Books, taxes and payroll for Indian businesses
Sales, purchases, bank and payroll on one ledger, with every figure leading back to the invoice, bank line or payslip it came from. GST, TDS and your company's return come from the same books.
Invite only for now. We set up each business by hand, with you.
Press any figure to see what is behind it
| Account | L.F. | Debit ₹ | Credit ₹ |
|---|---|---|---|
| HDFC Bank, current account | 4 | ||
| Trade receivables | 9 | ||
| Salaries | 31 | ||
| Software and cloud | 36 | ||
| Rent and office | 38 | ||
| Share capital | 1 | ||
| Export sales | 21 | ||
| Sales in India | 22 | ||
| GST to pay | 14 | ||
| TDS to pay | 15 | ||
| Total | 1,03,40,400.00 | 1,03,40,400.00 |
Debits and credits agree
Behind ₹17,68,000.00 · Trade receivables
Sales invoice
Harbour and Finch Ltd · US$ 20,000.00 at ₹88.40
Export under LUT · due 30 Oct
Amount17,68,000.00
Bank lines, read and booked
Upload the statement as CSV or Excel. Tracery reads each narration for who was paid and how, matches money in to its invoice, and posts the rest to the books once you agree.
Opening 39,84,610.00Closing 40,17,950.00Each balance follows the row above it
4 of 5 bookedOne waits for youEvery running balance against the row above it, opening and closing against the statement, and days already imported skipped, so nothing is counted twice.
Lines with the same UPI ID, account or payee as ones you booked before get their category, with the reason shown. Accept, or change it once and make it a rule.
A line Tracery cannot place waits in Review for a person. Accept all books every sure suggestion together, and one undo takes them back.
Invoices and money from abroad
Bill in dollars at the day's FBIL rate, under your LUT. When the money lands, Tracery puts the remittance advice beside the bank line and the invoice it pays, and books the fee and the gain on exchange itself. It reads ICICI Bank's advices and certificates, Skydo's certificates and Stripe's payee advices, or you type one in.
Tax invoice · export
Original for recipient
Kayal Software Private Limited, Kochi
| Service | SAC | US$ |
|---|---|---|
| Software development, July 2026SAC 998314 | 998314 | 20,000.00 |
| Total | US$ 20,000.00 |
Payment platform
06 Sep 2026
Purpose code checked: payment for an export of services
Statement, September 2026
| Date | Narration | Ref. no. | Deposit ₹ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 06 Sep 2026 | NEFT CR-HARBOUR AND FINCH LTD-INV2627011 | PO2609061743 | 17,61,250.00 |
Recorded with the bank line on 06 Sep 2026. The invoice leaves at its own rate, and the rest is the gain on exchange.
| Particulars | L.F. | Dr ₹ | Cr ₹ |
|---|---|---|---|
| HDFC Bank, current account Dr.What reached the bank | 4 | 17,61,250.00 | |
| Bank and payment charges Dr.Kept back by the platform | 40 | 4,750.00 | |
| To Trade receivables Harbour and Finch Ltd: INV/26-27/011 at its own rate of ₹87.60 | 9 | 17,52,000.00 | |
| To Exchange gain or loss Gain on exchange, ₹88.30 against ₹87.60 | 24 | 14,000.00 | |
| (Being US$ 20,000.00 received from Harbour and Finch Ltd against INV/26-27/011 at ₹88.30, matched with its remittance advice) | |||
| Total | 17,66,000.00 | 17,66,000.00 | |
Teak and Tide Pvt Ltd, Kochi, pays DOM/26-27/005 less the TDS it kept back.
| Value before GST | 1,00,000.00 |
|---|---|
| CGST at 9% | 9,000.00 |
| SGST at 9% | 9,000.00 |
| Invoice total | 1,18,000.00 |
| Received on 26 Aug 2026 | 1,08,000.00 |
| Short | 10,000.00 |
₹10,000.00 is 10% of ₹1,00,000.00, the value before GST: TDS on fees for professional services.
Settled in full. ₹10,000.00 goes to TDS receivable and is matched with the client's TDS once you bring in your Form 168. If it is missing there, you can email the client from Tracery.
An invoice in another currency is valued at the FBIL reference rate of its date, or the latest before it when none is published that day. It keeps that rate: money that comes at another rate is booked as a gain or loss on exchange.
An export under an LUT goes out without IGST. Tracery keeps the LUT for each GSTIN and year, prints its ARN, and will not issue an export dated before the LUT was filed.
RBI wants the money for an export in India within a set time from the invoice date: nine months for invoices from 5 June 2026, and fifteen months from 1 October 2026. Each invoice keeps the rule of its own date, and the export tracker counts down to it.
Payroll under Indian law
Set each salary from its CTC. Tracery pays each month for the days on the rolls, less loss of pay, takes TDS and Kerala's professional tax in the months the law sets, and keeps every deduction within half of wages. Approve the month and it is locked, posted to the books and sent out as payslips.
Kayal Software Private Limited
Kochi, Kerala
Wage slip, Code on Wages section 50(3)
Anna Thomas
Senior software engineer, Engineering
| Earnings | Rate a month ₹ | Paid ₹ |
|---|---|---|
| Basic pay | 47,500.00 | 47,500.00 |
| Special allowance | 28,500.00 | 28,500.00 |
| House rent allowance | 19,000.00 | 19,000.00 |
| Gross wages | 95,000.00 | 95,000.00 |
| Deductions | Amount ₹ |
|---|---|
| Recovery of salary advance of ₹30,000 | 10,000.00 |
Note: No TDS: the rebate takes her tax for the year to nil. | |
Note: Professional tax, ₹1,250.00, went with August pay; next, February. | |
| Total deductions | 10,000.00 |
Net pay in wordsEighty Five Thousand Rupees Only
Net pay₹85,000.00
Issued electronically.
Parts left out of wages, such as house rent allowance, count back in for whatever goes past half of all pay.
| Part | A month, ₹ | Under the Code |
|---|---|---|
| Basic pay | 47,500.00 | Wages |
| Special allowance | 28,500.00 | Wages |
| House rent allowance | 19,000.00 | Left out |
| Counted back, past half of pay | Nil | |
| Wages under the Code | 76,000.00 |
Basic at 50% of CTC, her salary: wages under the Code ₹76,000.00 a month. ₹19,000.00 is left out, within half of pay, so wages are the parts that count. Deductions may take up to half of them, ₹38,000.00 a month; her advance takes ₹10,000.00.
New regime, tax year 2026-27. TDS spreads the year's tax over the months left.
| Working | Amount, ₹ |
|---|---|
| Pay for the year, 12 × ₹95,000.00 | 11,40,000.00 |
| Less standard deduction | 75,000.00 |
| Income | 10,65,000.00 |
| 5% on ₹4,00,000.00 to ₹8,00,000.00 | 20,000.00 |
| 10% on ₹8,00,000.00 to ₹10,65,000.00 | 26,500.00 |
| Tax on the slabs | 46,500.00 |
| Less rebate, as income is within ₹12,00,000.00 | 46,500.00 |
| Tax for the year | Nil |
| TDS in September | Nil |
Under the old regime, with nothing claimed, her tax for the year would be ₹1,44,300.00. Tracery works out both and shows which costs less.
The compliance year
Every return and payment of the year, on the day the law sets for it. Tracery works out GST, TDS and the company's income tax from your books, and reminds whoever looks after each one ahead of time and on the day. On Mondays they get the next two weeks by email and, unless you change it, the owners are told when one is three days late.
Read on Monday 19 October 2026. Press any entry to open its docket.
| Return | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TDSPay by the 7th | ||||||
| GSTR-1File by the 11th | ||||||
| GSTR-3BFile and pay by the 20th | ||||||
| TDS returnsEach quarter | ||||||
| Income taxAdvance tax and ITR-6 | ||||||
| YearlyCompany law, LUT, professional tax |
| Return | Oct | Nov | Dec | Jan | Feb | Mar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TDSPay by the 7th | |||||||
| GSTR-1File by the 11th | |||||||
| GSTR-3BFile and pay by the 20th | |||||||
| TDS returnsEach quarter | |||||||
| Income taxAdvance tax and ITR-6 | |||||||
| YearlyCompany law, LUT, professional tax | |||||||
Docket · Every month
Due Tuesday 20 October 2026
Due tomorrow, the next thing due
7, 3 and 1 days before, and on the day, in the app and by email, to whoever it is given to, or else the owners and accountants. It is in every Monday email from two weeks out, and 3 days late the owners are told as well. Owners and accountants can change all of this in Settings.
A trail that cannot be rewritten
Tracery writes an entry for every change made through it, in the same step as the change: who made it and when, the record, each value before and after, and the reason where one is asked. Each entry is sealed with SHA-256 over what it holds and the seal of the one before, and the trail has no setting that switches it off.
Merin Jose, Accountant
Booked ₹8,420.00 paid on 5 Sep 2026 from HDFC Bank, current account to Electricity
Made over the seal before it, aa7c691b
Its seal, 9d2d106aIt matches.
Thomas Kurian, Chartered accountant
Locked Books: August 2026
Made over the seal before it, 9d2d106a
Its seal, 79acdc9aIt matches.
Merin Jose, Accountant
Issued tax invoice INV/26-27/014 to Harbour and Finch Ltd for $20,000.00
Made over the seal before it, 79acdc9a
Its seal, b97ac1c1It matches.
Joseph Varghese, Owner. Shown only to people who may see salaries.
Approved the pay for September 2026: ₹4,86,400 net for 8 people
Made over the seal before it, b97ac1c1
Its seal, 85f7258bIt matches.
Sneha Mathew, HR and payroll. Shown only to people who may read employee records.
Changed employee Jibin Joseph (EMP006)
DesignationSoftware engineer to Senior software engineer
Made over the seal before it, 85f7258b
Its seal, 81cf2ec1It matches.
