In ACS 5 you back up your data with File > Save As on the menu bar. It saves all of your ACS data, for every system and company, into one .zip file. There is no longer a separate Backup program, and you are not asked which system to back up or whether to back up programs. Programs are reinstalled from the ACS setup program, so only your data needs to be saved.
Making a backup
- From the ACS menu, choose File > Save As...
- Choose where to save the file and give it a name. Including the date in the name helps, for example
ACS 2026-09-24.zip. The window starts in the Save (Company) As folder set in File > Preferences > User. - Click Save. A command window shows progress while ACS compresses the data.
- When the save finishes, ACS displays All ACS Data has successfully been saved to and the file name. If something went wrong, ACS says so and offers to display the log. Do not rely on that file as a backup until the problem is resolved.
The main menu shows the date and file name of the last successful Save As. Point to it to see the full path.
Where to keep backups
- Save to a USB drive, a network folder, or a folder that is copied to online storage. A backup kept only on the same computer as ACS will not help if that computer fails.
- Keep several backups rather than replacing one file each day. A different name for each day or each payroll, such as
ACS Payroll 2026-09-24.zip, lets you go back further if a problem is not noticed immediately. - Keep at least one recent backup away from the office.
- Make a backup before year-end closing, before removing old records, and before any other major processing.
Notes
Temporary files, the ACS Temp folder and the report cache are left out of the backup.
If you use ACS through the ACS Client (client/server), the backup is created on the server and copied to the location you chose on your own computer.
ACS also makes an automatic save of the current company before File > Open replaces any data. These automatic saves are kept in the ACS Temp folder under Automated Saves. They do not replace your own regular backups.