When to use Access In very general terms, Access is the best choice when you have to track and record data regularly, and then display, export, or print subsets of that data. Access forms provide a more convenient interface than an Excel worksheet for working with your data.
In general, Access is better for managing data: helping you keep it organized, easy to search, and available to multiple simultaneous users. Excel is generally better for analyzing data: performing complex calculations, exploring possible outcomes, and producing high quality charts.
If you store your data in Access and connect to it from Excel, you gain the benefits of both. Here are ten reasons why using Excel and Access together makes lots of sense. Even though Excel is not a database, it is widely used to store data, and it is often used to solve simple database problems.
This of course begs the query “Is it better to use access or Excel for data analysis?”
Excel is generally better for analyzing data: performing complex calculations, exploring possible outcomes, and producing high quality charts. If you use Access to store your data and Excel to analyze it, you can gain the benefits of both programs.
However, Excel is a flat file database, not a relational database. When simple tables need to evolve into multiple tables of related data, Access is the first choice for information workers to quickly create a database application.
A question we ran across in our research was “Is it better to use access or Excel for data entry?”.
But if your work leans more on creating and manipulating databases, Access is the best tool for it. If you use Excel for it, you’ll have problems scaling it in the future. Plus, entering your records are better in Access as it has features that allow you to create data entry forms.
What can I do with my Excel data in access?
After you connect to the data, you can also automatically refresh (or update) your Excel workbooks from the original Access database whenever the database is updated with new information. Once your data is in Access, you can take advantage of the marvelous array of report creation and customization tools.
When should I use Excel?
Use Excel when you: Require a flat or nonrelational view of your data instead of a relational database that uses multiple tables, and when your data is mostly numeric. Frequently run calculations and statistical comparisons on your data. Want to use Pivot. Table reports to view hierarchical data in a compact and flexible layout.