Organisation settings - Backup / export copy of Xero file
Ability to export copies of the Xero org data.
Purpose: Because the ability to export the copy of the Xero file data makes the user more comfortable. In case there’s incident happens.

Hi everyone, we appreciate wanting the ability to create your own back of your data. For individual use, we recommend creating your own backup by exporting the relevant data from Xero - There are many areas of Xero you can export data from and we have an article that details this more.
Protecting your data is important to us. We do daily backups of customer data to safeguard against data corruption and any hosting service failure. However, these backups aren't designed to be used by individual organisations to undo/reverse data changes performed by users in the organisation.
You can read more on Security at Xero on our website.
Being transparent, this isn't something we're looking to develop for individual use ourselves. If of importance to your business, we do have some official app partners who can fulfill this need and you can explore these through our Xero App Store.
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Melanie Pearce commented
Exactly how I feel Steve. Xero, please come to the party on this. We need to have an option to back up to remain compliant.
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Steve Rowley commented
Although I'm overall happy with Xero, the inability to backup my data which I'm liable for, renders me increasingly conflicted on what I should do here.
In essence, I'm not able to backup to a position where if Xero lost all my data I could reasonably restore to the satisfaction of a) my own business and b) the requirements of the authorities. In short. I'm non-compliant and have no way of becoming compliant. Xero does not seem to have a defined process for exporting data to meet the minimum legal requirements.
The only way I can become compliant is to change from Xero to another product or purchase a service from a 3rd party. Is this really Xero's position??
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Tejash Patel commented
This day and age we need to be able to back up data.
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Mark Wasmuth commented
Hi Kelly, the backup function in competitors like Sage is really very good. You set it up to backup your data every day automatically and it does it. Easy. Come on, it's not that difficult.
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Tom Burbee commented
+1 to backups and it's CRITICAL - the "how important is this to you?" wouldn't accept any input.
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Robert Parker commented
Good afternoon all and Happy New Year. We will be showcasing a new app which will appear in the Xero App Store soon which does a full backup including all scanned documents. The backup can be audited right down to each individual invoice and scanned Doc and yes it can be Restored right into a new Xero Organization. You can even keep your organization data available here if you want to turn of your Xero Company, our rates for storage are around $4 / Month. The restore is a little slow due to the limitations of the Xero API but it gets you there. We will be at the NSW Xero Roadshows in Feb 2023... See you there. You can contact me for more information rp@peachsoftware.com.au
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Andrew Beasley commented
Would you possibly look at integrating with Veeam backup?
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Tarhata Watson commented
Brian, Edmund, I am not familiar with MYOB, but I know of two accounting software that provide backups:
- Manager.io (based in Sydney, Australia). This actually has a button called "Backup", where it backs up the company in its entirety. It is designed for small to medium size businesses and great if you are starting to get the hang of accounting (as I did). I'm still using it as a "safety" accounting software.The second one I know, that can do backups is Sage.com. It has an integrated system, that allows you to link it with Google Drive. Every PDF you create (I think it also works with CSV files) automatically creates a copy on the Drive. This works for all sorts of invoices, notes, reports, orders, etc. The cloud version does not have the "Backup" button, since Sage creates the backups for you (and actually makes available to you), but the Desktop version has that button. The UK version of Sage also allows MTD for VAT returns.
Hope this was helpful...
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Billy Boys commented
Edmund (or anyone else for that matter), can I ask, are decent backups available in MYOB? I do the bookkeeping in a relation's small business, so it isn't like I'm an accountant with oversight of 50 clients using xero.
Well done for doing your Due Diligence. I guess I got taken in with the hype. I remember looking for a backup about a month after loading, but then I was just learning the package.
BB
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Edmund Balnaves commented
I was evaluating moving to XERO away from MYOB. It all looked pretty good until I found there was no integrated backup and recovery option. I can see the piecemeal methodology that apps use with the API but this is not the sort of robust integrated backup and recovery that I am looking for. Will revisit in the future if this functionality becomes available.
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Tarhata Watson commented
Xero does not have a backup functionality for users, nor does is plan to provide a user-friendly backup solution. Currently, the only way to solve this problem short term is to simply change to another accounting software, that provides this solution. Yes, it is painful. Yes, it is unnecessary. At the end of the day, we are responsible for our own data. Unfortunately Xero is not willing to help. But alternative solutions are out there.
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Kirsty Weston commented
Is there anyway we could do a physical backup of the accounts to keep a copy in case the worse happens?
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Varinder Singh commented
Once the account lock can we do something after that? how we can roll back if anything goes wrong.?
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Varinder Singh commented
Do Xero have any backup and restore functionality? if not then please tell us how we can take backup of our data on daily basis, as we do take for our other software like sage.
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Billy Boys commented
Hi, I don't think a comment by Xero should close down the discussion on the pursuit of a quality product.
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Hein Kuenen commented
Dear Kelly,
Both a solid backup options on our side as well as a full and complete export solution are needed from a client reliability and company survival standpoint. Apart from human error that we need to be able to correct, it is hardware error on your side or, let's not even think possible, if Xero would fall over. And yes, I know you are going to say that Xero is healthy and nothing like that will happen but stranger things have happened in recent years so we, your paying clients, need contingency that means we can continue even if Xero wouldn't be able to. It is common business practice and often even required. -
Hein Kuenen commented
Dear @Dinah Barclay.
I have specifically asked this question before (a little while ago) and got the answer that attached files can not be taken out of Xero at all. 1 of the reasons why we didn't even start entering them as you would rely on them but if you ever want to move away, you're lost. One of many 'tying the client down' things they do nowadays. -
Dermot Smith commented
Looking at the first of the official apps there is a disclaimer that makes clear the third party apps are not a valid option.
"We use Xero's API (application programming interface) to get data out of Xero and send data to Xero. What we can and can't do is therefore limited by what Xero's API can and can't do.
These API limitations mean that we cannot backup all types of Xero data, we cannot restore all types of Xero data and some Xero data we can backup but can't restore."
This needs to be put on your development timeline as a priority. Cyber security advice demands it. Statutory reporting obligations demands it. HMRC record keeping requirement demands it.
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Sarah Hart commented
If Xero's "partners" can deliver back ups of customer data for a fee, Xero's customers should be able to back up their own data at no cost. It's not hard, and it's a legal obligation for customers. It's just Xero gouging customers again.
Being transparent, we should all all be going elsewhere so that we can comply with our legal obligations. And some have made formal submissions to the Australian tax office and now (rightly) contemplating class action.
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Peter Drinan commented
I think that at the very least, we could do a snapshot so we can revert if something we do causes an issue. Many systems have a snapshot/restore function.