Online company files, AccountRight desktop only
When you create an offline backup of up your company file, a copy of the file in its current state is created as a compressed file with a .zip extension, such as "MyBackupDDMMYYYY.zip".
To open an offline backup, it needs to be restored in AccountRight. You can choose to restore the backup:
in an AccountRight library on your computer or a network location – this lets you view a copy of your company file as at the backup date. You would do this to view historical information or replace the offline company file you work with
online – to overwrite your current online company file You can also do this by restoring an online backup
Turn on the offline backup and restore setting
Online company files only
There's an AccountRight preference that controls whether you want to use online or offline backups. You can switch the preference on or off whenever you like, depending on the type of backup you want to create or restore.
Go to the Setup menu > Preferences > Security tab.
Select the option Enable Offline Backups and Restore. This means your backup and restore processes will be offline. You can re-select this option any time if you want to create or restore an online backup.
Click OK.
When you enable offline backups, you can also select the option Prompt for Data Backup when Closing. This is handy if you want to be reminded to take an offline backup each time you close your company file.
Restoring an offline backup in an AccountRight library
Go to the File menu and choosing Restore. If you can't choose this option, make sure you've turned on the preference to use offline backups mentioned above.
Click Browse and choose the backup file you want to restore.
Can't find your backup file?
If you've looked in all the obvious places (including external drives), try a Windows search on your computer. If you didn't change the file name when you made the back up, it will use the default AccountRight backup file name format. This name is a combination of MYOB and the date the back up was made. For example, if the back up was made on 31 December 2024, it will have the default name MYOB12312024.zip. That is, MYOBmm/dd/yyyy.zip.
If you don't know the date, try searching the files on your computer for all .zip files or .zip files that include MYOB (such as MYOB AND .zip). For details about searching for files on your PC, see this Microsoft help article.
If a password was entered when the backup was created, enter this password in the window that appears, and click OK.
Select the option to restore the company file in an AccountRight library – either locally on your PC or in a network location. To change the AccountRight library or library folder that the file will be restored to, click Change Library and select the location for the restored company file.
Rename the restored company file’s name if required. A restored company file can't have the same name as an existing company file in the library.
Click Restore.
Sign in to the restored company file.
Don't change anything in your restored file
Any changes you make in your restored company file won't be reflected in your working company file. Remember, the restored company file is just a copy.
Restoring an offline backup online to replace your existing online file
Online company files only
If you restore an offline backup online, it will replace your online working company file. Any changes you’ve made to the online company file since the backup file was created will be overwritten.
This process cannot be undone. As a precaution, create a backup of the online company file before you replace it.
Check for changed transactions
Before replacing an online company file, you can check what changes have been made to it by running the Journal Security Audit report. This report shows what changes have been made in a selected period, for example, since the offline backup was created. More about checking for unauthorised transactions.
Online administrator access is required to do this task.
To replace your online company file with an offline backup
Go to the File menu and choose Restore.
Click Browse and choose the offline backup file you want to restore. If you see a list of online backups, make sure you've turned on the the offline backup and restore setting mentioned above.
Can't find your backup file?
If you've looked in all the obvious places (including external drives), try a Windows search on your computer. If you didn't change the file name when you made the back up, it will use the default AccountRight backup file name format. This name is a combination of MYOB and the date the back up was made. For example, if the back up was made on 31 December 2024, it will have the default name MYOB12312024.zip. That is, MYOBmm/dd/yyyy.zip.
If you don't know the date, try searching the files on your computer for all .zip files or .zip files that include MYOB (such as MYOB AND .zip). For details about searching for files on your PC, see this Microsoft help article.
If a password was entered when the backup was created, enter this password in the window that appears, and click OK.
Select the option to restore the company file online with AccountRight Live.
The next step cannot be undone
Any changes made to the company file since the backup was created will be overwritten.
Click Restore and read the displayed warning about replacing your online file, then click Yes.
Sign in using your MYOB account details to complete the restore.
Once complete, you can open the restored company file.