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Microsoft Access vs. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Microsoft Access

    Score7.5 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft Access is a database management system from Microsoft that combines the relational Microsoft Jet Database Engine with a graphical user interface and software-development tools.

    $139.99

    per PC

    Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

    Score8 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (formerly Dynamics NAV) is one of the ERP products in the Dynamics family. The technology is based on the Navision product acquired by Microsoft in 2002. This product is the best-selling Microsoft ERP platform, and is often used by companies in the manufacturing and distribution verticals.

    $8

    per month per user

    Pricing
    Microsoft AccessMicrosoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    Editions & Modules
    Microsoft Access
    $139.99
    per PC
    Dynamics 365 Business Central Team Members
    $8
    per month (billed annually) per user
    Dynamics 365 Business Central Essentials
    $70
    per month (billed annually) per user
    Dynamics 365 Business Central Premium
    $100
    per month (billed annually) per user
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Microsoft AccessMicrosoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Microsoft AccessMicrosoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    Considered Both Products
    Microsoft
    Chose Microsoft Access
    Overall, I feel that Microsoft Access stacks up well against the competitors. With Microsoft Access coming from Microsoft it has many qualities that people are already familiar with from using other tools, especially Excel. Microsoft Access comes with Office 365 and therefore …
    Incentivized
    Microsoft
    Chose Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    The only other system that we've deployed within our organization in the past is Great Lakes Accounting Software. Some of our users preferred this software over the Microsoft Dynamics NAV because they said it was easier to use. I personally prefer Microsoft Dynamics because …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    97%
    Would buy again
    29 Answers
    92%
    Would buy again
    11 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    97%
    Delivers good value for the price
    29 Answers
    91%
    Delivers good value for the price
    10 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    93%
    Happy with the feature set
    28 Answers
    92%
    Happy with the feature set
    11 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    86%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    19 Answers
    89%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    8 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    91%
    Implementation went as expected
    21 Answers
    82%
    Implementation went as expected
    9 Answers
    Features
    Microsoft AccessMicrosoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    Relational Databases
    Comparison of Relational Databases features of Microsoft Access and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    Feature
    Microsoft Access
    7.7
    3 Ratings
    5% below category average
    Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    -
    Ratings
    ACID compliance7.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Database monitoring8.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Database locking8.03 Ratings00 Ratings
    Encryption7.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Disaster recovery7.73 Ratings00 Ratings
    Flexible deployment8.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Multiple datatypes8.03 Ratings00 Ratings
    Payroll Management
    Comparison of Payroll Management features of Microsoft Access and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    Feature
    Microsoft Access
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    6.6
    11 Ratings
    13% below category average
    Pay calculation00 Ratings6.211 Ratings
    Benefit plan administration00 Ratings6.39 Ratings
    Direct deposit files00 Ratings6.610 Ratings
    Customization
    Comparison of Customization features of Microsoft Access and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    Feature
    Microsoft Access
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    8.0
    25 Ratings
    6% above category average
    API for custom integration00 Ratings8.124 Ratings
    Plug-ins00 Ratings7.922 Ratings
    Security
    Comparison of Security features of Microsoft Access and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    Feature
    Microsoft Access
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    8.4
    29 Ratings
    0% below category average
    Single sign-on capability00 Ratings8.525 Ratings
    Role-based user permissions00 Ratings8.328 Ratings
    Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Microsoft Access and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    Feature
    Microsoft Access
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    8.4
    30 Ratings
    11% above category average
    Dashboards00 Ratings8.326 Ratings
    Standard reports00 Ratings8.430 Ratings
    Custom reports00 Ratings8.629 Ratings
    General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
    Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Microsoft Access and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    Feature
    Microsoft Access
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    8.4
    30 Ratings
    8% above category average
    Accounts payable00 Ratings8.429 Ratings
    Accounts receivable00 Ratings8.328 Ratings
    Global Financial Support00 Ratings8.517 Ratings
    Primary and Secondary Ledgers00 Ratings8.416 Ratings
    Journals and Reconciliations00 Ratings8.919 Ratings
    Configurable Accounting00 Ratings7.219 Ratings
    Standardized Processes00 Ratings8.720 Ratings
    Inventory Management
    Comparison of Inventory Management features of Microsoft Access and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    Feature
    Microsoft Access
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    8.6
    26 Ratings
    8% above category average
    Inventory tracking00 Ratings8.526 Ratings
    Automatic reordering00 Ratings7.618 Ratings
    Location management00 Ratings8.222 Ratings
    Order Management
    Comparison of Order Management features of Microsoft Access and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    Feature
    Microsoft Access
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    8.0
    28 Ratings
    1% above category average
    Pricing00 Ratings8.225 Ratings
    Order entry00 Ratings8.925 Ratings
    Credit card processing00 Ratings7.417 Ratings
