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Custom ERP or Tally?

Tally is excellent, low-cost accounting software for one office. A custom ERP is worth it when you run several branches, need approvals or production planning, or want software built around how you work and owned by you.

Ask which fits you See it side by side

A custom ERP: from $3,000
Fee per user: none
The code: yours, once paid

Facts about Tally checked on 29 October 2026, on Tally's own website

Tally fits if

You run one office, your work is mostly accounts, GST and stock, and you want to start today on a small budget.

A custom ERP fits if

You run several branches, need approvals or production planning, and want a small team to study your business and build a system you own.

How you pay for each

Tally: You buy a licence, or rent it
To start: ₹22,500 (Silver) or ₹67,500 (Gold) for life, or rent from ₹750 a month
Every year: TSS for upgrades, remote access and online e-invoicing: ₹4,500 (Silver) or ₹13,500 (Gold)
As you grow: TallyPrime Server ₹2,70,000; cloud access from ₹600 a user a month; add-ons renew at 20% a year
Making it fit your work: TDL changes by a Tally partner, at the partner's price
If you stop paying: Tally keeps working; you lose upgrades and online services

Custom ERP by Helmsman: You own it
To start: One agreed build price, from $3,000
Every year: Support, if you want it, at a fixed 15 to 20% of the build
As you grow: No user fees; new parts priced when you need them
Making it fit your work: That is the build itself
If you stop paying: The software and its code stay yours

Side by side

What matters Tally Custom ERP by Helmsman

How it is delivered

Your business studied first With conditions: Ready-made: it fits you, or a partner adapts it in TDL Strong: We map how work and money move, and agree it in writing before any screen

Who you work with With conditions: Tally for the product, a partner for every change Strong: One small senior team, first meeting to after go-live

Your old data moved and checked With conditions: Done by you or a Tally partner Strong: Stock and balances checked line by line before go-live

Going live Strong: Install it and start With conditions: First part in 6 to 10 weeks, the rest in dated stages

The software

Who owns it With conditions: A licence for life; the code is Tally's and can't be changed Strong: You own the code

Accounts, GST and payroll Strong: Built in, and Tally's strength Strong: Built into your system

Branches on the same live data With conditions: Synced on save or when started, or through remote access Strong: One live system for every branch

Approval before an entry is posted With conditions: Not documented in Tally's features; partners sell it as TDL add-ons Strong: Built to your rules

Production planning and quality checks With conditions: Not documented; bill of materials, job work and work in progress only Strong: Built around your production routes

Working from anywhere With conditions: 10 remote users on Gold with TSS, or cloud access per user Strong: In the browser, for every user

Connecting your other software With conditions: Through XML, ODBC or JSON, by a developer Strong: Built in where you need it

Lowest cost to start Strong: ₹22,500, or ₹750 a month With conditions: From $3,000

Why choose Helmsman over Tally

The code is yours: Source code, database and documents, once paid. No licence that ends.
No fee per user: Add people, branches and companies without a bill that grows with them.
Built around how you work: Your rules and approvals, in the system, not in workarounds.
A fixed price, in writing: From $3,000 for a single module, agreed before work starts.
Live in weeks, paid in parts: The first part live in 6 to 10 weeks; bigger systems paid one part at a time.
One senior team: The people who study your business build it and support it.

Moving from Tally?

Keep Tally for accounts if you like: your ERP sends invoices and receipts to it on its own. Masters, opening balances, stock and open bills are moved from Tally and checked line by line before go-live.

Moving from Tally to a custom ERP: the full guide

Is Tally an ERP, or accounting software?

TallyPrime covers accounts, inventory, GST, payroll and banking very well, and many businesses never need more.

An ERP goes further: it runs the operations as well as the books. Production routes, approvals, branches working on one live record and the screens each team uses every day all live inside it. If most of your work already happens inside Tally, you probably do not need an ERP yet.

Source: TallyPrime product page

When should a business move from Tally to an ERP?

Move when the work around Tally becomes bigger than the work inside it. The usual signs:

Several branches need the same stock and the same numbers at the same moment.
Entries need someone's approval before they are posted.
Production is planned in spreadsheets, because Tally's pages describe no production planning.
People outside the office need the full system, not just reports.
Every month starts with reconciling Excel sheets against Tally.

Can Tally run multiple branches in real time?

Not as one live system. Tally synchronises branch data over Tally.NET or a fixed IP address, and a sync runs when an entry is saved or when someone starts it; there is no automatic schedule.

