What is the Difference between Excel and Access?

Published: 02-10-2018

​One question that I occasionally get is: “What is the difference between MS Excel and MS Access”?
 
Access is as old as Excel. Professionals can purchase Access as part of some Office 365 packages. Many professionals have MS Access on their computer, but don’t know how to use it, or even why they should consider using Access. 

​In short Excel is a spreadsheet program designed for analyzing data and Microsoft Access is a database program designed for storing and manipulating data. However straight-forward the difference may seem on paper, it isn’t that cut and dry in the real life of data management.
 
Excel can (and often is) used to store data. Spreadsheets are – in fact – the first level of data management. As an example, someone might start a spreadsheet to track a new mailing list. However – as anyone who has ever worked with spreadsheet applications can confirm – storing data in Excel can become unmanageable. This is where Microsoft Access can help.
 
The one universal truth about data management is that information evolves over time. Data management solutions which worked yesterday are not guaranteed to work tomorrow. This is because data is dynamic. Change is always certain. Within the world of data management, changing conditions alter information management needs.
 
At some point the small manageable spreadsheet application may morph into a complex workbook with multiple spreadsheets. There may be copies of the workbook for each reporting period dating back years, making it difficult to synthesize the information for reporting purposes. Folks are no longer sure the formulas work properly because the application has been copy/pasted so many times for new reporting periods. And the pure volume of information demands a more robust and solid data storage solution. Beyond all of the above, on a gut level, everyone involved knows there has to be a better way.

The difference between Access and Excel; is that Access is the next step up on the data evolution ladder. Since the primary purpose of Access is as a database, it is a much more efficient and robust choice once the more elementary data management capabilities of Excel have been exhausted.
 
Moving data storage to Access brings many benefits. MS Access does a much better job at managing data integrity. Enforcing referential integrity and managing cascade updates and deletes between related data tables makes for much cleaner data. Although SQL Server tables can be used in conjunction with both Access and Excel, there are many situations where data management needs are too complex for Excel and really don’t require using a high-powered database solution like SQL Server. MS Access has very robust data table capabilities which fully support standard relational database requirements.
 
Because MS Access is a relational database tool, it is not necessary to recreate the same database application for every new reporting period. Using related tables to store information makes it possible to manage multiple reporting periods within the same database. Relational data management also makes it possible to store related blocks of information in the same database solution. The ability to manage relationships between various blocks of data means users don’t have to maintain multiple sources of data. This ultimately means fewer errors in the affiliated datasets.
 
Where MS Access shines is building user-friendly frontend applications. Native development tools within Access make it much easier to design efficient data entry forms, dashboards, complex queries and complex reports. Dashboards can be used to define and control interaction with various blocks of data.
 
Multi-user management is much easier in MS Access than Excel. Access can manage high user counts and control user privileges better than Excel. If the information evolves to yet a higher level of complexity or data volume, it is still possible to move data to a SQL Server backend database and continue to use the MS Access frontend application with very high user counts and high volumes of data.
 
Since Access is an Office Suite product it works very well with Excel and Word. It is very easy to move information back and forth between Access and Excel or to do merge documents in Word with Access data. In addition, integration with Outlook is also possible from MS Access. Actually Access is one of the best data integration tools on the market because Microsoft has built in so many data connection capabilities.
 
Excel will always be the “go to” tool for information analysis. Excel even works for basic data storage. But Microsoft Access is the “go to” Office Suite tool for building on premise database solutions. Let data evolution guide your decision. The more complex the data management needs are; the higher the probability that you should be moving to Microsoft Access for a solution. If data storage needs are basic, Excel will probably cover your needs.
 
Other articles about MS Access capabilities follow:

• Yes – Microsoft Access works in a Multi-User Environment
• YES – Microsoft Access Can be Used Securely
• MS Access - Best Economical Data Management Option
• ​Deploying Microsoft Access in a Remote Environment
• Do you have questions about your own data management project? Contact Michelle.