Summary

This guide helps you troubleshoot and resolve: How to Set Up Automatic Backups for QuickBooks and MYOB Data to an External Drive to Prevent Financial Loss. Follow the steps below to fix the issue.

Common Causes

How to Set Up Automatic Backups for QuickBooks and MYOB Data to an External Drive

Protecting your financial records is critical for any Australian small business. QuickBooks Desktop and MYOB AccountRight store essential data such as invoices, payroll, and tax information. Setting up automatic backups to an external drive ensures you can recover your financial data quickly in the event of hardware failure, accidental deletion, or cybersecurity incidents. This guide walks you through configuring scheduled backups for both platforms.

Before You Begin

• Connect a reliable external USB drive to your computer.
• Ensure the drive has sufficient free space for your accounting files and multiple backup versions.
• Close QuickBooks or MYOB before starting if the software prompts you to do so.
• Note the location of your company file. QuickBooks company files typically use the .qbw extension, while backup files use .qbb. MYOB AccountRight company files use .myo.

QuickBooks Desktop Automatic Backups

Schedule Automatic Backups

1. Open QuickBooks Desktop and open your company file.
2. From the top menu, select File, then hover over Back Up Company.
3. Select Create Local Backup.
4. In the Save Copy or Backup window, choose Local Backup and click Options.
5. Click Browse and select your external drive as the backup destination.
6. Check the box Remind me to back up when I close my company file or Automatically back up when closing, depending on your QuickBooks version.
7. Set the number of backup copies to retain.
8. Click OK, then click Next and choose Save it now and schedule future backups.
9. Follow the prompts to set a backup schedule (for example, daily or weekly).
10. Enter your Windows administrator credentials if prompted to confirm the scheduled task.
11. Click Finish.

Verify the Backup Location

1. Open File Explorer (Win + E).
2. Navigate to your external drive.
3. Confirm the QuickBooks backup folder exists and contains recent .qbb files.

MYOB AccountRight Backups

Create a Backup to External Drive

1. Open MYOB AccountRight and open your company file.
2. Go to the File menu and select Backup.
3. Choose Back up company file.
4. Select your external drive as the destination.
5. Save the backup file.

Note: MYOB AccountRight does not include a built-in automatic scheduler for local backups. To maintain regular backups, repeat the manual process above on a set schedule (for example, weekly), or use Windows Task Scheduler to launch the backup routine if supported by your version.

Manual Backup Steps

1. In MYOB AccountRight, select File > Backup.
2. Save the backup file to a known location on your PC.
3. Open File Explorer and copy the backup file to your external drive.

Important: MYOB Essentials is a cloud-based product and does not support local backups to an external drive. If you use MYOB Essentials, your data is stored in the cloud; verify your cloud backup settings within MYOB instead.

Verify and Test Your Backups

Automatic backups are only useful if they actually work. Test your setup at least once per quarter:

1. Copy a backup file from your external drive to a test computer or a separate folder.
2. Open QuickBooks or MYOB and restore the file using the software's restore function.
3. Confirm that recent transactions and data are present.

Maintenance Best Practices

• Rotate external drives periodically and keep one offsite for disaster recovery.
• Label drives clearly with dates and contents.
• Check backup logs in QuickBooks or MYOB regularly for errors.
• Ensure your external drive is encrypted if it contains sensitive financial or payroll data.
• If you use cloud accounting versions of QuickBooks Online or MYOB Essentials, confirm your cloud backup settings in addition to local external drive backups.

For more guidance on protecting your data, see How to back up files to an external drive.

If you need assistance configuring backups or restoring your accounting data, Open a Ticket with 220 Internet Services support.

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