If you're looking for a Microsoft Access alternative or a FileMaker alternative, there are four realistic options. You can buy an off-the-shelf product built for the job your database does. You can rebuild it in Microsoft Power Apps. You can have a custom web app built on a proper database. Or you can run your operations in ERPNext while Xero or MYOB keep the accounts. The right choice depends on three things: how unusual your process is, how many people need to use it at once and from where, and what it needs to connect to. Whichever you choose, your data moves across. Your forms, reports and macros don't move. They get rebuilt in the new system, which gives you a chance to fix the parts that never quite worked.
Why businesses outgrow Access and FileMaker
The same pattern shows up again and again. The database sits on the shared drive. There's one copy of the .accdb file, and only one person dares to open it in design view. When it slows down, someone sends an email asking everyone to close it so it can be compacted. It works in the office but crawls over the VPN, and nobody on site can use it at all. The person who built it left years ago, or they're still here and can never take a proper holiday.
That last problem has a name: key-person risk, which means only one person knows how something works. We cover it in more detail on only one person knows how it works.
The database usually causes three other problems too:
- Double entry, where the same information is typed into two systems. Orders go into the database and then get retyped into Xero or MYOB.
- Data silos, where information sits in one place and stops before the people who need it can see it. Sales can't see stock, and accounts can't see what's been delivered.
- Late numbers. The monthly report only exists after someone runs a query, pastes the results into Excel and tidies them up.
Access and FileMaker did their job well for a long time. The trouble starts when the business grows around them.
The four realistic options
1. An off-the-shelf product
Your database might really be a CRM, a job management system, an inventory system or a booking system. If so, someone has probably already built a product that does it.
- Good fit when your process is fairly standard for your industry and you'd rather not maintain software yourself.
- Watch for per-user subscriptions that add up, features you pay for but don't use, and losing the one or two things that made your database useful. Check whether it connects properly to Xero or MYOB before you sign.
2. Microsoft Power Apps
Power Apps is Microsoft's low-code tool. It's the closest thing in spirit to Access: forms sitting over data.
- Good fit when the app is fairly simple, such as forms, lists and approvals, and your team already works in Microsoft tools.
- Watch for the limits of storing data in SharePoint lists. Proper database connections need premium licensing, which is charged per user. Complex logic can get hard to follow, and you can end up recreating the same key-person risk, just with "the one person who understands the Power App."
3. A custom web app on a proper database
Here the system is rebuilt as a browser-based app sitting on a real database such as PostgreSQL or SQL Server. People use it from the office, from home or from a tablet on site, each with their own login and permissions.
- Good fit when your process is genuinely yours and no product fits without bending the business to suit it. It also suits systems that many people use at once, or that need to exchange data with Xero or MYOB through their APIs.
- Watch for ownership. You own the system, so it needs documentation and an ongoing support arrangement. Our Access database replacement service is built around this option and covers the handover as well as the build.
4. ERPNext for operations, Xero or MYOB for the accounts
Sometimes the Access database has quietly become the operations system. It tracks stock, jobs, purchase orders, production or customers. In that case, ERPNext can take over those operations: inventory, manufacturing, projects, purchasing, CRM and workflows. Xero or MYOB stay as your accounting system, and invoices and bills flow across to them, so your accountant keeps working where they already work.
- Good fit when the database covers several areas of the business, not just one job.
- Watch for the need to adopt ERPNext's standard way of working for the common parts. Customisation should be kept to what genuinely matters.
How to choose between them
Five questions usually point to the answer:
- Is what it does common or unusual? If it's common, start with off-the-shelf. If it's unusual, look at a custom app or ERPNext.
- Who uses it, and from where? If people need it on site, at home or across several locations, rule out anything that depends on a shared file.
- What does it need to talk to? If the answer is Xero, MYOB, a supplier portal or your website, integration should be part of the plan from day one, not an afterthought.
- Who will look after it? Be honest about this. A clever system that nobody can maintain just repeats the original problem.
- What happens if nothing changes? Sometimes the answer is "not much yet," and that's fine to know too.
The answer is often a mix. For example, you might use an off-the-shelf product for the standard part and a small custom app for the part that's genuinely yours. If you want the processes mapped and a written recommendation before you commit, that's what our $5,000 Process & Systems Audit is for.
What happens to your data, forms and reports
The data is the part that moves. The rest gets rebuilt.
- Tables and records are exported, cleaned and mapped to the new structure. This is data cleansing: fixing the information before it moves so you don't carry old problems across. Expect to find duplicate customers, free-text fields used for three different things, dates stored as text and records that point to nothing.
- Queries hold a lot of logic. We read them and turn them into reports, views or rules in the new system.
- Forms and layouts are rebuilt. This is the time to drop the fields nobody fills in.
- VBA code, macros and FileMaker scripts are read line by line. They often hold business rules that nobody ever wrote down, such as "orders over a certain amount need a second approval."
- Attachments, including FileMaker container fields, are extracted and moved to proper document storage.
We then run a test migration and reconcile record counts and totals against the original. Both systems run side by side for a period, and you cut over on an agreed date. The old file becomes a read-only archive, so you can still check an old record if you need to.
What it looks like when it's fixed
There's no longer a single copy of the .accdb file that only one person dares to open. Staff on site enter information on a tablet, and it's there for the office straight away. An order is typed once and flows into Xero or MYOB without being keyed in again. On Monday morning you can see last week's jobs, stock and overdue orders without anyone running a query.
You also have a single source of truth: one place everyone takes the number from. Sales, operations and accounts stop arguing about whose figure is right. And the person who built the old database can go on holiday.
Frequently asked questions
Can we keep Access and just host it somewhere remote?
You can put the file on a hosted server or remote desktop, and that can buy time. But the file is still the system, one person still holds it together, and it still doesn't connect to Xero or MYOB. Treat hosting as a stopgap while you plan the replacement.
Is replacing FileMaker different from replacing Access?
The options are the same. FileMaker handles multiple users better than a shared Access file, but the same issues come up: scripts only one person understands, limited integration, and data that stops at the edge of the database. FileMaker data exports cleanly. Layouts and scripts get rebuilt, just like Access forms and macros.
Will we lose our history?
You decide what history moves across. We reconcile counts and totals against the original so you can see that everything arrived, and we keep the old database as a read-only archive for anything you choose not to migrate.
How much does replacing an Access or FileMaker database cost?
Costs vary widely depending on the size of the business, how many systems are involved and how much needs to be custom-built, so we scope every project first and give you a fixed quote after a free initial chat.
Can we replace it in stages?
Yes, and it's often the safer approach. One area moves first, such as purchasing or job tracking, while the rest of the database keeps running. A temporary link keeps the old and new systems in step until everything has moved.
Once you have picked the direction, replacing an Access database walks through what happens to your data, forms, reports and the hidden rules in queries and VBA code.
If your business still runs on an Access or FileMaker file that everyone depends on and few people understand, we can help you work out which option fits. Book a free initial chat or call 1300 470 091. We'll talk through what your database does today and the realistic ways to replace it.