Invoice Genie’s Export / Import Data screen is your complete data management hub. It combines
automatic iCloud Backup, manual full-archive export, and data restore
— all in one place. This tutorial covers every feature, what gets saved, how images are handled,
and what the 30-day receipt image retention policy means for you.

📱 iPhone only
The Export / Import Data screen (full backup & restore) is currently available on iPhone only. Android support is coming in a future update.
ℹ️ Role-based access
Administrator: Full access — Export Data and Export/Import Backup (full backup & restore).
Manager: Export Data only — can export to Excel/CSV and download backup archives, but cannot import or restore data.
Crew Member / Accountant: No export or import access — data is managed through the app UI only.
Everything is scoped to your currently selected business profile.

1 — How to Open This Screen

There are two paths to the Export / Import Data screen:

  • Profile Menu → tap your profile icon (top-right of Home) → scroll to Data Management → tap Export Data.
  • Privacy Settings → Privacy → Your Rights → tap Export Right (based on your GDPR data-portability right).

2 — Screen Overview

The screen is divided into two major sections:

9:41●●●● WiFi 🔋
‹ Export / Import Data

☁️ iCloud Backup
🔄Automatic iCloud Backup

📅FrequencyWeekly ›
✅Last backed upToday 9:05
📁Open Backup Location›

☁️ Backup to iCloud
↩ Restore from iCloud

— Manual Backup —
⬆️ Export All Data
📅Date RangeAll Time ›
🖼Include Images

⬆️ Export Backup
⬇️ Restore Data
⚠️ Existing records will be updated. Pick a .igbackup file.

⬇️ Import Backup

The Export / Import Data screen — iCloud Backup at top, Manual Backup below.

3 — iCloud Backup (Automatic)

The iCloud Backup section keeps a continuously updated copy of your business data
in your personal iCloud Drive, inside the folder:

iCloud Drive folder path
iCloud Drive›
Invoice Genie›
Invoice Genie Backups›
Your Business Name›
invoicegenie-backup-MyBiz-2026-05-10-09-05.igbackup

There is always exactly one file per business in that folder.
Every new backup overwrites the previous file (with a fresh timestamp in the filename),
so your iCloud storage never accumulates multiple old copies.

3.1 — Enabling Automatic Backup

The Automatic iCloud Backup toggle is off by default on a fresh install.
Turn it on once — from that moment, Invoice Genie will back up automatically whenever the app
comes to the foreground and the configured interval has elapsed.

Frequency How often a backup runs
Weekly (default) At most once every 7 days
Monthly At most once every 30 days
💡 First-time backup
After enabling the toggle, the first backup runs automatically the next time the app comes
to the foreground. You don’t need to tap “Backup to iCloud” — but you can tap it at any time
to force an immediate full backup.

3.2 — What Gets Backed Up

Data Type Included in iCloud Backup? Notes
Invoices ✅ All fields, line items, statuses
Estimates ✅ All fields, line items, statuses
Clients ✅ Full contact details
Items / Products ✅ Price list templates
Time Entries ✅ All tracked hours
Purchase Orders ✅ All PO records
Receipts ✅ Metadata + secure image cloud references (see §3.3)
Business Profile ✅ Name, address, contact info
Business Settings ✅ Tax rates, invoice numbering, etc.
Payment Settings ✅ PayPal / Square configuration
App Settings ✅ Currency, language prefs, etc.
Business logo (embedded file) ❌ Use Manual Export with “Include Images” to embed it
Invoice/estimate photo attachments ❌ Same — use Manual Export for a fully self-contained archive

3.3 — Receipt Images and the 30-Day Retention Policy

Receipt images are stored in secure cloud storage, not inside the backup file itself.
The iCloud backup saves a secure reference to each receipt photo.
When you view a receipt after a restore, the image loads automatically — no extra steps.

⚠️ Important: 30-Day Permanent Deletion
When you delete a receipt in the app, it is soft-deleted — hidden from view but kept on the server for up to 30 days.
After 30 days, it is permanently purged from both the database and S3 storage.
Once purged, the image cannot be recovered even if you restore from an iCloud backup.

