Backing up and securing TallyPrime: TallyDrive, TallyVault and user controls

TallyPrime can back up company data to a local drive, manually or on a schedule: once, daily, weekly or monthly. The Schedule Backup report shows each schedule and its status, so you can check backups are actually happening.

From TallyPrime Release 7.0, TallyDrive adds secure cloud storage for backups. Once a schedule is set, it backs up to TallyDrive automatically, even when TallyPrime isn’t running, as long as the computer is on at the scheduled time.

TallyDrive keeps a number of past backups you can restore from: seven by default, and you can set anywhere from 1 to 366. When you restore, you pick the version by the date and time of the backup.

Backups on TallyDrive can be encrypted with a backup password and a recovery key, and restoring an encrypted backup asks for one of them. By default the recovery key is sent to the email address of your Tally.NET ID, so make sure that inbox belongs to someone who will still be around.

TallyVault encrypts the company data in TallyPrime, including the company name and transaction details. Once it’s on, the company name shows as asterisks in the list of companies.

Treat the TallyVault password with care. Tally is explicit that forgetting it means permanently losing access to your company data. Store it somewhere safe that more than one trusted person can reach.

When restoring a local backup, check the restore path first. Choosing Replace permanently deletes the existing data there, and it can’t be recovered, so if you’re unsure, skip it and restore into a new, empty folder instead.

It’s worth doing a test restore now and then, so you know the process works before the day you need it.

TallyPrime has user roles, a password policy that can require a new password at first login, and security settings for back-dated entries. Days allowed for back-dated vouchers limits how far back users can insert or alter entries, and a cut-off date blocks entries before a date you choose, which is useful once an audit is finished.

Powerpack adds audit management with reasons, control over who can delete, cancel, print or export vouchers, and can force the system date as the transaction date. With TallyPrime Server, security levels also decide who can back up, restore, repair or split company data.