- Virtual Office CS performs scheduled backups, but backup policies vary by application and data type.
- Most CS Professional Suite data includes nightly backups retained for 14 days, month-end backups for four months, and a year-end recovery point.
- Only Thomson Reuters Support can restore Accounting CS and Practice CS databases.
- Virtual Office CS cannot recover File Exchange or Document Presentation data from backup.
- Before tax season, CPA firms should verify backup retention periods, restore permissions, expected recovery time, and post-restore validation procedures.
Introduction
Your firm gains value from a Virtual Office CS backup only when it can recover the correct client, tax year, application data, and restore point before a filing deadline suffers. Virtual Office CS automatically backs up hosted data, but each CS Professional Suite application follows a different restoration process. Authorised staff can restore some client data through NetFirm CS, while Thomson Reuters Support must handle restores for applications such as Accounting CS and Practice CS. Virtual Office CS cannot restore File Exchange or Document Presentation data from backup.
These differences matter when someone deletes a client file, overwrites figures, encounters incomplete data during a migration, or discovers a problem weeks after it occurred. Choosing the newest backup without first identifying the last known-good version may reproduce the original error or erase valid work that another preparer completed.
This guide explains how Virtual Office CS backs up and restores data, which recovery points your firm may access, which data the platform cannot recover, and when you must contact Thomson Reuters Support. It also gives your team a practical process for selecting the right restore point, stopping conflicting changes, validating recovered data, and testing recovery before busy season. By following this process, your firm can decide whether the existing backup system meets its recovery needs or whether it requires a broader backup assessment and disaster-recovery plan.
What Does Virtual Office CS Back Up, and for How Long?
Virtual Office CS applies different retention rules to different data categories. Treating every file and application as though it follows one policy creates avoidable recovery mistakes.
Thomson Reuters states that daily maintenance normally runs from about 2:30 a.m. to 4 a.m. ET. Connected users may be forced out when maintenance begins, so work should be saved when the warning appears.
| Data category | Nightly | Month-end | Year-end | Important limitation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CS Professional Suite, excluding Practice CS and Accounting CS | 14 days | Four months | One copy until replaced | Restore method varies |
| Practice CS and Accounting CS SQL databases | 14 days | Four months | One year | Full-database restore requires Support |
| Archive drive (W:) | One day | One month | One copy until replaced | Support must restore it |
| File Exchange and Document Presentation | Not restorable | Not restorable | Not restorable | Deleted data cannot be recovered |
A retention window is not a recovery guarantee. The firm must still choose the correct date, stop conflicting changes, and validate the result.
Why Can a Backup Exist but Still Fail the Business?
A backup protects your firm only when your team can restore it quickly and verify that the recovered data is accurate. Simply saying, “The vendor backs it up,” does not answer four critical operational questions:
- Recovery point: How much recent work might your firm lose?
- Recovery time: How long can your team operate without the affected data?
- Recovery scope: Can your team restore one client, or must the vendor restore an entire database?
- Recovery confidence: Who will verify that the restored data is complete and correct?
For example, suppose a preparer discovers on 10 March that someone entered incorrect changes in a client file on 20 February. The 14-day nightly backup window may no longer include the required recovery point. A month-end backup may still exist, but restoring it could remove several days of valid work and force the team to re-enter data.stantial rework.
Recovery planning must therefore begin with deadlines, acceptable data loss, and workflow dependencies—not storage terminology.
What Can Staff Restore Without Thomson Reuters Support?
Users can initiate many client-level restores through NetFirm CS, while our support team handles restores for certain applications and locations.
For supported applications, an authorised user can open Admin, select Restore Data, choose Virtual Office CS, and select the application, client, and restore date. An available Undo Last Restore option may reverse a recent restoration. Thomson Reuters instructs firms to make sure nobody is working in the affected client data first.
The portal does not directly restore:
- Accounting CS
- Practice CS
- Financial Analysis CS
- ToolBox CS
- Microsoft Office documents
- Archive-drive data
Multiple data locations and older restore points may also require Support. File Exchange and Document Presentation data cannot be restored from backup.
Restore Ownership Matrix
| Situation | First owner | Escalation |
|---|---|---|
| Supported client needs a recent restore | Authorised firm administrator | Support if the point is missing |
| Accounting CS or Practice CS database issue | Firm IT lead | Thomson Reuters Support |
| Multiple data locations are involved | Firm administrator | Web Services Support |
| Archive-drive files are missing | Firm IT lead | Thomson Reuters Support |
| File Exchange folder was deleted | Firm risk lead | Assess impact; restore is unavailable |
| Compromise or ransomware is suspected | Security incident lead | Security team, host, and vendor |
How Should a Firm Restore Data Safely?
Freeze activity, preserve evidence, restore the smallest necessary scope, and validate before reopening access.
Pre-Restore Checklist
- Record the client, application, tax year, data location, and first known problem time.
- Identify the last time the data was known to be correct.
- Capture screenshots, errors, and file counts before changing anything.
- Confirm that nobody is editing the affected data.
- Determine whether the request is client-level or database-level.
- Confirm who has permissions and who must contact Support.
- Assign the person responsible for validation.
