Coming to Cloud Edition from Desktop Edition

1

I just upgraded from desktop edition to the cloud edition. I must say, it is very smooth.

I found that I did not have to un-install the desktop edition of Manager Accounting. To get my accounting files into the cloud edition, all I had to do was make backups in the desktop edition. Then, I imported the backups into the cloud edition, accessed from my web browser. I have all my data.

I found that I could also enter transactions from my smartphone by logging into the cloud edition from a browser on my smartphone.

Seems like a good idea to keep the desktop edition around and make frequent backups from the cloud edition. That way, if my internet is down, I don’t have to be down. As long as I have electricity, I can continue working with the desktop edition. Then, when my Internet is back up, I can move the latest backups back to the cloud edition. And I have my data on my smartphone and on my desktop.

I am backing up to Google Drive so that both the smartphone and the desktop access a common backup area. I would suppose that DropBox and OneDrive should also work. On my smartphone, I had to clear the Google Drive memory storage via the configuration to see the new “Manager Accounting” folder. That’s a Google Drive problem, not a Manager Accounting problem. And the problem is fixed by clearing the drive memory to force Google Drive to sync with itself.

Also, when I backup from my smartphone, it is a slight hassle because the backup file only goes to a fixed download folder. And then I have to move the backup file to Google Drive. But that is a Google Android problem, not a Manager Accounting problem. The great thing is that I have a way to keep my backups up to date, whether I am on my desktop or on my smartphone.

I found Manager Accounting works the same whether desktop edition or cloud edition. So, I did not have to learn anything new to enter transactions or view reports. I just had to import my data and go with it.

In any case, for me the whole process has been so intuitive and easy, that I wanted to share my good experience.

1 Like
2

Great post.

There is nothing wrong with keeping the Desktop Edition, however as @Tut would warn, you must make sure that the Desktop Eddition is not an earlier version than the Cloud Edition. See the guide:

Caution
New versions of Manager can open files created by older versions of the program. But sometimes, in doing so, they modify the data structure to incorporate new features. Therefore, older versions of the program cannot necessarily import and open backups from newer versions of the program. Therefore, be sure all versions of the program on all machines involved in data transfers are the same. And be aware, if transferring to or from the cloud edition, the cloud edition is automatically updated.

3

Yes, indeed. Makes sense that I need to make sure the Desktop version is up-to-date.

I see that checking that the desktop version is up-to-date is very easy;
(1) Open Cloud Edition, click on “About Manager”, and read the version number.
(2) Do the same for Desktop Edition, i.e. click on “About Manager”, and read the version number.

If the version numbers match, the Desktop version is up-to-date. If not match, then I download the latest Desktop Edition release and install.

If there is anything hard about it, the hard thing would be just to remember to do it. But doing it is easy.

I suppose that Manager Accounting user interface could change, making this post out-of-date. So, this post is good as of Manager version 17.6.8. And I figure that all future versions will probably have some way of checking the version number.

Maybe some future desktop version will automatically update itself; though that feature is really not so urgent because (1) People who use only the desktop version can continue indefinitely to use their files with whatever version they have. (2) Cloud Edition users probably have some alternate access to the Internet, such as their smart phone, a friend, or maybe some Internet cafe.

In any case, I see there are multiple ways to keep working when you have the Cloud Edition of Manager.