A free Tally alternative for a small shop
Many shops buy Tally for one reason: to make GST bills and keep stock. If that is your work too, SutaNutan ShopKeeper does it for free, offline, on your own computer — and a shop assistant can learn it in an afternoon.
Install free — Life Time FreeWhat it does that a shop uses Tally for
- GST tax invoices with CGST/SGST or IGST and an HSN summary.
- Purchases — typed in, or read from a scan of the supplier’s bill.
- Stock batch by batch, with manufacturing and expiry dates, and a stock report you can send to Excel.
- Supplier and customer dues bill by bill, with part payments, advances and a party statement.
- GSTR-1 for the month or quarter, as Excel and as the GST offline tool’s CSV files.
- Sale returns and purchase returns against the bill they came from — a credit note or debit note, with the stock and the party’s due set right.
- Opening stock and opening balances, so you can start on any day of the year.
What it does not do
It is billing and stock software, not full accounting. There is no balance sheet, no profit and loss account, no GSTR-3B, no e-way bill and no e-invoice. If your CA keeps your books in Tally and needs those, keep Tally for the CA and do the day’s billing here — the GSTR-1 this software makes is what the CA needs from the counter.
Side by side
| Tally | SutaNutan ShopKeeper | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Paid licence and yearly renewal | Free for life time |
| GST sale bill | Yes | Yes |
| Batch and expiry | Yes, to be set up | Yes, on every purchase and bill |
| GSTR-1 | Yes | Yes |
| GSTR-3B, balance sheet, P&L | Yes | No |
| Runs on Mac, Ubuntu and Android | — | Yes |
Tally and TallyPrime are trademarks of Tally Solutions. SutaNutan is not connected with them; the comparison is for a shopkeeper choosing what to use.
Questions
Is there free software like Tally?
For billing, stock and GSTR-1, yes — SutaNutan ShopKeeper is free for life time and works offline. For a balance sheet, profit and loss or GSTR-3B you still need accounting software or your CA.
Can I move from Tally to this?
Yes. Enter your opening stock batch by batch, and what each supplier and customer owes you, and start billing the same day.
Will my CA accept it?
The CA gets the GSTR-1 as an Excel workbook and as the CSV files the GST offline tool imports — the usual way a return is filed.