Tally's own FAQ warns that renamed masters can create duplicates and that voucher numbers can change during a sync. Its guide to growing into several branches suggests one company file instead, which means every branch works through remote or cloud access.

Source: Synchronisation FAQ, Scaling from one to multiple branches

How many people can use Tally at once, and from where?

TallyPrime Gold allows unlimited users on one office network; Silver allows one. Away from the office, Gold allows 10 remote users at a time and Silver one, and remote access needs an active TSS.

Tally asks that one licence is not used across several sites without its remote or virtual-user options. Virtual users cost ₹125 a user a month after the free ones, and cloud access starts at ₹600 a user a month.

Source: TallyPrime FAQs: editions, Remote access FAQ, Tally Virtual User FAQ, Licensing best practices, Tally cloud access

Why does Tally slow down on a network?

Tally's own troubleshooting checklist points to the network, antivirus scanning, the size of the data and the memory of the computer. Its fixes are TallyPrime Server, at ₹2,70,000, or splitting the company's data by year.

Source: Checklist for performance issues, Tally customer hub: Server and renewals

Is Tally enough for a manufacturing company?

For simple manufacturing, often yes. TallyPrime records bills of materials, manufacturing journals, job work and work in progress.

Its pages do not describe production planning, machine capacity, scheduling or quality checks. If your factory plans by order, by route or by stage, that part will live outside Tally.

Source: Production and WIP tracking

Can Tally hold an entry until someone approves it?

Not as a built-in workflow. Tally lets you mark vouchers as verified or on hold for checking, and approval steps are sold as add-ons written in TDL by partners. In a custom ERP, who approves what, and up to what amount, is part of the design.

Source: Verification status of vouchers

Can Tally connect to your other software?

Yes, with a developer. Tally exchanges data through XML over HTTP, ODBC and, since release 7.0, JSON. Ready-made live connectors for online stores and CRMs are not listed on Tally's pages, so each connection is built and kept working by a developer or a Tally partner.

Source: Getting started with integrations, Integrations without custom development

What does Tally cost as a business grows?

Tally is cheap to start. The costs that grow are the yearly TSS, the server for bigger teams, cloud or virtual users for people away from the office, add-on renewals, and partner fees for changes.

Silver licence for life (one user): ₹22,500
Gold licence for life (unlimited users on one network): ₹67,500
Rent: ₹750 a month (Silver), ₹2,250 a month (Gold)
TSS renewal: ₹4,500 a year (Silver), ₹13,500 a year (Gold)
TallyPrime Server: ₹2,70,000
Cloud access: From ₹600 a user a month
Virtual users: ₹125 a user a month, after the free ones
Add-on renewal: 20% of the add-on's price a year
Changes in TDL: Priced by the partner

Tally's India list prices, excluding 18% GST, checked on 29 October 2026.

Source: TallyPrime prices, Renew TSS, Tally customer hub: Server and renewals, Tally cloud access, Tally Virtual User FAQ, Integrations without custom development

Can you change Tally or get its source code?

No. Changes are made in TDL, Tally's own language, usually by a partner. Tally's terms do not allow the software to be modified, turned into new works or reverse-engineered, and Tally keeps all of its intellectual property. With a custom ERP, the code is yours.

Source: Tally terms and conditions

Custom ERP or Tally: questions, answered.

Does Tally stop working if I do not renew TSS?

No. Tally keeps working without TSS. You lose upgrades, remote access, browser reports, online e-invoicing and e-way bills, and data sync.

Is a custom ERP cheaper than Tally?

Not to start. Tally costs ₹22,500 to ₹67,500 for life, or from ₹750 a month, and a custom ERP from Helmsman starts at $3,000. A custom ERP pays its way when the work done around Tally, in spreadsheets, re-entry and add-ons, costs more than the system would.

Can we keep Tally for accounts and add a custom ERP for operations?

Yes. A custom ERP can run sales, production, stock and dispatch, and send invoices to Tally, so your accountant keeps working in Tally. We have built exactly this for a manufacturing client.

How long does it take to move from Tally to a custom ERP?

The first part of the system is usually live in 6 to 10 weeks, and the rest follows in stages with agreed dates. Masters and opening balances are taken from Tally and checked before go-live.

Is Tally good for multiple branches?

It can share data between branches by synchronising, or by giving every branch remote or cloud access to one company file. It does not run every branch on one live record, which is where a custom ERP helps.

Does Tally run on a Mac?

TallyPrime runs on Windows. On a Mac it is used through Tally's cloud access, in a browser.

Sources

Every fact about Tally on this page comes from Tally's own website, checked on 29 October 2026. Prices change; the links below show today's.

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