Excel VBA and Macro Support, Repair & Migration
most broken macros can be repaired. Some have outgrown Excel.
For businesses that run real work on Excel macros written in VBA (Visual Basic for Applications), and on the Word and Outlook macros around them. We repair what an Office update broke, document how it works, and move the logic out of Excel when it has outgrown a workbook.
More about this service
We are an Australian team working remotely with businesses in the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia. Every engagement starts with a scoped technical assessment, so the estimate that follows is based on your workbooks and your code.
- Assessment A scoped technical review before any estimate
- 18+ yrs Building business software
- Independent No licence commission, no reseller agenda
- US UK NZ AU Australian team, working remotely
Built here. Your data stays here.
- No offshore development. Everything is written by our own team in Australia. Nothing is subcontracted overseas.
- Your data stays onshore. Hosted in Australia, on infrastructure you own, under Australian law.
- Every state, not just ours. Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and everywhere between.
The workbook works. The person who wrote it has left.
A great deal of business software was never called software. A quoting sheet, a month-end pack, a production schedule: somebody capable built it in Excel with VBA macros, it worked, and the business came to rely on it. Microsoft still includes VBA in desktop Excel, so nothing has forced a decision.
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The obstacles are practical. Office now installs as 64-bit, so older code that calls Windows directly stops with a compile error. Macros in files that arrive by email or download are blocked. The password on the code is lost, or the one person who understood it has gone. Each has a known answer, and most are repairs, not replacements.
Our Excel VBA developer service is for businesses in Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. It covers three kinds of work: code fixes and updates, migration to a modern technology stack, and ongoing maintenance and support.
Three ways forward for a workbook that runs on VBA
In order of size. Many workbooks only ever need the first.
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Keep it and support it
The workbook stays as it is. We fix what an Office update broke, make the changes you have been putting off, and write down what each macro does and what it depends on. This suits a workbook that works and mainly needs somebody who can change it.
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Bring it up to current Office
The same VBA is made to run on 64-bit Microsoft 365. Calls to Windows are updated, old controls and missing references are replaced, and the code is signed and kept in one place. Simple, repeatable tasks can move to Office Scripts and Power Automate where that fits.
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Replace it in stages
Where several people need the same data at once, or the workbook has become the only record of something, the logic moves to a web application on a database, one function at a time. Excel usually stays, for exports and analysis.
What we do with Excel VBA workbooks
Six kinds of work. Most engagements are two or three of them.
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Macro repair
Compile errors, run-time errors and macros that stopped after an Office or Windows update, traced and fixed in the existing code.
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64-bit conversion
Declarations that call Windows updated with PtrSafe and LongPtr, and 32-bit controls replaced, so the workbook runs on 64-bit Office.
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Blocked macro fixes
Code signing, trusted locations and a sensible way to hand out new versions, so staff stop seeing a security risk banner.
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Documentation and handover
What each macro does, what it reads and writes, and what it relies on, written down so the workbook stops depending on one person.
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Office Scripts and Power Automate
Suitable macros rebuilt as Office Scripts that run in Excel on the web or on a schedule, for workbooks kept in OneDrive or SharePoint.
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Move to a web application
Workbooks that have become shared systems rebuilt on a database, with every calculation checked against the original.
Repairing it, updating it and replacing it are different projects
Each is right for a different size of problem.
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Repair it and leave it
Lowest cost. The fault is fixed and the workbook carries on. Right for one person or a small team on desktop Excel. The next Office change may break it again, and it still depends on whoever understands it.
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Update it for current Office
The code is made safe for 64-bit Office, signed and documented, so it survives the next upgrade. Office Scripts can take over simple tasks. They cannot respond to workbook events, reach files on the computer or drive Word and Outlook, so they do not replace all VBA.
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Rebuild as a web application
Right when the workbook holds the master copy of something, when several people enter data at once, or when you need a record of who changed what. It takes longest, and is only worth it when the workbook has clearly become a system.
What an Excel VBA assessment looks at
VBA is still part of desktop Office. The risk is in what the code leans on. The version, 64-bit, macro blocking and Outlook facts below are from Microsoft documentation.
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Where the code lives
Workbooks (.xlsm, .xlsb), add-ins (.xlam), old .xls files and a Personal.xlsb on one computer. Word macros sit in .docm and .dotm files, Outlook macros in one VbaProject.OTM for each user. Code kept on a single machine is found first.
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Office version and support dates
Support ended on 14 October 2025 for Office 2016 and 2019, and on 13 October 2026 for Office 2021. Microsoft 365 and Office 2024 are current. Moving to a new version is when old macros tend to break.
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32-bit and 64-bit Office
Office 2019 and later install as 64-bit unless 32-bit is chosen. Code that declares calls to Windows will not compile there until it is updated, and 32-bit ActiveX controls, such as the old date picker, do not load at all.
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Blocked macros
Since 2022 Office blocks macros in files that came from the internet or by email, and the warning banner has no button to enable them. The lasting fixes are a trusted location, a trusted network share or signed code.
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References and add-ins
The libraries the code refers to: Outlook, Word, scripting, database drivers and add-ins from other vendors. One reference marked as missing stops every macro, which is why a file works on one computer and not the next.
