The short version of everything people ask us before they sign up. Read what is useful and skip the rest.
About the product
What is The Usual Accountant?+
It is a way to ask questions about your Tally books in plain language and get accurate answers. Instead of opening reports one at a time, you ask "show me Demo Ltd outstanding above 30 days" and you get the answer. Behind the scenes a small Windows app reads from your Tally and sends the data to a private cloud account that only you and the AI assistants you connect can see.
Is it a dashboard?+
No. Dashboards show fixed reports built by someone else. We let you ask anything you want about your books in plain language, through whichever AI assistant you choose, and get an answer that matches what is in Tally.
Will it change anything inside Tally?+
No. The Windows app only reads from Tally. It does not create vouchers, change ledgers, or alter any entry. Your accountants and CAs keep working in Tally exactly the way they do today.
Do I have to switch from Tally?+
No. Tally stays as your source of truth. We sit on top of it and read what is already there. If you stop using us tomorrow, your Tally is unchanged.
Who is this for?+
Business owners, founders, finance teams, CAs, and accountants who want quick answers from their Tally books without having to wait for someone to pull a report.
Getting started
How do I sign up?+
Visit theusualaccountant.com and use the sign up link on the homepage. You will create an account, install the Windows app on the same PC that runs Tally, and follow the on screen steps to connect it.
What do I need before I start?+
A Windows PC with Tally Prime open and a stable internet connection on that PC. That is all.
How long does setup take?+
Five to ten minutes for the first install. The initial sync of a normal company takes anywhere from one to ten minutes depending on how many vouchers you have.
Do I need admin rights on my Windows PC?+
No. The installer is a regular per user installer and does not need administrator permission.
Can I install it on more than one PC?+
Only one Windows PC can be active per account at a time. If you install on a new PC and pair it, the previous one is automatically replaced and stops syncing. The replaced PC stays in your devices list as an audit record. Switching between machines is the same flow as the first pairing.
The Windows app
Does the app run all the time?+
Yes, in the system tray. You can also set it to start automatically when Windows starts so you never have to remember to open it.
Does it use a lot of memory?+
Around 80 MB when idle. While a sync is running it may briefly use more. It does not slow Tally down.
What if I close the app?+
Syncs and updates pause. Your cloud copy stays exactly where you left it. Reopen the app and the next sync picks up from where it stopped.
What if Tally is not open?+
The app waits. As soon as you open Tally and load the company you want to sync, it can resume.
Does the app open any inbound ports on my PC?+
No. It only makes outbound connections. Nothing from the internet can reach into your PC because of this app.
Sync and your data
What is the difference between Smart Sync and Full Sync?+
Smart Sync only fetches what changed since the last successful sync. It is fast and the right choice for everyday use. Full Sync wipes the cloud copy of that company and pulls everything again from Tally. Use Full Sync only if you suspect the cloud copy is out of step, for example after a Tally restore or a major company file change.
How often should I sync?+
Whenever you want the cloud copy to reflect the latest entries. Most teams sync at the start and end of the day. You can run a sync any time from the portal or the system tray icon.
Can I sync more than one company?+
Yes. The app picks up every company that is loaded in Tally. You choose which ones to sync from the portal.
What gets sent to the cloud?+
Vouchers, ledger entries, masters, GST details, trial balance, profit and loss, balance sheet, and stock summary. Only the companies you have chosen to sync, only when you ask for a sync.
How long does a sync take?+
A first time sync of a 3,500 voucher company takes about a minute. A Smart Sync with no new entries finishes in a few seconds.
Why does my first sync feel slower than the next one?+
The first sync has nothing in the cloud to compare against, so it pulls every voucher. After that, Smart Sync only fetches what changed, which is usually a handful of entries.
Security and privacy
Where is my data kept?+
On a server in India. We do not move the main store of your accounting data out of the country.
Is the data encrypted?+
Yes. In transit it travels over TLS, the same encryption banks use for online banking. At rest it is stored in a database that is encrypted with a key unique to your account.
Who can see my data?+
You and the AI assistants you choose to connect. Your workspace database is encrypted at rest and opening it needs a key. The key lives inside our infrastructure so the product can do its job, and never leaves it. Privileged actions on your workspace, including queries from a connected AI client and any download of your own logs, write a row in the audit log that you can review yourself.
