Introduction to Vouchers in Computerised Accounting

Every rupee that moves in or out of a business needs a paper trail. That paper trail starts with a document called a voucher. Whether it’s a shopkeeper recording a cash sale or a company logging a bank transfer, vouchers are what make the entire accounting system traceable and trustworthy. In computerised accounting, understanding vouchers is the first real step toward learning how software like Tally ERP.9 actually works.

What is a voucher in accounting? 🔗

A voucher is a document that provides evidence that a business transaction has actually taken place. It could be a sales receipt, a purchase memo, a bank statement, or a cash memo. In formal terms, a voucher is a written record that supports, authorises, and helps record a financial transaction in the books of account, and every ledger entry is expected to be backed by one, whether it’s a payment to a vendor or money received from a customer, according to this overview of voucher types.

Vouchers aren’t just formalities. They are what give accounting its credibility. Without a voucher, an entry in the books is just a claim. With one, it becomes verifiable proof.

Source documents: where it all begins 🔗

Before a voucher is created, there has to be a source document. These are the original, first-hand records of a transaction, things like invoices, cash memos, cheques, and pay-in slips. Source documents are original and authentic records that contain key details such as the party’s name, the date, the amount, and the nature of the transaction, and they form the basis on which accounting entries are made, as explained in this breakdown of accounting vouchers and formats.

So the sequence looks like this: a transaction happens, a source document is generated, and then an accountant prepares a voucher based on that document. The voucher is what actually gets entered into the accounting system.

Why vouchers matter in computerised accounting 🔗

In a manual accounting system, vouchers were physical slips of paper, filed away in registers. In computerised accounting, the voucher becomes a digital entry point. Every single transaction you record in software like Tally ERP.9 starts with selecting a voucher type and filling in its details.

This matters for three reasons. First, vouchers create an audit trail. Auditors rely on vouchers as primary evidence to verify that transactions actually occurred and were recorded correctly, and each voucher typically carries a serial number that makes it easy to trace back to its source document during an audit, as noted in the same GeeksforGeeks guide on voucher formats.

Second, vouchers enforce internal control. A voucher usually needs to be authorised by a responsible person before it’s processed, which prevents unauthorised or fraudulent payments from slipping into the books. This authorisation step is described as a core part of how vouchers work within a company’s accounts payable process by the Corporate Finance Institute’s explanation of vouchers.

Third, and most practically for a commerce student, vouchers are what feed the entire financial reporting cycle. Once transactions are entered as vouchers, the software automatically updates the ledgers, trial balance, and eventually the financial statements. Get the voucher wrong, and every statement built on top of it inherits that error.

From source document to voucher to financial statement 🔗

It helps to think of this as a chain:

This is exactly why the ICAI’s own training material on accounting fundamentals defines a voucher as the document that authorises a transaction and forms the basis for recording it in the books of original entry. It’s the hinge between real-world business activity and the formal accounting record.

Types of vouchers in Tally ERP.9 🔗

Tally ERP.9, one of the most widely used accounting software packages in India, comes with a set of predefined voucher types, each designed for a specific kind of transaction. According to Tally’s own documentation on predefined vouchers, the software also allows users to create custom voucher types if the standard ones don’t fit a particular business need. Let’s look at the main ones a commerce student should know.

Payment voucher 🔗

Used to record any payment made by the business, in cash or through a bank. Rent paid, salaries disbursed, or a supplier’s bill settled all fall under this category. In Tally, this is accessed using the F5 shortcut.

Receipt voucher 🔗

The mirror image of the payment voucher. It records money received by the business, such as payment from a debtor or interest received from a bank. This is entered using the F6 shortcut in Tally.

Journal voucher 🔗

This is the most flexible of the lot. Journal vouchers are used for non-cash adjustments that don’t fit neatly into payments, receipts, sales, or purchases, such as depreciation entries, correcting a wrong entry, or adjusting outstanding expenses. It’s accessed via F7.

Contra voucher 🔗

Used specifically when a transaction involves a transfer between cash and bank accounts, or between two bank accounts of the same business. Depositing cash into a bank account is a classic contra entry, recorded using F4.

Sales and purchase vouchers 🔗

Sales vouchers (F8) record the sale of goods or services, while purchase vouchers (F9) record purchases made by the business. These are often used in invoice mode, since they also update inventory records alongside the accounting entry.

Debit note and credit note vouchers 🔗

Credit notes are used when goods are returned by a customer, effectively reducing what the customer owes. Debit notes serve the opposite purpose, used when the business returns goods to its own supplier. These are especially relevant when businesses need to track sales and purchase returns separately for GST compliance.

How voucher entry actually works in Tally 🔗

When entering a voucher in Tally, the process generally follows a consistent pattern: select the voucher type from the button bar, choose the correct ledger accounts to debit and credit, enter the amount, add a narration describing the transaction, and then confirm the entry. Since Tally follows the double-entry system, every voucher must have a debit and a credit that balance, whether it’s a simple cash payment or a more layered journal adjustment.

This structure is what makes computerised accounting faster and more reliable than manual bookkeeping. Instead of writing entries into multiple books separately, a single voucher entry in Tally automatically updates the relevant ledgers, the cash or bank book, and eventually the financial statements, cutting down on both time and the scope for arithmetic errors.

For students moving from theory to practical application, the key takeaway is this: vouchers aren’t just a formality to memorise for exams. They are the actual mechanism through which real business transactions become structured financial data. Getting comfortable identifying the right voucher type for a given transaction is one of the most practical skills in a computerised accounting course.

What do you think? If a business owner deposits cash into the company’s bank account, which voucher type would you use to record it, and why does getting that classification right matter for the accuracy of the final financial statements?

References

1. https://busy.in/accounting/what-is-a-voucher-benefits-types-and-components/
2. https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/accountancy/accounting-voucher-format-types-of-vouchers/
3. https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/accounting/voucher/
4. https://kb.icai.org/pdfs/PDFFile5b27976545f667.12985834.pdf
5. https://help.tallysolutions.com/docs/te9rel52/Voucher_Entry/Accounting_Vouchers/Predefined_Vouchers_in_TallyERP.htm