Voucher Entry in ERPLite

It was Wednesday morning. Bisht Ji himself had come to the office. He placed a thick folder on Meera's desk. Inside were bills, receipts, bank slips, and handwritten notes on small pieces of paper.

"This is one week's worth," Bisht Ji said. "Sales, purchases, cash received, cash paid, one bank transfer, and some adjustments. I need all of this entered into the system."

Meera stared at the pile. Negi Bhaiya pulled up a chair. "Don't worry," he said. "We will go through each one. By the end of today, you will know every voucher type in ERPLite."

Sharma Sir poured chai for Bisht Ji. "Meera, this is the real work. Everything you learned on paper — journals, debits, credits — this is where it comes alive on the computer."

The 8 Voucher Types

In the earlier chapters, you learned that every financial transaction is recorded using a voucher. A voucher is the basic building block of accounting.

ERPLite has 8 voucher types. Each one is designed for a specific kind of transaction.

"Think of it like this," Negi Bhaiya explained. "Each voucher type is like a different form. You use the right form for the right situation. You don't use a sales form to record a rent payment."

Let us go through each one, using Bisht Ji's folder of papers.

1. Journal Voucher — The All-Purpose Entry

The Journal Voucher is used for entries that don't involve direct cash or bank transactions. It is the most flexible voucher type.

When to use it:

• Depreciation entries
• Adjustments between accounts
• Opening balances
• Closing entries at year-end
• Any entry that doesn't fit the other types

Bisht Ji's paper: A note from Sharma Sir saying "Record depreciation on delivery van — Rs. 15,000 for the quarter."

Meera clicked Transactions → Voucher Entry → Journal.

She filled in:

What is the Narration field?

The narration is a short description of WHY this entry was made. It is not required by the software, but it is very important in practice.

"Always write a narration," Sharma Sir said firmly. "Six months from now, you will look at this entry and wonder — why did I debit depreciation? The narration tells you. It is your note to your future self."

Meera clicked Save as Draft. The voucher was saved but NOT posted yet.

2. Receipt Voucher — Money Coming In

The Receipt Voucher is used when money comes into the business — from a customer paying their bill, or from any other source of income.

Bisht Ji's paper: A bank slip showing Rs. 25,000 received from Nainital Spice Restaurant by NEFT transfer.

Meera clicked Transactions → Voucher Entry → Receipt.

When Meera selected "Nainital Spice Restaurant" from the dropdown, ERPLite automatically showed their outstanding invoices. She could see that Invoice #SI-2025-042 for Rs. 47,250 was pending. This Rs. 25,000 was a partial payment.

"The software knows how much each customer owes," Negi Bhaiya said. "When you record a receipt, it reduces their outstanding balance. After this entry, Nainital Spice Restaurant will owe Rs. 22,250 instead of Rs. 47,250."

Behind the scenes — the GL entry:

Bank goes up (debit). Receivables go down (credit). The double-entry rule is satisfied.

3. Payment Voucher — Money Going Out

The Payment Voucher is used when money goes out of the business — paying a supplier, paying rent, paying the electricity bill.

Bisht Ji's paper: A rent receipt from the landlord — Rs. 8,000 paid in cash for June 2025.

Meera clicked Transactions → Voucher Entry → Payment.

Behind the scenes — the GL entry:

Rent expense goes up (debit). Cash goes down (credit).

"Notice the pattern," Sharma Sir said. "Receipt means money comes in — bank or cash goes UP. Payment means money goes out — bank or cash goes DOWN. The other side of the entry depends on who you received from or paid to."

4. Contra Voucher — Moving Money Between Own Accounts

The Contra Voucher is used when you transfer money between your own accounts — for example, depositing cash into the bank, or withdrawing cash from the bank.

Bisht Ji's paper: A bank deposit slip — Rs. 50,000 cash deposited into SBI Haldwani.

"This is not an expense and not an income," Negi Bhaiya explained. "The money is just moving from one pocket to another — from the cash drawer to the bank account. The total money hasn't changed."

Meera clicked Transactions → Voucher Entry → Contra.

Behind the scenes — the GL entry:

Bank goes up. Cash goes down. Total assets remain the same.

"Think of it like transferring water from one glass to another," Meera said.

"Exactly!" Sharma Sir said. "That is a perfect analogy. The total water hasn't changed. Only the glass it is in."

