Multi-user Tally on a LAN was a server PC and everyone on the same switch. On a cloud server it is the same Tally with a few more moving parts: Windows licensing, user accounts and a data path everyone shares. This is the checklist we run when we set one up, so you can run it yourself or know what we are doing.
1. The Tally licence
Gold allows unlimited concurrent users on one server. Silver allows one user at a time, which makes it useless for multi-user however many Windows logins you create. Check in Tally under Help, About. If you are on Silver and need two or more people at once, the upgrade to Gold is the first purchase, from Tally or your partner, not from us.
2. Windows sessions
Windows Server lets two people have a desktop at once. The third needs Remote Desktop Services client access licences (RDS CALs) and the RDS role installed. We add both for you when you tell us the user count; it is a licensing cost on top of the server. Three users means one CAL; ten users means eight.
3. One Windows login per person
Never share one Windows account. Each person gets their own, as a standard user, not an administrator. That gives you an audit trail, lets you remove someone cleanly when they leave, and stops one person's locked screen blocking another.
4. The data path
Tally's data folder lives on the server, say D:\TallyData, and every user's Tally points at it. Set it once in tally.ini or in Tally's configuration so nobody ends up with a private copy of the company on their own desktop. All users opening the same folder is what makes it multi-user.
5. Tally security inside each company
Open the company, Alter, enable Security Control, and create a Tally user per person with a role: owner, data entry, read-only for the auditor. This is separate from the Windows login and controls what each person can do inside the books.
6. Printing and export
Printers on the server are the ones users see. For printing at the office from the server, enable printer redirection in the RDP client so the user's local printer appears in Tally. Exports to Excel land on the server; map a shared folder or use redirection for the local drive.
7. Backups
The daily backup add-on copies the data folder off the server every night and keeps the last 48 hours; a weekly add-on, where offered, keeps the last weekly copy. Turn it on at setup. Alongside it, keep the habit of a manual Tally backup to a local drive before any big change, GST filing day, or year end.
8. Test with three people
Before go-live, have three people log in at once, open the same company, and enter vouchers. Then have two of them open the same voucher; Tally should block the second with a message, not corrupt anything. Print a report from each login. Only then switch the office over.
Sizing
Roughly 1 GB of RAM per concurrent user plus 3 GB for Windows and Tally. 8 GB for up to about five users, 16 GB for ten to fifteen. Our multi-user Tally page has the plan table; the Windows licence is included, the Tally licence is yours.
Questions we get asked
Can I use Tally.NET remote access instead? For one person checking reports, yes. For a team entering data all day, it is slower and more limited than a hosted server.
What if the CA is outside the office? They get a Windows login and a Tally user like anyone else, and log in over RDP from wherever they are.
Does each user need their own Tally licence? No. One Gold licence on the server covers all users.
How do we handle a user leaving? Disable their Windows account and their Tally user. Nothing else changes.
Who sets all this up? We do, as part of the Tally on Cloud service, and we test it with you before go-live.
