The Gateway of Tally screen is separated into six sections, namely Horizontal Button Bar, Main Area *(Ctrl+M)*, Bottom Pane, Calculator Area *(Ctrl+N)*, Task Bar and Button Bar.
Horizontal Button Bar
The Buttons, can be seen in the Horizontal Button Bar.
- Print (Alt+P)
- Export (Alt+E)
- E-mail (Alt+M)
- Upload (Alt+O)
- Language (Ctrl+L)
- Keyboard (Ctrl+K)
- Control Centre (Ctrl+K)
- Support Centre (Ctrl+H)
- Help (Alt+H)
Main Area (Gateway of Tally)
The Main Area is separated into two:
- Left-hand side area : provides information on Current Period, Current Date and List of Selected Companies (Name of the company and the date when last entry has been made).
- Right-hand side area : displays the Company Information menu such as Select a Company, Create a Company, Backup a Company or Restore a Company and so on.
Calculator Area
Press [Ctrl + N] to activate the calculator. Calculator Area is used for calculator functions. Any type of independent calculation can also be done using the calculator.
Switching between Screen Areas
When Tally.ERP 9 first loads, the *Gateway of Tally.ERP 9* screen is displayed. To toggle between this and the Calculator/ODBC server area at the bottom of the screen, press *Ctrl + N* or *Ctrl + M* as indicated on the screen. A green bar highlights the active area of the screen.
Button Bar
The buttons are designed to make the work easier and faster and vary from one screen to another based on the screen functionality. They appear on the right hand side of the Tally.ERP 9 screen and the inactive buttons are greyed out. You can either click these buttons or press the shortcut keys to access the relevant screen.
The following are some of the buttons and their functions:
F1: Select Comp – To select the company from the List of Companies
F12: Configure – To access the configuration settings to manage the information entered in Tally.ERP 9. For example, you can access the General Configuration to set country specific defaults, before creating a company.
Buttons where a character or function key is underlined indicates that you have to press underlined character or the function key along with [ALT] key.
Buttons where a character or function key is _double underlined indicates, you have to press the character or the function key along with [CTRL] key.
- F1: Press the shortcut function key [F1] to select a company
- F1: Press [ALT+F1] to shut a company
- F8: Press [CTRL+F8] to select the Credit Note voucher
- Ctrl+M: Press Ctrl+M to access the Gateway of Tally
- Ctrl+N: Press Ctrl+N to access the Calculator frame
Mouse / Keyboard Conventions
While working with Tally.ERP, use the following conventions:
Mouse / keyboard conventions
| Actions | Particulars |
| Click | Press the left mouse button. |
| Double-Click | Press and release the left mouse button twice, without moving the mouse pointer off the item. |
| Choose | Position the mouse pointer on the item and click the left mouse button. |
| Select | Position the mouse pointer on the item and double-click the left mouse button. |
| Press | Position the mouse pointer on the item and double-click the left mouse button. |
Quitting Tally.ERP 9
You can exit the program from any Tally.ERP screen, but Tally.ERP requires all screens to be closed before it shuts down.
To quit working on Tally.ERP
- Press Esc until you see the message ‘Quit? Yes or No’? Press Enter or Y, or click on Yes to quit Tally.ERP.
- Alternatively, to exit without confirmation, press Ctrl+Q in the Gateway of Tally.ERP.
- You can also press Enter or Quit in the Gateway of Tally.ERP.
