# Convert a PDF invoice to CSV

For the case where the PDF has to end up inside another system rather than in front of a person. One row per line item, the header fields repeated on each row, and no formatting for an importer to trip over.

Source: https://tally-stick.com/pdf-to-csv

## The PDF was never the problem

An invoice that arrives as a PDF is usually retyped, because the bookkeeping system wants a file it can import and a PDF is not one. The reading happens here instead: attached XML when the PDF carries it, the text layer when it has one, text recognition when the page is only a picture. What comes out is the plain CSV an import mask expects, with the decimal separator left exactly as the invoice stated it.

## What you get out

- One row per invoice line, with the header fields repeated on each row
- Invoice number, dates, currency and buyer reference
- Seller and buyer identification, VAT numbers included
- Quantity, unit, unit price, VAT rate and net amount per line
- The VAT rate and the net amount on every line, so the tax adds up from the rows

## Questions

### Does a scan work, or does it have to be a real PDF?

A scan works. When the page has no text of its own, text recognition runs in this tab and produces the same rows. Check them against the invoice before importing: a misread digit is a misread digit whatever produced it.

### Which separator does the file use?

Comma, with fields quoted where they contain one. If your Excel is set to a locale that shows it all in one column, use Data, then From Text, and pick comma, or take the [Excel export](https://tally-stick.com/pdf-to-excel) instead.

### Can several PDFs go into one CSV?

Not on this page. Each file exports on its own, within the fair usage limit. Batching a folder into one sheet is on the paid side.

## Related

- [PDF invoice to Excel](https://tally-stick.com/pdf-to-excel)
- [PDF invoice to JSON](https://tally-stick.com/pdf-to-json)
- [XRechnung to CSV](https://tally-stick.com/xrechnung-to-csv)
- [ZUGFeRD to CSV](https://tally-stick.com/zugferd-to-csv)

## How it works

The invoice is read on your own device. No file is uploaded, no account is required, and the fair usage limit is the only cap. Exports are PDF, Excel, CSV and JSON.