Back up offline is not available v2026.5
When will this feature to back up offline be available for the latest version v2026.5. When searching for answers the useless chat response is to go to: Set Up, Preference and enable offline backup ...
Forum Discussion
ATO require records for 7 years, not 90 days
We don't use the browser ever. The interface is awful, if you are a hardened Desktop user. On the desktop, you cannot get reports outside 2 years for some critical reports, including:
Entitlements (necessary if somebody queries their LSL accrual- 10+ years data required)
GST Reconciliation Reports
Trial Balance
Cashflow
Job Profit & Loss
Many of the Analysis reports and several reports under the Accounts tab
Perhaps you better check the browser version for these reports and the ability to backtrack 7 years (10 for personnel reports).
Otherwise, it is 100% necessary to go to backups to get this information. On a post back in April, one of your staff (Amanda) said that backups that were restored from your Cloud are not reversible... so they would be useless to us, if we can't restore a current version, once we've sourced the data we need.
Timing for end of financial year.
We are using Desktop version online, and have been for years, not the SE offline version that you have dumped, so we got no prior notice that you were stopping the facility to take an offline backup of Cloud based information. A week before EOFY is ridiculous. It's the time we take/need the most time sensitive manual backups.
Big companies need to have a running backup taken off premises
MYOB holding both an online version of the original data and an online backup of that data... is not a backup. If the server is hacked, is destroyed (eg: fire) or dies completely, both sets of data are lost. That's why there is a requirement that the backup data is held in a completely different location, preferably at another site (in the case of fire, etc). That's just good business. Anyone that has ever lost their data, will tell you they do regular backups and keep them off site. It will cost you a fortune, if you lose all your client's data and their backup too. To be honest, I think this is an incredibly poor and high risk decision that MYOB has made. We've experienced a hack of our online data held by MYOB and lost all of our payroll/staff information to the hacker. Every one of our staff are now permanently flagged by the ATO. You can't guarantee that the data is 100% secure or free from ransom.
You shouldn't have to request a server backup
You are 100% correct. We should NEVER have to request or pay for a server backup. We should have control of OUR data Ourselves and our own backup available any time we need it, stored in whatever secure location/facility that we choose. If you are going to take away the facility, which I think is the wrong decision, for all of the reasons listed above, you should at least offer unlimited free server backups. Good luck with handling the volume and frequency of requests! At least then you might actually appreciate how important it is to your customers to have this facility and how often it's used.
Hi Veejays
I would agree totally with you and I have made points in numerous posts to this forum - this is a decision that will create unintended consequences or years down the track.
The over-riding point here is that businesses do not want someone else looking after their back ups - and MYOB cannot guarantee data, backups cannot be lost for clients - cannot.
Australian businesses take care of their own backups to protect their business requirements - it seems odd that MYOB seems to believe that simply backing up on line covers all those contingencies - that do not and you have covered a big swath of requirements.
Yes, ATO do not dictate that you should 'backup your data and retain information for up to 7 years - they merely dictate that an audit can go back 7 years and so the requirements is - you must keep records for up to 7 years ( how you do that is your business) but if an audit comes you want to be able to 'get at this information' - so if you or a client has a current MYOB subscription - yes, if the online MYOB file has been running for 7 years or more - then that data is accessible....... but things get really sticky trying to extract data with reports.
Or - you need to do things with this file but need to isolate it from the current online - how can we do that - businesses do this all the time - open old files and do data extract, manipulation etc - can't now.
Or if after a year this client or a client decide after being with MYOB they wish to go to a another package - they extract the data - and fire up a competitors file - it may be disk based, it may be internet based but they decided to move - and they cancel there MYOB subscription - do a backup but they cannot store it locally - even if they could there is no MYOB app that will open it.
They write to MYOB and get a copy of the file backup - now what - it is useless - how do they open it. ATO a year later do an audit - the new file with the new accounting software providor has only 1 -2 years of entries - how now does this client open this backup - AR SE 2026.5 can't open it - the backup is 2027.1 - take out another subscription with MYOB online and upload it - no way of doing that - you can only restore I believe from the online MYOB repository. .. Houston we have a problem.
This is not an unreasonable scenario - and it will happen. ....... Reading between the lines the inability to then actually not open this backup unless you subscribe to MYOB seems to be problematic (legally).
There are a huge number of scenarios that just do not float for us businesses needing to maintain our existing business rules be it for ISO, ATO or otherwise, if local backups are removed and the ability to open these backups are removed.
The Doc
