Keeping your masters in step with your other software

Many businesses keep their books in Kaalchakra and in Busy side by side, and change their masters in Busy every day. Daily sync keeps Kaalchakra's masters in step. Export your lists from Busy and bring them here: Kaalchakra works out what was added, changed, renamed or removed in Busy since your last sync, applies everything it is sure of with one Apply, and asks you only about what it cannot be sure of.

It covers four lists: accounts, items, account groups and item groups. Bill sundries join it soon; until then, keep them up to date with the import on Masters → Bill Sundry. Discounts are not part of it — keep them up to date in Masters → Discount.

How daily sync works

Kaalchakra remembers what every master looked like in Busy at your last sync. Comparing today's file with that memory shows what changed in Busy; comparing Kaalchakra's own details with the same memory shows what changed here. That is how a change made in Busy is applied while an edit made only in Kaalchakra is kept — see When something changed in both places.

1. 1

   Bring today's files

   Open Masters → Daily sync and drop in the lists you exported from Busy, several files at once. Which files? shows how to export them.

2. 2

   Check the files

   Each file shows the list it was recognised as, with its rows and columns. A file may ask you to Choose the list, to point to a column (Columns needed), or to Pick the Busy year when an account's opening balance is involved.

3. 3

   Review the changes

   Each list has its own tab, and every master that changes sits under one label, such as Changed, New or Renamed. Open a row to see each detail side by side — Kaalchakra now, Last import and Today's file — and What happens to it.

4. 4

   Answer what Kaalchakra can't decide

   Uncertain matches wait under To decide, and so does a name, alias, tax, group, unit or opening detail changed both in Busy and in Kaalchakra. Decide one by one steps through them with Previous, Skip and Next. A question you leave unanswered waits for the next sync; everything certain still applies.

5. 5

   Apply

   One confirmation shows the counts for each list, the details edited in Kaalchakra that will take Busy's value, the warnings, the stock and opening lines, and the masters to be removed. Changes also reach your linked organisations, exactly as edits made by hand do. Nothing in your books changes before you press Apply.

6. 6

   Watch it finish

   Lists apply in order — account groups, item groups, accounts, items — so a new group exists before the masters that use it. Progress shows as it goes, and Stop halts it; what was applied stays applied. Rows that could not be applied are listed with their reason under Couldn't apply, and anything new that turned up when the later lists were checked again waits under Found after Apply — next sync.

Which files to bring

Bring each list as its own Excel (.xlsx or .xls) or CSV file, exported from Busy. Always export the whole list: Kaalchakra learns that a master was removed in Busy because it is missing from a complete file — see Masters missing from today's file. A shorter file still updates the masters it holds, but nothing missing from it is ticked for removal.

• Each list is recognised by its columns. Items by two or more of HSN Code, Main Unit and MRP; accounts by two or more of their GSTIN, state and mobile columns; account groups by their nature and role; bill sundries by the accounts they post to. When Kaalchakra can't tell — an item group file, for one, has no column of its own — it asks you to Choose the list, and remembers your answer for a file with the same name and columns.
• The name column must be found. If it isn't, the file says Columns needed and you point to it. You can point any other column to the right detail too, and your choices are remembered for next time.
• Opening, stock, tax and price columns are read only when their heading matches exactly, or when you choose them yourself. A heading that says closing, balance or stock without saying opening is never read as an opening.
• Title lines are fine. The company name and period printed above the column headings are skipped, and a Total line at the end is never read as a master.
• Two files for the same list are joined only when both were recognised by their columns and share no names, as when Busy exported one list in two parts. Otherwise the screen asks you to Choose which file.

Which Busy year your lists are from

Busy keeps each financial year separately and carries balances forward into the next. So when your lists hold account opening balances, Kaalchakra needs to know which Busy year they come from. On the files step, choose it where it says These lists are from Busy's year — for example 2026-27.

• Pick the year yourself whenever an account's opening is involved. A year that is only filled in for you does not count, because a wrong year would date a whole list of openings a year out.
• With the year picked, a new account takes Busy's opening, dated 1 April of that year. An account you already have takes Busy's opening only if its Opening Date in Kaalchakra is exactly 1 April of that year.
• Without the year, a new account is created without an opening and shows Opening not set — pick the Busy year, and a different opening on an existing account is only shown, as Opening differs.
• An account's Opening Date is never changed from a file.

The year, and whether you picked it, are recorded with each sync. Item opening stock does not depend on the year — see Stock and opening figures.

How a renamed master is recognised

Busy knows a master by its name, so in a Busy list a renamed master is simply a row with a new name. Kaalchakra recognises it as the same master — and renames it in place, keeping all its history — when one of these says so:

• The alias or the GSTIN stayed the same. An alias of at least three letters or digits that no other master uses — often an item code — or, for accounts, the same GSTIN, is the strongest sign. A master that has history is renamed by its alias alone only when at least half of its other details agree as well, including a key one — the HSN or a price for an item; the GSTIN, PAN or mobile for an account. Otherwise it is asked.
• Every detail stayed the same. When at least three details are filled in, every one is unchanged, and no other master has the same details, the new name belongs to the old master. If the two names differ in a number — 2 mm against 3 mm — matching details are not enough on their own; at most it is suggested, as in the last point.
• A group's members moved with it. When at least three members, and at least 80% of a vanished group's members, appear under a new group name in today's account or item list, the group was renamed.
• A similar name is only a suggestion. A name that closely resembles one that vanished, with at least two details agreeing, becomes a question under To decide — never a change on its own. Until you answer it, the new row is not created and the vanished master is not offered for removal.

