I have two tables with bank account information in them. One has the account types spelled out (Checking & Savings) and the other has just the first letter (C or S). I am trying to make a query that compares the two table and gives me anything that is different. How do I tell Access that Checking and "C" are the same and Savings and "S" are the same?

Not sure why you have the stuff stored in two places, but beyond that:
Build a query for the table that has the account types spelled out. In a blank field put: [AcctType]: Left([AccountType],1), where [AccountType] is the REAL field name. Now your fields will look the same and Access can compare them.

HTH,
David R