This is a fresh build, not a plugin or wrapper around Tally. ## Delivery approach Built in stages, each stage fully working end-to-end before the next starts — not "half of everything," but "all of a little, then a little more." 1. **Stage 1 — Core accounting.** Ledgers, vouchers, Trial Balance, P&L, Balance Sheet. This alone is a usable bookkeeping tool. 2. **Stage 2 — Inventory + GST fields.** Stock tracking, GST-aware vouchers. 3. **Stage 3 — Reports depth + multi-company.** Custom report views, consolidated reporting across companies. 4. **Stage 4 (optional, later) — GST filing integration, bank feeds.** 5. **Stage 5 (optional, later) — AI layer.** Only after the above is stable and proven — smart search, auto-categorization, natural-language queries against the client's own data. Each stage ends with something the client can actually use, not just a progress report. ## Who this is for Small and mid-size businesses currently on TallyPrime (or considering it) who want the same accounting discipline without being tied to one desktop PC — teams that are remote, multi-location, or simply want it to work the way every other tool they use already does: in a browser.