5. Sales Voucher — Selling Goods

The Sales Voucher is used when you sell goods or services. We will cover the full sales cycle (quotation to payment) in the next chapter. For now, let us see a basic sales entry.

Bisht Ji's paper: A sales bill to Almora Kitchen Supplies — 20 kg Turmeric Powder and 10 kg Cumin Seeds.

Meera clicked Transactions → Sales → Sales Invoice.

Item Lines:

Since both Bisht Traders and Almora Kitchen Supplies are in Uttarakhand (same state), the GST is split into:

• CGST @ 2.5% = Rs. 202.50
• SGST @ 2.5% = Rs. 202.50
• Total GST = Rs. 405

ERPLite calculated all of this automatically based on the GST rate stored in the Item Master and the state codes from the GSTINs.

Behind the scenes — the GL entry:

6. Purchase Voucher — Buying Goods

The Purchase Voucher records purchases. We will cover the full purchase cycle in a later chapter. Here is a basic entry.

Bisht Ji's paper: A bill from Delhi Spice Suppliers — 100 kg raw turmeric at Rs. 120/kg.

Meera clicked Transactions → Purchase → Purchase Bill.

Item Lines:

Since Delhi Spice Suppliers is in Delhi (07) and Bisht Traders is in Uttarakhand (05), this is an inter-state purchase. So the GST is IGST (not CGST + SGST).

Behind the scenes — the GL entry:

Notice that GST paid on purchases goes to Input Credit (an asset), not to the payable account. This is because you can claim this amount back from the government. We will learn more about Input Tax Credit in the GST chapters.

7. Debit Note — Returning Goods to a Supplier

A Debit Note is issued when you return goods to a supplier, or when the supplier agrees to reduce the price.

Bisht Ji's paper: A note saying "Returned 10 kg damaged turmeric to Delhi Spice Suppliers."

Meera clicked Transactions → Voucher Entry → Debit Note.

"Why is it called a Debit Note?" Meera asked.

"Because you are debiting the supplier's account," Sharma Sir explained. "You are saying — you owe me Rs. 1,260 less now. Or you need to send me a refund. Your account in my books goes down."

Behind the scenes — the GL entry:

This is the reverse of the original purchase entry. Payables go down. Purchases go down. Input credit also goes down (because you returned the goods, so you can't claim the GST on them).

8. Credit Note — Customer Returns Goods

A Credit Note is issued when a customer returns goods, or when you give a discount after the sale.

Bisht Ji's paper: A note saying "Almora Kitchen Supplies returned 5 kg Turmeric Powder — shelf life expired."

Meera clicked Transactions → Voucher Entry → Credit Note.

"Why Credit Note?" Meera asked.

"Because you are crediting the customer's account," Sharma Sir said. "You are saying — you owe me Rs. 945 less now. I am giving you credit."

Behind the scenes — the GL entry:

Sales go down. GST payable goes down. Receivables go down. Everything reverses.

Debit Note vs. Credit Note — A Simple Summary

Students often get confused between these two. Here is a simple way to remember:

Simple memory trick: Debit Note = you bought something wrong. Credit Note = you sold something wrong.

Auto-Numbering

"Did you notice," Negi Bhaiya pointed out, "that you didn't type the voucher number? The system generated it automatically."

ERPLite uses auto-numbering for all vouchers. Each voucher type has its own number series:

"Auto-numbering prevents gaps and duplicates," Negi Bhaiya said. "You can never have two invoices with the same number. And you can never skip a number. This is important for GST compliance — the tax department wants to see continuous, unbroken invoice numbers."

The number format can be customized in Settings → Number Series. But for most businesses, the default format works fine.

The Draft → Post Workflow in Action

Now Meera had entered all the vouchers from Bisht Ji's folder. But they were all in Draft status.

Negi Bhaiya pulled up the Draft Vouchers list.

"Let me review each one," he said.

He opened the first voucher — the Journal entry for depreciation. He checked:

• Is the date correct?
• Are the accounts correct (Depreciation Expense debited, Accumulated Depreciation credited)?
• Is the amount correct (Rs. 15,000)?
• Does the narration make sense?

Everything looked good. He clicked Approve & Post.

The status changed from Draft to Posted. A green banner appeared: "Voucher JV-2025-001 posted successfully. GL entries created."

"Once a voucher is posted," Negi Bhaiya explained, "you cannot edit it. The GL entries are created. The accounts are updated. If you find a mistake after posting, you have to create a reversal entry — a new voucher that undoes the wrong one."

