Hi ntoumba,
Thanks for calling this out so clearly.
To clarify the current position, the 6-month period applies to online backups used for recent recovery. It isn’t being presented as the sole way a business meets its record-keeping obligations. While your subscription is active and your AccountRight file is online, your historical records remain available in the live file back to file creation.
If a subscription is being cancelled, that’s when MYOB expects businesses to export and keep the records and reports they need for their own retention. For customers who need more detailed historical access after cancellation, the current guidance also points to read-only access or a one-off server export as the available options.
We understand that this is a significant concern for businesses that need confidence they can produce records later, and we appreciate you raising it.
Regards,
Earl
Thanks for the clarification, Earl_HD Earl, but unfortunately this still doesn’t resolve the core issue.
Accessing historical data only through the live file is not sufficient for real‑world accounting, audit, or compliance needs. A live file is constantly changing, and once historical data is overwritten, corrected, merged, or corrupted, there is no way to recover the original information without a proper historical backup.
To give a practical example: I recently had to access backups from a 2012 company file due to an ATO error that required detailed investigation. This was for a business that had not had an active MYOB subscription for over five years. The ability to open the original backup file was essential because:
This is a normal requirement in accounting, especially when dealing with ATO reviews, legal matters, historical payroll, asset records, or disputes.
Your current model, where MYOB deletes backups after 6 months and expects businesses to rely solely on the live file or exported reports,does not support these real‑world needs.
Exporting reports is not an adequate substitute for retaining full accounting records. Reports are snapshots; they do not contain the underlying data, audit trails, or transaction‑level detail required for compliance or investigation.
Removing downloadable backups has significantly reduced MYOB’s effectiveness and reliability as an accounting system. This change places businesses at risk and undermines MYOB’s long‑standing reputation as a product that supports proper record‑keeping.
I strongly recommend MYOB review this decision and either:
Without one of these options, MYOB is not providing a practical solution for long‑term record retention.