A name that differs only in capital letters or spacing is the same name, and Kaalchakra never renames a master for that alone. Some shapes are always asked, never applied:

• Two masters swapped names — each row agrees more with the other master's details than with its own. Two account groups that hold accounts or sub-groups are not swapped: both rows show Can't apply — rename one in Busy.
• A master renamed, and a new one opened under the old name. When a GSTIN or an alias tells the two apart, Kaalchakra sees it. Otherwise it asks when the old details moved unchanged onto the renamed row; when the new name starts with the old one — Sharma Traders (Old), Sharma Traders 2025 — and agrees with the old details on two or more; or when most details changed at once (Same party? Most details changed).
• Rows and masters that could pair up in more than one way. A match is applied only when there is exactly one way to pair them all.

What each kind of change means

Every master that changes sits under exactly one label on its list's tab. Masters that are the same in Busy and in Kaalchakra are not listed, only counted — for example · 1,204 unchanged.

The reason shown on a row tells you what to do:

When something changed in both places

For every detail, Kaalchakra compares three values: Busy's at your last sync, Busy's today, and Kaalchakra's now. Busy's changes win, and edits made only in Kaalchakra are kept.

• A column that is not in today's file is never touched.
• Keep Kaalchakra's keeps your value, and later syncs compare against Busy's new value, so the question is not asked again.
• Use Busy's value is never offered for a blank Busy value or for an opening.
• A master with an open question still has its certain details applied.

Masters missing from today's file

A master that is in Kaalchakra but missing from today's file may have been deleted in Busy — or the file may be incomplete. Kaalchakra decides by how complete the file is. Only masters that came from Busy in an earlier sync can be removed: a master that exists only in Kaalchakra is never touched, and nothing is removed on the first sync of a list.

This is my full list tells Kaalchakra that the file is complete even though many masters are missing. The missing masters are then listed, unticked, for you to choose, and your confirmation is recorded with the sync.

• Small lists: below 50 synced masters, a single missing master already takes the file below 98%, so nothing is ticked in advance.
• A whole group gone: if 90% or more of a group's members — at least 5 — vanished while the rest of the list is complete, that group's masters are held back from removal.
• A master you untick stays, and moves to Not in Busy any more, where you can still remove it later. It is never ticked in advance again.
• Missing three syncs in a row, a master is marked Not in Busy any more. The mark clears itself if it comes back.
• Never ticked in advance: a master first brought in by someone who cannot delete from that list.

Whether a master was used is checked twice: when the review is prepared, and again at the moment of removal, so anything used in between is kept. One gap remains for accounts: an estimate saved under a name the account had before any sync saw it is not found by this check.

A missing master with history is never deleted. It shows as Kept — has history: an item can still be removed from your lists, or merged into the item that replaced it when Kaalchakra finds a likely one; any other master is marked Not in Busy any more.

If a master this sync removed comes back in Busy, it is put back automatically when its details are exactly as before, or when it has no history; otherwise To decide asks whether it is the same master back, or a different one that needs its own name in Busy. A master someone removed by hand in Kaalchakra shows once as Kept removed in Kaalchakra while Busy still has it unchanged; if Busy changed it, To decide asks whether to put it back or create it again. Putting an account back also brings back its old ledger history, because an account is known by its name.

Stock and opening figures

Current stock is never changed from a master list — not by daily sync, and not by the Sync with existing tab. When the stock in a file differs from Kaalchakra's, the review only says so.

• Item opening stock is taken from the file only when a new item is created. An item you already have never has its opening stock changed.
• Account openings follow the Busy year: a new account takes Busy's opening only when you picked the year, dated 1 April of it; an existing account only when its Opening Date is exactly 1 April of that year. Otherwise the review shows Opening differs. See Which Busy year your lists are from.
• An opening written in one cell, such as 12,500 Dr, is read as the amount and its side. An opening that can't be read stops that new account with Can't apply.
• A heading that says closing, balance or stock without saying opening is never read as an opening.

Tax and group changes

GSTIN, PAN, state, place of supply, dealer type, group, TDS and TCS on accounts; HSN, tax category, cess, unit and group on items; the parent, nature and role of account groups; the parent of item groups; and a bill sundry's nature and fed type all apply like any other detail — with a warning in the confirmation, and with a question whenever both Busy and Kaalchakra changed them.

