Packing list PDF to Excel
Packing list PDF to Excel: one row per carton range, totals checked
Upload the supplier's PDF and get one sheet for all pages. Cartons, quantity, N.W., G.W. and CBM are added up from the lines and compared with the totals the packing list declares, so you see the difference before the entry goes in.
Convert a packing list to Excel
Free: 1 file per day, up to 10 pages, no account.
- Upload
- Aggregate
- Check totals
- Download
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What a packing list conversion returns
A packing list is the supplier's carton-by-carton description of a shipment: which goods are in which cartons, and what they weigh and measure. Converting it to Excel here means one table for the whole document, one row per carton range or SKU, added up and compared with the totals the document itself declares.
You get three things. The customs sheet has seven columns: Marks, Description, HS Code, Quantity, Unit, Net Weight kg and Gross Weight kg. The full-detail sheet keeps everything that was parsed, including carton range, cartons, SKU, PO, quantity per carton, CBM and the flags on each row. The tie-out shows the sum of the lines, the declared figure and the variance for cartons, quantity, N.W., G.W. and CBM.
It does not decide which number is right, it does not read commercial invoices, and it does not look up HS codes: they are copied as written. If a figure cannot be read it stays blank instead of being guessed, and a missing weight is flagged on its row.
What the customs sheet looks like
This is the garment sample from the converter above: 3 pages, carton ranges, headers repeated on every page. The last row is the sum of all 15 lines, and it equals the totals declared on the last page.
| Marks | Description | HS Code | Quantity | Unit | Net Weight kg | Gross Weight kg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SIMP / PO 4571 / LAX | KT-210 - Men's knit polo shirt, 100% cotton | 6105.10 | 1,200 | PCS | 300.00 | 337.50 |
| SIMP / PO 4571 / LAX | KT-214 - Men's knit polo shirt, cotton/polyester | 6105.20 | 720 | PCS | 171.00 | 193.50 |
| SIMP / PO 4571 / LAX | WK-305 - Women's knit cardigan, 100% cotton | 6110.20 | 600 | PCS | 192.00 | 220.00 |
| SIMP / PO 4571 / LAX | WK-318 - Women's knit pullover, 100% cotton | 6110.20 | 720 | PCS | 216.00 | 246.00 |
| SIMP / PO 4571 / LAX | KH-120 - Kids' cotton fleece hoodie | 6110.20 | 360 | PCS | 216.00 | 243.00 |
| SIMP / PO 4571 / LAX | KH-124 - Kids' cotton fleece zip hoodie | 6110.20 | 360 | PCS | 225.00 | 252.00 |
| 9 more rows in the file. | ||||||
| Sum of all 15 rows | 13,460 | 3,036.00 | 3,419.00 | |||
Five steps from PDF to filed sheet
Get the whole PDF
Ask the supplier for every page, including the one with the totals. A list with the last page missing has no declaration to tie to, and the sheet will say so.
Upload it
Free: 1 file per day, up to 10 pages, no account. Longer lists need Pro, which takes files up to 150 pages.
Read the totals strip first
Five metrics: cartons, quantity, N.W., G.W., CBM. Each shows the sum of the lines, the declared figure and the variance. A navy tick means it ties; orange means it does not.
Clear the flagged rows
Every orange row has a reason on it. Open the PDF at that row, confirm or correct, and send the supplier the corrected figure if their own numbers are wrong.
Download
Customs CSV for the entry, full-detail CSV for the house bill and the warehouse, or an .xlsx with Customs, Full detail and Tie-out sheets.
What goes in each customs column
| Column | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Marks | Shipping marks as written. A merged marks cell is filled down. If the list has no marks column, the carton range is used (CTN 1-25) so every row stays traceable. |
| Description | SKU or style, a dash, then the description. If the description already contains the SKU it is not repeated. |
| HS Code | Digits and dots as written. Blank when the list has none. |
| Quantity | A plain number: no thousands separator, no unit. |
| Unit | PCS, SET, PR, KG, CTN, DOZ or whatever the list states. |
| Net Weight kg | Line total in kg. lbs are converted; a per-carton column is multiplied by the cartons on the row. |
| Gross Weight kg | Same rules as net weight. |
Column headers it reads
Suppliers name the same column ten ways. These are mapped to the fields above. Anything not recognised is kept in the full-detail CSV and listed in the notes under the table, so nothing is dropped silently.
| Sheet field | Header names it reads | How it is handled |
|---|---|---|
| Marks | Marks, Marks & Nos., Shipping marks, 唛头 | A merged marks cell is filled down to the rows under it. |
| Carton no. | Carton No., CTN NO., C/No., Case No., CTN#, 箱号 | 1-25 counts as 25 cartons. Also 1~25, 1 to 25, A1-A25, 1-5, 8-10. |
| Cartons | No. of Ctns, Total cartons, CTNS (when the values are counts) | Used when there is no range; cross-checked against the range when both exist. |
| Item / SKU | Item, SKU, Style, Style No., Article, Model, Part No. | Put in front of the description on the customs sheet; separate column in the full-detail CSV. |
| PO | PO, P/O No., Purchase order | Carton numbering is checked per marks and PO, so two POs that both start at carton 1 do not collide. |
| Description | Description, Description of goods, Goods, Product, Commodity, 品名 | Copied as written. If the list has a separate SKU column, the SKU goes in front on the customs sheet. |
| HS code | HS Code, HTS, HTS Code, Tariff No. | Optional. Blank when the list has none. |
| Quantity | Qty, Quantity, PCS, Q'TY, 数量 | 1,200 PCS is split into number and unit. |
| Unit | Unit, UOM, or the (PCS) in a QTY header | PCS, SET, PR, KG, CTN, DOZ, M and similar are normalised. |
| Qty per carton | Qty/CTN, PCS/CTN, Qty per carton | Fills a blank quantity (qty per carton x cartons) and is flagged when it does. |
| Net weight | N.W., NW, Net weight, Net wt, 净重 | kg or lbs. A column marked per carton (N.W./CTN) is multiplied by cartons. |
| Gross weight | G.W., GW, Gross weight, Gross wt, 毛重 | Same rules as net weight. A combined N.W./G.W. column is split. |
| Measurement | CBM, M3, MEAS, Volume, 体积 | Cubic feet are converted. Without a CBM column, carton size x cartons is used. |
| Carton size | Carton size, Dimensions, L x W x H | cm unless mm, in or m is written next to the sizes. |
Open the file in Excel without losing HS code zeros or turning ranges into dates
Double-clicking a CSV makes Excel guess each cell. It turns 6109.10 into the number 6109.1 and reads a carton range such as 1-25 as a date. Three ways around it, in order of effort:
- Click Download .xlsx. HS codes and carton ranges are stored as text in the workbook, and the Customs sheet ends with a total row built with SUM formulas.
- Import the CSV instead of double-clicking it: Data > From Text/CSV, then set the HS Code and carton range columns to Text before loading.
- If the file goes straight into a customs system, load the CSV there. The values in it are plain text and numbers, with no thousands separators.
The CSV files start with a byte-order mark, so names with accents or Chinese characters open correctly in Excel.
Copy and paste, generic converters and CargoSheet
| Copy and paste from the PDF | Generic PDF-to-Excel | CargoSheet | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you get | Text in cells, often broken across lines | One table or sheet per page | One list for all pages |
| Numbers | Text with commas and units attached | May arrive as text | Numbers; 1,200 PCS becomes 1200 and PCS |
| Weights in lbs | Convert by hand | Not converted | Converted to kg and flagged |
| Totals row | Sits in with the lines | Sits in with the lines | Separated from the lines and compared with them |
| Review | Read every row | Read every row | Flagged rows first |
| File for the entry | Reformat | Reformat | Seven-column customs CSV |
The row flags (missing weight, G.W. below N.W., CBM over 1 per carton, overlapping carton ranges and the rest) are listed on the home page. For what a customs-ready list must contain, see customs packing list format.
Packing list to Excel: questions
- How do I convert a packing list PDF to Excel?
- Upload the PDF, read the totals strip, clear any flagged rows, then download. The .xlsx has three sheets: Customs (seven columns and a total row with SUM formulas), Full detail, and Tie-out. If you only need the entry file, the customs CSV is the same seven columns.
- Can I convert a scanned packing list?
- Scanned pages are read with OCR and the result carries a notice to check the numbers against the original. Accuracy depends on the scan: a skewed or low-resolution page can misread digits, which is exactly what the tie-out will tend to show as a variance.
- Why does Excel change my HS codes and carton ranges?
- Excel reads 6109.10 in a CSV as the number 6109.1, and a carton range such as 1-25 as a date. Use the .xlsx, where both are stored as text, or import the CSV with Data > From Text/CSV and set those columns to Text.
- What does the .xlsx contain, and how is it made?
- Three sheets: Customs, Full detail and Tie-out. It is built in your browser from the same result as the CSV. The spreadsheet library is loaded from cdnjs only when you click Download .xlsx; CSV and JSON downloads do not load anything.
- How are merged cells and second SKUs in one carton handled?
- A merged marks cell is filled down to the rows under it. A blank carton cell under a filled one, or the same range repeated with no weights of its own, is read as another SKU in the same carton: it adds its quantity but no extra carton. HTML tables with rowspan and colspan are read the same way.
- The list covers several POs. How are they handled?
- Carton numbering is checked inside one marks and PO sequence. Two POs that each start at carton 1 are fine and add up to both counts. Within one sequence, overlapping ranges and repeated ranges that carry weights are flagged.
- Which total does it read as the declared one?
- A row labelled TOTAL, GRAND TOTAL or 合计 in the table, or a line of text such as TOTAL: 120 CTNS / N.W. 2,345.60 KGS / G.W. 2,600.00 KGS / MEAS. 18.25 CBM. Subtotal rows are ignored. If there are several total rows and no grand total, the last one is used and the notes say so.
- What if the list declares no totals?
- The computed totals are shown and the strip reads “nothing to tie” for each metric. The sheet still downloads; there is just no declaration to check it against.
- What if quantities use different units, such as PCS and SET?
- The quantity total adds the numbers as they are; PCS and SET are not converted into each other. When more than one unit appears, the notes under the table say so, and the Unit column shows which rows use which.
- Does it read commercial invoices?
- No. It is built for packing lists and does not read price, currency or invoice fields. A table with a quantity column can still be read as lines, but with no cartons or weights every row is flagged as missing weight. A file with no usable table returns an error, not an invented sheet. For the difference between the two documents see invoice vs packing list.
- How many pages can I convert?
- Free: up to 10 pages per file, 1 file per day, no account. Pro: files up to 150 pages, 150 files a month, 1 seat. Team: files up to 150 pages, 500 files a month, 3 seats. Paid access is a page code sent by email after payment and entered once in “Have a page code?” above. A file over 10 pages on the free allowance is converted up to page 10, the page says how many pages were left out, and the downloads are named with -partial. A second file in a day gets the limit message and a link to the plans.
Check a packing list against its own totals
Free: 1 file per day, up to 10 pages, no account. Longer lists need Pro.