Do not select Most Recent merely because it is convenient. When the latest backup already contains the unwanted change, restoring it recreates the same problem.
Post-Restore Validation
A successful status message is not enough. Verify:
- Entity and tax year
- Key balances and carry-forwards
- Return and e-file status
- Linked documents
- Recent workflow notes
- User access
- Any downstream process affected by the rollback
Record the recovery point, elapsed time, validation result, and work that must be re-entered.
Practical Scenario: Avoid Creating a Second Incident
A safe recovery sometimes requires less action, not faster action.
A 20-person tax firm sees older figures in one UltraTax client. The office manager requests the latest restore. Before proceeding, the IT lead compares timestamps and learns that another preparer entered correct changes two hours earlier, while the affected user had opened an older copy.
Restoring the nightly backup would erase valid work. The team isolates the client, preserves both versions, confirms the intended figures, and selects a recovery point after reconciling the evidence.
This representative scenario explains why “restore quickly” is less important than “restore deliberately.”
For an access outage rather than missing or incorrect data, use the separate Virtual Office CS downtime diagnostic guide before initiating recovery.
How Do You Prove That Backups Are Recoverable?
Run a controlled recovery exercise before busy season and after major application or infrastructure changes. CISA recommends regularly testing backup availability and integrity in a disaster-recovery scenario.
Quarterly Recovery Test
- Select approved test data or a non-critical client.
- Record the current state and expected recovery point.
- Confirm who can initiate and approve the restore.
- Perform the supported recovery process.
- Measure total recovery time.
- Validate the application and related workflow.
- Record permission, data, or support problems.
- Update the written recovery procedure.
Avoid casually using live client data. Define approval, validation, and rollback steps before the exercise.
Is the Built-In Backup Enough for Your Firm?
It may be enough when its retention, restore scope, and support model match the firm’s risk.
| Requirement | Built-in process may be sufficient | Additional review is sensible |
|---|---|---|
| Recent client recovery | Supported client and point exist | Product requires Support |
| Longer look-back | Month-end/year-end points meet the need | More granular retention is required |
| File Exchange recovery | No | An alternate document-retention process is needed |
| Fast full-environment recovery | Tested timing is acceptable | Recovery time is unknown |
| Ransomware resilience | Separation and testing are verified | Firm cannot confirm protection or integrity |
| Audit evidence | Restore records are maintained | No owner, logs, or test results exist |
A backup assessment should map each workload to its retention, restore owner, recovery target, and validation process. A disaster-recovery review also considers how staff continue working during a wider service failure. NIST treats backup, recovery planning, testing, training, and plan maintenance as related but distinct contingency activities.
Virtual Office CS Backup Troubleshooting
Start with the symptom instead of assuming corruption.
| Symptom | Likely issue | Next action |
|---|---|---|
| Restore Data link is missing | Insufficient permission | Confirm NetFirm CS access |
| Required date is absent | Point is outside portal availability | Contact Support with the exact date |
| Client list loads slowly | Large data volume | Allow time; escalate if urgent |
| Restored client is missing | Client list may need repair | Use repair tools or contact Support |
| Multiple locations cause confusion | Data-location configuration | Stop and involve Web Services Support |
| Restore completes but values look wrong | Wrong point or weak validation | Keep users out and reconcile records |
| File Exchange data is missing | Data type is not restorable | Use the firm’s alternate recovery process |
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Most recovery failures begin with an assumption.
- Assuming every CS application uses the same restore process.
- Waiting until tax season to test permissions.
- Restoring the latest copy without finding the last known-good point.
- Allowing users to continue editing during recovery.
- Treating File Exchange as recoverable backup storage.
- Checking backup completion but never measuring restore time.
- Keeping the procedure only in one employee’s memory.
Frequently Asked Questions
Daily backups run during the maintenance window. Most CS Professional Suite data receives 14 nightly copies, four month-end copies, and one year-end copy.
No. Accounting CS uses a SQL database, and full-database restores require Thomson Reuters Support.
Thomson Reuters states that File Exchange and Document Presentation data cannot be restored from backups. Do not use those areas as the only retained copy of important documents.
Time depends on the application, data volume, scope, support involvement, and validation. Measure it during a controlled test rather than estimating during an incident.
No. First determine whether data is missing, corrupt, overwritten, or temporarily unavailable. A restore can remove valid work when the wrong point is selected.
Request one when retention is insufficient, recovery timing is untested, critical data is not restorable, support responsibilities are unclear, or the firm needs stronger protection against deletion or a wider infrastructure failure.
Conclusion: Prove Recovery Before You Need It
Virtual Office CS has defined backup schedules and restoration options, but every application and data type does not recover in the same way. A dependable plan identifies what is protected, how far back the firm can go, who performs the restore, how long it takes, and who validates the result.
OneUp Networks can review your Virtual Office CS recovery workflow, document gaps, and determine whether the built-in process matches your deadlines and risk tolerance. Begin with a free backup assessment or disaster-recovery consultation. When a broader hosting change is justified, the same evidence can support a controlled migration or free trial—without forcing a decision before the facts are clear.
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- Contact Us – Speak with our team about your firm’s current backup setup.
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