You've been told since day one that Intuit automatically backups your QuickBooks Online data' that's one of the things they claimed made it safe-and-sound, and different from QuickBooks Desktop that only offered user-controlled backup capabilities. And while that statement is fundamentally true, there is a big difference in what Intuit does with their backups of QBO and what you might want to do with a backup of your QBO data.
You see, Intuit is concerned with data breaches by 'bad actors' intended on bringing down their entire platform and/or stealing data for economic gain. They also are concerned about the loss of one of their data centers, with all the data running on those servers, as a result of some outside force like 'fire, flood or tornado,' or sustained power-grid failures that essentially eliminate that facility from operation. As a result, they have not only backups of data, but redundancy of data on multiple servers at multiple locations.
All of this is great when it comes to protecting your data from 3rd-party invaders, or problems accessing your data... but it doesn't help you when you accidentally make a mistake that impacts your data, or when an employee with access to your data intentionally damages your data. Nearly ten years ago I wrote an article titled, "What about a QuickBooks Online Worst Case Scenario" that outlined some of the things that necessitate a 'user-based' backup of your QuickBooks Online data. Then I revisited the subject in another article just four years ago.
Over the ten years, and even the last four, the 'players' in the backup space have changed. Some dropped-out, some merged and one was even bought by Intuit and incorporated into QuickBooks Online Advanced. In addition, a few new payers came into the space.
A few months back I began an analysis of what Backup Apps were available to provide a user-controlled backup of QBO data. At the time only one App was listed in the QuickBooks Online App Store, but I was confident that there were more apps that had chosen not to participate in that formality for a variety of reasons.
As a result, I identified five additional apps that all provide backup alternatives for QBO; however, they certainly are not all the same. As part of my review I identified thirty-eight features and functions that the various backup solutions had somewhat common among them. Many of these features and functions are prevalent in the backup features of a majority of the solutions, but only one or two have all of these capabilities1.
At the same time, I identified forty objects that can (and should) be backed up from your QBO data. The term objects refers to the various forms (or types) of data in your file like lists, transactions, and other data (including attachments). Again, while one or two of the solutions backup all of these, many others backup fewer than the forty1.
I also evaluated each of the solutions against my standardized 'App Comparison' criteria including things like "Ease of Implementations," "Ease of Use," "Price," "Mobility," "Accuracy" and four more. For example, the scores for "Price" are directly to the average price charged for the Backup solution (at the time of evaluation) on a retail basis excluding any temporary promotional sales. The relative price between the solutions determines their ranking and as a result the points earned for the price criteria.
The same principles apply to 'Accuracy', the extent to which each solution can read (backup) and write (restore) all of the various data objects serves as the point-basis for the accuracy criteria. Many of the other criteria follow this same methodology, thus ensuring a more 'objective' basis for evaluation rather than 'subjective' opinion in critical areas.
Lastly, I recently found a new SaaS backup solution that can not only backup QBO but a wide variety of other SaaS based software applications, and can do so for multiple subscribers on a simultaneous basis. This new solution is primarily designed for data professionals, IT professionals and other businesses that work with clients to aid them in protecting their data 'across the spectrum' of the internet. They also offer their software 'as a service' feature.
All of this is my way of saying that you need a reliable backup for QuickBooks Online that you can control. You can backup when you want a backup, you can backup automatically, you backup fully or backup on an incremental basis or at the spur of the moment. You also need the ability to restore what you want to restore, restore one transaction or one name, or restore a week's data, or restore your entire QBO data file. And some of you may also want (or need) ways to replicate your data either to another (or new) QBO file or to an outside source, even perhaps a different accounting system.
Join me TODAY, Wednesday February 5th for this "Be Insightful" webinar on 'Backup Solutions for QuickBooks Online.' The webinar is being held at 2:00 PM Eastern-time and offers 1-hour of CPE credit. Registration is required and you must also be a registered member of 'Be Insightful' to attend.
Please note, while Be Insightful 'free' Members may attend this webinar, only Be Insightful 'paid' Members will be able to access and download the Webinar's Premium Content (PowerPoint PDF, Backup App-comparison Blue Paper, etc.).
Disclaimer and Footnotes
Disclaimer:
As used herein, QuickBooks®, QuickBooks Online, and QuickBooks Online Advanced, refer to one or more registered trademarks of Intuit® Inc., a publicly-traded corporation headquartered in Mountain View, California. Other trade names or references used herein may refer to registered, trademarked or copyrighted materials held by their respective owners and included for informational and educational purposes only.
Registered Trademark ® and other registration symbols (such as those used for copyrighted materials) have been eliminated from the articles within this publication for brevity due to the frequency or abundance with which they would otherwise appear or be repeated. Every attempt is made to credit such trademarks or copyrights within our respective article footnotes and disclosures.
This is an editorial feature, not sponsored content. No vendor associated with this article has paid Insightful Accountant or the author any form of remuneration to be included within this feature. The article is provided solely for informational and educational purposes.
Footnotes:
1 - as determined through research of documentation provided by each solution vendor.