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Microsoft Access vs QuickBooks
March 09, 2025 | Author: Michael Stromann
5★
Access is now much more than a way to create desktop databases. It’s an easy-to-use tool for quickly creating browser-based database applications that help you run your business. Your data is automatically stored in a SQL database, so it’s more secure than ever, and you can easily share your applications with colleagues.
44★
QuickBooks puts you in control of your finances, your time, your business—and where you work. From setup to support, QuickBooks makes your accounting easy. With simple tools to get you started, free support, and a money-back guarantee, QuickBooks is the effortless choice.
Microsoft Access and QuickBooks, at first glance, appear to be two entirely different creatures, but in reality, they share a surprising number of similarities—much like a dolphin and a particularly enthusiastic accountant. Both are, in essence, tools for organizing data, whether that data happens to be a company’s entire financial history or just an oddly specific collection of cheese-related trivia. They both generate reports, allow multiple users to poke around simultaneously and can be coaxed into working with Microsoft Office, though not always willingly. Above all, they are beloved by businesses, though possibly less so by the employees forced to use them.
Microsoft Access, being a product of Microsoft (which, like all large software companies, has a vague air of having once been a garage), has been around since 1992 and is designed for people who wake up in the middle of the night thinking, “What if I built my own database from scratch?” It thrives in custom database solutions, allowing users to manually construct elaborate tables, queries and forms, much like an architect who has been given a hammer, a pile of bricks and a condescending pat on the back. While immensely powerful, it is not what one would call "out-of-the-box" friendly—unless the box in question contains a thousand-page manual and a note saying, "Good luck."
QuickBooks, on the other hand, emerged in 1983 from Intuit, a company presumably founded by people who understood that most small business owners just wanted their books to balance without having to perform arcane database rituals. It is a haven for the financially inclined, with built-in tools for invoicing, payroll and the deeply mystical art of tax preparation. Unlike Access, which expects you to build your own financial universe, QuickBooks simply hands you one and says, “Try not to break it.” It is, by all accounts, the friendlier of the two—though only if one’s definition of "friendly" includes software that occasionally makes you question all your life choices.
See also: Top 10 Low-Code Platforms
Microsoft Access, being a product of Microsoft (which, like all large software companies, has a vague air of having once been a garage), has been around since 1992 and is designed for people who wake up in the middle of the night thinking, “What if I built my own database from scratch?” It thrives in custom database solutions, allowing users to manually construct elaborate tables, queries and forms, much like an architect who has been given a hammer, a pile of bricks and a condescending pat on the back. While immensely powerful, it is not what one would call "out-of-the-box" friendly—unless the box in question contains a thousand-page manual and a note saying, "Good luck."
QuickBooks, on the other hand, emerged in 1983 from Intuit, a company presumably founded by people who understood that most small business owners just wanted their books to balance without having to perform arcane database rituals. It is a haven for the financially inclined, with built-in tools for invoicing, payroll and the deeply mystical art of tax preparation. Unlike Access, which expects you to build your own financial universe, QuickBooks simply hands you one and says, “Try not to break it.” It is, by all accounts, the friendlier of the two—though only if one’s definition of "friendly" includes software that occasionally makes you question all your life choices.
See also: Top 10 Low-Code Platforms
