About The VBA Help

I have been building VBA solutions in Microsoft Office for over 25 years. In that time I have written everything from a dozen lines of code in a single Excel workbook through to many thousands of lines spread across Excel, Word, Outlook and PowerPoint, tied together with Add-Ins, templates and documents. Most of my work is in Excel, but I am in Word, Outlook and PowerPoint most weeks ... automating the documents, emails and presentations that people would otherwise build by hand.

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Until recently I spent my days in the IT industry, latterly with a global corporation, writing the same kind of automation for clients ranging from individual users to large IT teams. I work from Edinburgh, with clients all over the world. Since 2020, I have been freelancing, mostly on Upwork where I have a 5.0 out of 5.0 rating from 77 client reviews, a 100% ‘Job Success’ score and I am rated as ‘Top Rated Plus’.

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In April 2026 Microsoft awarded me ‘Most Valuable Professional’ (MVP) status ... an annual award given to a small group of people Microsoft recognises for real-world expertise and for sharing it with the wider technical community.

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What I can help with

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• Excel ... task automation, data transformation and clean-up, dashboards (charts, slicers, timelines), PivotTables and Power Query, complex formulas and custom Functions (UDFs).

• Word ... document automation, event-driven Macros, styles and complex formatting, custom forms and input controls.

• Outlook ... email, attachment, calendar and task automation, rules and automatic responses, and exporting data to Excel for reporting.

• PowerPoint ... presentation automation, slide generation straight from Excel data, and advanced shape and text formatting.

• Add-Ins and cross-application work ... custom ribbon controls, context menus and shortcuts, plus VBA that reaches across applications (build a Word document or a PowerPoint deck from Excel, send an Outlook email from any Office app).

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How I work

Tested before it reaches you. I test every solution at unit, integration and system level before delivery. If something I wrote goes wrong, I fix it ... at no cost to you.
 

A fixed price that stays fixed. If I underestimate the work, I absorb the difference. Hourly projects always come with a clear estimate up front.
 

You own the code. It is delivered fully unlocked, with no restrictions and no lock-in, well commented and with thorough error handling so you (or another developer) can maintain it later.
 

I ask first, then build. Every project starts with a proper Q&A so I understand what you actually need ... including improvements you may not have thought of. I flag any limitations early and keep you posted as the work goes on.
 

A note on AI. I use AI tools (Claude in particular) to speed up the routine parts of development ... research, first drafts of code, building out test cases ... so more of your budget goes on the parts that need real judgement. Everything I deliver is written, reviewed and tested by me. You get the speed of modern tooling with the judgement that over 25 years brings.
 

“Absolutely in the top rank. HIRE THIS MAN ... he’s that good.”
— Michael Blake

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“I've never worked with a more meticulous, thoughtful programmer.”

— Scott Ackerl

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See more testimonials

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Beyond the client work

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When I am not on a project, I write the blog on this site and build VBE_Extras and VBE_Colours ... my own tools that help VBA developers write better code, faster. You will also find me answering questions on Stack Overflow and MrExcel, and posting on Bluesky.
 

Let’s talk

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Tell me about your project ... there is no obligation, and every conversation starts with listening, not selling. You can contact me directly through this site, or, if you prefer the protection of escrow and a public track record, hire me through Upwork, where I am Top Rated Plus with a 100% Job Success Score.​​