Integrating Excel and Access

Main Menu

For the main menu , I suggest starting with an Access form in Design View that is not connected to a table or query. This menu should open automatically when the database opens, and I suggest setting the startup options to not show the database window.

If you look at the screens being requested, there are generally three categories. The first category is customer information, in which you have the customer contact information, billing information, payment information, and contact history. The second category is company-specific information on services, charges, and expense entry. The expense entry posts to general ledger accounts for expenses, and the customer payments posts to general ledger accounts for income. The third category is for production, including invoices, letters, and income statements.

To divide the main menu into these categories, I suggest using a tab control from the Access control toolbox and having a page for each category. Figure 12-1 shows how this would look. To create the blank form, go to the forms tab in Access, select "Create Form in Design View," and once the form is open, go to View → Form Header/Footer to put a header and footer on the form. Click on the tab control on the control toolbox and click and drag the control onto the form. If the control toolbox is not visible, go to View → Toolbox to see it.

Depending on the defaults on your computer, you might not see three pages on your tab control. If that is the case, you can add pages by right-clicking ...