Custom CRM Application in Microsoft Access Consultancy Services

A Chicago based printing and publishing company had outgrown their Excel system of quoting jobs, job tracking, and invoicing. They initially looked at out of the box software, but found none that could provide what they really needed to run their business. Turning to a custom solution, they looked at different software platforms and after receiving multiple quotes from different contractors, they chose MS Access and us as the developer. What they liked about us was our ability to easily translate the Excel files into Access table driven logic. After a successful implementation of the first phase, they came back to us for a 40 hour Phase II.

Phase II was mostly about things they noticed after living on the new system for a few months — small reporting changes, a tighter job status flow, and a handful of form adjustments that only made sense once the shop floor was using it every day. That is a common pattern on CRM builds. The first phase gets you off spreadsheets. The second phase makes the tool fit how your team actually works.

They looked at several packaged CRM products before choosing Access. None of them matched the way they quoted print jobs and tracked work through the shop. If your process is tied to spreadsheets you have already built, a custom Access CRM is often the more honest path than forcing your business into someone else's template.

We are happy to review what you have in Excel and tell you straight whether a custom CRM in Access is worth the investment. No pressure to buy more than you need — many clients start with a scoped first phase and expand only when the first build proves itself.