Microsoft Office Accounting Professional 2008

Data Management

Office Accounting uses Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express (SQL Express) to store data. SQL Express is a free SQL-based relational database from Microsoft that gives you the majority of the features and security of an enterprise database without the cost. Office Accounting Professional and Professional Plus can additionally be installed on the full version of SQL Server 2005.

SQL Express is installed as a named instance (MSSMLBIZ) when Office Accounting is installed. Included with SQL Express are several tools, where the most important tool is the SQL Server Configuration Manager.

SQL Express must be running to use Office Accounting. SQL Server Configuration Manager can be used to start or stop SQL Express.

To open the SQL server configuration manager, select All Programs in the Start menu, Microsoft SQL Server 2005, SQL Server Configuration Manager.

This will open the Microsoft Management Console with the SQL server configuration manager.

To see if the SQL server is running, click SQL Server 2005 Services.

If the server is running, the state will display “Running”, otherwise it will display “Stopped” as seen above. To start or stop the SQL server, Select the SQL Server (MSSMLBIZ) service and use the Start or Stop icon in the toolbar to start or stop the service.

You can use the SQL server configuration manager to free up memory, either by stopping and restarting SQL Express, or by stopping SQL Express when you are not using Office Accounting.

Data Utilities

To open the data utilities Select Utilities in the File menu, and then select Data Utilities.

This will open up the Microsoft Office Accounting Data Utilities.

The data utilities can also be opened by clicking Start, All Programs, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Office Accounting 2008 Tools, Data Tools.

Backing Up Your Data

To back up your database, select Backup on the Basic Tools tab.

Click Browse to select a backup name and location, and enter a password if desired. Click OK to create a backup.

Office Accounting will now back up your database. This may take a few minutes.

When the company has been backed up, click OK in the Backup Completed dialog and Close the data maintenance dialog.

Restoring a Backup

To restore a previous backup your database, select Restore on the Basic Tools tab.

Click Browse to pick the backup file and location to restore the file to, and enter the password if applicable. Click OK to restore.

Office Accounting will now restore your database. This may take a few minutes.

When the company has been restored, click OK in the Restore Completed dialog and Close the data maintenance dialog.

Deleting a Company Database

To delete a database, select Delete on the Basic Tools tab.

Pick the company you want to delete and click Delete. Click Yes to the warning. The company database and the shortcut will now be deleted.

Rebuilding a Company File

If the company file has been deleted, you can rebuild it by selecting Rebuild on the Basic Tools tab. Select a database for which company you want to rebuild and click Rebuild.

Select a name for the company file and click Save.

When the company file has been created, click OK in the dialog and Close the data maintenance dialog.

Advanced Tools

If the database has been corrupted by a power outage or other event, you can try to repair it with the repair utility on the Advanced Tools tab.

Click Repair to repair your database, and select it from the list.

If you want to move a database from one computer to another, you need to either back it up, copy the backup and restore it on the other computer, or detach it from SQL server on the first computer, copy it and then attach it to the SQL server on the second computer.

Finally you can disable integration with Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager.

Settings

The Settings tab allows you to set the SQL server instance that the application is pointing to.

If you want to run Office Accounting Professional or Professional Plus off a different SQL Server instance (e.g. on a different computer) you can set it here and click Apply.