This is a generic code for opening an EXCEL workbook in "read-only" mode,
reading the contents of a specific cell on a specific worksheet, saving that
value into a variable (VariableName), and then closing the workbook and
EXCEL down.

Dim xlsApp As Object, xlsWB As Object, xlsWS As Object, xlsRng As Object
Set xlsApp = CreateObject("Excel.Application")
Set xlsWB = xlsApp.Workbooks.Open("C:\FolderName\FileName.xls", , True)
Set xlsWS = xlsWB.Worksheets("WorkSheetName")
Set xlsRng = xlsWS.Range("A1")
VariableName = xlsRng.Value
Set xlsRng = Nothing
Set xlsWS = Nothing
xlsWB.Close False
Set xlsWB = Nothing
xlsApp.Quit
Set xlsApp = Nothing