- Oct 25, 2019 On your new Mac: Open Migration Assistant, which is in the Utilities folder of your Applications folder. Click Continue. When asked how you want to transfer your information, select the option to transfer from a Mac, Time Machine backup, or startup disk.
- Dec 20, 2016 Client saves a Back Up to QuickBooks for Windows. Backup file is transferred to the accountant, preferably using a secure transfer method. The accountant makes changes as needed and uses Copy Company File for QuickBooks Mac, which is then transferred back to the client. The client restores the back up into QuickBooks for Mac.
Copy the.qbb file to your Documents folder. In QuickBooks for Mac, choose File Open Company, select the.qbb file, and then click Open. Click OK on when asked if you want to restore a QuickBooks for Windows file. Enter a name for the restored file, and then click Save.
You’re busy. You don’t have time to fool around with QuickBooks. You just want to do a passable job of backing up, and you’ve decided how often you plan to do it. Sound like your situation? Then follow these steps:
1Insert a blank disk/disc into the appropriate drive.
You can back up to any removable disc, including flash memory devices, portable hard disks and writable CDs. However, note that Intuit (the maker of QuickBooks) recommends that you not use the QuickBooks backup command to move a backup file onto a CD.
Instead, Intuit recommends that you back up the file to your hard drive and then use the Windows File Copy command to burn the file onto the disc. This workaround approach tends to solve some of the CD-writing problems people experience when backing up directly to a CD from QuickBooks.
You can back up to any fixed disk, such as your hard drive or a network disk, but the advantage of a removable disc is that you can store it in some other location. As a compromise, you can also use a network disk. You typically don’t want to use your hard drive (although this is better than nothing) because one of the disasters that might befall your QuickBooks data is a hard drive failure.
You can also back up your QuickBooks files to an online storage area.
2If you store data for more than one company, make sure that the company whose data you want to back up is the active company.
To find out whether the correct company is active, just look at the QuickBooks application window title bar, which names the active company. (If you don’t remember setting up multiple files, don’t worry. You probably have only one file — the usual case.)
3Choose File → Backup Company → Create Local Backup to begin the backup operation.
QuickBooks displays the Create Backup dialog box.
If you use QuickBooks in multi-user mode, you need to switch to single-user mode before you back up your file. To do this, choose File → Switch to Single-User Mode.
4Tell QuickBooks where you want to back up the QuickBooks data file.
When QuickBooks displays the Create Backup dialog box, specify the location for the backup by selecting either the Online Backup or Local Backup radio button.
To back up your QuickBooks file locally, select the Local Backup option.
5Describe how QuickBooks should back up your data file.
With the first Create Backup dialog box still displayed, click the Options button. QuickBooks displays the Backup Options dialog box, from which you specify how and when QuickBooks backs up your data file:
Pick a default location. Specify where the backup file should be located. You can do this either by entering the pathname of the backup folder in the Tell Us Where to Save Your Backup Copies box (the hard way) or by clicking the Browse button and then using the Browse for Folder dialog box that Windows displays to pick a default backup location.
Fine-tune the backup operation. The Backup Options dialog box provides a few check boxes that you can use to fine-tune the old QuickBooks backup operation. The Add the Date and Time of Backup to the File Name check box, if selected, does just what it says. The Limit the Number of Backup Copies in This Folder To [X] check box tells QuickBooks to limit the number of backup copies of your QuickBooks file it stores in the backup folder. The default number of backup copies kept on hand is three; that should be fine.
Specify the backup reminder rule. You can select the Remind Me to Back Up When I Close My Company File Every [X] Times check box to tell QuickBooks it should remind you every so often to back up. By default, QuickBooks reminds you every fourth time you close a data file, but you can replace the value in the text box to specify some other backup reminder frequency.
Select a data verification option. QuickBooks provides three data verification options: Complete Verification (safe but slow), Quicker Verification (fast but not as thorough), and No Verification (saves you a bit of time now at the risk of huge problems later). The Complete Verification option is what QuickBooks recommends.
When you finish with the Backup Options dialog box, click OK and then Next. QuickBooks displays the second Create Backup dialog box.
6Determine when QuickBooks should back up your data file.
The second Backup Wizard dialog box provides option buttons that you use to schedule when you want to back up. For example, to indicate that you want to back up on the spot, select the Save It Now radio button.
Note: The very first time you back up your QuickBooks file using the Create Backup command, QuickBooks doesn’t ask you when it should back up your data file. QuickBooks just backs up the data file, skipping this step.
7Confirm the backup file location and name.
With the second Backup Wizard dialog box displayed, click Next. QuickBooks displays the Save Backup Copy dialog box.
Just to be on the safe side, confirm that the filename and folder location shown in the Save Backup Copy dialog box are correct. If the folder location isn’t correct, select a new folder location from the Save In drop-down list. If the filename isn’t correct, edit the name shown in the File Name text box.
8Click Save.
QuickBooks backs up your data file and displays a message box that tells you it has backed up your file. The message also gives the backup filename and folder location.
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The company file in QuickBooks for Mac contains a complete copy of all your accounts data. Before backing up your QuickBooks company file on a Mac computer, configure the program's backup preferences to designate a save location and security password for the backup file. You can also choose to activate automatic backups that save your accounts data every two to 24 hours or when you exit the program.
1.Launch QuickBooks for Mac. Click the 'QuickBooks' tab in the main menu bar, and then select 'Preferences' followed by 'Backup' to open the Backup preferences dialog window.
2.Click to enable the 'Automatically back up company files every' check box, and then choose your preferred time interval from the drop-down menu; for example, '2 hours.' Also enable the 'Automatically back up company files when closing' check box if you want QuickBooks to back up data each time you exit the program.
3.Click the 'Save backup files in' drop-down menu button and choose your preferred save location for the backup file. Use an external hard drive if you have one available, or select a folder on the Time Machine drive if you use the integrated Apple Time Machine backup system.
4.Click to enable the 'Overwrite last backup' check box if you want to save disk space and automatically overwrite the previous backup file with the latest version.
5.Click to enable the 'Encrypt files with password' check box, and then click the 'Change' button to set a new password. Skip this step if you don't want to password-protect the backup file.
6.Select the 'Save attached aocuments library' check box to store a copy of all attached documents, such as invoices and purchase orders, with your company file in the backup. QuickBooks will now use your preferences to back up the company file.
7.Click 'File' in the main menu, and then select 'Backup' in the drop-down menu to back up data at any time.
Tip
- QuickBooks saves your backup data as a disk image file with the .DMG file extension. To restore a backup, double-click the DMG file to mount it, and then drag the company file with the .QB2013 extension to your preferred computer folder. You can then open the backup company file with the attached document library from the QuickBooks Preferences menu.
Warning
- The information in this article applies to QuickBooks for Mac 2013. It may differ slightly or significantly for other versions of the program.
Mac Backup Software
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About the Author
Adrian Grahams began writing professionally in 1989 after training as a newspaper reporter. His work has been published online and in various newspapers, including 'The Cornish Times' and 'The Sunday Independent.' Grahams specializes in technology and communications. He holds a Bachelor of Science, postgraduate diplomas in journalism and website design and is studying for an MBA.
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- David Paul Morris/Getty Images News/Getty Images
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