Payment, Receipt, and Contra vouchers describe different kinds of bank movement in Tally. Choosing the right voucher type helps the Day Book, ledger balances, and bank reconciliation tell the same story after import.
The bank statement direction is the starting point, not the complete answer. A debit from the bank is usually a Payment, but a transfer from one company bank account to another is generally Contra. A credit is often a Receipt, but a credit from another own account is also a Contra movement.
The quick distinction
| Voucher | Typical bank movement | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Payment | Money leaves the bank for an expense, supplier, employee, tax, or other payee | Office rent, vendor settlement, bank charges |
| Receipt | Money enters the bank from a customer, income source, refund, or other external party | Customer collection, interest income, refund |
| Contra | Money moves between cash and bank or between the company's own bank accounts | HDFC to SBI transfer, cash deposited into bank |
The exact configuration depends on the client's chart of accounts and bookkeeping policy. When in doubt, verify the destination account and the source document instead of classifying from the narration alone.
Payment voucher examples
Use a Payment voucher when the bank account settles an obligation or records a business outflow. Common examples include supplier payments, office expenses, salaries, statutory payments, loan interest, and bank fees.
- NEFT to a supplier: Bank ledger credited, supplier ledger debited or settled according to the client's process.
- Bank service fee: Bank Charges debited, bank ledger credited.
- GST or TDS payment: Relevant statutory ledger debited, bank ledger credited.
Do not use Payment simply because the row is a debit. A debit that moves funds to another own bank account is a Contra movement, not an expense.
Receipt voucher examples
Use a Receipt voucher when the business receives money from an external party or income source. Customer collections, advances, interest credits, and refunds commonly fall here.
- Customer collection: Bank ledger debited, customer ledger credited or invoice settled.
- Interest received: Bank ledger debited, interest income credited.
- Vendor refund: Bank ledger debited, the appropriate vendor or expense ledger credited after checking the original entry.
Contra voucher examples
Contra is used when the transaction is internal to the business's cash and bank structure. The key test is whether both sides are company-controlled accounts rather than an external customer, supplier, or expense.
- Transfer from HDFC current account to SBI current account.
- Cash withdrawn from bank and recorded in the cash ledger.
- Cash deposited into the bank from the cash ledger.
Verify that the second account belongs to the same company. A transfer to a proprietor's personal account may require a drawings or related-party treatment rather than a Contra voucher.
How to handle mapping during PDF conversion
First review the extracted date, direction, amount, and narration. Then identify whether the counterparty is external or an own account. Finally confirm the ledger and voucher type together. The ledger mapping guide covers the evidence checks in more detail.
With Doxify, review the transactions and replace provisional ledger names before exporting XML or CSV. The review is especially important for abbreviated UPI narrations, bank charges, loan debits, and internal transfers. Start at the bank statement to Tally XML workflow.
Import and post-import checks
- Confirm the bank ledger is the same one selected for the statement period.
- Check that total debits and credits in the imported batch agree with the reviewed source.
- Inspect internal transfers for both sides and make sure they do not inflate income or expenses.
- Run bank reconciliation and investigate unmatched items instead of forcing a match.
Correct voucher mapping reduces cleanup, but it does not replace reconciliation. The source statement and the client's supporting records remain the final control.