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Moving Company Files Across Platforms

The contents of AccountEdge company files are platform-independent, which means a given file can be used on both a Mac and a Windows machine. If you are working on a Mac, and need to send your company file to your accountant who is using a Windows machine, you can send the file to your accountant, and your accountant will have no problem accessing the contents of the company file.

This also means you can change machines (platforms), and your company file can be moved to, and used on the new platform. To move a company file to a new platform you must first determine how you will physically move the files from one platform to the other. One way of handling it is by copying the files onto a Flash Drive or over a network, then copying the files from onto the desktop of the other system. You can also email the files from one system to the other, if the file is small enough. When the file is on the destination platform, check the file's permissions to verify the file is readable and writable. To check permissions on the file

  • On Mac, click on the file on your desktop and go to File > Get Info. Under permissions, make sure it indicates read-write for all groups. You must have administrator privileges on the computer to change file permissions.
  • On Windows, right-click the copied file on your desktop and scroll to Properties. Under the General tab, make sure the 'read only' box is not checked.

Important Note: Although data in the company files are maintained in a platform-independent manner, and the company files can be read and written by either machine, these two products (AccountEdge Mac and AccountEdge Windows) cannot be used together (simultaneously) on a “mixed” network. It may appear to work, but will corrupt company files. Therefore, accessing files across platforms should be avoided. Additionally, custom forms are not cross across platform - so if you switch to Windows from Mac or Mac from Windows you will need to re-customize and checks, invoices, purchase orders, etc.