Back-Up Procedures

We stress the importance of making regular back-ups!

When using this program for six days a week (to use an example), you should have a set of back-up disks or cartridges for each day, and another four sets for each week of the month. Back-ups should be rotated on a daily basis for weekly disks and on a weekly basis for monthly disks. You might also like to keep a set of back-ups permanently for "historical" reasons. If your hardware fails you with back-ups, then it's inconvenient. If it fails you without back-ups, then it's a disaster.

With accounting software it is easy to overwrite good back-ups with back-ups that contain damaged information because you did not realise that some part of your system was damaged before it was too late. In other words, before you overwrote one of your good back-ups!

Keeping back-ups for long periods of time can act as an important insurance measure should such a situation arise.

Back-up Archive Procedures

Keep a back-up for everyday of the week. If you run your business 6 days a week, this means a separate disk, CD or cartridge for each day.
A back-up is kept for the end of each week. This means another 4 disks, CD's or cartridges are maintained.
On the last operating day of the week, the oldest weekly back-up is swapped with the last daily back-up. This means that your back-ups will extend back in time for at least 4 weeks.
Back-ups should also be kept permanently for archive purposes. Some businesses keep monthly back-ups and rotate them on a yearly basis. Or you may wish to retain your monthly back-ups permanently.

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