In this guide 6 sections
An arhtiya keeps a running account for each farmer: advances given before the crop, the sale of the produce, commission and mandi fee deducted, and payments made. The bahi shows that story line by line. A year end summary in Tally keeps only totals, so a farmer wise ledger is needed.
What an arhtiya account really is
The arhtiya is part banker, part agent. A farmer may take money from him in sowing season for seed, diesel or a wedding, and bring wheat or paddy to his shop in the mandi months later.
So every farmer has one account that runs through the year. It opens with the old balance. Advances add to what the farmer owes. The sale of produce brings it down.
This is why the bahi matters. It is not a sales book. It is a debtor and creditor ledger that happens to be fed by crop sales.
The four kinds of entries
Advances come first. Each carries a date, an amount, the reason if noted, and sometimes an agreed rate or an informal understanding about how long it can run.
The sale comes next. The farmer’s lot is weighed, auctioned or sold to a miller or the procurement agency, and the arhtiya records the quantity, rate and buyer. Commission and the mandi fee are then worked out on that sale.
Last come payments: cash to the farmer, transfers, and amounts settled against the advance. The balance after all of these is what either side owes.
- Advance: date, amount, purpose, rate if agreed
- Sale: crop, quantity, rate, buyer, gate pass or slip number
- Commission and mandi fee: deducted from the sale value
- Payment: mode, date, and which balance it settles
- Carry forward: closing balance moved to the next season
Why a year end Tally summary loses the detail
Many arhtiyas post totals to Tally for the auditor. Advances become one number. Sales become another. Commission and fee are bunched in a single head.
That satisfies a return, but it cannot answer a farmer who asks why his balance stands where it does. Nor can it tell you which farmers carry advances from two seasons back.
The loss is in the dates and the pairing. Which advance was settled by which sale? Without that, every dispute is argued from memory and the bahi.
What a farmer wise ledger has to hold
Start with a farmer master: name, village, phone, land if you track it, and any guarantor. Under that sits a running ledger with each advance, sale and payment in date order.
Each sale entry should carry the crop, quantity, rate, commission, mandi fee and net amount as separate fields. Do not store only the net, since the fee rules and your rates may differ by crop.
Add a view of ageing. Show advances older than a season, by farmer, so you see risk before it becomes a loss.
- Opening balance and closing balance for every season
- Separate columns for commission and mandi fee
- Link between a payment and the advance it settles
- Ageing of unsettled advances by farmer
Checks before you move off the bahi
Run both books for one season. Compare each farmer’s closing balance in the bahi with the software. Differences usually trace to a missed payment or a sale entered against the wrong name.
Keep rates and fee percentages in a table that carries dates, because they change between seasons. Old sales must keep the rate they had.
Pick ten farmers this week and write out their full year as a list of dated entries. That list is the layout your ledger needs.
Farmer wise ledger template
A ledger sheet, one page, for a single farmer. The header holds name, village, phone and guarantor. Rows run in date order with columns for entry type, crop, quantity, rate, gross, commission, mandi fee, net, payment mode, settles which advance, and running balance. A footer shows opening, closing and advance ageing.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
What is the difference between commission and mandi fee?
Commission is the arhtiya’s charge for selling and handling the produce. The mandi fee is a market charge set under the rules of the state. Keep them in separate fields so each can be reported.
Can an arhtiya use Tally at all?
Yes, for the books an auditor needs. The farmer wise detail, such as which advance a sale cleared, usually needs a ledger kept alongside it.
How do we show interest on advances?
Record the rate and the dates on each advance, then compute from those. Do not apply one flat figure across the year, since advances are taken and cleared at different times.
Do we need farmer phone numbers in the ledger?
They help a great deal. A statement or balance reminder can reach the farmer before disputes build up at settlement.