- How do I create a backup of my QuickBooks company file?
- Where are the backup files stored?
- How often should I backup?
- How can I restore a previous backup?
- How do I view and manage all my backup files?
- How long does it take to backup?
- How can I schedule backups automatically?
- How does SmartVault know where to restore my files?
How do I create a backup of my QuickBooks company file? Back to top
To backup a QuickBooks company file, close the company file and right-click on the SmartVault system tray icon. Select the Backup option from the Actions menu item as shown in the screen below.
The Backup to SmartVault window will appear, as shown in the screen below. Select one or more company files to back up and click the Backup button to begin the backup process. For more information, see Working with the Backup window.
Where are the backup files stored?
When you backup QuickBooks company files with SmartVault, your backup data is stored on servers in the SmartVault data center. These servers are housed in secure, fully redundant SAS/70 Type II certified data center facilities backed by proven procedures to ensure that your data is as secure as possible. Our information and physical security processes and data storage environment assure you that your data is safe and secure at all times. You can access your backup files in two ways.
- Use the Restore option from the SmartVault desktop software
- Use the copy and paste method via the SmartVault Drive
How often should I backup? Back to top
One of the main benefits of using SmartVault is that you will always have an off-site backup copy of your important documents and QuickBooks data files. For this reason, we recommend that you backup your company files at least one time each day that you are making changes to those files.
To be extra safe, some users configure SmartVault for Automatic Backups every time they close their important company files.
How can I restore a previous backup? Back to top
You can restore a previous backup of any QuickBooks company from the SmartVault system tray icon at the bottom right-hand of your screen. To restore a QuickBooks company file, right-click the SmartVault system tray icon and select the Restore option from the Actions menu item, as shown in the screen below.
The Restore window will open, as shown in the screen below. From this screen, select the company file that you wish to restore to your local hard drive, and click Restore. For more details, see Working with the Restore window.
How do I view and manage all my backup files? Back to top
To view backups for a particular company file
- Expand your account in the SmartVault Web portal
- Click on the vault name and expand the Applications folder
- Expand QuickBooks and click on the company file
- Click on the Backups folder to see the backup files in the Details pane
To manage the backup properties
- Right click on the vault name and select the View Properties...link
- From the Vault Settings page, you can change the name of the backup and the “Keep Forever” status of the backup
To delete a backup
- Expand the Backups folder for your company file on the SmartVault Web portal
- Click in the white space near the backup name in the Details pane
- Click the Delete this document link in the tasks pane on the right
How long does it take to backup? Back to top
The time required to Backup a QuickBooks company file depends on the total size of the file, the bandwidth being used, and the load on the SmartVault server at that time. Therefore, backups can vary from about one minute to several minutes or more.
How can I schedule backups automatically? Back to top
SmartVault can be set to automatically backup your QuickBooks company file every X number of times you close a company file. You can change the number of times required for automatic backup for each QuickBooks company file on every computer that is running SmartVault.
This value is set when you initially add a company to SmartVault on your computer; however, you can change the value at any time using the Backups tab on the User Options menu, available from the SmartVault system tray icon, as shown in the screen below.
The value can be set separately for each company, using any value from 1 to 9,999 –or by clearing the checkbox shown above to turn off automatic backups for the selected company.
How does SmartVault know where to restore my files? Back to top
Every time you open a QuickBooks company file that has been added to SmartVault, the SmartVault application on that computer gets a message from QuickBooks to activate the SmartVault Toolbar. This message also includes the location of the QuickBooks company file, which is tracked by SmartVault. When you restore a backup of a particular company file, SmartVault will use the last known location of that company file on your computer as the default location to which it will restore the backup file.
If SmartVault has never worked with that particular company on the current computer, it will use the QuickBooks "Company Files" directory as the default location.
In either case, however, you can override the default directory and choose an alternate location to which the company backup will be restored.
Working with the Backup window Back to top
From the Backup to SmartVault window, you can backup one or more QuickBooks company files on your computer to the SmartVault data center. This will ensure that you have an off-site backup of your QuickBooks data.
After selecting the desired company file(s), click the Backup button to begin the backup process. The three options that are available in this window are explained below.
| Select Company to Backup | You can select one or more (or all) companies from this list to back up to SmartVault. |
| Keep Forever | By default, SmartVault will delete old backup files to make room for new backups and conserve disk space. If you select the “Keep Forever” box, all the files you backup now will be flagged as “Keep Forever” on the SmartVault server and will not be deleted unless you manually do so. |
| Backup Name | Backups are usually identified by a date and time. However, you can also give the backup a special name. This is particularly useful for “Keep Forever” backups, for which you might want to remember a special description (e.g., “2007 Year End Backup”). |
Working with the Automatic Backup Reminder window Back to top
QuickBooks company file, where “X” is a number that you can set via the Options menu from the SmartVault system tray icon. When the window below appears, you can choose to perform the backup (highly recommended) by clicking the Backup button. Clicking the Postpone button will postpone the backup and cause the reminder to appear the next time you close the QuickBooks company file.
You can also click the Manage button to go to the Backups page for the current company in the SmartVault web portal.
Working with the Restore window Back to top
From the Restore window you can restore any QuickBooks company backup that is available to your SmartVault User ID. After selecting the company file you want to restore, click the Restore button to begin the restore process. The four options that are available to help you select the correct company file backup are explained below.
| SmartVault | The default option of All SmartVault Accounts indicates that you will be able to choose from all company backup files from all SmartVault to which you have access. To restrict the list to company files from a specific SmartVault account, select the appropriate SmartVault account from this drop-down list. |
| Company | Use this drop-down list to pick the QuickBooks company file that you want to restore. If you have access to multiple SmartVault accounts, you can narrow the list down to company in a specific SmartVault account (see above). |
| Destination | The destination field shows the directory to which the file will be restored. You can click the Browse button to view or change this location. |
| Backup | While you would probably want to restore the most recent backup, you can select any back file from this list of all available backups for the selected company file, sorted from newest to oldest. |
If you attempt to restore a file that already exists on the current computer, you will see a pop up window similar to the one below, asking you to confirm that you want to overwrite the current file.
If you click “Yes”, the SmartVault client software will create a backup of the current files on your local hard drive before it performs the restore operation. These backup files are stored in a compressed “zip” file in case you need them later.
When the restore process begins, the “Click to restore” message will be replaced with a progress bar. After the restore process completes, a confirmation window will appear similar to the one shown below. Click the Close button to acknowledge the confirmation message and the Restore window will disappear.
