Microsoft Access Consulting Services

Overview

Excel Complete is a CPA-led technology firm providing Microsoft Access consulting for business-critical systems. Many legacy Access databases support core processes, including invoicing, accounts receivable, accounts payable, and inventory. We help support these systems, improve performance, and make them easier to maintain.

When Access has reached its limits, we provide services to modernize the application. This may include reorganizing the database, moving to SQL, and building a custom application tailored to your business needs. Our goal is to preserve valuable historical data while creating a more reliable, scalable system that can grow with your business.

Access Assessment Service

Excel Complete provides an Access Assessment Service to understand your current application, business processes, and workflows. We meet with key stakeholders, review how the system is used, map important processes and data flows, and identify issues, risks, and opportunities for improvement. Assessments start at $1,500.

Within three business days, we provide a PDF roadmap summarizing key findings, recommendations, proposed architecture, and implementation steps. This gives your team immediate feedback about your Access application and how best to maintain or modernize it.

We often complete these assessments on-site to better understand how the Access application is used across the business. Common locations we serve near our Ann Arbor, Michigan office include:

• Detroit, MI
• Grand Rapids, MI
• Toledo, OH
• Akron, OH
• Columbus, OH
• Chicago, IL
• Cleveland, OH
• Cincinnati, OH
• Pittsburgh, PA
• Indianapolis, IN

Access Consulting Rates

Pricing depends on the complexity of the Access system and how much modernization is needed. Many projects involve more than database development alone, because we often uncover process gaps, inconsistent data, or manual workflows that need to be addressed alongside the application.

Common project examples include:

• Invoicing and AR Modernization from $75,000
  Custom invoicing, customer portals, reporting, integrations, and historical data migration.
• AP Automation System from $25,000
  Invoice processing, PDF data extraction, three-way purchase order matching, and approval workflows.
• Basic Access Modernization from $10,000
  Move Access data to SQL and replace simple forms or workflows with a lightweight web application, such as a basic CRM or inventory tracker.

Invoicing and Accounts Receivable

Invoicing and AR modernization is one of the most common Microsoft Access consulting engagements we see. Many organizations still rely on legacy Access applications to manage revenue, invoicing, and accounts receivable.

These systems become difficult to maintain and hard to connect to billing triggers, such as operational databases or CRMs like HubSpot. Our goal is to simplify the revenue workflow by building a modernized system. We replace Access with a single source of truth for your business's revenue.

Modernization Benefits

• Streamlined invoicing across products and services
• Reduced manual work through custom system integrations
• Improved revenue capture by tracking billable events and renewals
• Better visibility into invoices, balances, payments, and credits
• Stronger controls and audit history
• Improved customer experience with electronic invoices and customer portals
• Streamlined revenue recognition and month-end close

Accounts Payable

Accounts payable is another common project type, and many companies still use Access to manage AP workflows. Invoice processing often depends on spreadsheet exports and custom matching logic. At the same time, Access is poorly suited for modern PDF extraction, automated approvals, and complex three-way matching between invoices, purchase orders, and receipts.

We modernize these Access systems by building automated AP platforms that can extract invoice data from PDFs, Excel files, EDI, and other formats. Invoice items can match both PO headers and individual line items, with functionality to manage exceptions.

A major benefit of modernizing an Access AP system is catching vendor cost increases that never make it into customer pricing. By automatically tracking purchase history and cost changes, the new system can flag missed price adjustments before they erode margins or cause lost revenue.

Modernization Benefits

• Automated invoice data extraction from PDFs
• Three-way matching across invoices, purchase orders, and receipts
• PO and line-item matching with configurable exception tolerances
• Centralized vendor records and supporting documents
• Approval workflows
• Batch payment processing and scheduled payment controls
• Journal entry and accounting system integrations
• Better visibility into vendor and company-wide spending
• Identification of vendor cost changes that may not be reflected in customer pricing

Inventory Systems

Many companies use Access to manage inventory and receiving. As transaction history grows, these systems can slow down and become difficult to maintain. We modernize Access inventory systems by moving core data to SQL, simplifying workflows, and creating a more scalable foundation for inventory management, including barcode scanning, automated reorder alerts, and integrations with purchasing systems.

Modernization Benefits

• Simplified receiving
• Barcode and scanner support
• Inventory tracking by item and location
• Reorder points and low-stock alerts
• Purchase order and receiving history
• Better reporting on inventory levels, usage, and costs
• Reduced duplicate entry across systems

Other Business Systems

Access is also commonly used for CRM, customer records, project tracking, and other internal business applications. These projects often start with improving the underlying data structure. Once data is better normalized, the Access system is easier to maintain and expand.

Depending on the application, we may keep Access or move the data to SQL and build a lightweight custom front end. The goal is a cleaner data model and a better interface that makes tasks easier for users while giving the business a stronger foundation.

Technologies We Use

Access modernization projects often combine SQL databases, modern web applications, and system integrations. Depending on the project, we may move Access data to SQL, rebuild forms in a lightweight web interface, and connect the application to accounting, CRM, or other business systems.

Common technologies include:

• Excel and VBA
• SQL Server, PostgreSQL, and MySQL
• React and lightweight web applications
• REST APIs and custom integrations
• QuickBooks and CRM integrations