I can't find a client or associated data in the application - Practice users only!

If you are a non-practice user (you purchase a product listed for Individuals, Trusts or Businesses) please see our article for How do I find a missing file? (Individual, Partnership and Limited Company users)

In terms of the TaxCalc application, measures are in place to prevent any data loss. If information can no longer be located, there are a few different things that will need to be checked. Before proceeding, you will need to know what data is no longer present.

1. Is the client no longer available in your client list within Practice Manager
   1. The first thing to check is whether the client still exists but has been removed from visibility via the option for Client Restriction. To check this go to Admin Centre > Users > double click on the username having the issue > Client Restriction and see what information is displayed on screen. If you have a set defined list of clients, the client will need to appear in the right hand side of the screen headed Selected List.
   2. If the Client Restriction option is set to All Clients, it is likely the client or data has been deleted from the application.
   3. If the Client has been Archived please change the view from All Clients to Archived clients. If listed you can right-click and choose to Restore the record.
2. Certain work associated to the client (a tax return/accounts/VAT return etc.) is no longer available
   1. Work items are associated against a Business record within the client itself. When going to delete a Business from the client record, if there is any work associated, you will receive the below error. Note this error message only appears in version 10.3.003 or higher. Therefore, if the Business no longer appears, the work will have been manually deleted in order to allow the system to delete the Business record.
       
   2. If you do not have a business associated to the client, the only likely outcome of the data no longer being present is deletion.

Unfortunately, as there is no logging in the system, finding out how data has suddenly “become missing” is not currently possible. We are limited on the support that we can provide with restoring data.

Step 1:

Do you have a backup which contains the missing data?

Yes - See Step 2

No - If you do not have a recent backup that would contain this information, unfortunately the data will need to be manually re-input into the software as there is no other way of retrieving this information.

Step 2:

If you do have a backup, you need to be aware of what data can be retrieved. 

• Tax Return Production - due to the legacy storage of  tax return data, the tax return files can be easily exported as separate files outside of the database.
• Accounts Production - as this product only came onto the market once the database was incorporated, data has become far more difficult to extract out. Currently, you only have the option to export CSVs and PDF documents for accounts production reports. We would recommend previewing the information in our article for How do I move an Accounts Production client from one TaxCalc database to another?
• Practice Manager - exporting client data from Practice Manager can be achieved but requires manual intervention to get the data in a format that can be re-imported into the system. The current issue with this is that this information cannot be exported out in a single report and you may find it more time efficient to re-create the client with the relevant details.
• All other modules do not allow data to be exported and re-imported. 

If the decision is to still try and retrieve the information from a previous backup please look at Step 3. 

Step 3:

At this stage, we would like to clarify the definition of a backup. So far this article has mentioned a previous backup which is believed to contain the data that is no longer present. This is going to be referred to as Backup A. 

Before we do absolutely anything else, we want to take a backup which will be referred to as Backup B. This backup is of your live database and will be used to restore you back to your current position later in the process. This should be taken by logging in to the TaxCalc application > clicking on Admin Centre > Database > Backup Database.

Please note: this file should be stored somewhere locally on the your C Drive. If you are using CloudConnect this could be classed as a Manual Backup.

Depending on your installation type of TaxCalc, we now want to take a cautionary third backup. 

To find out your install type, please open TaxCalc and go to Help > About. This will advise of the database location. If you are standalone you will see a folder location. If you are network, you will see the PC name where the database is held. 

• If standalone, a copy of the hub.sqlite file should be made and saved within the C drive – this file will be in one of two locations as per article for Where is my database stored and can I move it? (Practice users)
• If network, a copy of the data folder (C:\TaxCalcHub\PostgreSQL\9.4\Data) should be made and placed within the C drive.
• If CloudConnect, the database is held on our servers and a Manual Backup taken will suffice.

Now that we have a backup through the TaxCalc application and a manual external backup, we can now proceed with completing the restore. 

Step 4

1. Open TaxCalc
2. Click on Admin Centre
3. Select Database > Restore Backup from File 
4. Ignore the prompt to take a backup before restoring (as you have already made a Backup (Backup B) above)
5. Browse to the location for Backup A 
6. Select Restore
7. Once the restore has completed, you will be prompted to close and re-open TaxCalc and will have to log in with the password

The next steps you take will depend on what data is missing. 

• Tax Return Production - open the client in Tax Return Production, select the missing data, click on Exporting and Save a copy locally to your machine. 
  Please note when re-importing the tax return file, if the client is not available in Practice Manager, the TaxCalc application will create the client record automatically for you. 
• Accounts Production - as above follow the instructions in our article for How do I move an Accounts Production client from one TaxCalc database to another?
• Practice Manager - Note that there will be manual manipulation of this output required prior to importing this into Practice Manager. 
  click on Mail Merge > Open Mail Merge > Template Selection > Export Data File. This will export all of the permissible data available.
• All other modules do not allow data to be exported and re-imported. 

Now that all of the data required has been exported, please see Step 5.

Step 5

1. Open TaxCalc
2. Click on Admin Centre
3. Select Database > Restore Backup from File 
4. Ignore the prompt to take a backup before restoring (as we are now reverting to your previous database)
5. Browse to the location for Backup B
6. Select Restore
7. Once the restore has completed, you will be prompted to close and re-open TaxCalc and will have to log in with the password

Step 6

You will now be required to import the data extracted in Step 4 above.

• Tax Return Production - If the client is present in the list already, open the client in Tax Return Production, select Import Return, browse to the location on your machine where the file was saved and Import to Database
  If the client is not present in the list, click on Practice Manager > Import Client > Select the tax year from the drop down menu before continuing, select Choose... for the single file option and browse to the location on your machine where the file was saved and continue through the import wizard to create a new client. 
• Accounts Production - as above follow the instructions in our article for How do I move an Accounts Production client from one TaxCalc database to another?
• Practice Manager - Click on Import Client > Import from CSV > Create CSV. This will provide you with the template where the data exported at Step 4 will need to be manipulated to meet the format requirements. Once the data is present in the required format, you can then go back in to TaxCalc, click on Import Client > Import from CSV > Browse and select the newly saved file.
  • Alternatively the client record can be created manually, or through the Companies House Advanced Integration (if available).
• All other modules do not allow data to be exported and re-imported.