• Codes are read exactly as Busy wrote them. A shortened HSN, or a long code that turned into a number, is refused rather than guessed. An HSN that equals Kaalchakra's once leading zeros are ignored is left as it is.
• A tax rate is read as a rate. A name or label is never turned into a tax.
• A tax category change is checked the same way as when you edit the item by hand.
• A GSTIN moving between two accounts is removed from one before it is set on the other. A GSTIN that another account already holds shows Can't apply — GSTIN already used by ‹account›.
• A tax column that would empty more than one row in five — and at least five rows — is stopped for that sync; that usually means the column came out of Busy without its values.
• A group must exist when its masters are written — already, or created earlier in the same sync. Otherwise: Can't apply — group ‹group› doesn't exist.
• Built-in ledgers and groups are never renamed, moved or deleted by a sync.

What a rename carries with it

A rename happens in place: the master keeps its documents, ledger, stock and history. A few things that refer to a master by its name move with it:

• Discounts. When an account, an item or an item group is renamed, or an item moves to another group, its discounts are copied to the new name. A copy that already exists is kept as it is. The discounts under the old name stay until a different master takes that name; then they are removed.
• Price rules and catalogue sharing. Renaming an item group moves the price rules and the catalogue sharing rules that name it; renaming an account moves the price rules that name it.
• Account groups. Renaming an account group renames it for its sub-groups and its accounts. If the new name means a different kind of group, it is asked first. Built-in groups are never renamed by a sync.
• Item groups. Renaming an item group moves its items, sub-groups, discounts, price rules and catalogue sharing rules to the new name. If another item group already has that name, the rename can't apply and the two groups stay separate — rename one of them in Busy.
• Bill sundries. A bill sundry's posting accounts and its ledger connection change only for someone who can manage Settings; for anyone else the review says Posting account differs — needs Settings access. Round Off is never changed by a sync.
• Open sale orders and linked organisations follow a rename exactly as they follow one made by hand.

If your file lists the same thing twice

Busy can hold Sharma Traders and SHARMA TRADERS as two masters, but Kaalchakra matches names without regard to capitals or spacing, so it cannot tell which row belongs to which master. When a file holds two such rows, Kaalchakra applies neither row: both show Can't apply — rename one in Busy. Rename one of them in Busy, then sync again.

• The same file chosen twice in one sync is never joined to itself: the screen asks you to Choose which file.
• Two files for one list are joined only when both were recognised by their columns and share no names. Otherwise: Choose which file.
• A row that repeats the column headings inside the list is skipped.
• Several bill sundries in Kaalchakra with one name hold that name back: Can't apply — ‹count› bill sundries share this name; rename the extras first. Give the others different names in Masters → Bill Sundry, then sync again.

The first sync of a list

The first time you sync a list, Kaalchakra has no memory of Busy's earlier values. It finds your existing masters by name, alias and, for accounts, GSTIN, and compares the two directly:

• A filled-in Busy value that differs from Kaalchakra's is applied.
• A blank Busy cell keeps Kaalchakra's value.
• A difference only in capitals or spacing, or 0 against blank, counts as the same.
• Names never change automatically.
• Current stock is never written, and openings follow the Busy year.
• Nothing is removed.

A row that could be either of two masters in Kaalchakra — one has its name, another its alias or GSTIN — goes to To decide. A row whose name or alias belongs to an item you removed asks Put it back? and is never added as new; one that belongs to an item merged into another is Linked.

If Kaalchakra already holds 10 or more masters in the list — not counting the built-in ledgers every organisation starts with — and fewer than half of them are in the file, the list stops: Doesn't look like this company's list. Otherwise only a note is shown.

After Apply, Kaalchakra remembers Busy's values for every master it matched, found or created, and from the next sync on, the full comparison applies.

History of syncs

Every sync is kept in the history on the Daily sync page: when it ran, who ran it, which files it read, and for each list how many masters were added, changed, renamed and removed — and whether the list was applied in full, applied in part, stopped, confirmed as a full list or started afresh.

Open a sync to see its changes list by list, each detail before and after. You see only the lists you can open, and a detail your access hides — a purchase price, for example — stays hidden.

The history also teaches Kaalchakra your files: a file with the same name and columns as one you used before is recognised as the same list, with the same columns.

Who can run a sync

Running a sync needs the permission Sync masters from files. Masters and admins have it from the start. Anyone else needs a policy that allows both of these:

• the Daily sync page, under Masters, on the policy's Pages and actions tab; and
• Sync masters from files, on its Other permissions tab.

A policy that allows the whole of Masters — the ready-made MastersFullAccess, for example — includes the Daily sync page but not Sync masters from files, so on its own it does not let anyone sync. The ready-made AdministratorAccess includes both. Policies are kept in Administration → User Management → Policies — see Users, groups, and policies.

Each change also needs the right for its list:

• A row you have no right for shows Needs ‹list› access and is never sent; the rest still applies.
• A list's tab shows only for people who can open that list, and the history shows only those lists.
• A detail your access hides, such as a purchase price, is never compared, shown or changed for you — and someone who can see it later gets no false change because of it.
• The Sync with existing tab on each master's import page needs the same permission.
• If you cannot see Daily sync under Masters, ask whoever manages your team's access.

Where to find it

Masters → Daily sync takes all of a day's lists at once, with one review and one Apply. When bill sundries join Daily sync, they will be synced only here.

Each of the other four lists also has a Sync with existing tab on its import page — the same review, for that one list: