Cashflow OS vs remote desktop for Tally

Two ways to reach Tally from outside the office

Remote desktop means installing a remote-access program on the Tally PC (or running Tally on a server or a hosted desktop) and connecting to it from another computer or phone. You see the actual Tally screen and work exactly as you would at the desk.

A sync app such as Cashflow OS runs a small connector on the Tally PC that reads the companies open in TallyPrime and keeps a synced copy. People then use their own app or the web app to read the books, share statements and, if the owner allows, post entries back into Tally through the connector. Our guide on remote desktop vs a sync app explains the mechanics further.

Side by side

When remote desktop is the better choice

• Your accountant works from home and needs full Tally: complex entries, statutory reports, year-end work, things beyond what any app shows.
• One or two power users who know Tally well and want nothing else.
• Tasks that are only in Tally, such as certain configuration, printing formats or TDL-based customisations.

For these, remote access to Tally is often the simplest answer, and Cashflow OS does not try to replace it.

Where remote desktop struggles

Phones: using Tally through a remote session on a 6-inch screen is slow and error-prone. Owners usually give up and call the office instead.

Sharing the PC: on a single desktop, a remote session typically takes over the screen. The billing clerk stops while the owner checks a ledger.

Access control: giving a salesperson remote access to check his customers' dues gives him the whole company, including the Balance Sheet and other salespeople's parties. Shared passwords to the remote tool travel further than intended. See user roles and access control.

Security exposure: a remote-access tool on the Tally PC is a doorway into that machine, not just into Tally. It needs strong passwords, updates and care.

A worked comparison: one owner, one week

Take an owner of an electricals distribution business who travels three days a week. With remote desktop only, his week looks like this: on Monday he connects from a hotel to check outstanding, but the billing clerk is mid-invoice, so he waits. On Wednesday a dealer asks for a statement; he connects from his phone, struggles to navigate Tally's menus on the small screen, and finally asks the office to send it, which happens the next morning. On Friday he wants a salesman to check a customer's dues, but cannot give the salesman the remote login without exposing everything.

With Cashflow OS on his phone, Monday's check takes a minute and disturbs no one. Wednesday's statement goes from the party screen to WhatsApp in a few taps. On Friday the salesman already sees his own customers' dues in the app, within the salesperson role. The accountant, meanwhile, still uses remote access for the quarter's TDS work, which is exactly what it is good at.

When Cashflow OS is the better fit

• Several people need specific parts of the books on their phones: owner, partners, salespeople, branch managers.
• The common needs are reading: Home figures, ledgers, outstanding, statements, reports, GST views.
• Entries made outside the office are simple and repetitive: receipts, payments, sales orders, delivery notes.
• You want each person's access limited by role and the team's activity visible to the owner.
• You want the Tally PC user to keep working undisturbed.

Many businesses use both

A common, sensible set-up: the accountant keeps remote access to Tally for heavy work, while the owner and the team use Cashflow OS on phones and the web app. The connector reads the same Tally companies the accountant is working in, so everyone sees the same books. Writing from the app goes through Tally's own checks, so there is no second set of books to reconcile. For the wider picture, read ways to access Tally remotely.