I would recommend Apache over PWS if you go for the browser-based solution. I have apache running as localhost on four different windows PC's it handles my perl, ruby, and php code easily. And this system supports mySQL with phpMyAdmin and some cgi and php scripts for frontend stuff. Works like a dream and is a far more scalable and portable than access( and it's free). If the small buisness grows an access/VB solution will not be usable in a enterprise system.

Then again I have a web based background and I like to be able to reuse my favorite bits of code on other projects. If there is no need to migrate, and you like VB then by all means use it. I would recommend against using Tk or executable perl for a product like this. Perl executables are not at all faster than interpreted Perl. ActiveState Perl takes only minutes to setup on windows so no reason to worry about deploying on systems without perl. Tk is just frustrating to layout and kind of shoddy looking in my opinion, maybe the other GUIs metioned above are better looking, though they are not as well documented as tk.