AI Accountant documentation: Tally automation guides

Allocation tells Tally how an amount should be tracked against a party. It is what makes an entry appear in Tally’s outstanding statement with a reference and a due date, rather than as a bare amount. Sales invoices and purchase bills are allocated the same way, from the Allocate Invoice window.

The fields

Field	What to enter
Type of Reference	New Reference, for a fresh sale or purchase.
Name / Ref No	The reference shown in Tally’s outstanding statement. Use the invoice number for a sale, the supplier invoice number for a purchase.
Due Date	When payment is expected or falls due. This drives ageing and outstanding reports in Tally.
Amount	Must add up to the entry total across all reference rows.

Click Confirm & Allocate when the rows are correct.

Reference types

Type	Use it when
New Reference	The entry creates a fresh receivable or payable. This covers most entries.
Against Reference	The amount settles a reference already outstanding for that party.
Advance	The amount relates to money received or paid before the invoice.
On Account	The amount is not being tied to a specific reference.

In Banking, you use the same reference types on a bank transaction, and you can mix them in one transaction. When one transaction is split across several vendors or customers, each party’s references must add up to that party’s amount. See Review a transaction.

Splitting an entry across references

If part of a bill is adjusted against an advance already paid to the vendor and the rest is a new payable, use two rows: one for the advance portion, one with New Reference for the balance. Click + Add Another Reference to add the second row. The rows must total the entry amount. For most entries, one New Reference row is enough.

Common mistakes

Using a reference other than the invoice number. The outstanding statement in Tally becomes hard to match against the physical document. Keep them the same.
Leaving the due date generic. Ageing buckets in Tally are only as good as the due dates you set.
Rows that do not total the entry amount. The allocation will not confirm until they do.