Rule of thumb: if you deleted a receipt and want it back, restore your iCloud backup within 30 days.

Receipt Deletion — Retention Timeline
Active — visible in app
Soft-deleted (hidden, 30 days)
Purged forever

Day 0 — Deleted
Day 30 — Nightly cleanup runs
Day 30+

Backup exists → restore within 30 days
→
Receipt recovered ✓
No restore within 30 days
→
Permanently gone ✗

3.4 — Incremental vs. Full Backup

Automatic backups (triggered by the schedule) are incremental — they only fetch records
modified since the last backup, keeping the process fast. If nothing has changed, the backup file is
not rewritten.

When you tap “Backup to iCloud” manually, it always performs a full backup
regardless of what changed — all records are fetched fresh. This is the safest option before restoring
to a new device.

Automatic vs. Manual backup behavior
Auto (scheduled)
→
Fetch records changed since last backup
→
Write file only if something changed
Manual tap
→
Fetch ALL records (complete snapshot)
→
Always writes a fresh file

3.5 — Manual “Backup to iCloud” Button

Tap this button any time to force an immediate full backup:

1
Spinner appears — the loading overlay shows while the app contacts the server.

2
All data fetched — a complete snapshot of your business is downloaded (no images embedded).

3
File written to iCloud Drive — saved to Invoice Genie Backups / [Business Name] / invoicegenie-backup-[name]-[date-time].igbackup. Any previous backup file in that folder is deleted.

4
Success banner appears — “Backup saved to iCloud!” and the Last backed up row updates to the current time.

3.6 — Viewing Your Backup File

Tap Open Backup Location to browse the backup folder directly in the Files app.
You can share, duplicate, or AirDrop the .igbackup file from there.
The file path shown is:

iCloud Drive › Invoice Genie › Invoice Genie Backups › [Business Name]

4 — Restore from iCloud

The Restore from iCloud button restores your data from the most recently written
.igbackup file in your business’s iCloud backup folder.

Tap “Restore from iCloud”
Confirmation alert — “Existing records will be overwritten. Continue?”
App locates most recent .igbackup file in iCloud Drive
If file is a cloud stub → waits up to 30 s for iCloud to download it
File contents sent securely to the app server
Server merges data: new records inserted, existing records skipped
Result alert: “Restored: X invoices, Y clients, Z receipts…”
If records were restored → “Restart Required” prompt appears

What “restore” means for each record

Situation What happens
Record in backup, not yet in your account Inserted as new ✅
Record in backup, already exists in your account Skipped — no duplicate created
Receipt in backup, recently deleted (within 30 days) Undeleted and restored ✅
Business profile that already exists in your account Skipped — no duplicate business created
⚠️ No backup file found?
If no .igbackup file exists in your iCloud backup folder, the button shows an error.
Make sure you have run at least one backup first, and that iCloud Drive is enabled on your device
(Settings → [Your Name] → iCloud → iCloud Drive → On).
💡 “Restart Required” after restore
This prompt only appears when at least one record was actually restored. If the backup had no new
data to restore, you are simply returned to the screen without a restart prompt.
After a successful restore, close and reopen Invoice Genie to see all restored data.

5 — Manual Export (Full Archive)

The Manual Export (lower half of the screen) creates a fully self-contained
.igbackup file that you share yourself — via AirDrop, email, Files app, Google Drive, etc.
Unlike the iCloud backup, a manual export can embed business logo and document photos
directly inside the file when you enable “Include Images”.

⭐ Recommended practice: Enable Include Images and export regularly.
This is the only backup that includes your business logo and photo attachments embedded in the file,
making it a fully offline archive that doesn’t depend on internet availability.

5.1 — Date Range

Tap the Date Range dropdown to limit which records are exported:

Option What’s included
All Time (default) Every record ever created
Last 30 Days Records created or updated in the past month
Last 90 Days Records created or updated in the past 3 months
This Year January 1 of the current year through today
Custom Range Pick exact start and end dates using the calendar pickers that appear below

5.2 — Include Images Toggle

Setting What’s in the file File size
Include Images: ON All data + business logo + all photo attachments (invoices, estimates, receipts) embedded as base64 Larger — depends on number of photos
Include Images: OFF All data + secure cloud image references only (images load from cloud when viewed) Compact — typically a few KB

5.3 — Exporting Step by Step

1
Tap “Export Backup” — the blue button at the bottom of the Export section.

2
Loading overlay appears — a spinner shows while the server assembles your archive. Large exports with images may take up to 5 minutes.

