Available in Tallyfor v3.25.49 and later.
What this covers
Some accounting systems export a trial balance where the Account number column holds a parent or roll-up code, and each account's real, most-specific code is buried inside the Account name. AppFolio does this, and so do some flattened QuickBooks Online exports.
The file looks like this:
Account number | Account name |
4000-1900 | Other income - 4000-1010 Application Fee Income |
4000-1900 | Other income - 4000-1030 Cleaning and Maint Income |
1200-0000 | Escrow/deposits - 1200-5000 Deposits - Vendors |
Every one of those rows is a different account, but they share an account number. Before this release, Tallyfor read only the column, saw duplicate codes, and stopped the import — on one real customer file, eight roll-up codes covered 33 of 59 accounts.
What Tallyfor does now
When you import this kind of file, Tallyfor reads the deepest code out of the account name and uses that as the account code. In the example above, the three rows import as 4000-1010, 4000-1030 and 1200-5000 — not three copies of a roll-up code.
Nothing about your file needs to change. There is no setting to turn on and no extra mapping step.
How Tallyfor decides what a code looks like
Rather than guessing, Tallyfor measures the file:
It looks at every value in the account-number column and works out the shape those codes share — for example, 1000-1031 is a four-digit group, a separator, then another four-digit group.
It takes the most common shape, and only trusts it if that shape covers at least 80% of the column and appears at least three times.
It then searches each account name for that same shape and takes the last match — the deepest, most specific child code.
Only separated code shapes qualify — codes with a hyphen, colon or similar divider. Plain numeric codes are deliberately excluded, because a bare four-digit pattern would match things that aren't codes at all (the "2024" in Repairs 2024, for instance).
What this also fixes
The older extraction looked for any run of digits at the start of an account name, which mangled fixed-asset schedules:
Account name | Was read as | Now |
27.5 Year Property | code 27, name "5 Year Property" | keeps its Account number, name intact |
15 Year Property | code 15, name "Year Property" | keeps its Account number, name intact |
5 & 7 Year Property | code 5, name "7 Year Property" | keeps its Account number, name intact |
What you'll see in the mapping window
When Tallyfor recognises a code shape, the mapping window tells you what it is about to do:
If your file has an account-number column, Tallyfor says it will use the sub-account code found in the name, and that any row without one keeps its Account number.
If Tallyfor can't establish a reliable shape, it says so and leaves your Account number column exactly as it is.
You can always override the automatic choice by mapping the columns yourself.
What is not affected
Direct QuickBooks Online connections. Accounts pulled through the API already carry their full sub-account path (151 Cash:151-1 Cash Subaccount:151-1-1 Cash Level 2 imports as 151-1-1) and that behaviour is unchanged.
Files with plain numeric codes. These derive no shape, so the importer behaves exactly as it always has.
Files that already carry one code per account. Nothing is rewritten.
Troubleshooting
The import still stops on duplicate account codes. Tallyfor never merges two accounts and never guesses which one to keep, so a genuine duplicate is always blocked with a message naming the code and both account names. If your file is an AppFolio-style export and the codes still collide, the code shape probably wasn't consistent enough to trust — check that the account-number column uses one format throughout.
The wrong code was picked up. Tallyfor takes the last matching code in the name. If your naming convention puts the parent last, map the columns manually instead.
Nothing was extracted. Codes without a separator are excluded by design. Send the file to [email protected] and we'll take a look.
Related articles
Importing an Excel Trial Balance
How to turn on account numbers in QBO
Accounts in Wrong Account Type Section