Thomas Kurian, Chartered accountant
Downloaded the audit trail as a CSV file
Made over the seal before it, 81cf2ec1
Its seal, 4c7f6aa2It matches.
Try a quiet change
Say someone with the database file made the September invoice a tenth of what it was, and left its seal as it was. Your browser works every seal out again, each over the one before.
Each seal as written on its entry.
The database refuses to change or remove an entry, but for one thing: clearing the personal details an entry held once they are erased.
The year's report gives your auditor the seal check, the guards, and the entries by month, kind of record and person, with the seal of the year's last entry to keep with the working papers.
Entries about pay show only to people who may see salaries, and personal details only to those who may read employee records. Only owners see the network address a change came from.
Nothing in Tracery removes an entry. The trail is kept as long as the books: eight years, by section 128(5) of the Companies Act, 2013.
Your CA and team, let in
Owners let each person in with a role, from the accountant and HR to your CA and the auditor, who reads only the years they audit. Employees sign in to their own pay and nothing else. Tracery support reads your books only after an owner says yes, and only for as long as they allow.
Only owners let people in, change what they can open, or take it away.
| No. | Name and access | Booksbank, sales, bills | ReturnsGST, TDS, ITR | Payrollpay runs | Salarieseach person's pay | Documentsfiles kept | Settingsthe business | Teamwho is let in | My payown payslips |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Owner, Director | Opens and works in it | Opens and works in it | Opens and works in it, and approves pay runs | Opens and works in it | Opens and works in it | Opens and works in it | Opens and works in it | Cannot open |
| 2 | Accountant, sees salaries | Opens and works in it | Opens and works in it | Read only | Read only | Opens and works in it | Opens and works in it | Cannot open | Cannot open |
| 3 | HR and payroll | Cannot open | Cannot open | Opens and works in it | Opens and works in it | Opens and works in it | Cannot open | Cannot open | Cannot open |
| 4 | Chartered accountant, Thomas Kurian and Co | Opens and works in it | Opens and works in it | Cannot open | Cannot open | Opens and works in it | Cannot open | Cannot open | Cannot open |
| 5 | Auditor for 2025-26, Statutory auditor | Read only | Read only | Cannot open | Cannot open | Read only | Cannot open | Cannot open | Cannot open |
| 6 | Employee | Cannot open | Cannot open | Cannot open | Cannot open | Cannot open | Cannot open | Cannot open | Opens and works in it |
| 7 | Viewer, Investor | Read only | Read only | Cannot open | Cannot open | Cannot open | Cannot open | Cannot open | Cannot open |
Owner, Director
Sees and does everything, approves payroll and big actions, and manages the team.
A CA signs in once and moves between the businesses they look after, each with the role that business gave them.
Asked
Liya George
Tracery support
Support access
To look at the September statement import you asked us about.
Read only, for 1 day. It ends by itself, and an owner can end it sooner.
Open until7 Oct 2026, 11:20 am
Approved by Joseph Varghese, owner, 6 Oct 2026, 11:20 am
CA pack
Tally export
Private by design
Tracery takes its name from the stone of a Gothic window, which masons set out with nothing but a compass and a straight edge. Each part of this one carries a note on how your books are kept private, and each note is how the product works today.
Each business's books are kept in a database of their own. Every request reaches it through one door, which checks who you are and what your role may open.
You sign in with a six digit code sent to your email, good for 10 minutes and five tries, or with a passkey. Nobody signs up on their own: each person is invited.
Your account lists each device signed in and roughly where, and signs out any of them, or all but the one you are on. A sign in ends after seven days unused, and each one is logged for a year.
A bill, payslip or export opens through a signed link that stops working after 15 minutes, from a separate address that never sees your sign in.
AI helpers stay off until your business turns them on, and nothing goes to a model while they are off. When on, each request passes through a gateway that keeps no log of it.
An owner can ask for the whole business: every table as CSV and every stored file, in ZIP parts. Only that owner can download it, for seven days.
From your account's Privacy page, download your own data, ask for a correction or erasure, or complain, and get an answer within 90 days. Name up to three people to act for you, or close your account. Read the privacy notice.
The app, plate by plate
Each plate is a screen of Tracery as it runs today, shot from a demo business with made up books: the same Kayal Software as above, with its owner signed in. A lettered loop marks each thing to look at, and the key under the plate says what it is.
List of plates
Plate I. The owner's first page. Home for the owner, Joseph Varghese, on 6 October 2026.
Ask for an invite
Tracery is invite only for now. Each business is set up by hand, with its owner, so the books start right. Write in your business name and ask.
Name of account: Your business
Already invited? Sign in
Say what the business does and who works there, at hello@tracery.in.
A Tracery admin sets up the business and invites you as its owner.
With a code sent to your email, then a passkey on your phone or laptop. There is no password to keep.
Opening balances from the day your books start, bank statements, clients, and the people who work with you.