Financial data loss can pose serious short and long-term consequences to your business. This is why backups are a crucial part of your Disaster Recovery Plan. A business needs to know that backups are being performed regularly to be prepared, in the event recovery/restoration work should be required.
We've heard many a horror story from clients who did not have their QuickBooks files backed up and were left without a shred of financial information. Their stories range from office flooding that damaged the computers, computers being stolen, and most commonly, to computers being hacked, rendering the encrypted information virtually useless.
So, What To Do Now? How Do I Ensure that My QuickBooks Gets Backed Up Daily?
If you are using Qbox, which many of our clients are using, your QuickBooks gets backed up every time you close the file and a copy gets saved to the cloud. The great thing about QBox is, that they store 20 versions of the file that are synced to the Qbox cloud, and any of these can be restored to your desktop when needed. As we constantly remind our clients, it's very important to make sure to just close that file every night!
IDrive, is another recommended software. IDrive protects your data through regular online backups. That way your data is available right when you need it, as well as stored safely off-site.
If your QuickBooks is on a server, check with your computer technician whether your files are being backed up regularly.
The Importance of a Manual Backup
Now, you have a cloud based software that creates a copy of your QuickBooks file every night such as Qbox or Idrive. BUT, it is also essential to regularly make a hard local backup of your QuickBooks files. Why is this so important? Most QuickBooks errors will get corrected by creating a manual backup. The hard backup verifies the file for any errors and takes the changes from the TLG file and writes them to the database. It also ensures that the TLG file does not get too large.
- We recommend one person to be in charge of making backups at least once a week in single user mode.
- You can delete backups that are no longer needed, however do not delete month-end or year-end backups.
- Finally, test your backups on a scheduled basis.
Instructions for Manually Backing up Your QuickBooks Files
Before you back up your accounting data, make sure to switch to single-user mode (File > Switch to Single-user Mode).
- In QuickBooks, go to the File menu and choose Back Up Company
- Now click on the Create local backup
- Click Options and tap on the Browse button to change the file name and select your preferred location where you want to backup QuickBooks files.
- Click Ok to proceed. Click Next and select Save it now.
- Now click Finish. The backup will now save.
Avoid disaster. Back up your QuickBooks within QuickBooks itself.
