Accountant's Assistant Handbook

7 
Processing Client Information 
Client processing 
The majority of work that you will perform with the Accountant’s 
Assistant module involves the cyclic processing of information to and 
from each Client Bookkeeping Solution client. This chapter provides 
details on the procedures for getting updated data and programs to your 
client, as well as the steps involved in the retrieving and processing of 
each CBS client’s exported data. 
Regular processing by the client 
For details on the processing cycle from the client’s point of view, please 
refer to the “Processing Overview” help topic in CBS.  
Database backups 
You should stress to your client the importance not only of making 
backup copies of company data at frequent intervals, but also of creating 
a final backup copy just prior to each export — to retain as an archive 
either on a reliable form of removable media or in a network folder. The 
export file the client creates is not the same as a backup file. While an 
export file contains only the information for the export period, a backup 
file contains a “snapshot” of the client’s company database file at that 
point in time, including historical data. Possession of a current backup 
file of company data will enable the client to restore all of the working 
data in the event of some type of data corruption or a catastrophe such as 
a hard drive failure, fire, or computer theft.  
 

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Processing Client Information 
 
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Accountant’s Assistant Handbook 
CBS automatically creates a copy of each backup and export file and 
stores the files in the Archive folder where the CBS program files are 
installed (for example, in C:\Program Files\Client Bookkeeping 
Solution\Data\Archive). The program creates these files even if the client 
did not mark the Create automatic backups checkbox on the General 
tab of the Utilities / Options dialog. 
Important! The client should be very careful to do a final backup of 
current company data before creating an export file. If the client were to 
send you an unreadable export file, or if the export file were to be lost in 
transit, the only way for the client to create another one would be to 
restore the prior data from a backup file and export again. 
 
You may want to recommend that your client send you both a backup 
file and the export file at the end of each CBS export period. 
Example 
If you discover the client’s export file for June 30 is unreadable but the 
client has already begun processing for July, have your client do either of 
the following: 
ƒ 
Recreate the export file and send it to you. 
1.  Save the current July data to backup on a form of removable 
media or to a separate folder on the hard drive (such as 
C:\Backup). 
2.  Restore the June data from the pre-export backup file and then 
choose File / Export to Accountant to create a new export file. 
3.  Restore the July data from the backup file and continue 
processing the July transactions. 
ƒ 
Send you a copy of the export file that CBS automatically created in 
the CBS data archive subfolder on the hard drive where the CBS 
program is installed. By default, this backup location is c:\Program 
Files\Client Bookkeeping Solution\Data\Archive\Export. 

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Processing Client Information 
Accountant’s Assistant Handbook 
131 
We suggest that you teach all of your CBS clients to make clearly 
labeled backup files on a regular schedule and store them in a safe place. 
As an additional form of protection, you may also want to maintain an 
offsite set of each client’s pre-export backup disks.