The four ways to access Tally remotely
Each route below gets you into the same company data from somewhere other than the office desk. The difference is where TallyPrime actually runs, and what has to stay switched on.
| Method | Where TallyPrime runs | What you need | Main limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| TallyPrime Remote Access (Tally.NET) | At the office and on your computer, with data on the office machine | Valid licence, active TSS, Tally.NET IDs, internet both ends | No backup, restore or import; not on a phone; office computer must be running |
| Remote Desktop to the office PC | On the office PC, shown on your screen | Windows Pro or higher at the office, plus a VPN or port forwarding | Office PC must be on; exposing RDP to the internet is risky |
| TallyPrime Cloud Access | On a virtual computer provided by Tally Solutions | Valid TallyPrime licence, Tally.NET ID, password and Secure PIN | Not on phones or tablets |
| Tally on a cloud server | On a Windows server in a data centre | Your own licence, a hosted Windows server, a Remote Desktop app | A server cost every 30 days; needs internet |
If you already have an active TSS and only one or two people need occasional access, the built-in Remote Access is usually the place to start. The other three make more sense when several people work at once, when nobody wants to leave an office computer on, or when TSS has lapsed.
How to set up TallyPrime Remote Access
TallyHelp lists three conditions: remote access must be enabled for the company, users must be given remote access rights, and the company must be connected to Tally.NET services. Both computers need internet. Tally's FAQ adds that you need a valid licence and an active TSS (Tally Software Services).
On the office computer, with the company open:
- Press F11 (Features), set Show more features to Yes, and under Online Access enable Tally.NET Services.
- Press Alt+K (Company) and choose Connect. If Control User Access is not already on, TallyPrime asks you to switch it on and set the administrator's details.
- Check for the (c) symbol next to the company name. That shows it is connected.
- Go to Alt+K > Users and Passwords and add each remote user with their Tally.NET ID and the permissions they should have.
A Tally.NET ID is the user's email address. The account administrator creates these users in Tally's Control Centre, under User Management. Tally's older documentation gives one active Tally.NET ID for a single-user licence and up to ten for a multi-user one, so treat those numbers as a guide and check your own account. One point catches people out: a Tally.NET ID set up for Browser Access will not work for Remote Access.
How to log in to a remote company in TallyPrime
On the computer you are working from, which needs TallyPrime installed:
- Open TallyPrime and press Alt+F3 (Select Company).
- Choose Select Remote Company and enter your Tally.NET ID and password.
- Pick the connected company from the list and work as usual, within the permissions the administrator gave you.
At the office end, Alt+K > Connectivity Status shows whether the company is still connected, and Alt+K > Disconnect takes it offline. TallyHelp says selecting more than one company is supported only in Release 3.0 and later, while the older Remote Access FAQ says a Tally.NET user can log in to only one remote company at a time, so check what your release allows. Auditors can be given access in the same way, using their own Tally.NET ID, which is tidier than sharing an office password.
TallyPrime Remote Access limitations
Remote Access is convenient, but Tally's FAQ is clear about what it does not do:
- User limits. A Silver licence allows one remote login session. Gold allows up to 10 concurrent remote users per licence.
- No phone access. It does not work from a mobile phone. A laptop on a phone's hotspot is fine, and Tally recommends broadband of at least 512 kbps.
- No backup, restore or split while logged in remotely, and no data import. Exporting is allowed.
- Group companies cannot be connected to Tally.NET.
- Printing goes to a local or network printer connected to the computer you are using.
The FAQ describes the traffic as flowing between your computer and the office computer. It does not spell out that the office machine must stay on, but in practice it has to be running, with TallyPrime open and the company connected, for anyone to log in. If that machine sleeps, loses power or drops its internet connection in the evening, remote users are locked out until someone at the office sorts it.
Is Tally remote access secure?
For Remote Access, Tally says the data travels as encrypted XML over HTTP, using a modified form of DES. The Tally.NET server only brokers the connection and does not hold your data. The administrator can disable any Tally.NET user at any time, which matters when a member of staff leaves or an audit ends.
Control User Access, which TallyPrime asks you to turn on when you connect, is what lets you limit each user to the vouchers and reports they need. Give remote users the narrowest rights that work, and remove IDs you no longer use.
Remote Desktop is a different matter, and is covered next.
