Platform note
Microsoft Access
Microsoft Access is a long-running desktop database platform for internal business applications. It was widely used to build line-of-business tools for departments that needed working software quickly without a full development team.
A typical Access solution combined tables, queries, forms, reports, macros, and VBA in a single file or a small front-end and back-end split.
What it was typically used for
Organizations commonly used Access for specialist workflows such as order handling, regulatory exceptions, approvals, reconciliation, scheduling, pricing support, operational reporting, and small case-management processes. In many companies, it became the practical system for work that the main ERP or CRM never handled well.
Product status
Access has not disappeared as a product. Microsoft still documents Access as a desktop database application in Microsoft 365 support content, including articles on creating a database in Access and creating forms in Access. What has ended is support for older Office releases that included Access: Microsoft states that support for Office 2016 and Office 2019 ended on October 14, 2025.
Artifacts to inspect when extracting business logic
Business logic in Access is usually spread across several artifacts rather than held in one application layer. The most useful starting points are:
- Tables and relationships: core entities, field defaults, validation rules, lookup structures, and referential assumptions.
- Saved queries: joins, filters, calculations, update rules, append logic, and data-shaping steps.
- Forms and subforms: user flow, screen-level rules, hidden dependencies, and control-bound behavior.
- Reports: operational outputs, grouping logic, totals, compliance formatting, and end-of-process calculations.
- Macros: navigation, event automation, batch actions, and lightweight workflow logic.
- VBA modules and event handlers: the densest concentration of custom rules, branching, integrations, and exception handling.
- Startup settings and navigation objects: what opens first, what users are guided toward, and which paths the business actually depends on.
For technical reference, Microsoft also publishes the Access VBA reference overview, general Access help and learning, and its notice on end of support for Office 2016 and Office 2019.
Further reading from Caimito Agile Life
These articles are especially relevant when Access is carrying more VBA and operating logic than the wider organization realizes.