Hi Adelaide
Try
=SUMIF(Column H,"my word",Column D)
Where Column H is your data range for text
"My Word" is the text string
and Column D is your range to be summed.
You can put this formula any where you like or in a macro

HTH
Michael

"adelaide" wrote:

hello
i am a total newb to macros/vb.
my problem is . Weekly I receive a speadsheet in which column H contains
randomly entered words depicting work performed by an individual in different
areas of their work. in column D is the total amount of time taken for that
piece of work.

I wish to search column H for a specific string and then total the
corresponding entry in column d to work out how much time was spent on the
searched for item.
make sense?
can anyone help me with this?
thank you in anticipation.