Client Data Management Utility — recommended uses

Advantages of the Client Data Management Utility

Example 1: Your firm merges with another firm that uses Workpapers CS. The Client Data Management Utility enables you to take the backup data files for individual clients and restore that data into your firm's primary database.
Example 2: IRS review. The Client Data Management Utility enables you to back up client data to create an archive for IRS audits or other legal proceedings.
Example 3: QuickBooks import. It might be helpful to back up data for a specific client before importing that client's data from QuickBooks. If the import fails for any reason and the data becomes corrupt, you can restore the data and restart the import.
Example 4: Changing the client's fiscal year end date. It might be helpful to back up data for a specific client before changing the client's fiscal year, in case you need to revert the data for some reason.
For licensed users of CS Workpapers —
Example 5: Using Workpapers CS to perform fieldwork. If you perform audit fieldwork on a local installation of Workpapers CS in a peer-to-peer network at the client’s office, we recommend that you Check out and Check in the client’s data via the Client Data Management Utility. For details, read our help topic: Using the Fieldwork Utility.

Limitations of the Client Data Management Utility

The utility backs up and restores client data only and is not intended for backing up or restoring reports or financial statements. Also, this utility is currently not available for backing up the Firm client or consolidation master clients.
You can't back up a client, change the ID, and then restore the client as a new client via the Client Data Management Utility. The application recognizes the client and displays a message that indicates that the client already exists in the application. (Even if you use a different client ID, the application uniquely identifies each client in the database, and this identifier cannot be modified.)
The standard backup method is not available for clients with billing or impound transactions. The application displays an explanation in the Details column for those clients, and those clients are unavailable. To backup or restore these clients, you can select the
Backup for another firm
option, or the
Restore from another firm
option in the
Action
field. The Backup for another firm option will still create a backup of all client data, but exclude billing and impound transaction data, which is typically not transferred between firms.
The Client Data Management Utility enables you to select multiple clients at one time to create a separate backup file for each client, but you can restore data for only a
single
client at a time.
If the backup or restore takes longer than 30 minutes and the application times out, the backup or restore process will stop until you log back in, at which point the backup or restore will resume. For more information about time out periods, read our help topic: Timeout periods in CS Professional Suite applications.

Backing up client data

Select
File
, then
Client Data Management Utility
.
Choose
Backup
,
Backup for another firm
, or
Check out
from the
Action
dropdown list.
Use
Backup
to create a client backup file that can be restored to your firm’s database. (For example, a point-in-time restore, or before the import of a large amount of data such as QuickBooks files.)
Use
Backup for another firm
to create a client backup file that can be restored to another firm’s database. (For example, when you want to merge data between firms.)
If you are licensed for Workpapers, use
Check out
to perform audit fieldwork on a local installation of Accounting CS Workpapers in a peer-to-peer network at the client’s office.
Enter or browse to the location where you want to store the client data.
note
The default Backup/Restore location is defined in the
CS Professional Suite
tab of the File Locations dialog.
The application names the backup files by the client name and date (for example, 3DEPTS-2016-08-31.cbf).
If you create multiple backups for a client on the same day, you'll need to decide how to procced:
Replace the file.
Keep both files.
Skip the file.
Cancel
the process.
Select one or more clients for backup by marking the checkboxes in the Client Data grid.
You can use the
Search
and
Filter
fields to limit the list of available clients that appear in the Client Data grid.
If the utility is not applicable to a client (because it is a consolidation master client or the firm client, or if it has billing transactions), the application displays an explanation in the Details column for that client.
Verify or edit the file names in the
File Name
column for each client selected for backup.
Select
Backup Selected
.
note
The Backup utility creates a separate backup file for each client that is selected.
When the backup process is complete, select
OK
.
You can choose to print or close that report.
note
The report displays the client ID, client name, date/time, and details such as the filename for the data backup file and any potential errors that were encountered during the backup procedure.

Restoring client data from a backup file

Select
File
, then
Client Data Management Utility
.
Choose
Restore
,
Restore from another firm
, or
Check in
from the drop-down list in the
Action
field.
Use
Restore
to restore a client backup that was previously created for this firm. (For example, a point-in-time restore.)
Use
Restore from another firm
to restore a client backup file that was created for another firm. (For example, when you want to merge data between firms.)
If licensed for Workpapers CS, use
Check in
to return a single backup of the client's audit fieldwork back at the office.
Enter or browse to the location of the client backup file that you want to restore.
Mark the checkbox in the Client Data grid for the client data to restore.
important
You can restore backup data for only one client at a time.
Select
Restore Selected
.
important
Keep
Accounting CS
open until the restore process is complete. If you close it during the restore process, it can cause database corruption and errors, which prevents you from backing up or restoring further clients without intervention by our Support team.
When the restore process is complete, select
OK
.
You can choose to print or close the report.
note
The report displays the client ID, client name, date/time, and details such as the filename for the data backup file that was restored and any potential errors that were encountered during the restore procedure.