Clarifying the Migration Path from Reckon Desktop to Reckon Hosted

Reece Harper

Hi All,

I’m a software developer behind CreataCRM, and over the past few years, I’ve successfully encouraged many clients to transition from Reckon Desktop to Reckon Hosted.

The Reckon API has been a fantastic enabler — it allows deeper integration, automation, and richer workflows that simply weren’t possible in the desktop environment.

However, in the last few months (around 3 months or so), I’ve noticed a shift:
users contacting Reckon phone support are being told they must keep their data files under 1 GB, perform frequent repairs, and even consider migrating due to “size issues.”

This has caused confusion because I can see, across multiple existing CreataCRM clients, that:

• Some have transaction tables exceeding 1 million records,
• Most clients' data files are several gigabytes,
• And yet they’re performing perfectly fine through the API and hosted connections.

So I’d like some clarification on a few key points:

1. Why are there suddenly new concerns around file size or data integrity when the API and hosted environment continue to perform well?
2. What are Reckon’s current best-practice recommendations for migrating from Desktop to Hosted — specifically in relation to larger company files?
3. Is there a dedicated account manager or migration specialist (rather than phone support) that users or partners can engage for this process?
4. Is there a Reckon-certified consultant or partner who can officially assist users through this migration?
5. Once a user moves to Reckon Hosted, can they still download and open the same Reckon file locally (for backup or offline review)?

Rav

Hey @Reece Harper

Great to see you back on the Community 🙂

I'm not aware of there being any concerted push to reduce file sizes but with that said, we've always placed a degree of emphasis on the active maintenance of data files including at least considering the file size. I think that's more related to preventative measures around the risk of data corruption, reducing delays with backing up & rebuilding files and just generally ensuring the file is operating at its optimum rather than anything specific to API performance itself.

Files that are 1GB+ are certainly considered on the larger end of the scale so while API performance maybe working well (which is great!), there maybe other aspects of file operation that can start to feel a bit sluggish over time without routine file maintenance.

On that note, when it comes to best practices for larger files, we do have suggestions on ensuring files are running in tip top condition and I'll link some resources to this below.

#TipTuesday - Backing Up and Performing File Integrity Checks on Large Reckon Accounts Hosted Files

#TipTuesday - Reckon Accounts Business - File Maintenance 🛠️

https://help.reckon.com/article/raxkcjai2w-kba-3793-how-to-improve-the-performance-of-your-qbi-company-file

How to reduce data file sizes larger than 500MB for Reckon Accounts Hosted

An important distinction to make here is that there is no set migration process involved when you move from Reckon Accounts Desktop to Reckon Accounts Hosted specifically. The reason for that is, aside from the cloud aspect, both of these software operate on the same architecture so its pretty much as straightforward as opening your existing company file from Reckon Accounts Desktop in Reckon Accounts Hosted.

That's not to say there aren't differences between Reckon Accounts Desktop and Reckon Accounts Hosted, there are some slight differences in certain operations such as file management, emailing, printing for example however the learning curve is fairly minimal. Admittedly I'm not an expert when it comes to the API aspect of things but I'm sure there may be some differences there as well and I'll tag my friend @Datarec to see if there he can contribute some of his expertise on that front.

As always, for our API dev partners such as yourself we have our dedicated API support team to assist you when it comes to the integration of your solution with the Reckon API and our technical support team is on-hand to help our software users and customers.

Hopefully some of that has helped but let me know if you have any questions.

Cheers

Datarec

Large files naturally take longer to back up, which can discourage users from completing regular backups.

However, it's important to remember that end users are ultimately responsible for ensuring their data is backed up. This applies for both the Reckon Accounts application on the desktop and on the Hosted platform.

If backups aren't performed consistently, users may find themselves in a difficult position.

In the event of data loss or corruption, the only option may be to attempt a data file repair—often resulting in significant downtime and disruption and associated costs.

To avoid this, we strongly encourage regular file maintenance including backups that include the complete verification or a standalone manual file verification, especially for larger files.

Whilst the info in the post below mentions the older 2024 product, the idea behind it remains the same.

#TipTuesday - Backing Up and Performing File Integrity Checks on Large Reckon Accounts Hosted Files — Reckon Community

For users with QBW (company data files) that are close to 1GB+ it would be a good idea to download a copy of the data file from the Hosted platform onto a local PC that has an installed Reckon Accounts Enterprise (single-user licence), and use that to perform any file integrity checking or backup procedures since it could be left to run without worrying about a Hosted session timing out due to inactivity.

Reece Harper

You’ve made some excellent points here about the importance of regular backups and file integrity checks, especially for larger Reckon files. It’s easy to underestimate how much downtime and stress can come from skipping those maintenance steps until something goes wrong.

I completely agree that taking a few extra minutes to verify and back up regularly — particularly outside of Hosted where timeouts can interrupt the process — can save a lot of trouble later on. The reminder about downloading and running checks locally on Enterprise is a great practical tip too.

Thanks for sharing this — it’s a good nudge for everyone to stay on top of their data care routine!