Software comparison
Sevastack vs Tally — NGO accounting software comparison
Tally is a capable accounting tool for businesses. But Indian NGOs have compliance requirements — 80G receipts, FCRA tracking, Form 10BD/10BE, and donor CRM — that Tally was never designed to handle.
Feature comparison
How Sevastack and Tally compare across the features Indian NGOs actually need.
| Feature | Tally | Sevastack |
|---|---|---|
| 80G receipt automation | No — not a built-in feature | Auto-generated and emailed on every donation |
| Form 10BD / 10BE generation | No — no awareness of Indian NGO filing requirements | Generated from donation records, ready to submit |
| FCRA compliance tracking | No — no FCRA module or deadline reminders | Deadline alerts 30 days before, FCRA reports included |
| Donor CRM with PAN | No — Tally has ledgers, not donor profiles with PAN | Full donor profiles with PAN validation and history |
| UPI donation collection | No — Tally records transactions, does not collect payments | Public donation page with UPI, Razorpay, and bank link |
| CSR proposal builder | No — no CSR-related functionality | CSR proposal templates with project and budget builder |
| CA portal | No — CA receives exports; no dedicated portal access | Read-only CA portal with reports, receipts, and audit trail |
| Free tier | No — Tally requires a paid license from day one | Free to start, with paid plans only for advanced features |
| NGO-specific accounting (R&P, I&E, Balance Sheet) | Partial — requires manual chart-of-accounts setup for NGOs | Receipts & Payments, Income & Expenditure, Balance Sheet built in |
| Cloud-based access | Partial — Tally Prime has cloud sync, but primarily desktop-based | Fully cloud-based — access from any browser, any device |
| Double-entry bookkeeping | Yes — Tally's core strength | Yes — built on standard accounting principles |
| GST filing support | Yes — Tally is well-known for GST compliance | Focused on NGO compliance — GST via your CA using Sevastack reports |
Why Tally is not enough for Indian NGOs
Tally does accounting. Indian NGOs need compliance, donor management, and purpose-built reporting — all in one place.
Tally was built for businesses, not non-profits
Tally's ledger model does not map to how NGOs work. Donor receipts, project-based fund accounting, FCRA foreign contributions, and 80G certificates are all outside its scope.
No NGO-specific compliance
Indian NGOs must file Form 10BD, issue Form 10BE, maintain FCRA records, and track 80G URN expiry. Tally has no awareness of any of these — you end up maintaining a parallel system anyway.
It requires an accountant to operate
Tally is designed for trained accountants. NGO staff who handle donor communications or volunteer coordination cannot use it. Sevastack is built for the whole team.
License cost with no free tier
Tally Prime charges per user from day one. Sevastack is free to start — meaningful for small NGOs that are still in early growth.
Frequently asked
Can Tally generate 80G receipts and file FCRA returns for an NGO?+
No. Tally records accounting transactions but has no 80G receipt module, no Form 10BD/10BE generation, and no FCRA return support. NGOs using Tally typically maintain a parallel spreadsheet for donor PAN records, receipt numbering, and filing deadlines. Sevastack issues the 80G receipt automatically on each donation, compiles Form 10BD/10BE from the same records, and tracks FCRA deadlines with alerts 30 days ahead.
What is the process for generating 80G receipts and filing FCRA digitally?+
In Sevastack the sequence is: record the donation with the donor's PAN (validated at entry), and the 80G receipt is generated with its URN, receipt number, and QR verification code, then emailed to the donor automatically. At financial year end, Form 10BD is compiled from those donation records for submission on the Income Tax portal, and Form 10BE certificates are issued back to donors. For FCRA, foreign contributions are tagged and tracked in a separate fund with the quarterly and annual reporting data ready to export. In Tally each of these steps is manual work done outside the software.
Is Sevastack a replacement for Tally, or do NGOs use both?+
It depends on what your organisation does. If your NGO's finances are donations, grants, and programme expenses, Sevastack covers it end to end. If you also run commercial activity requiring GST invoicing and filing, many NGOs keep Tally for that side and use Sevastack for donor management, 80G, Form 10BD/10BE, and FCRA. The two are not mutually exclusive.
Does Sevastack do double-entry accounting like Tally?+
Yes. Sevastack is built on standard double-entry principles and produces the statutory statements Indian NGOs are asked for — Receipts & Payments, Income & Expenditure, and a fund-wise Balance Sheet — without the manual chart-of-accounts setup Tally needs to approximate NGO fund accounting.
Can my chartered accountant work with Sevastack?+
Yes. Sevastack includes a read-only CA portal with audit-ready statements, receipt logs, and an audit trail, plus sign-ready PDF exports. Your CA does not need a Sevastack license or training to review your books.
Can I migrate my existing Tally data to Sevastack?+
Yes. Donor and donation history import via bulk CSV, with automatic PAN validation and duplicate detection. Your Tally data stays intact — most NGOs run both in parallel for one filing cycle before switching fully.
Purpose-built for Indian NGOs — free to start
Use Tally alongside your CA for GST if needed. Use Sevastack for everything your NGO actually runs on — donors, receipts, compliance, projects, and reports.
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