Guide
The three terms get used for different arrangements of the same underlying question: where does a copy of your ledger data live, and what do you actually know about it.
A backup is held by the source platform. An export is a file pulled at one point in time. An independent copy is held outside the source platform by a separate party, so it can be checked without signing in there. None of the three is complete or dated by default; that depends on what was declared, not the word used.
Three terms
A backup, in the way most ledger platforms use the word, is a copy the platform holds and manages inside its own systems. It exists to protect the platform's own infrastructure against its own failures. Reading it, if it can be read at all, means signing in to the same platform whose failure you might be trying to recover from.
An export is a file someone deliberately pulled out of the source platform at a specific moment: a CSV, a PDF, a downloaded report. It is accurate for whatever it captured and immediately stale for everything that changed afterward. Its scope is whatever the export screen included that day, which is easy to under-scope without noticing.
An independent copy is written to storage controlled by a party other than the source platform, on a recurring, dated basis. Its value comes from where it is held: because it sits outside the platform that produced it, its contents can be checked even if that platform is unavailable, misconfigured, or wrong about its own state.
Comparison
Five questions separate the three terms in practice, regardless of which word a vendor or a colleague used first.
| Axis | Backup | Export | Independent copy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who holds it | The source platform, or a provider working inside it. | Whoever ran the export, on whatever machine received the file. | A party operating outside the source platform, on infrastructure it does not control. |
| Is its scope declared | Usually not stated per object type; framed as "your data" as a whole. | Fixed by what the export screen included at the time, and easy to under-scope. | Should be, by object group: which types are covered and which are not. |
| Is it dated | Sometimes, if the platform surfaces a job history. | Only if the file name or the operator records the date. | Should be, with a completion time attached to every run. |
| Can it be inspected without the source platform | No. Reading it means signing in to the same platform. | Yes. That is the point of an export. | Yes. That is the point of holding it independently. |
| What it does not promise | That the job ran, or ran completely, unless a report says so. | That it is current, or that anyone will run it again. | That it is a tested export, or a path back into the source platform. |
Fit
Before you buy
Whichever of the three a vendor is selling, one question separates a checkable claim from a marketing word: which object groups are covered, is the copy dated, can it be inspected without your platform, and has any export or recovery route actually been tested? A vendor who can answer all four in writing has given you something to verify. LedgerCopy's own answer to that question is on the coverage page, including where the tested-export boundary falls.
Coverage is stated by object group, and every dated run reports its source, completion time, supported object groups, record counts, and exceptions — so the answer is something you read, not something you take on trust.
Read LedgerCopy's coverageCommon questions
Not in how the terms are usually used. "Backup" commonly refers to a copy the source platform holds and manages itself, inside its own systems. An independent copy is held outside the source platform by a separate party, which is what makes it inspectable without signing in to the platform that produced it. Whether either one is complete depends on what was declared, not on which word was used.
A manual export answers a point-in-time question well and an ongoing question poorly. It depends on someone remembering to run it, naming it so a later date is recoverable, and storing it somewhere the platform outage or account loss it is meant to guard against would not also reach. A dated, recurring run removes the first two dependencies.
No. A completed run is a record of what was copied: the source, the completion time, the object groups, the counts, and any exceptions. It is not evidence that an export or restoration path has been tested. Treat those as two separate questions and ask a vendor to answer both.
Ask which object groups are covered, whether the copy is dated, whether it can be inspected without their platform, and whether any export or recovery route has actually been tested end to end. A vendor who answers all four in writing has given you something to check. One who answers with a single word — "backed up" — has not.
LedgerCopy trial
A trial conversation establishes four things: the source platform you use, the ledger objects that matter to you, the cadence you need, and the review or continuity workflow the copy has to fit.