Payment, Receipt & Contra Vouchers
Most of the entries in a small business's books are money moving in or out: rent paid, a customer's UPI payment received, cash deposited in the bank. TallyPrime has three voucher types for these: Payment (F5), Receipt (F6) and Contra (F4). Once you can enter these quickly and correctly, you can keep the cash and bank books of any shop.
In this lesson you will record eight April entries for Priya Stationers, see how each voucher screen works, and check the cash and bank balances at the end.
Before you start
Priya's opening balances on 1 April 2026 (from Groups & Ledgers) are Cash ₹12,000 and Rohtak City Bank ₹85,000. Make sure the ledgers Office Rent, Electricity, Internet Charges (all under Indirect Expenses), Commission Received (Indirect Incomes) and Drawings (Capital Account) exist, or create them with Alt+C during entry.
Open the voucher screen from Gateway of Tally > Vouchers, or press Alt+G and type Create Voucher. Press F2 to set the date of each entry.
Payment voucher (F5)
A payment voucher records money leaving the business. By default it opens in single entry mode: the Account at the top is the cash or bank ledger that pays (credited), and the Particulars below are the ledgers that receive the money (debited).
Entry 1, 2 Apr: Paid office rent ₹8,000 in cash.
Payment No. 1 2-Apr-2026
Account : Cash Current balance: 32,000.00 Dr
Particulars Amount
Office Rent 8,000.00
Narration: Rent for April 2026Press Ctrl+A to save. TallyPrime debits Office Rent and credits Cash. The "current balance" shown beside the account helps you avoid paying out more cash than you have.
Entry 2, 2 Apr: Paid electricity ₹1,850 and internet ₹999 together by UPI from the bank. One payment can have several particulars:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Account | Rohtak City Bank |
| Particulars | Electricity 1,850 |
| Particulars | Internet Charges 999 |
| Total | 2,849 |
| Narration | Electricity and internet bills for March, paid by UPI |
When the account is a bank ledger, TallyPrime can open Bank Allocations for each line, where you choose the transaction type (cheque, electronic transfer and so on) and enter the instrument number and date. These details are used later in Bank Reconciliation.
Entry 3, 2 Apr: Paid Meera Paper Mills ₹25,000 by cheque. Select Meera Paper Mills in Particulars. Because the supplier's ledger keeps bill-wise details, TallyPrime asks which bill you are paying; choose the opening bill (Agst Ref). The bill-wise screen is explained in Bill-wise Details & Outstandings.
Entry 4, 2 Apr: Priya took ₹5,000 cash for home. Account: Cash; Particulars: Drawings 5,000.
Receipt voucher (F6)
A receipt records money coming in. The Account is the cash or bank ledger that receives (debited) and the Particulars are who or what it came from (credited).
Entry 5, 1 Apr: Kabir Traders paid their opening dues of ₹18,000 by NEFT.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Account | Rohtak City Bank |
| Particulars | Kabir Traders 18,000 (Agst Ref: opening bill) |
| Narration | NEFT received against opening balance |
Entry 6, 2 Apr: Commission received in cash, ₹2,500. Account: Cash; Particulars: Commission Received 2,500.
Contra voucher (F4)
A contra voucher moves money between the business's own cash and bank accounts. Nothing enters or leaves the business, so no income or expense is involved.
Entry 7, 1 Apr: Withdrew ₹20,000 from the bank for office cash.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Account (debited, where the money goes) | Cash |
| Particulars (credited, where it comes from) | Rohtak City Bank 20,000 |
Entry 8, 2 Apr: Deposited ₹10,000 cash into the bank. Account: Rohtak City Bank; Particulars: Cash 10,000.
If you prefer to see Dr and Cr lines, press Ctrl+H (Change Mode) and choose double entry mode. The entry is the same; only the screen layout changes.
Contra in double entry mode (Ctrl+H):
Cr Cash 10,000
Dr Rohtak City Bank 10,000Checking the balances
Work through the eight entries in date order and keep a running balance:
| Entry | Cash (₹) | Bank (₹) |
|---|---|---|
| Opening, 1 Apr | 12,000 | 85,000 |
| 7: Withdrawal | 32,000 | 65,000 |
| 5: Kabir Traders | 32,000 | 83,000 |
| 1: Rent | 24,000 | 83,000 |
| 2: Electricity and internet | 24,000 | 80,151 |
| 3: Meera Paper Mills | 24,000 | 55,151 |
| 4: Drawings | 19,000 | 55,151 |
| 6: Commission | 21,500 | 55,151 |
| 8: Deposit | 11,500 | 65,151 |
=12000 + 20000 - 8000 - 5000 + 2500 - 10000
=85000 - 20000 + 18000 - 2849 - 25000 + 1000011500 closing cash 65151 closing bank balance
Now open the Day Book for 1-4-26 to 2-4-26 (Alt+G > Day Book, F2) and the cash and bank books (Alt+G, type Cash/Bank Book). The closing balances must match the table. If they do not, drill down with Enter to find the entry with the wrong amount or account.
Common mistakes
- Payment for a cash withdrawal. Bank to cash is Contra. A payment would wrongly need an expense or a party.
- Account and particulars swapped. In a payment, the top Account is always the cash or bank that pays.
- One voucher per bill when several are paid together. If one UPI transfer paid two bills, one voucher with two particulars matches the bank statement better.
- Skipping narration. "Rent for April 2026" saves time months later when someone asks what a payment was.
- Paying more cash than you have. Watch the current balance; a credit balance in Cash means an entry is missing or wrong.
Key points
- Payment (
F5): the Account (cash or bank) is credited; the particulars are debited. - Receipt (
F6): the Account (cash or bank) is debited; the particulars are credited. - Contra (
F4): only cash and bank ledgers, for deposits, withdrawals and transfers between your own accounts. - One voucher can have several particulars;
Ctrl+Hswitches to double entry mode. - Check closing cash and bank in the Day Book and Cash/Bank Book after entering.
Exercise
Continue from the closing balances above (Cash ₹11,500, Rohtak City Bank ₹65,151). Enter: (1) paid shop cleaning charges ₹650 in cash; (2) transferred ₹15,000 from Rohtak City Bank to a new bank ledger "Business Savings A/c"; (3) received ₹4,200 in cash from Ananya Enterprises. Name each voucher type and give the final balances of all three cash and bank ledgers.
Show solution
| No. | Voucher | Account | Particulars |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Payment (F5) | Cash | Cleaning Charges 650 |
| 2 | Contra (F4) | Business Savings A/c | Rohtak City Bank 15,000 |
| 3 | Receipt (F6) | Cash | Ananya Enterprises 4,200 |
=11500 - 650 + 4200
=65151 - 1500015050 Cash 50151 Rohtak City Bank
Business Savings A/c (created under Bank Accounts) has ₹15,000. A bank-to-bank transfer is a Contra because both ledgers belong to the business.
Quick Quiz
1. In a Payment voucher in single entry mode, which ledger goes in the Account field at the top?
The Account field holds the cash or bank ledger, which is credited; the particulars are debited.
2. ₹10,000 cash is deposited into the business's bank account. Which voucher and which ledger is debited?
Moving cash into your own bank is a Contra; the bank receives and is debited, cash is credited.
3. One UPI transfer paid both the electricity and internet bills. How can you record it?
A payment voucher can have several particulars, which matches the single bank transaction.
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