Service:
Workbook Documentation
Regain control and governance of your Excel/VBA workbooks
Documentation of workbooks
What is it?
Some Excel Workbooks are beautifully authored, with comprehensive guidelines to users. Individual worksheets are neatly and cleanly laid out. Range names are set logically and the ranges are easy to find. The macros and VBA code are well structured and indented, easy to read and full of helpful comments.
Others ... aren't.
Many legacy workbooks that are embedded in regular business activities fall short of the high standards that we would prefer. Some companies have several such workbooks and EUCs (End-User Computing utilities) that are hard to manage and difficult to understand. Such shortcomings add to the work overhead and increase risks of error in application.
We offer a scalable solution that will produce a high-level document (in an Excel workbook) that will contain details of the worksheets included in the workbook, all ranges / range names, other objects in the workbook and (most importantly) a structured presentation of all associated VBA code attached to the workbook. We will also include a high level description of what the workbook does, and flag major observations concerning its structure and any issues spotted.
In some instances some remediation of the workbook(s) may be warranted. We would be happy to assist with that remediation on a case-by-case basis.
Why outsource? Why to SRMS?
Most professional or operational areas that use Excel Workbooks have Excel and VBA coding as skill-sets that are secondary to their main areas of expertise. Staff involved in the business are typically too busy to take time out to specialise in this area, or devote time to tidying up old workbooks.
SRMS has established its set of standards for its own workbook construction and VBA programming. We have these standards in mind when reviewing existing workbooks. We also have built utilities that help us to document and outline key areas of workbook construction, which means that we are better placed than most to produce detailed documentation quickly and efficiently.
Furthermore, especially when dealing with areas of actuarial calculation, financial mathematics, statistics or business information, we have specific and relevant skills that enable us to understand what the workbook is doing. We are therefore well placed to unpack detailed calculations that might otherwise have become opaque to the company and the users.
OK, how much?
Our prices depend on the complexity of the workbooks involved and the volume of further analysis and remediation involved. As an indication, we would expect to charge £2,000 per workbook (plus VAT) for 1 workbook of medium complexity. Medium complexity would include 5 to 15 worksheets that are doing heavy duty calculations, a few other objects (ranges, buttons, charts, etc.), plus 1,000 to 15,000 lines of VBA code. The analysis and documentation would include a high level description of the workbook and how it functions. The scheduled time for completing the analysis and documentation would be no more than one week.
Further work could vary considerably in price. We could schedule an hour, charged at our hourly consulting rate, to talk an analyst in the team through the suggested changes for a relatively simple and straight forward workbook. At the other extreme, we could quote for a large rebuild that would include multiple workbooks, links to external databases, internal links to Word documents or new eMails, involving tens of thousands of lines of code and multiple modules. In these more extreme cases we would look to produce detailed quotes, based on a more detailed discussion of requirement with the client company.
Most of our examples are based on Sterling prices for UK clients. However, we can accept other currencies via PayPal. We are happy to offer our services to clients outside the UK, and we will aim to ensure seamless invoicing and settlement.
Anything else?
In addition to assisting with existing workbooks, we are working in partnership with a company that offers specific services that aid productivity and automation of repetitive tasks. We would be more than happy to bring their offerings to the table as well, where these services might be of value to our clients.
Please contact us for further details.
Contact Richard
Address: Darlington, UK
Phone: +44 (751) 102-5452
Email: richard@srmsi.com