He went through each voucher, one by one:

One voucher was sent back — the rent payment. Negi Bhaiya noticed that the landlord's receipt actually said Rs. 8,500 (the rent had increased this month). Meera had entered Rs. 8,000 by mistake.

"See?" Negi Bhaiya said. "This is why the Draft step exists. I caught the error before it went into the books. Now you correct it and save again."

Meera opened the draft, changed the amount to Rs. 8,500, updated the narration, and saved. Negi Bhaiya reviewed and posted it.

How GL Posting Works Automatically

"Can I ask something?" Meera said. "When we did accounting on paper, I had to write the journal entry, then post it to the ledger, then prepare the trial balance. That was three steps. In ERPLite, I just enter the voucher and... everything else happens?"

"Exactly," Sharma Sir said. "That is the magic of software."

Here is what happens behind the scenes when you post a voucher:

Step 1: You create a voucher (e.g., Sales Invoice)
         ↓
Step 2: Reviewer approves and posts it
         ↓
Step 3: ERPLite automatically creates the GL (General Ledger) entries
         ↓
Step 4: Each account's ledger is updated instantly
         ↓
Step 5: Trial Balance, P&L, Balance Sheet — all updated in real time

"On paper, this took hours," Sharma Sir said. "On the computer, it takes less than a second. That is why businesses use ERP software. Not because they are lazy — because they want accuracy and speed."

You can see the GL entries for any voucher by clicking on the voucher and selecting View GL Entries or View Ledger Posting.

A Day's Work — Summary

Meera entered 8 vouchers today. Let us summarize what she processed from Bisht Ji's folder:

"Eight vouchers," Meera said. "Eight different types. Eight different GL entries. All done in one afternoon."

"And tomorrow," Negi Bhaiya said, "you will do thirty of these before lunch. Speed comes with practice."

Quick Recap

• ERPLite has 8 voucher types: Journal, Receipt, Payment, Contra, Sales, Purchase, Debit Note, Credit Note
• Journal = adjustments and non-cash entries
• Receipt = money coming in from customers or other sources
• Payment = money going out for expenses or vendor payments
• Contra = transfers between your own cash and bank accounts
• Sales = invoices for goods/services sold
• Purchase = bills for goods/services bought
• Debit Note = returns to vendors (reduces what you owe them)
• Credit Note = returns from customers (reduces what they owe you)
• Always write a narration — it explains WHY the entry was made
• Auto-numbering ensures every voucher has a unique, sequential number
• Draft → Post workflow lets you review before finalizing
• Once posted, GL entries are created automatically — accounts, trial balance, and reports update instantly
• If you find an error after posting, create a reversal entry — never delete a posted voucher

Practice Exercise — Try This Yourself

Here are 6 transactions for Bisht Traders. Identify the correct voucher type for each, and write the GL entry (which account is debited, which is credited).

1. Bisht Ji pays Rs. 2,000 electricity bill by cheque.

   • Voucher type: ?
   • Debit: ? | Credit: ?

2. Kumaon Hotel Group pays Rs. 1,50,000 by NEFT.

   • Voucher type: ?
   • Debit: ? | Credit: ?

3. Bisht Ji withdraws Rs. 20,000 cash from bank for office use.

   • Voucher type: ?
   • Debit: ? | Credit: ?

4. Bisht Ji sells 50 kg Garam Masala to Pahadi Kitchen at Rs. 520/kg (plus 5% GST). Both are in Uttarakhand.

   • Voucher type: ?
   • Calculate the total invoice amount
   • Write the GL entry

5. Pahadi Kitchen returns 5 kg Garam Masala — wrong flavor blend.

   • Voucher type: ?
   • Calculate the credit note amount
   • Write the GL entry

6. Sharma Sir asks Meera to record quarterly depreciation on office furniture — Rs. 3,000.

   • Voucher type: ?
   • Debit: ? | Credit: ?

Fun Fact

In the old days — we are talking 500 years ago — Italian merchants in Venice and Florence would write every transaction in a book called the giornale (journal). The word "journal" comes from the French word jour, meaning "day" — because it was a daily record. When Meera enters a journal voucher in ERPLite, she is carrying on a tradition that is older than the Mughal Empire. The tools have changed — from quill pens to keyboards — but the logic is exactly the same. Debit on the left. Credit on the right. The books must balance.