Report automation tool
Deliverable: A workbook that takes a raw export, cleans it, builds a formatted summary with a PivotTable and chart, and saves a dated copy — all from one button, with errors reported clearly.
Course
Advanced Excel VBA and Macros
Excel automation taught as programming rather than as macro recording, so the tools you build keep working when the data changes and somebody else opens the file.
- Duration: 2 months
- Classroom · Online live
- Level: intermediate
What you will be able to do
- Write VBA procedures from scratch rather than editing recorded macros
- Loop over rows, sheets and workbooks to process data of any size
- Build userforms that collect input and validate it before it reaches a sheet
- Handle errors so a macro fails with a clear message instead of a debug window
- Automate a recurring report end to end, from raw file to formatted output
- Read and repair somebody else's broken macro
Who this course is for
- Comfortable with Excel formulas, lookups and PivotTables
- Analysts and executives repeating the same manual work every week
- Accounts, MIS and operations staff who maintain recurring reports
- No prior programming experience required
Syllabus
6 modules · 2 months
Module 1. From recorder to code
- Recording a macro and reading what it produced
- Why recorded code breaks and how to fix it
- The VBA editor, modules and the immediate window
- Ranges, cells and referring to things reliably
Module 2. Programming fundamentals in VBA
- Variables, data types and Option Explicit
- If, Select Case and conditional logic
- For, For Each and Do loops
- Procedures, functions and passing arguments
Module 3. Working with workbooks and data
- Looping over rows without hard-coding a row count
- Opening, combining and closing multiple workbooks
- Copying, sorting, filtering and formatting from code
- Writing custom worksheet functions in VBA
Module 4. Userforms and interaction
- Designing a form that fits the task
- Text boxes, combo boxes and validation
- Buttons, events and what fires when
- Message boxes and progress feedback
Module 5. Robustness and error handling
- On Error and why the default behaviour is unacceptable
- Failing with a message a user can act on
- Debugging with breakpoints and the watch window
- Making a macro safe to run twice
Module 6. Automation in practice
- Turning a manual weekly report into one button
- Scheduling a workbook to run unattended
- Security, macro settings and trusted locations
- Handing a tool to somebody else without handing over yourself
Tools and technologies you will use
- Microsoft Excel
- VBA editor
- Userforms and ActiveX controls
- Windows Task Scheduler
Projects you will build
Data entry userform
Deliverable: A userform that captures records, validates every field before writing, refuses malformed input with a useful message, and appends to a structured table.
Multi-workbook consolidator
Deliverable: A macro that opens every file in a folder, extracts the same range from each, and consolidates them into one sheet with a source column, handling a missing or malformed file without stopping.
Where this course can take you
- MIS Executive
- Data Analyst
- Accounts Executive
- Operations Analyst
- Business Analyst
Duration, modes and fees
- Duration
- 2 months
- Delivery modes
- Classroom · Online live
- Fees
- Share your details for the current fee
- Fees vary by batch and delivery mode. Ask about the combined fee if you take this with Advanced Excel.
Placement assistance
Every student gets placement assistance — that is what 100% placement assistance means. It is support for all, not a job for all. We do not promise a specific salary, a specific number of interviews, or placement at any named company, and you should be wary of anyone who does.
What is included
- A place in the monthly placement drive, held every third Saturday
- The readiness programme every second Saturday — mock interviews and preparation
- CV review against the specific roles you are targeting
- Portfolio review, so your project work is presented the way a reviewer will read it
- Access to the vacancy pool employers send directly to the Samyak network
- Guidance on which roles realistically fit your background and which do not
- A place in the next drive, with coaching, if you are not selected in this one
What is not included
- Any guarantee of a job, an interview, or a particular salary
- Placement at a named or partner company
- Applying to jobs on your behalf
- Support before you have completed the course and its project work
- Visa, relocation or overseas placement assistance
Recording a macro is not automation
Almost everybody arrives having recorded a macro once and watched it break the following week.
It breaks because the recorder writes down exactly what you did to exactly the cells you touched — row 2 to row 847, that sheet, that file. Change the number of rows and it either misses data or writes over something. This is not a flaw you can work around by recording more carefully.
So the first module is reading recorded code and understanding why it is fragile, and the rest of the course is writing code that is not.
The tools have to survive other people
A macro that works when you run it, on your machine, on a file you prepared, has solved almost none of the problem.
That is why error handling gets a full module and why the projects are specified the way they are: the consolidator has to cope with a missing file, the userform has to refuse bad input with a message a colleague can act on, and the report tool has to be safe to run twice. This is the part that separates a course exercise from something you can actually hand over.
What you need before you start
Real Excel fluency. Lookups, PivotTables, and a sense of how a workbook should be structured.
You do not need any programming — that is taught here from variables upward. But VBA automates Excel work, and automating something you cannot yet do by hand means writing code to produce a result you cannot check. If you are not there yet, take Advanced Excel first; it is the shorter road to the same place.
Where VBA stops being the right answer
When the data outgrows a workbook, or when the job has to run somewhere other than a desktop, VBA is the wrong tool and we will say so.
Python and Power BI take over at that boundary, and part of what this course teaches is recognising where the boundary is. Plenty of analysts use all three and choose per problem, which is the position worth reaching.
Questions
Advanced Excel VBA and Macros — frequently asked questions
Do I need to know programming before starting VBA?
No. The second module covers variables, conditions, loops and procedures from scratch. What you do need is real fluency in Excel itself — formulas, lookups and PivotTables — because VBA automates Excel work and you cannot automate something you cannot yet do by hand.
Is VBA still worth learning when Python exists?
For work that lives inside Excel and has to be handed to colleagues who only have Excel, yes — VBA ships with the application, needs no installation and no permission from IT. Python is the better tool for large data and for anything outside a workbook. Most analysts end up using both, and we will say which one fits a problem you bring in.
How is this different from recording macros?
A recorded macro repeats exactly what you did, against exactly the cells you touched. It breaks the moment the data has a different number of rows. This course starts by reading recorded code and then teaches you to write it properly, which is the difference between a macro that works once and a tool that survives the next quarter.
Will the tools I build work on other people's computers?
Yes, with caveats you will learn to handle — macro security settings, trusted locations and file formats all matter. The last module covers exactly this, because a tool that only runs on your machine has not really solved the problem it was built for.
Enquire about Advanced Excel VBA and Macros
Three details is all we need. A course advisor will call you back.
Related courses
- Advanced Excel
The Excel that offices actually run on — lookup logic, PivotTables, Power Query pipelines, dashboards and enough VBA to automate the work you repeat every month.
- MS Access
Database work for the office — designing tables that hold up, querying them properly, and building forms and reports colleagues can use without breaking anything.
- Power BI
Power BI taught as a data modelling tool rather than a chart menu — star schemas, relationships and DAX first, because that is what separates a report that scales from one that breaks.
- Data Analytics
A structured path from spreadsheets to SQL, Power BI and Python, built around the four things a data analyst is actually paid to do — pull the data, clean it, analyse it and explain it.
Next step
Talk to a course advisor
Tell us what you want to learn and we will help you pick the right course, batch and mode.