Is your file online? If you store your company file online, you can choose the auto-sync option to synchronise a copy of the online file to your computer automatically, every 20 minutes. This means that if the internet drops out, or someone checks out the file while you’re still working, there’s a readable copy on your computer that is no more than 20 minutes old. This is not the same as a backup, however. 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, weekly, for example, or at the end of a financial period.

1. Close any open windows, other than the Command Centre.

2. Go to the File menu and choose Back Up. The Back Up Company File window appears.
   

   A default filename is assigned.

   Default filename	further details
   MYOBmmddyyyy.zip	mmddyyyy is the month, day and year from your computer’s clock .zip is the file extension and cannot be changed.

3. [Optional] You can change the name of the backup file.
4. Click Browse and select where you want to save the backup file.
5. If you want to protect the backup from unauthorised use, enter and confirm a password. This password will need to be entered when restoring the backup file.
6. Click Back Up. The backup process begins.
7. If you are storing the backup file on a removable storage device, label all your backups with enough information to tell you when they were done and where you were up to in data entry—for example, ‘Friday, 22.05.15’ or ‘Backup as of 22.05.15’.

Note the following before you back up your company file:

• Appropriate storage media. Different storage media offer different advantages. For example, CDs or USB-based devices are more portable, but offsite storage might be more secure.
• 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, for example, in another physical location, or online with a storage solution such as DropBox. Except for daily rotational backups, we recommend you do not re-use media.
• If you're having issues backing up when working online (connection errors or the backup taking a long time), check out your company file then create the backup from the checked out file. Once you've created your backup you can check in your company file.

<h2><i class="fa fa-comments"></i>&nbsp;&nbsp;FAQs</h2><br>

The error "Before you can start this task, you need to close all windows and return to the Command Centre." can occur when an AccountRight windows is still open.  Click Go to the Window Menu menu and select Close All. This will make sure all windows are closed, you can now attempt to take your backup again.