Start new books with Tally

Tally can guide a bookkeeping startup when a firm has source files but does not want to assemble every account, register, import, and review step by hand. The workflow remains supervised: Tally researches the source, creates the exact company and register structure, asks only the decisions it needs, validates the result, and waits for approval of the final financial preview.

Use this workflow for:

• bank or credit-card CSV files;
• spreadsheets containing transaction history;
• bank-statement PDFs and extracted statement evidence;
• genuine QuickBooks Chart of Accounts and Journal exports;
• another complete chart with balanced journal history.

Begin With A Clear Objective

Open the full-page Tally workspace and name the company exactly as it should appear. Attach the available source files and say what period the startup must cover. For example: "Create Blue Harbor Dental from these bank CSVs through June 30 and prepare the books for my approval."

Tally preserves the objective as an active Bookkeeping Startup. If a turn or provider stops, the saved startup checkpoint lets Tally continue from the company, files, registers, decisions, and next action instead of starting over.

File And Import Paths

Raw bank activity uses a fresh chart and one register for each source bank or card account. QuickBooks exports and other complete accounting history use the import path so the supplied chart and balanced entries remain the source of truth.

Tally can save attached CSV and XLSX files to its firm workspace, read their rows through the file tools, and use a protected sandbox for analysis that does not change the books. Images and PDFs can be read as evidence. Files never override the firm's Tally authority or LedgerHQ's accounting validation.

Answer Researched Question Batches

Tally should first research vendors, descriptions, transfers, opening evidence, and repeated patterns. When judgment is still required, it presents a small batch of current decisions—normally no more than six at once.

Each decision includes two or three choices with a recommended choice first, plus a custom or defer option. Stage the answers, review the batch, and submit once. Setup blockers such as an unknown start date or missing opening balance may appear before ordinary transaction-classification questions.

Tally keeps the startup moving after each answer. It should not repeatedly ask for a file that already exists in the conversation or workspace.

Review The Financial Preview

Before an import changes the books, Tally prepares a revision-specific financial preview. Review:

• the Income Statement and Balance Sheet;
• trial-balance equality;
• bank and card register roll-forwards;
• source-row counts and disposition;
• matched transfers and unresolved groups;
• held items and changes from the prior revision.

Select Approve only when the preview reflects the intended accounting. Select Needs changes when Tally should repair or reclassify something and produce a new revision. Approval applies to that exact revision; it does not approve an unseen later version.

When Startup Is Complete

Tally should call the startup complete only after the validated post-import financials are approved and the durable startup thread is closed. The company can then move into its ongoing workflow: connect Plaid, code current activity, collect statements, reconcile, and produce reports.

If Tally reports a repeated external failure, the startup remains saved with a next action. Correct the provider, file, or account problem and ask Tally to continue the active Bookkeeping Startup.