You are responsible for backing up your own Xero data and must backup your data inputted into Xero.
As a business owner using Xero, you should absolutely be backing up or taking copies of your data.
While Xero does have robust security measures in place and performs regular backups, their Terms of Use clearly state that:
You’re responsible for maintaining copies of your data entered into our services.
This means that Xero doesn’t guarantee against data loss and that the responsibility for safeguarding your data ultimately lies with you.
Why backing up your Xero data is crucial:
How to back up your Xero data:
Recommendations:
By taking these proactive steps, you can protect your valuable financial data and ensure the continuity of your business operations, even in the face of unexpected events.
The Xero post about the current backup situation can be found here
While Xero does perform regular backups of their system for disaster recovery and data integrity purposes, you as the business owner are ultimately responsible for backing up your own Xero data.
This is explicitly stated in Xero’s Terms of Use, which emphasizes that you are responsible for maintaining copies of your data entered into their services.
Why Xero doesn’t take full responsibility:
How to ensure your data is backed up:
By taking proactive measures to back up your Xero data, you can ensure that you have a copy of your valuable financial information readily available in case of any unforeseen events. This will help you maintain business continuity and avoid potential losses due to data loss.
Even if your accountant is the subscriber to your Xero account, the responsibility for backing up the data ultimately rests with YOU, the business owner.
Here’s why:
Data Ownership: While your accountant may manage the Xero subscription and have access to the data, the financial information in Xero belongs to your business. It’s your responsibility to ensure its safe keeping and availability.
Xero’s Terms of Use: Xero’s Terms of Use explicitly state that users are responsible for maintaining their own copies of the data entered into the service. This applies regardless of who the subscriber is.
Business Continuity: Backing up your data is a critical part of your business continuity plan. In case of data loss due to technical issues, accidental deletion, or even a dispute with your accountant, having your own backup ensures that your business operations can continue uninterrupted.
Accountant-Client Relationship: While your accountant may offer assistance in setting up backups or recommend backup solutions, it’s not their sole responsibility to ensure your data is backed up. Their primary role is to provide accounting and financial services, not data management.
How to address the backup responsibility:
Discuss with your accountant: Have an open conversation with your accountant about data backups. Clarify who is responsible for performing backups, how often they should be done, and where the backups will be stored.
Establish a backup process: Decide on a backup method that works for your business. You can either manually export data from Xero or use a third-party backup solution that integrates with Xero.
Regularly review and test backups: Ensure that your backups are being performed as scheduled and that you can successfully restore the data if needed.
Consider a written agreement: If necessary, create a written agreement with your accountant outlining the responsibilities for data backups and other aspects of your Xero subscription management.
By taking these proactive steps, you can ensure that your business’s financial data is protected and readily available,regardless of who manages the Xero subscription.
Xero partners should definitely read and understand the Xero Terms of Use. It’s a crucial part of their responsibility as trusted advisors to their clients.
Why it’s important for Xero partners to understand the Terms of Use:
Why sharing this information with clients is important:
Best practices for Xero partners:
By taking these steps, Xero partners can ensure that their clients are well-informed and protected, while also fulfilling their own legal and ethical obligations.
Imagine a financial nightmare: your Xero accounts are corrupted, crucial data is missing, and you’re desperate to get back on track. But instead of a quick fix, Xero’s data restoration process can feel like eternity, riddled with limitations and risk.
Let’s understand some of Xero’s key Restoration Roadblocks:
Beyond the Inconvenience: Accounting Integrity at Stake:
Xero’s limitations go beyond inconvenience. Thinking that you can rewrite the Journal/General Ledger to fix errors? There is a valid reason why Xero’s API won’t let you write to the Journal or General Ledger. Accountants and auditors scream “no way!” It’s like revising history, compromising the integrity of your accounts and violating auditing standards. The right way? Reverse the mistake, redo it correctly, and maintain a clear, traceable record in the Journal/General Ledger. Accounting Rule 101.
Control-C: Your Data Recovery Champion:
Control-C bypasses Xero’s limitations with a swift, efficient approach. No need to wait for API calls or manual reconciliations. Instead of getting stuck in Xero’s restoration maze, Control-C offers a swift and secure escape route. Simply:
Control-C: The Takeaway:
Xero’s data restoration process is a slow, frustrating detour. Don’t get stuck in the traffic jam. Choose Control-C for a fast, efficient, and accounting-compliant way to recover your data and keep your business running smoothly. Remember, with Control-C, you’re not just restoring data, you’re regaining control and peace of mind.
Control-C: A Smarter, Faster, Safer Way
Control-C is unique in that your data is downloaded to New Zealand owned and based data centres, with the option to sync to third party cloud storage providers such as DropBox, Box, GoogleDrive, OneDrive, or automatically download to your office server, or local standalone PC or Apple Mac.
Easily accessible whenever you need it, with all the versions right back to when you first started the service. Once downloaded locally, you don’t even have to be online to view your data using ‘backapp’.
‘backapp’ – is a FREE application that enables you to view, search, export and report on your Xero data. Powerful searching allows you to locate transactions quickly and easily across all you backed up Xero data.
Affordable and easy to setup, please subscribe to our FREE 7 day trial, no credit card details are required.
‘control c limited’ is a company based in Auckland, New Zealand, that gives you added control of your financial data stored with Xero.
Please take a look at our video clips below for further information.
If you need assistance to get up and running or any other queries on how to do things, please contact us info@control-c.com and we will provide you with the required information or custom video.
Our portal to the backup servers bring you realtime backup status reports, a dashboard showing the overall status of your organisations backups and ability to view your Xero data online and download for use locally. The portal is the control room of your subscription with Control-C.
—
Purpose built by Control-C, for OSX or Windows users. Backapp allows you to open your backed up Xero data and view, filter, search and export.
This software is available FREE to all subscribers and never expires so you may keep using it if you no longer need to backup your Xero data.
Purpose built by Control-V, Windows users that would like an automated download of their backed up data to their local server or PC. Control-V is an alternative to using our supported cloud storage vendors to replicate the data backed up daily by our servers directly and autonomously to your local on-premise hardware for compliance reasons or simply convenience.
This software is available FREE to all subscribers.
Purpose built by Control-C, integrate with our API to extract your data from our servers.
This software is available for an additional fee. Please contact us to discuss pricing or other queries related to our API.
Contact phone:
Main: (+64) 9 520 6397
Please leave a message with our receptionist and we will call you back as soon as possible.
Physical Address
Level 2, 142 Broadway
Newmarket
Auckland 1023
New Zealand