Quick answer
AccountRight needs a fast link to your company file. If that file lives on a slow PC, a NAS or is reached over a VPN, everything drags. Check where the file is hosted, make sure you're on the latest AccountRight release, exclude the file from live antivirus scanning, and confirm the PC has enough RAM. For multi-user offices, moving the file online or into a proper remote-desktop setup usually gives the biggest jump.
WHY IT HAPPENS
It's almost always the file, not the software.
Every time you open a card, record a payment or run a report, AccountRight has to talk to your company file. When that file is stored somewhere slow — an ageing server, a cheap network drive, or a folder reached across a VPN — each of those tiny conversations takes longer, and the whole program feels sluggish. Old versions, antivirus scanning the file as it's used, a company file that's grown very large, and a PC short on memory all pile on top. Work down the list and you'll usually find the culprit.
HOW TO SPEED IT UP
Work through these in order.
- Find out where the company file actually livesOpen the file and note whether it's an online file (stored on MYOB's servers) or a local file on a PC, server or network drive. A local file hosted on a slow machine or a consumer NAS is the number-one cause of a slow AccountRight, especially with several people connected at once.
- Update to the latest AccountRight releaseMYOB improves speed and fixes bugs in each release. Running a version that's a year or two old can leave you with problems that have already been solved. Check for updates in AccountRight, and make sure every person who opens the file is on the same, current version.
- Exclude AccountRight from live antivirus scanningIf your antivirus checks the company file every time it changes, it can slow every save to a crawl. Add the AccountRight program folders and the folder that holds your company file to your antivirus exclusion list. If you're unsure which folders, your IT provider can set this safely.
- Check the company file size and tidy it upA file that has ballooned with years of history and attachments will be slower to work with. Consider archiving old data, and if you're on an older MYOB version that still offers File > Optimise, run it — it compacts the file and can noticeably improve responsiveness.
- Give the PC enough RAM and close the clutterAccountRight competes for memory with everything else that's open. On a machine with only 4GB of RAM and a dozen browser tabs, it will struggle. Close what you don't need, and on a shared machine aim for 8GB or more so MYOB isn't fighting for resources.
- Test a local copy to isolate the networkCopy the company file to the PC's own hard drive and open it there (as a test only). If it's suddenly fast, the problem is your network or where the file is hosted — not MYOB, the PC or the file itself.
- For multi-user offices, host it properlyIf several staff share a local file, the fix is usually to move it to MYOB's online servers, or to run everyone through a well-configured remote-desktop / terminal server so the file and the software sit side by side. This removes the slow network hop that causes most multi-user complaints.
Still slow after all that? — if AccountRight drags for everyone, or only over the office network or VPN, the answer is almost certainly in how your file is hosted and how your network is set up, not on any one PC. That's the point to get a proper look under the hood rather than tweaking each machine in turn.
