SaaS Risks and Cloud Dependencies - A Guide on How to Backup Xero


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In today's fast-paced business world, cloud accounting software like Xero has become indispensable. It's quick to setup and integrate, accessible anywhere, and secure. Xero offers amazing convenience and efficiency, revolutionising financial management for millions of businesses. Many of us implicitly trust that 'safe in the cloud' means our data is permanently and effortlessly available. But what if that assumption leaves a crucial gap in your business's data strategy?

Cloud Resilience: Safe, But Not Invincible

Cloud services such as Xero or Shopify are built on top of best-in-class cloud services like Amazon Web Services or Google Cloud Platform which are extremely resilient. There are many reasons to feel confident in the promise that data is "safe in the cloud". But it doesn't always guarantee uninterrupted access to your data under all circumstances. Think of it like keeping important deeds at home, even if your money's secure in the bank.

Understanding SaaS & Cloud Dependencies: What Could Go Wrong?

There is a hidden nuance behind cloud’s promise. Situations can arise where your crucial data becomes inaccessible. These aren't necessarily failures of the cloud, but rather challenges businesses might face, impacting your ability to get access to your financial information. Many of these concerns might be rare, but should they arise, their impact could be very serious.

Account Lockouts & Platform Changes

Losing account access due to compromise, forgotten details, admin errors, or even a rare dispute can halt operations. Major platform changes, , merges? or service discontinuations could also affect how you access historical data. These are general SaaS risks worth considering.

Business Closures & Mergers: The Long View

What happens if you close your business, liquidate, retire, or merge firms? You're legally required to keep financial records for several years. Maintaining a dormant Xero subscription and access credentials solely for old attachments is an unnecessary, long-term concern. A local backup solves this.

Ransomware & User Error: The Human Element

Ransomware encrypts data, making it inaccessible. A backup stored away from the primary data offers a crucial recovery point if your systems are ever compromised. Also, common human errors, like accidental deletions or overwrites, can be quickly resolved with a robust backup, saving stress and time.

Why a Local Backup is Your Digital Insurance for Xero Attachments

True Data Ownership and Control. A backup empowers you with genuine ownership and control over your data. The backup can be stored locally or in? a separate cloud environment using different credentials. Your business' financial history is always available to you, independent of any single platform, fostering greater resilience.

Tax Authority Compliance & Audit Readiness

UK’s HMRC, much like other tax authorities, requires businesses to keep clear financial records, including all supporting documents like invoices and receipts, for many years. While Xero makes exporting reports easy, securing tens of thousands of individual files for a comprehensive archive can take weeks of manual effort. Numerint directly addresses this by providing a comprehensive, easily accessible local archive of your Xero attachments, which drastically simplifies audits, reducing stress and avoiding potential penalties for missing information.

Flexibility, Portability & Accessibility

With a separate backup, your attachments are no longer confined and dependent on Xero or Numerint. All the files are in their original format (e.g. PDF, JPG, XLS) with useful filenames to help you identify the contents of each file. It comes with a convenient CSV file describing all the associated accounting data. This makes it simple, amongst tens of thousands of files, to find a specific supplier bill allocated to a specific account code for a specific amount. This means you can access your files, and the data about those files, anywhere, anytime, on any device without any special software.

A Simple Strategy

Keeping copies of all your accounting files (bills, sales invoices, credit notes, purchase orders etc.) should be? extremely simple for anyone to manage. Not everyone has access to IT teams managing backup software or maintaining rescue credentials that might be needed many years in the future to access a SaaS platform.

Numerint: Your Simple Solution for Xero Attachment Backups

Effortless and Comprehensive Export

Numerint makes securing your Xero attachments remarkably easy. Simply sign in with your existing Xero credentials and click to export all your attached files, all inside in a single ZIP file. There is no sign up, no long-term commitment, and no additional credentials to manage. It's perfect for both one-off archiving and regular backups.

Tailored Backups with Intelligent Filtering

Numerint offers intelligent filtering by date range or accounting type (e.g. you want invoices and credit notes but not quotes and bank transfers). This ensures you only pay for what you need, with transparent, personalised and automated quotes based on your attachment count.

Universal Accessibility & Futureproofing

All the files (e.g. PDF, JPG, XLS) are exported with useful filenames to help you identify the contents of each file, together with a convenient CSV file describing all the associated accounting data. This is all bundled into a ZIP file making it simple to store and move is there a word missing here? each backup. This means you can access your files, and the data about those files, anywhere, anytime, on any device without any special software.

Supporting Larger Organisations

Scale comes in many forms. Some firms may have a single Xero subscription with hundreds of thousands of records and tens of thousands of attached files. In this case, Numerint may run continuously for several weeks to perform a complete backup.

Some firms or accounting practices might manage dozens of Xero subscriptions. Numerint allows operators to connect all their Xero subscriptions and run backups all at the same time.

One-off and Regular Backups

Numerint is not only for one-off big backups. It can be limited to particular date ranges, and can be used on an on-going basis to capture changes and new date ranges. This allows customers to capture and store snapshots over time to ensure an updated local copy is kept.

Conclusion: Take Control of Your Financial Future

Empowering Your Business

In a cloud-reliant world, smart businesses proactively manage their data. Securing Xero attachments with Numerint isn't about distrusting the cloud; it's about taking ownership of business continuity risks and empowering your business with ultimate data resilience and control.

The Numerint Advantage

Numerint offers a simple, cost-effective, and comprehensive way to gain peace of mind. It's your digital insurance, ensuring your crucial financial records are always accessible, compliant, and under your command, free from concerns about future changes or unforeseen events.

Visit numerint.com today to get an instant, personalised quote and take the first step towards securing your business's financial future with a comprehensive, easily accessible backup.

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