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Links to Outlook and Word
Macros that send email through Outlook or fill Word templates. Microsoft lists VBA macros as not supported in the new Outlook for Windows, so anything that relies on Outlook is checked before staff leave classic Outlook.
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Windows scripting
Some workbooks run .vbs script files or use the VBScript library to match patterns in text. Microsoft is removing VBScript from Windows in phases. Microsoft 365 from Version 2508 builds that matching into VBA, so the fix is known.
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Data, users and copies
Where the data comes from, how many people use the workbook and how many copies exist. Excel for the web opens a workbook that contains macros and cannot run them, which matters once files move to SharePoint or Teams.
A workbook the business runs on, and one person who understands it?
What the assessment needs from you
A fixed-scope piece of work with a written result: the options, the risks of each, and a staged estimate. No production data is sent by email. We agree a secure way to share it first.
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Versions
The Office version in use, whether it is 32-bit or 64-bit, and the Windows versions it runs on.
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The files
Which workbooks, templates and add-ins hold the macros, and where the current copies are kept.
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The code
Whether the VBA is locked with a password, and whether anybody still knows it.
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Who built it
Whether the person who wrote the macros is still available to answer questions.
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Data in and out
Where the workbook gets its data, and what it produces: files, emails, reports or entries elsewhere.
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Users and copies
How many people use it, how many copies exist, and how a new version reaches them today.
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Other programs
Outlook, Word, databases or add-ins the macros rely on.
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What is hurting
The two or three problems that started the conversation.
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The way back
How long the business can work from the old file, or by hand, if a change has to be reversed.
From assessment to a supported workbook
Done remotely, with meeting times agreed to suit your time zone.
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Technical assessment
We open copies of the files, list every macro, reference and link to another program, and confirm the Office versions involved. You get a written list of options with the risks of each and a staged estimate.
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A safe working copy
The code is exported and kept under version control, with test copies on 32-bit and 64-bit Office. Until a change can be tried away from the live file, no change is safe.
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Repair what is broken
Whatever is stopping work today is fixed on the copy, tested by the people who use it, then put into use.
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Staged work
The work is done in stages agreed from the assessment, each with its own scope and estimate, starting with whatever is hurting the business most.
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Comparison and user testing
Old and new are run on the same inputs and the results compared figure by figure, and your staff test the work they do every day.
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Cutover and support
Each switch is planned with a way back. We watch the first days of live use, then maintain the workbook for as long as it stays in service.
What people ask us about Excel VBA
Is VBA still supported?
Yes. VBA is built into desktop Excel, Word and classic Outlook, including Microsoft 365. What has changed is around it: Office installs as 64-bit, macros in downloaded files are blocked, and Excel for the web and the new Outlook do not run VBA.
Our macros stopped working after an Office update. Why?
Most often because Office changed from 32-bit to 64-bit, and code that calls Windows directly has to be updated first. The other common causes are a missing reference and the block on macros in downloaded files. All three have known fixes.
Staff see a security risk banner and macros will not run. Can it be fixed?
Yes. Office blocks macros in files that arrived from the internet or by email. The lasting fix is to keep the workbook in a trusted location, or to sign the code with a certificate your computers trust. Unblocking each file by hand works until the next copy arrives.
Should we move from VBA to Office Scripts?
Only where it fits. Office Scripts run in Excel on the web, and Power Automate can run them on a schedule. They work inside the workbook only: no events, no files on the computer, no Word or Outlook. Simple, repeatable tasks move well. A large VBA application does not.
When has a workbook outgrown Excel?
When it holds the only copy of important records, when several people need to enter data at once, or when one overwritten cell can put a wrong figure on an invoice. Then the logic belongs in a web application on a database.
The code is locked with a password nobody knows. Is that fatal?
Usually not. For a workbook you own there are established ways back into the code. Where that fails, the formulas, layout and outputs still show what the workbook does. It changes the estimate. It does not end the conversation.
Do you provide Excel VBA developers in Perth, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane?
Yes. We are an Australian team and we take on Excel VBA work for businesses in Perth, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, and elsewhere in Australia. Most of the work is done remotely, by video call and screen share, with secure access to a copy of your system. The service is the same in every city: code fixes and updates, migration to a modern technology stack, and ongoing maintenance and support.
How does this work from the United States, the United Kingdom or New Zealand?
Remotely. We are based in Australia and do not have offices elsewhere. Discovery is done by video call and screen share, with meeting times agreed to suit your time zone. Confidentiality, who can reach your systems and where your data is held are agreed in writing before work starts.
What does it cost?
The assessment is a fixed-scope piece of work with an agreed fee. For one broken macro it is a short look at the file. The estimate for anything after it comes from what the assessment finds, in stages, so you are not asked to commit to a whole project on a guess.
Sending your details…
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Tell us about your Excel workbook
What the workbook does, the Office version, how many people use it, and what is forcing the question. Include your country so we can suggest meeting times. Please do not send production data.
Prefer a quick chat? Call 0425 531 127. We answer the phone in Perth.
Kasun Wijayamanna, founderYou deal with Kasun from scope to delivery. No account managers and no offshore handoff.