You've probably noticed that more small businesses are using Microsoft Office Small Business Accounting 2006 as their integrated accounting software solution. You may be wondering if it would be worthwhile to convert to Small Business Accounting (SBA) to attract some of these small businesses as clients.

SBA is a full-featured accounting program that manages accounting, inventory management, sales order and purchase order processing, and job tracking, banking, and payroll functions. All of these features have the familiar look and feel of Microsoft Office. SBA is easy to use and integrates well with other software programs. Perhaps the most attractive feature of SBA is the built-in data-sharing tool that makes sharing business data a snap.

Read on to learn how easy it is to use SBA to share accounting records, which can help you streamline reviewing and revision tasks for your clients' books. You'll quickly conclude that SBA users would make attractive clients for your accounting business.

Step 1: Create an Accountant's Backup file

SBA has a handy feature called Accountant's Backup that makes it easy for your client to share financial data. Help your client follow these steps in SBA to create an Accountant's Backup file with a .zip file name extension.

 Note   To create an Accountant's Backup file, your client must have Administrator-level privileges on the computer or be assigned as Owner in the user account in SBA.

1. On the File menu, click Accountant's Backup, click Create Accountant's Backup, and then click OK.
2. Click Browse, and in the File name field, enter the name of the Accountant's Backup file, and then click Save.

    Note   You and your client should decide on a standard naming convention for all future Accountant's Backup files. In the following example, the file name uses this convention: CompanyName_AcctBackup_Date.

3. To password-protect the Accountant's Backup file, in the Password field, type a password. Type the same password in the Verify password field.
4. Click OK to create the backup file.

    Note   You'll need to learn the password from your client in order to access this Accountant's Backup file.

   

5. Click OK to acknowledge that the Accountant's Backup file was created successfully.

 Note   At the top of the company's home page in SBA, (Accountant's Backup Exists) is displayed next to the company name.



6. Your client can send the Accountant's Backup file (the .zip file) and the password for the file to you by e-mail.

    Note   If your client accepted the default path for the Accountant's Backup file, the file is located at My Documents\Small Business Accounting\Backups.

After you receive the Accountant's Backup file, remind your client to track data changes separately while the Accountant's Backup file is under review. Any data changes made in SBA during this period are overwritten when the accountant's revised copy is imported back into the company database.

Step 2: Work with the Accountant's Backup file

When you receive the Accountant's Backup file from your client, follow these steps to access the file and make your changes:

1. Save the Accountant's Backup file that you received from your client to a secure location.
2. On the Microsoft Small Business Accounting Start page, click Restore a backup.
3. In the Database Restore dialog box, click Browse next to Backup filename. Select the Accountant's Backup file that you received from your client, and click Open.
4. Click Browse to the right of Restore backup file to. Select the company file (with the file name extension .sbc) to which you want to restore the client's Accountant's Backup file. Click Save.
5. If your client entered a password when the Accountant's Backup file was created, type that password in the Password field.
6. Click OK to restore the Accountant's Backup file.

   

7. Click OK to acknowledge that the restore process was successful.
8. Open the company file, and make your revisions.

Step 3: Return the revised Accountant's Backup file

Follow these steps to return the revised file back to your client:

1. On the File menu, click Utilities, and then click Data Utilities.
2. In the Small Business Accounting Data Tools dialog box, click Backup next to Backup Company Data.
3. In the Create a Backup File dialog box, click Browse to the right of the Backup file name field. In the File name field, type a name for the file and then click Save.

    Note    Discuss naming conventions with your client to decide on a standard for all future Accountant's Backup files. In the following example, the file name uses this convention: CompanyName_EditedAcctBackup_DateofOriginal.

4. In the Password field, type a password that your client can use to restore the backup file. In the Verify Password field, type the password again and then click OK.

   

5. Click OK to acknowledge that the backup process was completed successfully.
6. Send the revised Accountant's Backup file to your client by e-mail.

Step 4: Help your client import your changes

After your client receives the Accountant's Backup file with your changes, help your client restore the accounting files in SBA by using these steps:

1. On the File menu, click Accountant's Backup, and then click Import Accountant's Backup.
2. Click OK to acknowledge instructions about importing a file.
3. In the Create a Backup File dialog box, click Browse to the right of the Backup file name field. In the File name field, type a name for the file and then click Save.
4. Type the password from the accountant in the Password field. In the Verify Password field, type the password again and then click OK.
5. Click OK to acknowledge that the database backup was successful.
6. On the Microsoft Small Business Accounting Start page, click Import accountant's backup.
7. In the Import Accountant's Backup dialog box, click Browse to the right of Backup file name. Select the revised Accountant's Backup file, and click Open.
8. Click Browse to the right of Restore backup file to. Select the company file (with the file name extension .sbc) to which your client wants to restore the revised Accountant's Backup file, and click Save.
9. In the Password field, type the password your client used when the client created the database backup in step 3.
10. Click OK to import the revised Accountant's Backup file.
11. Click OK to acknowledge that the import of the Accountant's Backup file was completed successfully.

The company home page appears. Notice that the words (Accountant's Backup Exists) no longer appear at the top of the page, next to the company name.

There are many advantages to using SBA with your accounting clients. SBA makes it easy to send financial data back and forth between you and your clients. You can review firsthand the status of your client's books and make any necessary adjustments. You can coordinate with your client to regularly share SBA accounting records throughout the year to ease the year-end book closing and tax preparation process.