Backup & Recovery
Keep your financial data safe with reliable, automated backups.
Scheduled Backups
Scheduled backups ensure your financial records are always protected. Kantivo makes it easy to configure automatic backups so you never have to worry about data loss.
How to Set Up Scheduled Backups
- Navigate to Settings and open the Backup panel
- Turn on the Automatic Backups toggle
- Pick a schedule that fits your workflow:
- Every day (the safest choice for active businesses)
- Once per week
- Each time you close the application
- Specify where backup files should be saved (the default is the backups directory inside your Kantivo installation)
How Long Backups Are Retained
- The seven most recent daily snapshots are preserved
- Four weekly snapshots are kept on a rolling basis
- Anything older is removed automatically to conserve disk space
On-Demand Backup
- Open Settings and select the Backup section
- Press Create Backup Now
- A timestamped backup file is generated immediately
- You can then copy this file to a USB drive, network share, or cloud folder for offsite protection
Choosing Where Backups Are Saved
By default, Kantivo stores full-database backups in a protected system folder and company exports in your Documents folder. You can point either one at any folder you prefer — a second internal drive, an external disk, a network share, or a folder synced to the cloud.
Setting a Custom Backup Folder
- Open System Administration and switch to the Backup & Restore tab
- Scroll to Choose Backup Locations
- Enter a folder path in either field:
- Full database backups folder — where the complete nightly and manual backups are written
- Company backups folder — where individual company exports are written
- Click Save Locations — Kantivo verifies it can actually write to the folder before accepting it
Leave a field blank to keep the default location, or use Reset to Defaults to switch both back at any time.
Recovering from a Backup
- Open System Administration and choose Backup & Restore
- Locate the snapshot you want to roll back to
- Press Restore
- Confirm your decision in the dialog that appears
Before anything is overwritten, Kantivo saves a safety copy of what's there now. The restore then succeeds completely or not at all: every table returns to the snapshot's moment, and any check that fails leaves your current data untouched. Users, passwords and this PC's licence activation stay as they were.
Recommendations for Data Safety
- Activate daily scheduled backups so you are never more than 24 hours behind
- Store at least one copy on an external drive or offsite location separate from your computer
- Periodically perform a test restore to confirm your backup files are intact and usable
- Trigger a manual backup before any significant operation such as data imports or software upgrades
Switching to a New Computer
The Move this Installation tool bundles your entire Kantivo setup into a single, password-protected file: all companies, users and their passwords, attached documents and receipts, and the encryption key for employee records. Carry that file to the replacement PC and everything arrives intact.
Step 1: export from the current PC
- In System Administration → Backup & Restore, find the Move this Installation card.
- Keep Freeze first selected. The current copy becomes read-only so no new entries get stranded on it, and background jobs (recurring transactions, payment reminders and the like) hold off, running once afterwards if you unfreeze.
- Choose 📦 Create full installation backup and then ⬇️ Download. Set a password when prompted. Write it down: the new PC will ask for it, and there is no way to recover a forgotten one.
Step 2: import on the new PC
- Install Kantivo and sign in.
- On the Move this Installation card, pick ⬆️ Upload a backup file and supply the password.
- Press ♻️ Restore, then type RESTORE to confirm.
Each company's trial balance is compared with the file before the move completes, and your team signs in afterwards with the credentials they already use.