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Re-indexing AO Classic


This support note applies to:

  • AO Practice Manager (NZ)

  • AO Classic Tax (AU)

  • AO Classic Practice Management (AU)

  • AO Classic General Ledger (AU)

  • AO Classic (NZ)


Article ID: 30235

In MYOB Accountants Office (AO) you may be advised by MYOB documentation or by MYOB Support to delete the CADATA files and/or perform a re-index on the AO database.  Re-indexing your database can improve application response times and improve the integrity of the AO  data.

Ensure that all users are logged out of Accountants Office and that you have a backup of your data before performing the procedure. For more details on refer to

Backing up my AO Classic data


The amount of time required to re-index your database will vary according to:

  • The size of your database.

  • The speed of the computer where the database is located.

  • The last time that your database was re-indexed.

During other support processes you may have flagged records in the database for deletion.  When you perform the re-index process you can select to remove these records flagged for deletion or not. 

If you select to remove the records flagged for deletion, these records are permanently removed from the database. Only select this option if advised to by MYOB Support or other MYOB Support documentation such as another KB article.

To complete these processes you need to identify the location of your data directory. 

To identify the data location

  1. Open Accountants Office and from the Help menu select About MYOB Accountants Office. The About MYOB Accountants Office window opens.

  2. Click Application Details. The data directory is listed in the Licence Details window.


To delete the CADATA files


The following procedure refers to files with specific extensions. For more details regarding enabling file extensions refer to

Viewing hidden files, folders and drives or enabling file extensions in Windows

  1. Open Windows Explorer or Computer and navigate to and open your Data folder. For example, MYOBAO\Data. The contents of the folder appear.

  2. Highlight the three files named, CADATA.DBC, CADATA.DCT and CADATA.DCX, and from the File menu, select Delete. The message "Are you sure you want to send these 3 items to the Recycle Bin?" appears.

    If file extensions aren't visible, these three files show as CADATA.


  3. Click Yes. The files are deleted and no longer appear in the folder.


To re-index AO without removing records flagged for deletion


Ensure all users have exited MYOB AO and the application is not open on any other workstation.

  1. Open MYOB AO on one workstation. Only one session of Accountants Office is active. This ensures that the application has exclusive use of all the tables in the Accountants Office database.

  2. Follow the menu path: File > Housekeeping > Re-index Databases. The Select Modules window appears.

  3. Click Select All. The tables for all the Accountants Office modules are re-indexed.

    To re-index the tables for specific modules, select the checkbox next to the module/s that you want to re-index, eg. Clients, Tax, rather than clicking the Select All button.


  4. Select the Lock all users out checkbox and click OK. The Re-index Tables window appears.

  5. Click OK. The Re-index Tables window appears.

  6. Click OK. Accountants Office commences re-indexing the database.

    Once the re-indexing procedure has completed, you can resume working with Accountants Office.



To re-index MYOB AO remove records flagged for deletion


Ensure all users have exited MYOB AO and the application is not open on any other workstation.

  1. Open MYOB AO on one workstation. Only one session of Accountants Office is active. This ensures that the application has exclusive use of all the tables in the Accountants Office database.

  2. Follow the menu path: File > Housekeeping > Re-index Databases. The Select Modules window appears.

  3. Click Select All. The tables for all the Accountants Office modules are re-indexed.

    To re-index the tables for specific modules, mark the checkbox next to the module(s) that you want to re-index, eg. Clients, Tax, rather than clicking the Select All button.


  4. Select the Remove records flagged for deletion? option. Any records that have been deleted will be permanently removed from the database.

    Only select this option if advised to by other MYOB documentation or by MYOB Support. If you select this option, the only way to recover missing information is to restore the database from a backup.


  5. Select the Lock all users out checkbox and click OK. The Re-index Tables window appears.

  6. Click OK. Accountants Office commences re-indexing the database.

    Once the re-indexing procedure has completed, you can resume working with Accountants Office.