3
File built — all matching records are compiled (and optionally all images are embedded) then packaged into a single .igbackup file.

4
Share options open — save to Files, AirDrop to your Mac, attach to an email, upload to Google Drive or Dropbox, or print — your choice.

What the server exports — manual full backup
invoicegenie-backup-MyBiz-2026-05-10.igbackup (JSON)
invoices [ ]
estimates [ ]
clients [ ]
items [ ]
timeEntries [ ]
purchaseOrders [ ]
receipts [ ]
businessProfiles [ ]
businessSettings [ ]
paymentSettings [ ]
settings [ ]
images { } ← only if “Include Images” ON
counts { invoices: N, estimates: N, … }
exportedAt: “2026-05-10T09:05:00Z”
💡 File naming
Manual export files are named invoicegenie-backup-YYYY-MM-DD.igbackup and saved to a temporary location. They are not written to your iCloud backup folder — that folder is reserved for the automatic iCloud backup so there is no ambiguity about which file to restore.

6 — Export to Excel

In addition to the full data backup, Invoice Genie lets you export your invoices and estimates as an
Excel spreadsheet — ideal for accounting reviews, tax preparation, or sharing a summary with your bookkeeper.

ℹ️ This is a reporting tool, not a backup
Spreadsheet exports produce a readable file for analysis — they cannot be used to restore your data.
For data protection and device migration, use the .igbackup backup instead.

6.1 — What You Can Export

Data Type Excel (.xlsx)
Invoices ✅
Estimates ✅

6.2 — How to Export (App)

1
Open Export / Import Data — tap your profile icon → Data Management → Export Data.

2
Select the document type — choose Invoices or Estimates from the Export type picker.

3
Choose a Sort by order — pick how the rows should be ordered in the spreadsheet:

Sort option Description
Date (Newest First) Most recent documents at the top (default)
Date (Oldest First) Earliest documents at the top
Number (Ascending) Lowest invoice / estimate number first
Number (Descending) Highest invoice / estimate number first
Total (Low to High) Smallest totals at the top
Total (High to Low) Largest totals at the top
4
Set a Date range — filter to a specific period or leave as All Time to include everything:

Date range option What’s included
All Time Every document ever created (default)
Last 30 Days Documents from the past month
Last 90 Days Documents from the past 3 months
This Year January 1 of the current year through today
Custom Range Pick exact start and end dates
5
Tap “Export to Excel” — the blue button at the bottom. Your device’s share options open — save to Files, email it, or upload to Google Drive or Dropbox.

6.3 — How to Export (Web Portal)

1
Open Export / Import Data in the web portal (Admin menu or your profile).

2
Select the data type — choose Invoices or Estimates from the spreadsheet section.

3
Set an optional date range and click Export — the file downloads directly to your computer.

7 — Manual Import / Restore

The Import Backup button (orange) lets you restore from any
.igbackup file — whether it was created by the iCloud backup, a manual export,
or transferred from another device.

Tap “Import Backup”
File picker opens — navigate to your .igbackup file
Confirmation alert: “Existing records will be overwritten. Continue?”
App reads file (waits for iCloud download if needed, up to 30 s)
File contents sent securely to the server — images load from cloud references
Server merges all collections into your active business
Restore complete: result summary shown (“Restored: X invoices…”)
If records restored → “Restart Required” prompt

Picking the file

After tapping “Import Backup”, the file picker opens. You can pick a file from:

  • iCloud Drive — including files in the Invoice Genie Backups folder
  • On My Device — local Documents folder
  • Third-party apps — Google Drive, Dropbox, etc. (if you saved it there)
⚠️ Cross-device / cross-business restore
You can import a backup from a different business or a different device. Records land in your
currently active business. Any conflicts are resolved automatically.
After a cross-business restore, close and reopen the app to see everything correctly.

