RFID Tally Integration: TallyPrime Stock, Godowns, Assets

RFID Tally integration does not need a special connector. TallyPrime keeps the stock ledger and the books; a UHF RFID reader only produces tag IDs, called EPCs. The reads reach Tally by one of three routes that Tally already documents: typing them in the way a barcode gun would (keyboard wedge), importing or keying a reconciled spreadsheet, or posting XML to TallyPrime’s HTTP server. This guide covers each route, then Physical Stock vouchers, godown transfers and fixed-asset registers.

What Tally needs from an RFID count, and what stays outside it

Tally works in stock items, godowns, quantities and vouchers. A UHF reader outputs EPCs, one per tag. The EPC is an identifier, not a database: description, price and location stay in your own system, and the encoded number is the key.

So every route below needs a map from EPC to Tally stock item (or, for fixed assets, to the asset code). That map lives outside Tally, in a spreadsheet, a middleware table or the asset platform. Before choosing a route, settle two things:

• Which field the EPC maps to. For stock, normally the Tally stock item name plus the godown it is counted in. For assets, the existing asset code.
• Who owns the map. Tags encoded but not yet mapped are counted against no item, and the stock they sit on will look short.

Which route fits

Route	Identium hardware or software	Tally entry point	Suits	Who builds it
Keyboard wedge	Desktop Reader 103, or CX1500N with CX Flow Pro	Name of Item, matched by stock item alias	Counter work, one scan per line	Nobody: configuration only
Excel	CX1500N count into a sheet	Physical Stock voucher keyed in; Alt+O Import for masters and Stock Journals	Periodic counts and stock takes	Accounts team
XML over HTTP	ReaderSense active-mode push, or CX Flow Pro webhook, plus a script	Port 9000, TALLYREQUEST Import	Unattended doors, frequent counts	A developer, or Identium’s integration team

Route 1: keyboard wedge into a voucher

Tally’s documented barcode method is to scan the code into the stock item’s alias field when you create the item. During voucher entry, scanning with the cursor at Name of Item then selects the stock item whose alias matches, and further scans add further items. Keystrokes from an RFID reader work the same way. Two Identium devices suited to counter and handheld work:

• The UHF Desktop Reader 103 is powered over USB from the PC and needs no driver. In HID keyboard mode it types tag IDs into any software field. Its read radius is adjustable up to 30 cm (tag-dependent); because it can also read small batches at once, present one tag at a time so each scan types a single ID.
• The CX1500N handheld running CX Flow Pro in keyboard-wedge mode types each captured EPC or barcode into whichever field has focus, optionally followed by Enter or Tab. It also has an integrated 1D/2D barcode engine, so barcode aliases you already use keep working alongside tags.

Where it fits: counter work where one scan is one voucher line, such as issuing a tagged item against a delivery note, or a tote or bin card whose tag stands for one stock item.

Where it does not: bulk counts. With serialised encoding, which a count needs, each tag carries its own EPC, so a hundred units of one item produce a hundred different codes, each of which would have to be set up as an alias before Tally recognised it.

Before relying on it, check that the Enter or Tab suffix lands the cursor where the voucher expects it, and that the alias field holds the full EPC. Tally’s barcode example records a 16-digit code; a 96-bit EPC is 24 hexadecimal characters, so confirm the whole string is stored and matched.

Route 2: count to a spreadsheet, reconcile, then post to Tally

For a periodic stock take, follow Tally’s own physical stock method and let RFID do the counting:

1. Export the book stock. Open Stock Summary in TallyPrime and export it to Excel with Ctrl+E.
2. Capture the count. Sweep each godown with a UHF handheld, for example the CX1500N typing EPCs into a sheet through CX Flow Pro. Keep each godown in its own sheet or column, and remove duplicate EPCs. A phone’s own NFC cannot read UHF tags; the India RFID Store guide to phones, sleds and handhelds compares the options.
3. Collapse EPCs to quantities. Look each EPC up in your map and total the result per stock item per godown.
4. Reconcile. Put the counted quantity in a separate column beside the book quantity and calculate the difference. Investigate large differences first: an unread tag and a missing item look the same in a sheet.
5. Record the Physical Stock voucher. Go to Alt+G > Create Voucher > Ctrl+F7, set the stock-taking date with F2, and enter Name of Item, Godown, Batch/Lot No. (if you use batches) and the quantity counted. On saving, Tally adjusts the book stock to match.
6. Review. Recorded vouchers appear in the Physical Stock Register.

The India RFID Store guide to scanning RFID tags into Excel covers the sheet side in detail, including formatting the ID column as text and flagging duplicates.

What Excel import can and cannot do

TallyPrime imports Excel from Release 4.0; XML works in all releases, and JSON from Release 7.0 (TallyHelp: import). Imports run through Alt+O (Import) > Masters or Transactions, and mapping templates map your own columns to Tally’s fields. Tally publishes sample Excel files for stock item and godown masters and for Stock Journal vouchers, but none for Physical Stock vouchers, so plan to key those in.

The import FAQ lists limits worth knowing before you start:

• Only .xls or .xlsx is accepted; convert a CSV first.
• One worksheet is imported at a time.
• An import cannot be abandoned once started.

Route 3: XML over HTTP from ReaderSense or a middleware script

An unattended dock door, or frequent counts, produce too many reads to key in. Here the reader pushes its reads and a small service handles the Tally side.

The source of reads. In ReaderSense active mode, an Identium UHF reader at a gate or dock door reads on its own and pushes each read over HTTP(S) POST, MQTT or TCP as a JSON line carrying epc, ant, rssi, freq and time. The configuration survives a power cycle. On the handheld, CX Flow Pro’s Auto Mode webhook POSTs JSON with epc, tid, user, barcode, formatted, device and time fields, with a dedupe window.

The service in between. Neither ReaderSense nor the webhook can post straight into Tally. Both send their own JSON tag-read records, not Tally masters or vouchers, while Tally’s HTTP interface accepts only Tally’s XML or, from Release 7.0, JSON laid out to Tally’s own object schema (TallyHelp: JSON integration). The service de-duplicates, maps and aggregates the reads, as the India RFID Store guide to RFID middleware and ERP integration describes, then builds the Tally XML (or, on Release 7.0 and later, Tally-native JSON) and posts only the net adjustment, never raw reads.

The Tally side. Run TallyPrime in server mode and enable its HTTP server (default port 9000) as described in Tally’s integration documentation. The service posts XML with TALLYREQUEST set to Import to http://<Tally-IP>:9000, which can create and alter masters and vouchers. Each response carries CREATED, ALTERED and ERRORS counts, which the service should log and alert on. An Export request can pull the StockItem collection, which keeps the map’s item names aligned with Tally’s. Build and test each voucher type against Tally’s XML integration reference before going live.

Developers can build the service on ReaderSense’s standalone Node.js modules or on the SDK, demo application and source code that ship with Identium’s fixed UHF readers. Without a developer, Identium’s RFID middleware and integration software filters duplicate reads and maps tag IDs to business records, and the New Delhi team can scope and build a Tally-facing module as project work where no ready fit exists.

You need TDL, TallyPrime’s own development language, for custom screens or fields inside TallyPrime, or if you want TallyPrime itself to read a non-Tally JSON feed over HTTP. Its full features need a TallyPrime Developer licence.

Godown transfers: two reads, one Stock Journal

Enable godowns under F11 (Features) > Maintain Multiple Godowns. Godowns can form a parent-child hierarchy, so a warehouse can hold sections, shelves or bins beneath it; the default Main Location can be renamed but not deleted (TallyHelp: godowns). Build it around where you read tags, since each read point needs a godown to post against.

A transfer then takes two reads and one voucher (TallyHelp: stock transfer):

1. Read the consignment at despatch, with a handheld or a reader at the despatch door, and convert the EPCs to quantities per item.
2. Read it again at the receiving godown.
3. Record a Stock Journal (Alt+G > Create Voucher > Alt+F7). Put the item, source godown and despatched quantity under Source (Consumption), and the receiving godown and quantity received under Destination (Production). If the quantity received is less than the quantity despatched, enter the received figure under Destination and Tally records the difference automatically within the same voucher.

Investigate a shortfall before posting it, as in step 4 of the stock take. For routine transfers, create a Stock Journal class such as “Transfer” with Use Class for Inter-Godown Transfers set to Yes; the voucher then shows Destination Godown, Name of Item, Godown, Quantity and Rate. When several godowns send to one, Ctrl+H (Change Mode) lets you set Use for Inter-Godown Transfers to Yes and pick the destination (inventory FAQ).

A Stock Journal transfer affects inventory only, not the books of accounts. Stock split across godowns is valued as separate lots, and the Godown Summary and Stock Summary reports show it by location.

Fixed-asset registers: keep the tag register beside Tally

TallyPrime holds fixed assets as ledgers. It does not calculate depreciation from a percentage on the ledger or item: you record depreciation by journal voucher, debiting a Depreciation ledger under Indirect Expenses and crediting the asset ledger (accounting FAQ).

Keep the tag register (EPC, asset code, location, custodian) beside Tally, in a spreadsheet or in Identium’s asset tracking software on identiumone.com, which offers Excel and PDF export on every page. Print or laser-mark the asset code your Tally ledgers and register already use, so the EPC map is a straight lookup rather than a renumbering exercise. Post only changes in value to Tally: additions, disposals and depreciation. Government bodies working under GFR can read our note on GFR Rule 213 physical verification with RFID.

Before you connect anything

• Work on a backup or a test company until the route is proven.
• Import masters (stock items, godowns) before the transactions that use them.
• After every import, check the Exceptions report for rejected records.
• Control stray reads at count time: a handheld at full power picks up stock in the next aisle, and lowering transmit power and filtering weak reads by signal strength usually settles it. Our note on stray reads at adjacent dock doors covers fixed readers.
• Fix the EPC numbering scheme and the map’s owner before the first tag is encoded.

For the hardware side of counting, see RFID inventory management. To scope the integration, contact our team with your TallyPrime release, godown structure and preferred route.