The RecordCount property returns a long value that indicates the number of records in a Recordset object.

RecordCount Property is not returning a correct record count?? instead it always returns a number -1?

RecordCount Property returns -1 because by default the Cursor is adOpenForwardOnly.

To get the exact Record Count from your RecordSet Object, you need to select the Cursor as adOpenKeyset or adOpenStatic

How to Set Cursor while establishing the Connection:

While establishing connection to your Database, you can set the appropriate Cursor. Syntax is same as shown in below picture.

Syntax:
rs.Open qry, conn, adOpenStatic
  

Where-

rs:           Your Declared RecordSet
qry:            Your SQL Query to be executed to get the Record Set
conn:             Opened Connection
adOpenStatic:             Cursor Type

For Example: Below Code will give the Exact count of all records returned in your RecordSet Object.


Sub Get_Count()
 
Dim conn As New Connection
Dim rs As New Recordset
 
    strcon = "Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;" & _
    "Data Source=E:\Student.accdb;" & _
    "User Id=admin;Password="
    conn.Open (strcon)
    qry = "SELECT * FROM students"
    rs.Open qry, conn, adOpenStatic
    MsgBox (rs.RecordCount)
    rs.Close
    conn.Close
 
End Sub

Below are the Cursor Types and it’s description:
Cursor Type Description
adOpenUnspecified Does not specify the type of cursor.
adOpenForwardOnly Default. Uses a forward-only cursor. Identical to a static cursor, except that you can only scroll forward through records. This improves performance when you need to make only one pass through a Recordset.
adOpenKeyset Uses a keyset cursor. Like a dynamic cursor, except that you can’t see records that other users add, although records that other users delete are inaccessible from your Recordset. Data changes by other users are still visible.
adOpenDynamic Uses a dynamic cursor. Additions, changes, and deletions by other users are visible, and all types of movement through the Recordset are allowed, except for bookmarks, if the provider doesn’t support them.
adOpenStatic Uses a static cursor. A static copy of a set of records that you can use to find data or generate reports. Additions, changes, or deletions by other users are not visible.