Do you train AI models on my data?+
No. We do not train any AI on your books. If you choose to connect an AI assistant such as Claude or ChatGPT, your prompts to that assistant follow its own privacy terms.
Do you sell my data?+
No. We make money from subscriptions only.
AI assistants
Do I have to use ChatGPT or Claude?+
No. The product works with whichever AI assistant you prefer, as long as it speaks MCP, which is the standard protocol AI assistants use to talk to outside tools.
How does my AI see my Tally books?+
You connect the AI to your account once. From then on, when you ask the AI a question that needs your books, it requests just the slice of data it needs and we send only that slice.
What does the AI actually see?+
Only what is needed to answer the question. If you ask for one party balance it sees that party. If you ask for a P and L it sees the report.
Can I revoke the AI later?+
Yes. Open the dashboard, click Connect AI in the top nav, switch to Authorized clients, find the connected AI, and remove it. The next question it asks will fail until you reconnect.
Pricing and billing
What does it cost?+
Six hundred and forty-nine rupees a month, inclusive of GST. The price you see at checkout is the price for the billing period.
Is there a free trial?+
No. You sign up, pay, and start using the product. You can cancel any time from Account Settings.
How do I pay?+
Through Razorpay, an Indian payment gateway. UPI is supported. Card numbers do not touch our servers.
What happens if my renewal payment fails?+
We give Razorpay one shot to auto-charge your saved card or UPI on the renewal date. If that one attempt fails, the workspace pauses and an indigo banner asks you to pay manually. You have seven days to reactivate. After seven days the workspace data is removed though your sign-in and business profile stay so you can come back any time and start a fresh subscription.
How do I cancel?+
Open the portal, go to Account Settings, and cancel from the billing screen. Your access continues until the end of the current billing period.
What happens to my data if I cancel?+
You keep access for thirty days during which signing back in restores your workspace. After thirty days the workspace data is deleted from our servers. Your sign-in, your business profile, and your payment history are preserved so you can come back any time without re-onboarding.
Account and data control
How do I download a copy of my logs?+
Open Account Settings, go to the Account closure tab, and click Download my logs. You will get one JSON file with every row we hold about you and your workspace. Rate-limited to three exports per hour.
How do I close my account?+
Account closure goes through a human so we can cancel your Razorpay subscription, verify it is you asking, and clean up your sign-in identity in one pass. On the Account closure tab, click Contact support to close account. We action it as soon as we can.
How do I change my email or password?+
Use the Profile section in Account Settings. Password changes sign you out of every device.
Can I use multi-factor authentication?+
Yes. We recommend it. Set it up from your profile.
When something looks off
My sync says Tally is unreachable.+
Open Tally on the same PC where the Windows app is installed. Make sure the company you want to sync is loaded. Then try again.
My sync took a long time today.+
A larger than usual sync usually means many entries were created in Tally since the last sync, or the sync was a Full Sync. The next Smart Sync should be quick again.
My AI is returning stale numbers.+
The cloud copy reflects the last successful sync. Run a Smart Sync and ask again.
The portal shows fewer companies than I expect.+
The portal lists the companies your Windows app has reported. Open the missing company in Tally so the app can see it, then refresh the portal.
The Windows app shows an update available.+
Click download. The app finishes the download, quits itself, installs the new version, and reopens. The cloud copy is unaffected.
Something on the website is not working.+
Try a hard refresh first. Press Ctrl plus Shift plus R on Windows or Cmd plus Shift plus R on Mac. If it still does not work, clear the cookies for theusualaccountant.com in your browser settings and reload. The site keeps a few short session cookies (sign in, the help bot, cookie preferences). A stale one can stop pages from working as expected. This includes the dashboard, sign in, the help bot, billing pages, and anything else on the site. If clearing cookies does not help, use the contact form and we will reply.
Help and support
How do I contact you?+
Use the contact form on the website. We reply during Indian business hours.
Where is the help documentation?+
On the help page in the main menu. It covers install, first sync, connecting an AI, managing devices, billing, and account settings.
Did not find your question? The fastest path is to ask us directly.