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Keeping your data safe (and how to recover if you lose it)

 

Your bookkeeping data is important and needs to be protected. Many people use EasyBooks to enter expenses as soon as they have a receipt to put in. This makes the whole job of bookkeeping really easy; instead of sitting down once a month to 'do the books', information is added in small pieces.

But what if you lost all that data? Would it be just as easy to re-enter everything and make sure nothing was missed?

We don't think it would be. That's why EasyBooks is designed to try to keep your data safe, even if you make a mistake like delete your business or overwrite your data with an old copy. But by far the most common problem is the device itself. Whether it's a Mac, iPhone or iPad, sometimes they just break, 'crash', get misplaced or stolen.

If you have already lost data, you can most likely recover it without needing to re-enter it. If you only have backups you have made yourself, this will at least recover your data to that point in time, leaving just the entries since to re-enter. To find out what your best options are, see "What recovery options are there?" (below) followed by the scenario that best describes what happened.

How can I prevent data loss before it happens?

By far the easiest solution is to use our Online Sync service. This service provides continuous online backup. So each time you make a change to your accounts, your online backup is updated. Should you need to recover your data, you only need sign in from EasyBooks to pick up from where you left off.

If you do not use the backup service, EasyBooks provides a simple way to backup data manually. It even sends popup reminders if it detects there are changes that are not already backed up. Backing up produces a file which can be stored safely in case you need it, preferably in an off-site service such as Dropbox or in an email.

But even if you have not created a backup or used the Online Sync service, you can still recover your data in most cases. For example, on iOS you may have enabled iCloud backup. The disadvantage is that the backup is for the whole device, and the whole device needs to be restored at once. There isn't an option to restore the data for just one app. On the Mac, you may have been using Time Machine to do the same thing. Here, you can choose the files that you restore. EasyBooks stores its working files in the user library, see later for the locations to look.

What recovery options are there?

Online Sync

If you have been using our Online Sync service, this is the best option to recover your data. This has been designed to back up continuously instead of on a schedule. Every time you make a change to your books, the backup is updated. In addition, it does not matter if your device is lost, damaged or stolen because the data is stored off the device. To restore your data, just turn on sync as described in "Adding a new device".

Automatic Backups

When you delete a business or re-sync by downloading data, the data stored locally on your device is deleted. EasyBooks makes its own backups when there is a chance of this data being lost. These automatic backups are intended for the situations such as accidentally deleting a business and are stored for a limited time before being deleted to avoid using storage space on the device. To find out where the backups are stored and how to restore, see "Restoring from an automatic backup".

When does EasyBooks make its own backups? 

Backups are created automatically when:

  • You update your copy of EasyBooks to a newer version.
  • You delete a business.
  • You turn on Online Sync and choose to re-download the online copy, replacing the copy on your device. A backup runs at this point in case you made a mistake and meant to re-upload data from the device.
Manual Backups

EasyBooks sends backup reminders via the notification area if a business has not been backed up for a while. If you make regular backups you should have the backup file to use to recover your data. Any changes you made since the last backup will need to be re-entered.

iCloud Backup

Available on iOS, you may have been using Apple's iCloud backup service. If you have enough storage space left in your iCloud account, your iOS device will backup everything when connected to power and locked. Data from individual apps cannot be restored on a per-app basis, instead you restore the whole device at once. See "Restore your iOS device".

Time Machine

If you have been using Time Machine to back up your Mac regularly, you can recover your data. Any changes you made since the last Time Machine backup will need to be re-entered. To find out how to restore from a Time Machine backup, see "Restoring from a Time Machine Backup"

Help me recover my data

My device was lost, damaged or stolen

If you have lost the device you used to run EasyBooks, you will first need to replace the device with a new one.

Mac

Download EasyBooks from the website and sign in using the email address you used to register.

iOS Device (iPhone, iPad)

Unless you are restoring from iCloud, download EasyBooks.

I deleted EasyBooks from my device

Mac

This is not a problem because your data is stored separate from the app. Simply download the app again and it will pick up from where it left off. Download EasyBooks from the website and sign in using the email address you used to register.

iOS Device (iPhone, iPad)

Because of the way iOS manages apps, this is equivalent to losing your device (see above). When an app is deleted from iOS, the app's data is also deleted.

I accidentally deleted my business

EasyBooks will have made an automatic backup of your data just before the business was deleted. Refer to "Automatic Backups" above under "What recovery options are there?".

Online Sync downloaded older data to my device

Usually data in your Online Sync account is the newer copy. But if the device you mainly use to enter information has not been added to your sync account, these changes will only exist on the local machine. If you later turn on sync, this could lead to mistakenly choosing the wrong option if an old copy of the business exists online.

EasyBooks will have made a backup of your data just before the local copy was deleted. To recover your data, refer to "Automatic Backups" above under "What recovery options are there?". Then turn on sync and choose the option "Re-upload" to send this data to the service. We recommend opening EasyBooks on your other devices and waiting for the message "Up to date" to appear on the Online Sync screen.

I uploaded older data into Online Sync

This can happen if a device has not been used for a while. If you haven't opened EasyBooks on the device in the last 90 days, your device will no longer be syncing. Turning on sync and choosing re-upload will send the (old) data on the device and cause your other devices to re-sync with this data.

To restore your data, use a browser to visit your sync account. Click the Businesses tab followed by the business you want to recover data for. You will see a list of backups that the system has made automatically. Pick the backup dated just before you uploaded the old data and click to download it. You can open the backup in EasyBooks, then turn on sync and choose the option "Re-upload" to send this data to the service. We recommend opening EasyBooks on your other devices and waiting for the message "Up to date" to appear on the Online Sync screen.