Excel automation: VBA macros, Power Query and Office Scripts

They are three different Excel automation tools that suit different jobs. VBA is the macro language built into desktop Excel: it can do almost anything inside a workbook, from formatting and building sheets to forms and custom functions, but it does not run in Excel for the web or on phones. Power Query is Excel's data-import and clean-up tool: you define the steps once, such as combining every file in a folder, fixing dates and removing duplicates, and then repeat them with a single Refresh. Office Scripts is the newer scripting tool for Excel for the web, and it can be run on a schedule or triggered by Power Automate, which suits files kept in OneDrive or SharePoint. Botlery picks the tool based on where your files live, which versions of Excel your team uses and who needs to run the automation.

Botlery prices each Excel automation as one fixed amount, and the quote is free. There is no single published price because the work ranges widely: a macro that formats one export is a small job, while a month-end process that combines several sources, generates reports per department and handles messy files is considerably larger. Once you send sample files and describe the steps, we reply with a written scope that names the tool we will use, what the automation will do, and the fixed price for that work. Nothing is paid up front. We build on copies of your files, you run the result on real data, and you pay once it works as agreed. If you would rather hire us through Upwork, the same quote becomes an Upwork fixed-price contract and Upwork's escrow holds the payment until you approve. Prices are quoted in USD.

It depends on the tool, which is why Botlery asks what everyone uses before quoting. VBA macros run in desktop Excel on Windows and, with some limitations, on a Mac; features that depend on Windows, such as some Outlook automation or certain file dialogs, need a different approach on a Mac. VBA does not run in Excel for the web or in the mobile apps at all. If your team works in the browser, Office Scripts is the right tool, provided you have a Microsoft 365 business or education licence. Power Query runs in desktop Excel on both Windows and Mac, with the fullest feature set on Windows. When a team is mixed, we either build with the tool everyone can run or split the job so the automated part runs in one place and everyone else simply opens the finished file.

Yes. Botlery can automate Excel files that arrive as email attachments, such as supplier price lists, bank or card exports, daily sales files or timesheets. There are two usual approaches. If you use Microsoft 365, Power Automate can watch a mailbox, save each matching attachment to a OneDrive or SharePoint folder with a consistent file name, and run an Office Script or trigger a refresh that merges it into your master workbook. If your team works in desktop Excel, the attachments can be saved to a folder and Power Query combines everything in that folder with one Refresh, optionally driven by a macro button. Either way, we build checks for the problems that attachments tend to bring, such as a changed column order, an extra header row or a duplicate file sent twice, and flag them instead of loading bad data.

Usually you should automate where your team already works, and Botlery will tell you when that is not true. Excel is the stronger choice when files are large, when you rely on Power Query or complex models, when your accountant or bank works in Excel, or when your business already runs on Microsoft 365. Google Sheets is the stronger choice when several people need to edit the same data at once from anywhere, when you want automations that run in the cloud without anyone's computer switched on, or when your business runs on Google Workspace. Moving platforms has a real cost in retraining and rebuilt formulas, so we only recommend it when it clearly pays off. If part of the team uses each, we can keep both in step with a scheduled sync.