How to Lock Data in TallyPrime (Company, Users and Back-Dated Entries)

Locking data in TallyPrime is really three separate locks, and businesses usually need all three: a lock on opening the company, a lock on who can do what inside it, and a lock on how far back anyone can post. Here is how each one is set.

Lock 1 - restrict access to the company:

• •Go to Alt+K (Company) and open Create / Alter
• •Set the option "Control User Access to Company Data" to Yes
• •Enter the administrator username and password - this user is the owner level account
• •Press Ctrl+A to save

From that point TallyPrime asks for credentials before the company opens, which is the single most effective step if the machine sits in a shared office. Keep the administrator password somewhere safe: if both the administrator and user level passwords are lost, the documented recovery path is restoring a backup that was taken before the password was set.

Lock 2 - restrict what each person can do:

• •Go to Alt+K (Company) - Users and Passwords - Types of Security
• •Create a security level and base it on a default such as Data Entry
• •Set the rights for that level: which voucher types can be created, altered or viewed, which reports and masters are reachable, and whether company administration, backup, restore or security settings are allowed
• •Then use Alt+K (Company) - Users and Passwords - Users for Company to create users and assign each one a security level

Two habits matter more than the settings. Give every person their own username instead of a shared login, and keep data entry, approval and reporting in different hands. TallyPrime's edit log records who changed a transaction and when, and that traceability is only useful if the name in the log belongs to one individual.

Lock 3 - restrict how far back entries can go:

• •Set the cut-off date for back-dated vouchers to the date you want protected
• •Set "Days allowed for back dated vouchers" to the window you actually want to permit
• •TallyPrime then refuses to record or alter a transaction before that date - useful once an audit or a GST return is closed

The same area carries the password policy (strength, expiry, history, forced change on first login), and TallyVault, which encrypts the company data so that the company name and financial year are not even visible on the Select Company screen until the vault password is entered. If your business falls under the audit trail requirement of the Companies (Accounts) Rules, 2014, confirm with your chartered accountant what your configuration has to demonstrate.

Before you lock anything down, take a backup, write the administrator password down in a safe place, and test the setup with a data entry user - not with your own owner login. Then review it when staff change.

Sarvadnya Infotech is a Tally certified partner based in CBD Belapur, Navi Mumbai. We configure Security Control, user roles, cut-off dates and the edit log for businesses in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and across India, and we keep the administrator credentials documented so a staff change never locks you out of your own books.