What is backing up?
Backing up your company file is like taking a snapshot of your company file at a particular point in time. You might do this at specific times, like the end of financial year. When you back up your company file, a copy of the file is saved as a compressed "ZIP" file (which takes up less space). Backup files should be copied to a safe location such as an external storage device, online storage, or another computer.
What is restoring?
Restoring your company file is how you open a backed up copy of your company file to view its contents, run reports, or to replace your current working company file. You might do this to replace a company file which contains unauthorised transactions.
Backups and online company files
If your AccountRight company file is online, your data is held by MYOB in state-of-the-art data centres and cloud servers. These facilities automatically back up your data online weekly, retaining it for six months.
This is not the same as a backup. A backup is a snapshot of your company file at a particular point in time. So even if you work online, you may still want to make backups periodically, for example weekly, or at the end of a financial period.
Tips for backing up
Back up regularly | To help remind you, turn on the AccountRight preference to prompt for a backup each time to close your company file (Setup menu > Preferences >Security tab > Prompt for Data Backup when Closing). |
Label your backups | If you're storing the backup file on a removable storage device, label your backups with enough information to tell you when they were done, for example ‘Friday, 22.05.18’ or ‘Backup as of 22.05.18’. |
Use appropriate storage media | Different storage media offer different advantages. For example, a portable, but offsite storage might be more secure. Except for daily rotational backups, we recommend you do not re-use media. Also, due to the varying read/write speeds for external storage devices, if you want to store backups on a USB device, we recommend saving your backup to your computer then copying it to the USB device. |
Store backups in a different location to your company file | Don’t store backups on the same hard disk as your current company file. A single disaster could wipe out all your records. |
Don’t overwrite previous backups | If your current file is corrupt and you don’t realise it, and then you overwrite your previous backup file, you’ll no longer have a useable backup. |
Store backups off site | Store backups in a secure place, such as another physical location, or online with a storage solution such as DropBox. |
How do I back up and restore company files?
Check out these help topics:
FAQs
Why is my file stuck in "Backup in progress"?
If your company file is stuck with a status of Backing up or you persistently see this message, you'll need our help.
Click the chat bubble at the bottom of this page and ask MOCA, our virtual assistant, for help. Or, submit a support request via My Account and our support team will get you back up and running.