The problem
Think of a small agency or trading business with about 400 bank entries a month across a current account and a card. Invoices and bills live in Zoho Books or Tally. At month end the accountant opens the bank statement and starts matching: this UPI credit is that client, this NEFT is that vendor, this card charge is... someone will know.
Then there is GST. Purchase bills have to be checked against GSTR-2B so input tax credit is not claimed on something the supplier never filed. That is another afternoon of comparing two lists.
The books close late, questions go to the owner on WhatsApp at odd hours, and the same unclear payments come up every month.
Where the hours go
| Task | By hand | After |
|---|---|---|
| Match 400 bank entries (1.5 min each) | 600 min | 90 min (60 left over) |
| Spot-check the automatic matches | n/a | 30 min |
| Chase 30 unclear entries | 180 min (6 min each) | 90 min (3 min each) |
| Compare purchase bills with GSTR-2B | 240 min | 60 min (mismatches only) |
| Per month | 1,020 min (17 h) | 270 min (4.5 h) |
The "after" column assumes the rules match 85% of entries on their own (340 of 400), which is a reasonable target for a business with regular clients and vendors. Yours may be higher or lower; the first month tells you.
That is 12.5 hours a month back.
What it costs and what it saves
At ₹500 an hour, 12.5 hours is ₹6,250 a month. Running costs are small: in this example we assume ₹1,000 a month for a small server running the workflows. That leaves about ₹5,250 a month.
The time is not the main gain here. Books that close in the first few days of the month mean GST filings are calmer, cash position is known, and the owner stops getting "what was this payment?" messages at 10 pm.
How we set it up
- Statements come in every day. Zoho Books can connect to many Indian banks directly. For others, and for Tally, the statement is downloaded and imported on a schedule.
- Matching rules do the routine ones. Entries are paired with invoices and bills using amount, date range, reference number and party name. Zoho Books has bank rules built in; for Tally we prepare the import so its reconciliation can match it.
- Unclear entries go to the right person. If a card charge cannot be matched, the person who holds the card gets a WhatsApp or email message with the amount and date and a one-tap way to reply with what it was and attach the bill.
- GSTR-2B is compared automatically. Purchase bills in the books are compared with the GSTR-2B download. The accountant gets a short list: bills missing from 2B, amounts that differ, and GSTINs that do not match.
- A month-end summary. On the last day, the accountant gets what is matched, what is pending and who has not answered yet.
What stays with a person
The accountant or CA still reviews and signs off the books, decides how to treat anything unusual, and files the returns. The automation never posts journal entries by itself beyond the matches it is told to make, and every automatic match can be undone.
Run the numbers for your business
Count last month's bank entries and ask your accountant how long reconciliation and the GST check took. If it is more than a day, the savings calculator will show what it is costing you.
Questions people ask
Does this work with Tally?
Yes. TallyPrime has bank reconciliation with statement import. We prepare the statement in the format it expects and handle the follow-ups and the GST comparison outside it.
Is it safe to connect our bank?
We use the bank feeds your accounting software supports, or statement files you download yourself. We never store internet banking passwords, and the workflow cannot make payments.
Our CA does this for us. Does it still help?
Often more. Your CA spends less billable time on matching and more on advice, and gets cleaner books with fewer questions to send you.
Written by Kishan Makani
Founder of Makani Tech, 14 years in the tech industry. Builds AI and automation systems for students, developers and business owners from Surat.