Best VBA Classes Online

Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is a coding language that was created by Microsoft that helps users customize the functionality of different Office applications and automate repetitive tasks within apps like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Learning VBA online is an excellent way to prepare for a data-related career in fields like human resources analysis, marketing analysis, or business intelligence analysis. This event-driven language is a versatile tool for instructing computers to perform one or more actions, which makes it a valuable skill to have for many career paths. Those with VBA training can create their own macros, or instructions, that can perform actions in Office apps like merging multiple Excel worksheets, capitalizing text, or cleaning data. Rather than spending hours on manual changes such as these, VBA users can execute routine tasks much faster, and from the application itself.

Although VBA knowledge is useful for several Office applications, most people work with this language in Excel. In addition to opening many professional doors, VBA training is a great way to increase workplace productivity, especially in professions that require handling large sets of data in Excel or managing complex workflows. The time workers free up using VBA to automate recurring tasks can be devoted to more essential workplace pursuits. Additionally, working with VBA offers custom, cost-effective solutions within the Office environment. It also helps users reduce errors that often occur from manually executing Office tasks. 

Why Learn VBA Online?

Online study provides learners with a convenient way to study this popular programming language. Rather than wasting time commuting to and from in-person classes or spending money on gas and parking, all lessons can be completed remotely from the learner’s own space. Because of how widely used Microsoft Office is (it’s estimated that 1.2 billion people around the globe use Office), knowledge of VBA has many professional applications across industries and jobs. The following are just a few tasks VBA helps users accomplish in specific Office programs:

• Excel: Approximately 750 million people use Excel to manage data. This widely popular spreadsheet app is also where VBA is most commonly used. VBA is useful for aggregating and cleaning data, saving files, or automating the process of importing data from multiple sources. It’s also helpful for creating functions that can solve complex equations, automatically generate reports, and add custom controls like text boxes to Excel spreadsheets. 

• Word: Many Word tasks are repetitive in nature such as formatting or capitalization. Those with VBA training can create macros to perform tasks like formatting all headings into the desired font and style or correcting common typos. Word users can also use VBA to customize interfaces like forms and buttons, which can then be added to the document or the Word ribbon.

Another reason why learning VBA is an asset in many career paths in which Office is used is that this language interacts with various Office apps like Outlook and Excel. It allows users to transfer data from one app to another or integrate them. For example, macros that were made in Word can retrieve data contained in a spreadsheet in Excel and incorporate it into the Word document.

• PowerPoint: VBA is used in PowerPoint to improve the functionality of presentations. Users can also work with VBA to write code capable of interacting with the properties, objects, and methods in PowerPoint, which extends the app’s capabilities past standard features. Some of the most common PowerPoint tasks VBA can automate are creating reports, aligning shapes, and generating dynamic content.

• Access: Within Access, VBA training is useful for manipulating objects, executing complicated equations, and interacting with other Office apps. It can read, edit, and delete the table contained in tables, as well as validate data prior to saving. Access users also work with VBA to add or delete controls, change layouts, and navigate between different objects in the database such as forms and reports.

Industries Seeking Excel & VBA Talent

Although VBA has uses in many industries, it’s most commonly seen in banking and finance. Many audit and accounting firms rely on this language for complex modeling tasks in Excel, as well as to automate financial reports. Those who work in consulting also use VBA to create macros to build client deliverables in PowerPoint and Excel. In the insurance industry, those who calculate pricing and offer policies also rely on VBA. In logistics and manufacturing, companies use VBA to automate Excel tasks. Nearly all industries in which Excel is used such as supply chain management and investing, hire VBA professionals to help them cut down on errors during data processing and save valuable time.

Career Paths & Job Responsibilities in VBA

The following are several career paths that those with training in VBA can pursue, as well as how this programming language is used in each role:

• VBA Developers create scripts and macros with VBA in Office apps like Excel. These help them automate routine tasks, build user-defined functions to enhance spreadsheet features, and create custom financial models.

• Financial Analysts with a background in VBA rely on this language to create pricing Excel models, improve reporting, and work with trading tools. It also helps them clean data, create customized, automated dashboards, and integrate with databases.

• Business Analysts rely on their VBA skills to improve various business processes. These professionals are often involved with consulting or operations-related tasks and benefit from the automation features VBA provides for generating reports and automating the data entry process. Business Analysts also translate manual workflows into tools that are powered by VBA.

• Excel/Access VBA Programmers are hired to write code in VBA for use in Excel and Access databases. These professionals create queries, forms, and modules that support various business apps such as using VBA to automate inventory systems in Access.

Average Salaries for VBA Professionals by Location

The following list showcases some mid-level average salary ranges for VBA professionals based on their location:

• New York City: According to Glassdoor, Excel VBA Developers make $105,000-$115,000 a year. Financial Analysts earn $95,000-$105,000. Office Automation Specialists make a yearly salary of $80,000-$90,000.
• San Francisco: Many VBA professional tracks in San Francisco overlap with software roles, which makes pay rates competitive. Excel VBA Developers make $115,000-$125,000 yearly. Data Analysts and Financial Analysts earn $100,000-$110,000. Office Automation Specialists make $90,000-$100,000 annually.
• London: Those who work as VBA Developers earn £40,000-£55,000 per year. Financial Analysts who use VBA can expect an annual salary of £50,000-£60,000. Reporting Analysts earn about £35,000- £50,000.
• Berlin: VBA Developers in Berlin make approximately €55,000-€60,000 annually. Operations Analysts with VBA expertise earn €45,000-€50,000. Excel Specialists make €35,000-€50,000 annually.
• Toronto: The average salary of a Toronto-based Excel VBA Developer is C$80,000-C$90,000. Financial Systems Analysts earn C$90,000-$100,000 annually. Reporting Analysts make C$65,000-C$75,000.
• Sydney: In Australia, VBA roles are currently in high demand due to a talent shortage. Excel VBA Developers earn about A$100,000-$110,000 annually. Financial Analysts with VBA training make A$85,000-A$95,000. Business Analysts earn A$75,000-$A85,000 yearly. 

Notable Employers Looking to Hire Remote VBA Talent

Although many VBA-focused career paths are in niche job environments, large firms throughout the U.S. are also interested in hiring VBA professionals. In investment banks like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, Analysts are needed who have training in VBA and Excel to help with trading support tools. PwC, Deloitte, and other consulting firms work with VBA specialists in their risk and reporting departments. Even though software companies usually don’t focus solely on VBA, Microsoft and others sometimes recruit VBA talent to assist with Office counseling. VBA Developer positions are listed on remote job boards for VBA professionals in financial services companies, as well as customer relationship management positions that involve Office automation. Additionally, Upwork, Toptal, and other niche consulting companies and outsourcing firms have clients looking to hire remote VBA and Excel Developers.

Looking Ahead: Current Trends in Excel

Microsoft Excel is currently increasing its artificial intelligence (AI) integration capabilities. Microsoft 365 Copilot helps users gain valuable insights from data, automate tasks, and generate reports. AI-fueled analytics is also becoming increasingly used in Excel to clean data, spot trends, and make forecasts. It’s also becoming more common for Excel users to interact with this app using natural language queries, which help streamline data analysis. Additionally, key data analysis tools such as Power Pivot and Power Query, continue to transform how data is manipulated and reported. Real-time co-authoring is also growing more prevalent in Excel, as more professionals collaborate with colleagues and share Excel workbooks in real-time. Many employers are also seeing the importance of hiring those with advanced Excel knowledge such as training with VBA, to contribute to their teams.