I am a Club Treasurer, and been asked if another Committee Member can have a copy of my Desktop Edition, in case I should become unable to continue with my duties. If another member downloads the program, can my backup on an external drive be loaded on to their computer. We seem to think that this can only be done for audit purposes - is this correct?
As long as the other desktop can access your backup file, even if by USB flash drive, the other user can import the business. Be careful, though, about installed versions. As long as the importing machine is up to date, there will be no problem, as all versions of Manager can import backups from older versions. But the reverse is not true. So if the new machine is up to date, imports the file, then opens it, that file should never be opened by an older version.
If the contingency member never looks at the data, and knows to install or update the program only in case of some untoward event, all should be good. But mayhem could ensue if s/he starts looking, backing up, etc., and you then open the file from your original, possibly older version of Manager.
Bottom line: access for contingencies is no problem. Multiple concurrent users on desktop edition can spell trouble.