Excel as Database Tool

Excel as Database / Reporting Tool

Access is a great database application, but

Not all computers have Microsoft Access program
Not all users are familiar with Access program and its interface
For average users, they sometimes feel being intimated by Access application and controlless with the application
Sometimes Access makes things a little bit more complicated than necessary

There are a lot of times when it would be nice to have some of the capabilities of a database without all the hassles. This is where Excel really comes in handy!

Excel is a perfect tool to build database for small businesses and average users with the following advantages and benefits:

One single Excel sheet (or table) can hold as many as 65,000 records (rows) and 256 fields (columns) - this is sufficient for most small databases
One Excel file can have dozens (or even hundreds) of sheets (or tables)
Almost all computers with Windows OS have MS Office package which includes Excel program, while Access program may not be included
Almost all computer users are familiar with Excel program and use it everyday - this is not the case for Access program
Excel can also have forms (dropdown list, option button, etc.) to build very user-friendly interface for data entry and report
Excel has stronger reporting capability than Access - Pivot Tables, Charting, Sorting, Filtering, etc
Excel has stronger computing capability than Access - hundreds of built-in functions and dozens of database functions
SQL statements can also be used in Excel/VBA (macro) to create advanced data query
User can set public access area (tables) and restricted area (for admin only) using password for protection
It's much easier for users to modify the database and change the report format/layout
Users feel much more comfortable with the Excel application and feel can control the program themselves
Excel VBA can interact with Outlook to automatically (based on criteria) send email in a group with different subject and contents.
Other programs / database application can export results into Excel and use Excel as a reporting tool to create various user-specified reports - tables and charts
Wall street uses Excel + Macro frequently as a database/reporting tool to process historical data and back-test them