Allocation Database

[Guest]

I need to create a centralized allocation database for my company. The
database needs to be used for many allocation reports. Certain employees have
their expenses allocated over several departments. I can see how it will look
like (it will look very much like Excel with the Employees down the first
column and the Departments across the top. But I can't picture how Access can
take the allocation percentages for each emplyee/department combo and apply
it to a given dollar amount. I hope my explanation was clear. Does anyone
have any ideas on how I can go about it?

 

[Guest]

I can see how it will look

like (it will look very much like Excel with the Employees down the first
column and the Departments across the top.

Access is a database, Excel is a spreadsheet. Start with an Employees table
and a Departments table. Create fields in the Employees table that describe
your employees, and create fields in the Departments table that describe your
departments.

 

[Jeff Boyce]

I'm with mnature on this -- Access is a relational database. You won't get
good use of the features and functions unless your data is well-normalized.

Is there a reason you are NOT doing this in Excel instead?

(By the way, even if you normalize your data, you can still generate a
report like you described. In Access, how you STORE the data and how you
DISPLAY the information do not have to be identical.)

Regards

Jeff Boyce
Microsoft Office/Access MVP

 

[Guest]

The reason against using Excel is that there are many versions of the same
allocation table for different uses. So when an update is made, then all the
other versions will need to be located and changed. Having it centralized
would eliminate having all the other duplicate files.

 

[Jeff Boyce]

Richard

Then it sounds like you'll have to figure out how to put lines/borders into
your report definition to make it "look" like Excel. I'm not aware of a
product that formats an Access report to look like an Excel spreadsheet, but
there could easily be one.

Have you checked Google.com or the mvps.org website for possibilities?

Regards

Jeff Boyce
Microsoft Office/Access MVP