Kayabyte

Invoice PDF to Excel with line items

By Kayabyte · Last updated 29 October 2026

A supplier invoice is easy to read and hard to copy. The header (who, when, how much) is scattered across the page, and the line items sit in a table that does not paste cleanly. Here is how to get them into Excel with the numbers checked.

1. Try copy and paste

  1. Open the PDF in Preview and select the line table. Copy and paste into Excel or Numbers.
  2. If it all lands in one column, use Text to Columns to split it. If it will not select at all, the PDF is a scan and needs text recognition first.
  3. Add columns for description, quantity, unit price, amount and tax rate, and type the header values (supplier, number, date, total) above the table.

2. Where it goes wrong

3. Check the numbers

Three checks catch most errors: quantity times unit price equals the amount on each line; the lines add up to the subtotal (or to the total, if lines include tax); subtotal plus tax equals the total. Put them as formulas next to the table. If one fails, compare with the PDF.

4. Where Balanced helps

Balanced is a Mac app we make. Open the invoice (PDF, scanned PDF or image). It reads it with fixed rules and on-device text recognition, not AI, and shows the header (supplier, tax ID, number, dates, currency, subtotal, tax, total, reference) and the line table. Labels are recognised in ten languages. The three checks above run automatically, and the lines that fail are marked. If a column is misread, change its role once; Balanced remembers the layout for that supplier, including whether lines include tax.

Export line items as CSV or Excel (one sheet for invoices, one for lines), or one row per invoice. Select a folder of invoices and export them together in one file. For accounting software, see Xero bills and QuickBooks Online bills.

Honest limits: invoices vary a lot, so check the header and the line table in the preview; a poor scan or a photo taken at an angle can misread digits (the checks usually catch it); a password-protected PDF has to be unlocked first. Nothing here is accounting or tax advice.

Download Balanced and try it free: the free version reads and checks everything, exports up to 3 invoices in one file, and needs Pro beyond that. Pro is USD 59 per year or USD 7.99 per month, for up to 3 Macs. See pricing and the help page. macOS 14 or later.