How to Back Up Business Records on Your Phone

If your quotations live only on your phone, one drop, theft or reset could erase them. A backup routine takes only a few minutes, and it's far cheaper than rebuilding your records from memory.

What to back up

• Quotations and invoices
• Client details
• Company details and logo
• Accepted quotes, signed documents and job photos
• Any business records you must keep for tax purposes

Check local rules on how long you must retain business and tax records.

Follow the 3-2-1 idea

A popular guideline is to keep:

• 3 copies of your important data
• 2 different types of storage, such as your phone and a cloud drive
• 1 copy away from the original, so a single loss can't destroy them all

For a very small business, a phone copy, plus a cloud or email copy, is a strong start.

Pick a schedule

Choose how much work you could bear to lose. If you send a few quotes weekly, back up once a week. If you quote every day, back up daily, or after any important job. A monthly phone reminder is better than no routine at all.

Protect your backups

Backup files can contain client names, phone numbers and prices. Treat them as confidential:

• Use a strong password and two-step verification on your cloud account.
• Don't send backups to shared groups or shared email.
• Delete old copies you no longer need, particularly on shared devices.

Test a restore

A backup you've never restored is only a hope. Try it once, ideally on another phone, to check everything comes back.

Changing phones

In Quotation Maker App Offline, use Settings to send a backup file to yourself. On your new phone, choose Restore from a backup. Keep in mind that this replaces what's on that phone.

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