<span data-swiftype-index="true">

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, CD/DVD, a portable hard drive, or another computer.

Restoring your company file enables you to 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, 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. See Synchronise a company file.

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.

If you simply want to work offline, then have your offline changes updated in your online company file, check out your online company file.

How do I back up and restore company files?

Check out these great help topics:

Back up your company file

Restore your company file

</span>