    Cost of goods sold00 Ratings8.422 Ratings
    Order Orchestration00 Ratings8.313 Ratings
    Subledger and Financial Process
    Comparison of Subledger and Financial Process features of Microsoft Access and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    Feature
    Microsoft Access
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    8.2
    20 Ratings
    8% above category average
    Billing Management00 Ratings8.518 Ratings
    Cash and Asset Management00 Ratings8.619 Ratings
    Travel & Expense Management00 Ratings7.614 Ratings
    Budgetary Control & Encumbrance Accounting00 Ratings8.216 Ratings
    Period Close00 Ratings8.219 Ratings
    Project Financial Management
    Comparison of Project Financial Management features of Microsoft Access and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    Feature
    Microsoft Access
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    8.7
    8 Ratings
    14% above category average
    Budgeting and Forecasting00 Ratings10.08 Ratings
    Project Costing00 Ratings10.07 Ratings
    Cost Capture00 Ratings10.08 Ratings
    Capital Project Management00 Ratings8.05 Ratings
    Customer Contract Compliance00 Ratings10.06 Ratings
    Project Revenue Recognition00 Ratings8.04 Ratings
    Project Execution Management
    Comparison of Project Execution Management features of Microsoft Access and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    Feature
    Microsoft Access
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    7.6
    11 Ratings
    7% above category average
    Project Planning and Scheduling00 Ratings7.510 Ratings
    Task Insight for Project Managers00 Ratings7.110 Ratings
    Project Mobile Functionality00 Ratings7.19 Ratings
    Definable Resource Pools00 Ratings6.910 Ratings
    Grants Management
    Comparison of Grants Management features of Microsoft Access and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    Feature
    Microsoft Access
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    8.9
    8 Ratings
    18% above category average
    Award Lifecycle Management00 Ratings6.78 Ratings
    Procurement
    Comparison of Procurement features of Microsoft Access and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    Feature
    Microsoft Access
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    7.9
    16 Ratings
    11% above category average
    Bids Analyzed and Compared00 Ratings7.410 Ratings
    Contract Authoring00 Ratings7.210 Ratings
    Contract Repository00 Ratings7.510 Ratings
    Requisitions-to-Purchase Orders Integrated00 Ratings8.114 Ratings
    Supplier Management00 Ratings7.613 Ratings
    Risk Management
    Comparison of Risk Management features of Microsoft Access and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    Feature
    Microsoft Access
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    8.3
    12 Ratings
    21% above category average
    Risk Repository00 Ratings7.211 Ratings
    Control Management00 Ratings7.411 Ratings
    Control Efficiency Assessments00 Ratings6.711 Ratings
    Issue Detection00 Ratings7.511 Ratings
    Remediation and Certification00 Ratings7.69 Ratings
    Logistics
    Comparison of Logistics features of Microsoft Access and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    Feature
    Microsoft Access
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    7.7
    10 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Transportation Planning and Optimization00 Ratings7.88 Ratings
    Transportation Execution Management00 Ratings7.48 Ratings
    Trade and Customs Management00 Ratings7.98 Ratings
    Fulfillment Management00 Ratings7.410 Ratings
    Warehouse Workforce Management00 Ratings9.27 Ratings
    Manufacturing
    Comparison of Manufacturing features of Microsoft Access and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    Feature
    Microsoft Access
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    8.0
    10 Ratings
    7% above category average
    Production Process Design00 Ratings9.17 Ratings
    Production Management00 Ratings8.88 Ratings
    Configuration Management00 Ratings7.17 Ratings
    Work Execution00 Ratings9.27 Ratings
    Manufacturing Costs00 Ratings7.310 Ratings
    Supply Chain
    Comparison of Supply Chain features of Microsoft Access and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    Feature
    Microsoft Access
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    7.4
    12 Ratings
    1% above category average
    Forecasting00 Ratings6.412 Ratings
    Inventory Planning00 Ratings7.212 Ratings
    Performance Monitoring00 Ratings7.012 Ratings
    Product Lifecycle Management
    Comparison of Product Lifecycle Management features of Microsoft Access and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    Feature
    Microsoft Access
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    8.8
    9 Ratings
    18% above category average
    Proposal Management00 Ratings7.18 Ratings
    Product Master Data Management00 Ratings7.78 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Microsoft AccessMicrosoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    Small Businesses
    Amazon RDS
    Score8.1 out of 10
    Zoho One
    Score9.2 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    SingleStore
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Zoho One
    Score9.2 out of 10
    Enterprises
    SAP IQ
    Score5.4 out of 10
    Microsoft Dynamics AX (discontinued)
    Score4.8 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Microsoft AccessMicrosoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.4
    (102 ratings)
    8.6
    (31 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (15 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    7.6
    (8 ratings)
    8.8
    (11 ratings)
    Availability
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    6.4
    (5 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Microsoft AccessMicrosoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Microsoft
    As a Material Purchasing/Planning/inventory tracking application, Microsoft Access serves its purpose well. It's presentation is clean, data entry is simple and the ability to customize search fields is welcome. It does, however, come with some caveats; namely, when setting search filters and the need arises to back up a step or two, with Microsoft Access you have to reset, or "clear all", adding extra steps/time to a query.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is well suited for inventory management in all aspects. Its accessibility, along with my other apps, when out of the office is unparalleled. I find it easy to work with on a desktop or laptop; however, it could use some work on a mobile device.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Microsoft
