You have many choices for your business accounting needs, and Quickbooks frequently comes up in conversation. However, that doesn’t necessary make it perfect for your organization. Microsoft Access gives you a Quickbooks alternative with five compelling reasons to add it to your technology stack.

1. Intuitive for Microsoft Office Users

How long do you want to wait for end users to get up to speed on new software? Every minute they spend in training takes away from the time they could devote to critical business tasks. Microsoft Access offers a familiar interface that helps cut down on the learning curve. Plus, you gain deep integration with the Microsoft Office software suite, so if you’re already using these applications extensively, Access makes the most sense. Excel users, in particular, get a lot out of pulling their spreadsheet data into an Access database.

2. Highly Customizable

Quickbooks is good at its primary function, but when your needs change and go outside of these parameters, you run into trouble. Microsoft Access offers a flexible database that adapts to your current business environment rather than making you build workflows held back by application limitations. Many companies want more agility to respond to new changes in their industry, especially in quickly changing sectors.

If you have to switch out to new solutions every time you go through a market disruption, you end up in a perpetual deployment cycle and the associated decrease in productivity. Access empowers your organization with tools that can address many possible scenarios, whether you predict them or not. Countless industries evolve overnight due to high-tech startups, so being on your toes and ready to shift with the tides is an essential part of doing business.

3. Strong Network

Microsoft Access is used by millions globally, which creates a robust ecosystem of consultants, developers and other professionals with significant experience working with this tool. You can find a specialist offering deep familiarity with Microsoft Access if you don’t already have the necessary expertise available in house. Deployment is a breeze when you have experienced help guiding you along your path. Online Deployment for Web Databases is even easier with Access Hosting’s plans. You also have extensive access to training materials, should you want to invest in skills development for your own staff.

4. Extensive Third-Party Integration

Modern business infrastructure calls for organization-wide integration. Both Quickbooks and Access offer this feature, but Access ends up with more options due to its broad applications. Most of Quickbooks’ integrations revolve around accounting tie-ins, while Access finds its way into many software categories and business sectors.

5. Macro Creation

You don’t want to waste man hours on repetitive tasks. Access opens up macros for your end users, which can drastically increase overall productivity. Your staff gets to focus on high-value tasks that require their knowledge and skills, rather than going through a painful manual process. The macros you create are highly customized to your company’s workflow, rather than following a pre-set function that uses its own task list.

Ultimately, you have to choose the system that makes the most sense for your company. If you only foresee yourself having basic accounting needs, Quickbooks is a fine option. However, should you develop more complex requirements or a desire to branch out into a fully customized system for your organization, Microsoft Access delivers a flexible and powerful tool to create this foundation.