Tally Prime — Complete Shortcut Key Reference

Every keyboard shortcut organized by frequency with practical examples from Sunrise Retail

Module 3 of 31 — Tally Prime. Complete keyboard shortcut reference — organized by frequency (daily, weekly, occasional) with a real data-entry walkthrough from Sunrise Retail. 35 minutes.

Prerequisites: Module 2 — Company Creation

Learning Objectives

Master all essential Tally Prime keyboard shortcuts
Enter vouchers without touching the mouse
Navigate between reports and screens efficiently
Apply shortcuts during Sunrise Retail's data entry workflow

A data entry operator who uses the mouse for everything takes 3–4× longer than one who uses shortcuts. In a small business like Sunrise Retail where Kiran and Sneha enter 20–30 vouchers daily, shortcuts save 1–2 hours every day — 250+ hours a year.

The rule: if you can do it with a keyboard shortcut, do it that way.

Daily Shortcuts — Use Every Session

These are the shortcuts you will press dozens of times every working day.

Voucher Opening (Daily)

Shortcut	Voucher Type	Common Use
`F4`	Contra	Bank ↔ Cash transfers, petty cash withdrawal
`F5`	Payment	Paying suppliers, rent, utilities, salary
`F6`	Receipt	Receiving from customers, other income
`F7`	Journal	Depreciation, provisions, accruals, adjustments
`F8`	Sales	Customer invoices — intrastate and interstate
`F9`	Purchase	Supplier invoices with inventory

Voucher Actions (Daily)

Shortcut	Action
`Tab`	Next field
`Shift+Tab`	Previous field
`Enter`	Accept / Select / Drill down
`Esc`	Cancel / Go back one level
`Ctrl+A`	Accept and save — works everywhere
`F2`	Change date in current voucher
`Alt+C`	Create new master (ledger, stock item) from within voucher

Shortcut	Action
`Alt+G`	Go To — search any screen by name
`Page Up`	Previous voucher
`Page Down`	Next voucher

Weekly Shortcuts — Use Regularly

More Voucher Types (Weekly)

Shortcut	Voucher Type	Common Use
`F10`	Other Vouchers	POS, memo, post-dated
`Alt+F7`	Stock Journal	Stock transfer between godowns
`Alt+F8`	Debit Note	Sales return from customer
`Alt+F9`	Credit Note	Purchase return to supplier
`Alt+F10`	Physical Stock	Adjust stock after physical count

Voucher Editing (Weekly)

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl+Q`	Quit without saving
`Alt+D`	Delete current voucher
`Alt+R`	Remove a line in a voucher
`Alt+I`	Insert a blank line above current
`F12`	Configuration options for current screen

Reports (Weekly)

Shortcut	Action
`Alt+F2`	Change period (date range) for the current report
`Alt+F1`	Toggle detailed view of a report
`Alt+P`	Print current report or voucher
`Alt+E`	Export current report (Excel, PDF, JSON)
`Alt+M`	Email current report
`Shift+Enter`	Expand one item's detail in reports

Occasional Shortcuts — Know These Exist

Company and Screen Management

Shortcut	Action
`Alt+F3`	Company management — create, select, alter, close
`F11`	Company Features
`F1`	Help
`Ctrl+R`	Reload / Refresh data
`Ctrl+Home`	First entry in report or voucher list
`Ctrl+End`	Last entry in report or voucher list
`Alt+Z`	Zoom in on reports

Date Handling

Shortcut	Result
`F2` (in voucher)	Opens "Change Date" prompt
`T` (in date field)	Inserts today's date
`+` (in date field)	Next day
`-` (in date field)	Previous day
`DD-MM-YYYY`	Type date directly — `5-4-2025` = 5th April 2025

Banking

Shortcut	Action
`Ctrl+B`	Bank Reconciliation
`Ctrl+O`	Import bank statement
`Alt+P` (in payment voucher)	Print cheque after saving

Reversing Vouchers

Shortcut	Voucher Type
`Alt+F4`	Contra (Reversing)
`Alt+F5`	Payment (Reversing)
`Alt+F6`	Receipt (Reversing)

Shortcut	Action
`Alt+G → GSTR-1`	Open GSTR-1 report
`Alt+G → GSTR-3B`	Open GSTR-3B report
`Alt+G → e-Invoice`	Open e-Invoice management

Less Common but Useful Shortcuts

These appear in the PDF reference but rarely in day-one training. Once you know they exist, you'll reach for them in specific situations.