    • Very easy to create entity-relationship diagrams for various tables and designing mock layouts.
    • Really easy to navigate as it hold[s] the classic Microsoft UI. Another good thing is that it comes with the complete MS Office Suite.
    • It is really fast when joining multiple tables no matter what type of join.
    • Works on pretty much same SQL scripts so no need to learn a new language!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Automate the creation of bills of materials for production. We can now generate a BoM from a sales order.
    • Organization of all data pertaining to thousands of parts, assemblies, and finished goods. Engineering and purchasing have a common portal.
    • We can create sales orders from quotations instead of re-entering them (this did require some bolt-on software). Less redundant work with fewer entry errors.
    • Accounting can provide reports based on specific criteria stored in NAV. We can pull better and more detailed intelligence.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Microsoft
    • Microsoft Access has not really changed at all for several years. It might be nice to see some upgrades and changes.
    • The help info is often not helpful. Need more tutorials for Microsoft Access to show how to do specific things.
    • Be careful naming objects such as tables, forms, etc. Names that are too long can get cut off in dialog boxes to choose a table, form, report, etc. So, I wish they would have resizable dialog boxes to allow you to see objects with long names.
    • I wish it could show me objects that are not in use in the database for current queries, tables, reports, forms, and macros. That way unused objects can be deleted without worrying about losing a report or query because you deleted the underlying object.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Some functions could be a bit more user friendly, intuitive.
    • Better migration from previous ERP software (especially other Microsoft products). "Growing pains" associated with change?! Maybe.
    • A few redundancies and procedural missteps on menus and tabs can make the portal a bit crowded.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Microsoft
    I and the rest of my team will renew our Microsoft Access in the future because we use and maintain many different applications and databases created using Microsoft Access so we will need to maintain them in the future. Additionally, it is a standard at our place of work so it is at $0 cost to us to use. Another reason for renewing Microsoft Access is that we just don' t have the resources needed to extend into a network of users so we need to remain a single-desktop application at this time.
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    We've already decided to continue using this software. It is too expensive for us to upgrade so we made a workaround by using the virtual computer with Windows XP installed on it. We did research replacing this software, but it was a better financial decision to keep what we had instead
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Microsoft
    Microsoft Access is easy to use. It is compatible with spreadsheets. It is a very good data management tool. There is scope to save a large amount of data in one place. For using this database, one does not need much training, can be shared among multiple users. This database has to sort and filtering features which seem to be very useful.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Ever since we deployed it, it has been a one-stop-shop for our organization. Everything we do has been through it, and we do not need to use other vendors to access student records, accounts receivable, procurement records, grades, transcripts, and report cards... they are all in one interface, which has been a solid plus for our organization.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Microsoft
    I don't think the program has ever failed me. It is one of those programs where there is always a solution if you know where to look.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Microsoft
    While I have never contacted Microsoft directly for product support, for some reason there's a real prejudice against MS Access among most IT support professionals. They are usually discouraging when it comes to using MS Access. Most of this is due to their lack of understanding of MS Access and how it can improve one's productivity. If Microsoft invested more resources towards enhancing and promoting the use of MS Access then maybe things would be different.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    It provides one to efficiently be able to manage bookkeeping and inventory without much challenges. One can easily navigate through workflow processes while managing usages and budgets. Being able to produce reports in Word, Excel or PDF means one is able to have a working document to produce trends and graphs or produce pivot tables.
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Microsoft
    there is no key idea, since it is easy to implement Microsoft Access
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Microsoft
    Excel is a fantastic - robust application that can do so much so easily. Its easy to train and understand. However - excel does not provide a reporting function and that is typically where we will suggest a move to [Microsoft] Access. [Microsoft] Access requires a little more knowledge of data manipulation.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    I have personally supported all of the Dynamic family of ERP systems and made the decision to concentrate on NAV as the solution of choice. From a support and development standpoint there are few if any packages that can compare. It is not uncommon for most of the companies that I support to only call me once or twice a month after the first year. This is due to the ease of tracking down problems and errors and the ability for a developer to provide the end-user with routines that automatically correct the most basic kind of error
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Microsoft
    • Not having to recreate queries or reports every time you want to use them.
    • Once an item is created and saved as part of the database, you save manpower by not having to recreate them.
    • ROI from a usability standpoint is great. Solid product with great functionality that requires low maintenance usually.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Automation processing, including EDI functionality, has increased employee efficiency and prevented the need for adding additional employees.
    • Implementation of the warehouse functionality, including cycle counts, has resulted in better inventory control/less shrinkage.
    • Implementation of e-Ship and e-Receive, has resulted in greater efficiency and order accuracy.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots