Accounting Practices and Tally Prime Adoption among Micro & Small Units in Peenya Industrial Area, Bengaluru

Micro and small manufacturing units are the backbone of Bengaluru's Peenya Industrial Area — thousands of fabrication shops, tool rooms, powder-coating units and small machine shops supplying larger companies. Many of them still keep accounts in a cash diary or leave everything to a part-time accountant who visits once a month. Others have moved to Tally Prime because GST filing forced them to. Very little is known, at the local level, about how these units actually keep their books and whether computerised accounting has changed anything for them.

This survey project studies the accounting practices of 100 micro and small units in Peenya — which books they maintain, whether they prepare a trial balance and final accounts, how they track debtors and stock, who does the accounting, and whether they use Tally Prime, another package or nothing at all. It also measures owners' perceived benefits of and problems with computerised accounting on 5-point Likert scales.

The analysis uses percentages, cross-tables, chi-square tests, an independent-samples t-test and correlation, all of which can be done in MS Excel (SPSS or Jamovi is optional). The project is written for the BCU B.Com SEP 2024 course 5.6 Survey Project (Semester 5, 4 credits; 100 marks = report 60 + viva 20 + log book 20) and is a manageable, well-scoped first research project.

Abstract

Micro and small enterprises (MSEs) are required to keep proper books for income-tax and GST purposes, yet many continue to rely on informal records. This study surveys 100 micro and small manufacturing units in Peenya Industrial Area, Bengaluru, to find out the books of account they maintain, the extent of computerised accounting (especially Tally Prime), and the perceived benefits and problems of computerisation. Data collected through a structured questionnaire are analysed using percentage analysis, chi-square tests, t-test and correlation. The study offers suggestions to MSE owners, accountants and industry associations.

Introduction

The MSMED Act classifies enterprises by investment and turnover; micro and small units make up the vast majority of registered enterprises in India. For these units, accounting is not only a legal requirement but also the basis for bank loans, GST returns and pricing decisions. Tally Prime is widely used by small businesses and chartered accountants in Karnataka, and GST has pushed many units towards software. Yet a large number still maintain only a cash book and a sales register, preparing final accounts only once a year through an outside accountant.

Review of literature (summary)

Earlier Indian studies on small-business accounting report low use of management accounting tools, heavy dependence on external accountants and a gradual increase in computerised accounting after GST. Most studies are from other states or are pre-GST. Gap: there is little recent, locality-specific evidence from Bengaluru's industrial clusters on post-GST accounting practices and software adoption.

Existing vs proposed

• Existing understanding: anecdotal — "small units don't keep books properly."
• This study: measured evidence of which books are kept, who keeps them, software adoption, and what owners see as the benefits and problems.

Feasibility

• Time: 12 weeks within Semester 5; data collection over 3 weeks by visiting units in Peenya Phases I–III.
• Cost: printing and travel only (about ₹1,500).
• Access: a local industries association and personal contacts help secure responses.
• Ethics: voluntary participation, no GSTIN, PAN or turnover figures recorded, only ranges.

Micro and small units in Peenya Industrial Area operate on thin margins and depend on bank credit, GST compliance and timely customer payments. All three need reliable accounting records. However, many owners maintain only partial books, prepare final accounts only at year-end for tax filing, and have no timely information about debtors, stock or profitability. Computerised accounting software such as Tally Prime is available at modest cost, but adoption is uneven and some units that bought it use only its invoicing feature.

There is no recent local evidence on what accounting records these units actually maintain, how far they have adopted computerised accounting, and what benefits and difficulties they experience. Without this evidence, accountants, trainers and industry associations cannot design useful support. This study addresses that gap for 100 units in Peenya, and tests whether unit size and the owner's education are associated with better accounting practices and software use.

In scope

• Micro and small manufacturing and job-work units located in Peenya Industrial Area (Phases I, II and III), Bengaluru.
• Respondents: the owner, partner or the person responsible for accounts.
• Topics: books maintained, frequency of final accounts, who prepares accounts, software used, Tally Prime features used, perceived benefits and problems, GST return filing arrangement.
• Period: data collected over three weeks during Semester 5.

Out of scope

• Medium enterprises and trading or service businesses outside the industrial area.
• Verification of actual books or financial statements — responses are self-reported.
• Exact turnover, tax or profit figures; only ranges are collected.
• Comparison with other industrial clusters (suggested as future research).

Research design

Descriptive survey research. Primary data through a structured questionnaire; secondary data from MSME Ministry publications, books and journal articles.

Sample size

The exact number of micro and small units in Peenya is not available as a usable list, so the population is treated as large. Using Cochran's formula n = z²·p·q / e² with z = 1.96, p = q = 0.5 and a margin of error e = 0.10 (acceptable for an undergraduate survey): n = 3.8416 × 0.25 / 0.01 ≈ 96, rounded up to 100 units.

Sampling method

Stratified convenience sampling: the target of 100 was split across Peenya Phase I (40), Phase II (35) and Phase III (25) roughly in proportion to their size, and units within each phase were approached as the student walked the industrial roads. Because the sampling within strata is non-random, findings are described as indicative, and this is stated as a limitation.

Questionnaire design

The questionnaire was pre-tested on 10 units; Cronbach's alpha for Parts D and E was checked (≥ 0.70 accepted).

Hypotheses (α = 0.05)

• H1₀: there is no association between unit size (micro/small) and use of computerised accounting — chi-square test.
• H2₀: there is no association between owner's education and preparation of monthly accounts — chi-square test.
• H3₀: there is no difference in mean perceived-benefit score between Tally Prime users with in-house accountants and those relying on outside accountants — independent-samples t-test.
• H4₀: there is no correlation between years of software use and perceived-benefit score — Pearson correlation.

Tools of analysis

Percentage analysis, bar and pie charts, weighted mean ranking of Likert items, chi-square, t-test and correlation in MS Excel (CHISQ.TEST, T.TEST, CORREL), optionally confirmed in SPSS or Jamovi.

Timeline (12 weeks)

Weeks 1–2 topic approval and literature · Week 3 questionnaire and pilot · Weeks 4–6 field survey · Weeks 7–8 coding and analysis · Weeks 9–10 report writing · Week 11 guide review · Week 12 final submission and viva preparation.