This is the second part in my two part Access Vs. Excel series, where I’m basically trying to differentiate when you would want to use one of these tools over the other for a project. This question comes about because of the many similarities that these two tools share. You can see the first article here: Access: Vs. Excel: When to Use Access.

Here are three example cases where I think you would want to use Excel over Access:

• You need to create a one-time, formatted report - If you’re creating a one-time report based on a set of data, then Excel is really the way to go. On the average, setting up a new report model in Access takes longer than creating a new report model in Excel. This is because in Access, you have to setup the database and other backend structures, while in Excel you can pretty much start plugging away from the get-go. If it’s only a one or two time report, you don’t need to take the time to setup a whole database for it. Plug the data into Excel, throw a format at it, and you should be good to go.
  
  
• The relationships/fields won’t change - This basically means that once you put the report together, the structure of your data won’t change, and neither will the relationships. For example, say you are creating a spreadsheet that shows all of your customers and key parts of their company info. This is pulled from a hidden spreadsheet that contains all the info from each company. This is fine, however, if you want to add new fields to the company info, this could cause cascading cell reference problems. Also, if you have some complex relationships between data fields, it’s much harder to check to make sure that they are still intact and correct. As long as your backend is pretty set (relationships and fields), Excel can be a good tool because of the shorter setup time involved.
  
  
• The report format won’t change - Don’t get me wrong, I think that Excel does have some flexibility when it comes to changing an existing spreadsheet. However, once you get past a certain point of complexity, it gets very difficult to make changes that don’t break other parts of the spreadsheet. For example, if you have a bunch of different formulas with cascading dependencies, changing just one requires you to check in multiple different places to make sure that nothing broke. I prefer Access for these kinds of reports. However, if you don’t have to change your format too drastically, I recommend Excel.

It’s critical to understand that both Access and Excel have their uses. Sometimes these overlap, most of the time you can clearly see which one would be better to use. It may not seem like it now, but as you get more familiar with both tools, you’ll see which one is better to use in certain situations. Also, there are always exceptions to the rules. Maybe your client doesn’t have Access, maybe they don’t like to use Excel. You might be forced to use one, all you can do in that situation is roll with the punches.

To many people, there is some confusion as to what the difference is between Microsoft Access and Microsoft Excel. To try and clear some of the confusion up, I’m starting to write a series on Access Vs. Excel. In this part, I will be examining example cases where it’s better to use Access rather than Excel.

Here are the three example cases:

• You need to store complex dynamic data and report on it - In this case, you have data that is going to change over time and it’s not straightforward (think many interrelationships). Not only that, but you will need to be able to produce reports on this data even after it changes. While this can be done in Excel, it is usually easier to do this in Access. One reason for this is because it is generally easier to dynamically alter/add/subtract data in Access once you have the database setup. Consequently, because your reports in Access will be based off of database queries, you shouldn’t even have to update the reports to get the new data, you should just have to run the queries. In Excel, you will spend hours deleting rows, adding rows, reformatting your report, and all the other fun tasks that follow, and you’ll have to do this each time you change the data.

• You will need to be able to create custom reports on the fly - This is another huge advantage for Access. Once again, you can design new queries easily in order to create a custom report. All you then have to do is run the queries to get your new report. In Excel, this would be a much more arduous process, as you would probably have to create a new spreadsheet, link the cells, transfer the data, format it, etc.

• You need to store your data for a period of time - If you need to store your data for the long run, Access is the hands down choice. It is much easier to take this data later and put it into other databases or manipulate it in your own database rather than digging through an excel workbook trying to cut and paste what you need, or change it.

Even though Access is the better choice in the example cases above, there are times when Excel is the better option. The next article in this series will deal with these example cases.