Display & Localization

Shortcut	Action	When to Use
`Alt+G`	Display Language (older Tally builds) — in Tally Prime, this is the global "Go To" navigator; the language menu now lives at F12 → Display Language inside report screens	Switching the on-screen language (English ↔ Hindi ↔ regional)
`Alt+K`	Keyboard Language	Switching the typing keyboard to type in Hindi/Telugu/Tamil — useful in Sunrise Retail's Hyderabad showroom when entering Telugu customer names

Communication & Upload

Shortcut	Action	When to Use
`Alt+M`	Email current report	Send GSTR-1 / Trial Balance / Balance Sheet to the CA in one shot — Tally opens the email composer with the report attached
`Alt+O`	Upload current report	Upload to a Tally cloud destination or shared drive — handy when the report needs to land in a synced folder, not an inbox

Report Period Views

Shortcut	Action	Effect
`Alt+N`	Auto-column / Periodicity toggle	Splits a report column by Day / Week / Fortnight / Month / Quarter / Year — turns a single-column Day Book into a daily, weekly, or monthly snapshot

Shortcut	Action	When to Use
`Alt+B`	Select Bank	Inside a payment/receipt voucher or bank reconciliation screen — quickly switches between Sunrise Retail's SBI Madhapur, ICICI, and HDFC bank ledgers without going back to Gateway
`Ctrl+B`	Bank Reconciliation (also documented under Banking above)	Open BRS for the active bank ledger

Voucher Narration

Shortcut	Action	When to Use
`Ctrl+R`	Repeat narration from the previous voucher	When entering a batch of similar vouchers (e.g., 20 cash sales for the day) — type narration once, hit Ctrl+R on each subsequent voucher and the same narration auto-fills

Important Tally Prime note on Ctrl+R: In some older builds, Ctrl+R was the "Reload / Refresh" shortcut. In current Tally Prime, the narration-repeat function is now via this key in the narration field; the older reload behaviour is folded into automatic data refresh. If you ever see a contradiction in older training material, the narration-repeat is the active behaviour in Tally Prime 5.x+.

Activating Hidden Vouchers (F10 → Show Inactive)

Some vouchers are inactive by default in a fresh Tally Prime install — they don't appear in F11 features until explicitly activated. The path:

From Gateway of Tally
→ Press F10  (Other Vouchers menu)
→ Select: Show Inactive
→ Highlight the voucher type (Purchase Order / Sales Order / Receipt Note / Delivery Note / Rejection In / Rejection Out)
→ Press Enter / Spacebar to toggle Active = Yes
→ Ctrl+A to save

Once activated, these voucher shortcuts become live in F10:

Voucher	Default State	Why You'd Activate
Purchase Order (Alt+F4 in F10)	Inactive	Sending POs to suppliers before goods arrive
Sales Order (Alt+F5 in F10)	Inactive	Tracking pending customer orders for production planning
Receipt Note	Inactive	Recording goods received before invoice arrives (GRN flow)
Delivery Note	Inactive	Recording goods delivered to customer before invoicing
Rejection In	Inactive	Goods returned by customer awaiting credit note
Rejection Out	Inactive	Goods returned to supplier awaiting debit note

Most small businesses leave these inactive. Sunrise Retail activates them when they move from simple cash-and-carry to order-based supply (covered in Module 19).

