Reporting automation
The multi-step monthly assembly reduced to one button, with a log of what it did and when. The most commonly requested Excel automation, and usually the one with the clearest payback.
Excel experts for hire
Hire an Excel macro developer
Find an Excel automation expert to delete the repetitive part of your week without creating a black box only one person understands.
Abhishek
Abhishek Singh
Akhilesh
Prahalad
Shakti
Meet the specialists behind your project.
A remote team of Excel and spreadsheet specialists. You work directly with the person building your file, from the first question to the final handover. More about us.
- FreeScoping & estimate
- 24hTypical reply
- 100%Files & IP yours
The short version
Why this work usually gets commissioned.
Most people arrive here wanting one of two things: a macro written from scratch, or an inherited one fixed. The problem with inherited VBA is rarely that it is badly written — it is that it is undocumented, fails silently, and only one person knows the order to run things in. Excel macro development done properly means code you would be happy to inherit: named clearly, commented, with error handling that tells the user what went wrong instead of dumping them into the code editor. That is the whole difference between a macro that saves a day a month for years and one that becomes a liability the moment its author leaves.
Scope
Excel macro development and automation: what is included.
Every engagement gets an hours estimate before it starts. If something below is not relevant to you, it comes out of the scope and off the estimate.
Macro development from scratch
A new macro written to a brief, for a process that currently happens by hand. We watch the process first — what people actually do differs from the documented procedure, and the difference is normally where the bugs live.
Data cleaning and import macros
Repeatable transformation of the exports you get rather than the ones you wish you got. Often Power Query is the better tool here and we will say so, because a macro you cannot edit is worse than a query you can.
Workbook tools and user forms
Data entry forms, validation, controlled inputs. Where the deliverable is closer to a small application than a spreadsheet, which is the point at which people start calling it Excel programming rather than a macro.
Fixing and documenting inherited code
Someone left, the macro still runs, nobody dares touch it. We read it, document what it does, fix what is broken and leave you able to change it without us.
Cross-application automation
Excel driving Outlook, Word, Access or a folder of files. Emailing a report pack, splitting a workbook per branch, merging a directory of returns into one sheet.
Need to check a feature before hiring? Read Microsoft’s official Excel help and learning for formulas, PivotTables, importing data and troubleshooting.
Same work, different job titles
What people call this work.
These all describe the same engagement. The title matters less than whether the person writes things down — but it is worth knowing which term to search, because the results differ.
Excel macro developer
The most common term for this work. Someone who writes the macro that replaces a manual routine, and who can be held to how it behaves when the input is wrong.
Excel automation expert
The same skill described by its outcome rather than its language. Automation is the goal; VBA, Power Query or Office Scripts are the means, and which one fits is part of the job.
Excel VBA developer or VBA programmer
Named for the language. Worth asking anyone with this title whether they write error handling and documentation, because plenty do not.
Excel programmer or Excel developer
Used when the deliverable is closer to a small application — a form-driven tool, a multi-sheet workflow, something with a user interface rather than just a routine.
Method
How we run it.
- 01
Watch the manual process
Usually over a screen share. We time it too — if the task takes ten minutes a month, automating it may not be worth your money, and we would rather say that at this stage.
- 02
Identify what should not be automated
Any step that needs judgement stays manual. Automating a decision is how automation projects quietly produce wrong answers for months before anyone notices.
- 03
Agree what happens when it fails
Not if. Source file missing, column renamed, someone has the file open. Each case gets a defined behaviour, and the default is always to stop cleanly rather than half-finish.
- 04
Build with error handling and a log
Every run records what it did. When somebody asks why last month's numbers moved, the log answers it in seconds.
- 05
Document and hand over
Commented code, a plain-English note on how to run it and what to do when it complains, and a recorded walkthrough. The code is unlocked and yours.
- DiscoveryUnderstanding the decision the file supports, and who edits it.
- PrototypeA working version on your real data, while changing course is still cheap.
- BuildThe main work, against definitions agreed in writing first.
- TestingEdge cases, checks that fail loudly, and the numbers reconciled.
- HandoverDocumentation, update procedure and a recorded walkthrough.
| Discovery | 15% of hours | Understanding the decision the file supports, and who edits it. |
|---|---|---|
| Prototype | 20% of hours | A working version on your real data, while changing course is still cheap. |
| Build | 40% of hours | The main work, against definitions agreed in writing first. |
| Testing | 15% of hours | Edge cases, checks that fail loudly, and the numbers reconciled. |
| Handover | 10% of hours | Documentation, update procedure and a recorded walkthrough. |
Questions
VBA & automation, answered.
What clients ask before commissioning this work.
Ask us something elseHow much does Excel macro development cost?
Most macros are 8–25 hours depending on how many exceptions the process has. A single-report automation is usually at the lower end; anything touching several files or applications sits higher. You get an estimate in hours in writing before any work starts.
What is the difference between a macro developer and an Excel programmer?
In practice, nothing — they are the same skill under different titles. People tend to say 'macro developer' for a routine that automates steps, and 'Excel programmer' or 'Excel developer' when the result has a user interface and behaves like a small application. We do both, and the title does not change the rate.
Can you automate Excel without VBA?
Often, and sometimes we should. Power Query handles import and transformation better than a macro and is easier for you to maintain. Office Scripts works where Excel on the web matters. VBA remains the right answer for workbook manipulation, user forms and driving other Office applications. We choose on your environment, not our preference.
Will the macro break when Excel updates?
Well-written VBA is stable across versions — the language has been essentially unchanged for years. What actually breaks automation is a source file changing shape, so the checks we build in matter far more than the Excel version does.
Can you fix macros someone else wrote?
Yes, and it is a large part of what we do. The usual job is a macro that still runs but nobody understands, written by somebody who has left. We document it, repair what is broken, and hand it back in a state where your own team can change it.
Do you write macros for Excel on Mac?
Yes, with one caveat worth knowing upfront: ActiveX controls and some Windows-only API calls do not exist on Mac. If the workbook has to run on both, we build it with form controls from the start rather than discovering the problem at handover.
Do we own the code?
Yes. Deliverables and IP transfer are set out in the engagement terms, and the code is unlocked and commented. We do not ship password-protected VBA projects — a macro you cannot open is a macro you are locked into.
Often combined with
Related services.
Most engagements touch more than one of these. We scope them together rather than selling them separately.
Start with the problem
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