Access Database

creating a separate database with links to tables for reports is a good idea

Long as your reports run correctly, it would seem that would be a good idea. I've had clients who wanted a reporting-only edition of their database, and that's what I'd do - copy all the reports to a new database, link the tables, and deploy that database.

If the reports need to be in both FE's, I would do it differently.  Managing change in an environment were duplicate objects can exist in another FE is problematic.  You have to be very disciplined in how you handle changes.  I would separate the users into two groups, reporting only and all access.  The log on screen would check the user group and display a different menu for each type of user.  That way everything is in the same database and you only need to change it once.  You should always distribute as an .accde renamed to .accdr.  While that doesn't present much of a secure barrier to a technical person, it generally thwarts users and prevents accidents.