Issues with exporting to Excel because AccountRight exports to old Excel 97-2003 file type

I have seen the thread of no valid responses from MYOB - my IT guy actually laughed at how bad their response was!
I know it is not an issue for the cloud products but the cloud doesn't offer the same reports as the desktop version which is another point of contention and the reports I use on a daily basis are only available on the desktop version.
I am really confused as to how a company of MYOB's size completely ignores Microsoft security updates and tries to prompt work arounds to these security measures.
This issue is making my job 1000 x harder!!!

Hi Kiwiamber , are you using a version 19.x program? If so, there will be no update. The current programs should export to xlsx.

Reports export to xlsx from the browser version, but in the desktop version (which is the one that has reports in the layout we need for consistency with historical reporting) the export is xls.

As per Kiwiamber's note, the desktop application only exports to .xls Excel 97-2003 workbooks file type

I have had multiple tickets for our clients over the last 18 months with the only advice from MYOB being to move to the Cloud or it's Microsoft's issue.

As per the Australian Government's, Australian Signals Directorate recommendations:
https://www.cyber.gov.au/resources-business-and-government/maintaining-devices-and-systems/system-hardening-and-administration/system-hardening/hardening-microsoft-365-office-2021-office-2019-and-office-2016
>Hardening Microsoft 365, Office 2021, Office 2019 and Office 2016
>File Type Blocking

The recommendation is to block this legacy file type.

An update to the MYOB application to utilise modern Excel templates/file types that are not blocked as a standard security measure is required.

It would be nice if MYOB could provide some advice on their roadmap to update their templates for the on-premises desktop application to provide restore this functionality, though I don't believe this exists.

Hope this helps Kiwiamber, you might have to look at transitioning to another software solution that supports your requirements.

Any updates with this, I no longer can export to excel same as above, working one day and broken the next, can't find a solution anywhere.

Hi JPS_Lifts​ 

I am using Windows 11 (upgraded from Windows 10) and I have installed the 32Bit version of MS Office and the Export works with my custom reports so this may be part of the issue. Another suggestion may be to try to Export to CSV - Comma Separated Value (TSV - Tab Separated Value) and then save into the appropriate Excel version.

Cheers

Liz

We are having this issue too!!! it is not an IT issue it is the fact that mircosoft doesn't support these old files anymore - does MYOB have an update on when this issue is going to be fixed?? the cloud version also doesn't have all the reports from the desktop version that we use so using the cloud is not an option!!

Hi clairecasson,

You're right that there are differences between the reports in the desktop version and what's available in the browser version. Because of that, it's always a good idea to check which version best fits the way you run your reports and other day-to-day tasks. For the issue with exporting reports to Excel, this usually comes down to how Microsoft Excel handles older templates. What normally fixes it is getting your IT person to add the MYOB Templates folder as a Trusted Location in Excel's Trust Center. After adding it, make sure Excel is completely closed then opened again before exporting. That step clears things up and allows the report to export. 

Cheers,

Doreen

Hi Doreen
Our IT has come back with the following :

Unfortunately, no. What they are saying there is to bypass Microsoft’s security requirements just to allow their limitation. That’s not really a solution. They must update their excel export capability to xlsx format. Microsoft have locked out the use of old xls 1997-2003 format due to security concerns. We act on that recommendation and cannot bypass the security setting for outdated programs.

So what is MYOB suggestion or solution to this issue?

Hi clairecasson, 

You’re right: the AccountRight desktop export currently uses an older Excel format, and there’s no in‑product setting yet to change that to .xlsx. From the report preview, the other formats available right now are CSV, TSV, PDF and XPS via File > Export.

Our product team is already looking into this enhancement, and we’ve marked your file as affected, so you’ll be notified as soon as there’s a change or fix available.

Regards,
Earl