Backing up your business files and accounts

When you're the whole business, a lost, stolen or broken laptop can stop work completely. You also need to keep business records for HMRC, usually for at least five years after the Self Assessment deadline.

What to back up

Invoices, quotes and receipts
Customer and supplier contact details
Photos of jobs and work in progress
Any accounting files kept on the computer
A list of the online accounts and software you use

A setup that works

Keep everything in a cloud service, plus a separate backup that keeps older versions. That second copy is what saves you if ransomware or an accidental delete hits the cloud copy too. Test it now and then by restoring a file.

Phones count too

If you take job photos or quotes on your phone, make sure the phone's backup is switched on as well.