Currently i take back ups of payroll after every payroll process and back ups of the accounts after every use. I back up to a USB flash drive and also to google drive but i am now finding that these back ups are taking up a lot of space of both forms of back up. So my question is how long to you keep back ups for payroll? How long do you keep back ups for accounting? Do i really need to keep back ups dating back to 2014? Would it be feasible to just retain the back ups from year end? Do you email your clients a copy of the back up?
I only use usb (on a per client basis) at their year ends. But its also backed up to several other places. I back up as I go and at end of day with general files/software backups. To external harddrives x 2, plus cloud service (UK based part of US company, both GDPR complaint and Privacy Shield certified). I dont print anything if I can avoid it, but I will save pdfs (etc) reports periodically as well, notably at VAT period ends for the whole period and year ends.
The only backups I dump are general/daily type software ones, but again I keep the ones done at VAT period end and year end as once you have verified everything is complete then, then there is no need to adjust anything but they are available in the event of any Qs.
Most good software has archived data anyway that you can view (eg Moneysoft) as long as your PC is backup and doesnt fall over you can see this direct from the software.
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Joanne
Winner of Bookkeeper of the Year 2015, 2016 & 2017
Thoughts are my own/not to be regarded as official advice,which should be sought from a suitably qualified Accountant.
You should check out answers with reference to the legal position
I currently back up each customer to a UBS and also back the USB's to my Google drive. Really what i should have referred to is the accounting back ups as they are what really clog up space on both sources of back up. Thinking about it logically my main back ups should be Vat/Year End as like you say there shouldn't be any need to adjust anything. I use Sage for all of my clients which automatically backs up but you just never know. (Like last month when Sage decided to throw a wobble and i lost a days worth of work, which could of easily have been a lot more if i didn't back up everyday.
Hi Nikole, with most sage you can also do manual backups as well as the auto. With some I back up more than once a day. But Ive had a new client who didnt back up for 4 months and they had a major problem with sage (of their own making!) which meant everything had to be re-entered, that was a nightmare as I obviously hadnt built that into the forecasts timewise when I took them on!!!!!!!
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Joanne
Winner of Bookkeeper of the Year 2015, 2016 & 2017
Thoughts are my own/not to be regarded as official advice,which should be sought from a suitably qualified Accountant.
You should check out answers with reference to the legal position
