Microsoft Access is the powerful relational database application that ships with professional and enterprise versions of Microsoft Office. Countless businesses around the world use Access databases to power internal inventory, accounting and other productivity-centric applications. On its own, Access is capable of performing many of the calculations you might expect from a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet application. Using its powerful reporting features, Access can also create dynamic, data-driven reports based on a virtually unlimited number of criteria or variables. While Access reports are excellent tools for in-house business decisions, outside accountants or auditors might not have Access and be able to view reports generated from the program. Virtually all accountants, CPAs and auditors do have Excel (or an Excel-compatible application) installed on their computers, though, so if you want provide a non-Access user with a viewable and editable version of a report created in the database program, you must export its data to an Excel spreadsheet. Show
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