How to Back Up Your Professional Tax Software

Computer crashes and other disasters can happen at any time. Without proper backups of your professional tax software, you could lose client files and face hours of unnecessary work next tax season. Fortunately, backing up your TaxSlayer Pro software is simple. Follow these steps to backup your data, and you’ll have peace of mind knowing that your TaxSlayer Pro program files and client files can easily be restored.

Benefits of backing up your tax software data

In addition to peace of mind, having secure backups of your professional tax software means:

  • You won’t lose productivity in the event of a disaster. Whether your computer fails due to technological issues or a natural disaster, getting back to work quickly is critical to maintaining profit and productivity. 
  • You’ll retain files that could prove useful if one of your clients is audited.
  • You’ll maintain a positive, professional relationship with your clients. You’ll never need to tell them that you’ve lost their files or ask them to resend their documents.

Where to store your backup files

We generally recommend that tax preparers use a USB flash drive to backup their professional tax software and client files. You can also use an external harddrive or a secure, cloud-based drive such as Dropbox Business.

If you wish to back up the entire TaxSlayer Pro program (for years 2016 and later) you will need to:

  1. Locate the TaxSlayer folder on your C: drive (or the drive where your TaxSlayer program is installed). 
  2. Copy the entire TaxSlayer folder to your removable drive, which will give you a complete backup of your tax programs for years 2016 – 2020. 

Have you previously backed up prior year versions of your TaxSlayer program? If so, you may only need to back up a single year to a flash or USB drive. To back up just the 2020 program, for example:

  1. Locate the TaxSlayer folder on your C: drive (or the drive where your TaxSlayer program is installed). 
  2. Copy the entire 2020 folder as well as the cfg2010.rcs file and the 2020pdfs folder (if you are a TaxSlayer Pro Premium user) to your removable drive.

Want to backup just your client files? The TaxSlayer Pro program includes a backup utility designed to help you back up selected client files or all of your client files at once. 

  1. From the Utilities Menu, select Backup Returns
  2. Select the drive letter assigned to your flash or USB drive
  3. Select which client files you wish to backup, or you can back up all of your clients’ files by selecting the Check All Button at the bottom of the client list. 

Backing up your professional tax software files and client files only takes a few minutes but could save you hours of unnecessary work in the unfortunate event that something happens to your computer. For more detailed steps on backing up the TaxSlayer Pro program and your client files, you can refer to these instructions from our Support Center:

Be sure to browse our other Support Center for more helpful resources and tips for tax preparers.

This article was last edited on July 23, 2021.