Explain how Excel and Access help a business manage and analyse its data.

1. 1 · Open in two lines. Excel is a spreadsheet package for calculations and charts. Access is a desktop relational database package for storing and querying related records.
2. 2 · Excel basics. A worksheet of columns and rows; each cell has an address such as B4 and holds a label, a value or a formula starting with =.
3. 3 · Excel formulas and functions.
   • =SUM, =AVERAGE, =MAX, =MIN, =COUNT for totals and summaries.
   • =IF for decisions, e.g. a bonus check; =VLOOKUP to find a price by code.
4. 4 · References, charts and what-if analysis. Relative references change when copied; absolute references ($F$1) stay fixed. Charts show trends, and changing one input recalculates the whole budget.
5. 5 · Access objects.
   • Tables store records and fields.
   • Queries filter and join data.
   • Forms make data entry easy.
   • Reports print formatted summaries with totals.
6. 6 · Choosing between them. Excel for calculations on fairly small data; Access for large, related data in several tables used by many people.
7. 7 · Sri Lankan business example. A small distributor keeps its budget and sales analysis in Excel in rupees, and its customers and orders in Access, printing a monthly report of outstanding dues.
8. 8 · Close in one line. Together they turn business data into accurate, up-to-date information for decisions.

Scoring tip: Write two or three real formulas; examiners look for correct syntax with the = sign.