Remote Desktop to the office computer
The other common approach is to leave TallyPrime on the office PC and control that PC from home with Windows Remote Desktop. You see the office screen and use Tally exactly as you would sitting there, so there is no Tally.NET setup and no remote-company restrictions.
There are catches. Microsoft says Windows Home editions cannot act as a Remote Desktop host; the office PC needs Pro, Enterprise, Education or a Server edition. It must be powered on to accept a connection. Microsoft recommends Network Level Authentication and enabling Remote Desktop only on trusted networks, because turning it on opens a port.
To reach the PC from outside the office network, Microsoft describes two options: forward the Remote Desktop port (3389 by default) on the office router, or connect through a VPN. It warns that port forwarding opens the PC to the internet and says a VPN is preferable. If your broadband provider changes your public IP address, you also need dynamic DNS, and some routers can restrict which source IP addresses may connect.
The risk is real. Sophos found that RDP was used to get into organisations from the internet in 32% of the attacks covered by its 2021 Active Adversary Playbook. Its advice is not to expose RDP at all, and to use a VPN with multi-factor authentication or a zero-trust gateway instead. If you do use Remote Desktop to the office, put it behind a VPN rather than an open port.
TallyPrime Cloud Access
TallyPrime Cloud Access is Tally Solutions' own hosted option. TallyPrime runs on a virtual computer, and you sign in with your Tally.NET ID, password and a Secure PIN, either in a browser or through the TPCA client. It needs a valid TallyPrime licence. Tally's FAQ says phones and tablets are not supported for reaching the virtual computer.
Because nothing runs at the office, it avoids the always-on office PC problem. We compare it in detail, including Tally's per-user pricing, in TallyPrime Cloud Access vs Tally on Cloud.
Tally on a cloud server
The fourth route is to run TallyPrime on a Windows server in a data centre and have everyone connect to it by Remote Desktop. The server is always on, the data sits in one place, and there is no office machine to keep awake. Unlike Tally.NET Remote Access, each person works in a full Windows session, so TallyPrime behaves as it does on an office desktop.
At Bigdomainhost, Tally on Cloud is a licensed Windows Server 2019 or 2022 machine in Mumbai or Delhi with TallyPrime installed, one Windows user per person, and your company data restored from your backup with balances checked, usually the same working day. Remote Desktop accepts connections only from IP addresses you nominate, so a leaked password is not enough on its own. The server is single-tenant, data is encrypted at rest and stays in India, and there are nightly backups with restore points you can browse. Printers and local drives pass through Remote Desktop, Macs connect with Microsoft's Windows App, and a CA can have a separate Windows user that you revoke when the work is done.
Plans are sized by concurrent users, from ₹1,899/mo for 1–2 users, excluding 18% GST. You bring your own TallyPrime licence; we do not sell or rent Tally licences. Silver is single-user, so two people working at the same time need Gold, which is Tally's rule rather than ours. If you would rather build it yourself, a KVM VPS can run Windows too; servers are billed in 30-day periods, paid in advance from a prepaid rupee wallet.
Which Tally remote access option should you choose?
| Your situation | Usually the best fit |
|---|---|
| Active TSS, one or two occasional remote users, office PC already on all day | TallyPrime Remote Access |
| Need backups, imports or the full Windows desktop, and an IT person can set up a VPN | Remote Desktop to the office PC, over a VPN |
| No office machine to rely on, and you want Tally Solutions to run it | TallyPrime Cloud Access |
| Several people working at once, a CA who needs their own login, or data you want off the office desk | Tally on a cloud server |
| You want to use Tally from a phone | None of these directly; see Tally on mobile |
Whichever you pick, the licence rules stay the same: one person at a time on Silver, more on Gold. Check the licence before you check anything else.
Tally, TallyPrime and Tally.NET are trademarks of Tally Solutions, named here for identification only; Bigdomainhost is an independent hosting provider and does not imply any affiliation with Tally Solutions. Menu paths and limits are as Tally's help pages described them on the date below; check TallyHelp for your release.
Sources (checked )
- Tally Solutions: Remote Access in TallyPrime
- Tally Solutions: TallyPrime Remote Access – FAQs
- Tally Solutions: Creating Tally.NET User (Tally.ERP 9 help)
- Tally Solutions: TallyPrime Cloud Access – FAQ
- Microsoft: Enable Remote Desktop on your PC
- Microsoft: Remote Desktop – Allow access to your PC from outside your network
- Sophos: Hindsight #2: Block public facing Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP)