Can I use Access to allocate Costs?

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Guest

I'm currently using Excel to allocate costs using activity based costing. Is
it possible to set up an Access database that will do this?
 
Activity said:
I'm currently using Excel to allocate costs using activity based
costing. Is it possible to set up an Access database that will do
this?
Click to expand...

Well that would depend on how you allocate the cost.

Chances are you can. Normally it would be a fairly simple process as
Access applications go. If you have little or no experience with Access and
if this is not a problem in Excel, it may not be worth the effort to learn
Access for one function that you already have under control.

Having said that, I would believe that in most cases Access can do the
job easier and cleaner once it is set up.
 
Thanks for the reply Joseph.

I am currently using about 15 sheets in excel, with lots of formulae, which
generally lose their reference and the data becomes corrupt.

How would I go about setting up the database. Can I import information from
Excel into Access tables
 
Activity said:
Thanks for the reply Joseph.

I am currently using about 15 sheets in excel, with lots of formulae,
which generally lose their reference and the data becomes corrupt.

How would I go about setting up the database. Can I import
information from Excel into Access tables
Click to expand...

Yes, but before doing that, I suggest you study up on data table
normalization.

Access has a steep learning curve, but you may have a good subject for
it.

I wish I could offer some reference books or sample databases for what
you need, but I can't think of any. Maybe someone can suggest some.

Before going too far into this you need to determine the table design
that will work best for you. Knowing your data and exactly what you want to
do with it will help a lot.

I would suggest starting with a book and start playing with your data.
Learn to do some imports of the data and do some basic computations (I would
use queries for a start) to get the fell of it. The part that could be the
most difficult is learning to think database and not spreadsheet. Think of
tables as buckets full of data with no order. Think then of multiple tables
that have related data (normalized data).

Good Luck, check back as you move along.
 
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