Function Key Quick Reference

Key	Main Function	With Alt	With Ctrl
F1	Help	—	—
F2	Change date	—	—
F4	Contra	Alt+F4 Reversing Contra	—
F5	Payment	Alt+F5 Reversing Payment	—
F6	Receipt	Alt+F6 Reversing Receipt	—
F7	Journal	Alt+F7 Stock Journal	—
F8	Sales	Alt+F8 Debit Note	—
F9	Purchase	Alt+F9 Credit Note	—
F10	Other vouchers	Alt+F10 Physical Stock	—
F11	Company Features	—	—
F12	Configuration	—	—

Sunrise Retail — Keyboard-Only Data Entry Walkthrough

Kiran Sharma enters the April 5 purchase from TechWorld — using only keyboard, no mouse

Target: Purchase voucher, TechWorld Mumbai, 100 phones, ₹12,00,000 + IGST 18%

// In Tally Prime
Step 1: From Gateway of Tally
  F9  →  Purchase voucher opens

Step 2: Date field
  F2 → type 05042025 → Enter
  Date becomes 05-Apr-2025

Step 3: Reference / Invoice No
  Type: TW-2025-0183 → Tab

Step 4: Party Account Name
  Type: Tech → TechWorld Mumbai Pvt Ltd appears in dropdown
  Enter to select

Step 5: Stock item entry
  Stock Item: Type "Sam" → Samsung Phone (Model X) selected → Enter
  Quantity: 100 → Tab
  Rate: 12000 → Tab
  Amount: ₹12,00,000 (auto-calculated)

Step 6: GST (auto-populated from stock item)
  IGST @ 18%: ₹2,16,000 (auto-calculated)
  Total: ₹14,16,000 (auto-calculated)

Step 7: Narration
  Purchase of 100 phones from TechWorld → Tab

Step 8: Save
  Ctrl+A  →  Voucher saved and numbered

Time with shortcuts: ~45 seconds
Time with mouse: ~3 minutes

Common Shortcut Sequences in Daily Work

Task	Shortcut Sequence
Open sales voucher for today	`F8`
Open purchase voucher for April 5	`F9` → `F2` → `05042025` → `Enter`
Save and start next entry	`Ctrl+A` → `F9` (or whichever voucher)
See today's Day Book	`Alt+G` → type "Day Book" → `Enter`
Check Balance Sheet as of today	`Alt+G` → type "Balance Sheet" → `Enter`
Print an invoice	Open voucher → `Alt+P`
Export GSTR-1 to JSON	`Alt+G` → "GSTR-1" → `Alt+E` → Format: JSON → `Ctrl+A`
Change financial year period	`Alt+F2`
Drill into a ledger balance	`Enter` on the ledger in Balance Sheet
Delete a voucher	Open voucher → `Alt+D`
Create ledger without leaving purchase	In Party Name field → `Alt+C`

The data entry race at the Hyderabad Tally workshop

At a Tally Prime training session in Madhapur, the instructor ran a friendly challenge: enter 10 sample sales vouchers as fast as possible. The two participants were Priya (3 years' experience, mouse-heavy) and Anand (8 months' experience, but he'd practiced shortcuts for a week before the workshop). Priya took 6 minutes 40 seconds. Anand finished in 2 minutes 18 seconds — without a single mouse click. The whole room applauded, then Priya quietly asked Anand if he'd help her practice F8 → F2 → Alt+C sequences over chai. Three weeks later her own time was under 3 minutes. The lesson: shortcuts are not a talent. They're a one-week investment with a lifetime payback.

— TallySchool training event — 2024

Practice Exercise

Exercise 1: Sneha needs to record a receipt of ₹5,66,400 from Digital Hub on May 5, 2025. Write the complete shortcut sequence she uses.

Show Solution

// In Tally Prime
F6                              (Receipt voucher)
F2 → 05052025 → Enter           (Change date to May 5)
Type: Digital Hub → Enter       (Party/Account)
Type: SBI Madhapur → Enter      (Credit to bank)
Amount: 566400 → Tab
Narration: Receipt against invoice SR-2025-0042 → Tab
Ctrl+A                          (Save)

Exercise 2: Kiran is looking at the GSTR-1 report and wants to export it as a JSON file for uploading to the GST portal. What shortcuts does he use?