Method and apparatus for providing a user interface application programming interface (API) for providing extended access to the database by third-party and user software products. In accordance with one embodiment, a method for accessing a business database includes instantiating a company object as an instance of a company class conforming to a component object model standard, setting a server property of the company object to a database server name, setting a company database name property of the company object to the name of a company, setting a user name property of the company object to the name of a user, setting a password property of the company object to a password of the user, setting a language property of the company object to a desired language of the user; and invoking a connect method within the company object, the connect method opening a software connection to a database identified by the company database name property.