8 — iCloud Backup vs. Manual Export — Which to Use?

Feature iCloud Backup Manual Export
Runs automatically on a schedule ✅ ❌ — manual only
Stored in iCloud Drive (syncs across devices) ✅ ❌ — you choose where to save
Receipt image cloud references ✅ ✅
Business logo embedded in file ❌ ✅ (with Include Images ON)
Invoice / estimate photo attachments embedded ❌ ✅ (with Include Images ON)
Works fully offline after restore ❌ ✅ (with Include Images ON)
Date range filtering ❌ — always All Time ✅
One file always kept per business ✅ — auto-cleaned You manage storage
Best for Continuous safety net Full archival, device migration
💡 Best practice: use both
Enable automatic iCloud Backup as your day-to-day safety net. Run a manual export with
“Include Images” before a major change, an app update, or when switching to a new device.

9 — Data Retention Deep-Dive

Receipt Soft-Delete and 30-Day Purge

When you delete a receipt in Invoice Genie, it is not immediately removed.
Instead, it is marked as deleted (soft-deleted) and hidden from all views.
A nightly automated job checks for soft-deleted receipts older than 30 days and
permanently deletes them — both the record and the stored image.

Receipt lifecycle from creation to purge
📷 Receipt created
→
Stored + image saved to cloud
→
Visible in app
🗑 User deletes receipt
→
Marked as deleted, timestamp recorded
→
Hidden from all views
⏰ 30 days pass
→
Nightly cleanup runs (3 AM server time)
→
Permanently deleted from all storage ✗
During soft-delete window → restore from backup recovers it ✅
After purge → cannot be recovered from any backup ✗

What “restore” does to a soft-deleted receipt

If the restore finds a receipt that is currently soft-deleted, it automatically
undeletes it — setting it back to active. This only works within the 30-day window.

Other data — no expiry

Invoices, estimates, clients, time entries, purchase orders, and all other records are only
soft-deleted if explicitly removed. There is no automatic expiry on those collections — they
remain in the database indefinitely until you delete them.

10 — Troubleshooting

Problem Cause Fix
Restore shows “0 records restored” All records in the backup already exist in the database Nothing to do — your data is already current. No restart prompt appears.
Backup file says 0 receipts / 0 business profiles Old bug (fixed): the export had an issue that resulted in incomplete results Update the app. Tap “Backup to iCloud” to create a fresh complete backup.
“No iCloud backup found” No backup has been created yet, or iCloud Drive is not enabled Enable iCloud Drive in Settings → [Your Name] → iCloud → iCloud Drive. Then tap “Backup to iCloud”.
Backup file “not usable” / empty iCloud file is a stub (not yet downloaded to device) The app waits up to 30 seconds for iCloud to download the file automatically. If it still fails, open the Files app, navigate to Invoice Genie Backups, and tap the file once to trigger a download — then try again.
Receipt image missing after restore Receipt was soft-deleted more than 30 days ago — the S3 image was purged The image cannot be recovered. Use Manual Export with “Include Images” ON before deleting receipts if you want offline copies.
Restored data not visible App caches need to reload Tap OK on the “Restart Required” prompt and close/reopen Invoice Genie.
Duplicate business profile appeared Old bug (fixed): the restore had a matching issue that allowed duplicates Update the app. The restore now matches by business name + account to prevent duplicates.

Quick Reference

Action Button What it does
Auto backup Toggle “Automatic iCloud Backup” Backs up on schedule (weekly or monthly) to iCloud Drive
Immediate full backup Blue “Backup to iCloud” Forces a full backup right now, regardless of schedule
Restore from iCloud Dark “Restore from iCloud” Reads the latest .igbackup from your iCloud backup folder
Full archive export Blue “Export Backup” Downloads a .igbackup file you share via your device’s share options
Restore from file Orange “Import Backup” Opens Files picker; restores from any .igbackup you select
Browse backup folder “Open Backup Location” Opens Files app at your iCloud backup folder

Explore more features in our complete tutorial library.