Who this is for
An office manager, purchasing lead or small-business owner who re-types a supplier or catalogue price list from a PDF into a spreadsheet every time it changes.
A new version of a price list arrives as a PDF, and the spreadsheet your team works from has to be updated by hand again.
The result
You receive one spreadsheet holding the rows of the agreed PDF in the agreed columns, with a page-by-page row-count reconciliation against the source, a sampled field-by-field comparison and a list of the rows we could not read with confidence, left for you to decide rather than guessed.
What is included
- One PDF price list, or one set of PDFs in a single repeated layout, of up to 60 pages in total, where the text on every page can be selected and searched
- Agree the output columns, header names and how multi-line descriptions, units and entries such as "price on request" are shown, before any extraction
- Extract every table row into the workbook, keeping the source page and position on each row, and move rows that cannot be read cleanly to a separate exceptions sheet
- Compare row counts page by page and check an agreed sample of rows against the PDF, then report the measured result, not a promised accuracy
You receive
- One workbook with a data sheet, a reconciliation sheet (page, rows expected, rows extracted, difference) and an exceptions sheet
- A short method note: how the rows were read, how the sample was chosen and what the checks found
- The column and value rules we applied, so the next version of the list can be handled the same way
What is not included
- Scanned or photographed pages with no selectable text; reading those is a separate text-recognition job and no accuracy is promised for it
- Confidential or personal documents in the first enquiry; secure handling is agreed after scoping
- Deciding which prices are right, negotiating with the supplier, or loading prices into a shop, stock or accounting system
- Legal, financial or tax advice, including advice on how prices or terms should be treated
- Handwriting, product images, or tables drawn as pictures
- A guarantee that every row is extracted without error
What we need from you first
- The supplier name, the number of pages, and whether the text in the PDF can be selected and searched
- The column headings as you want them in the spreadsheet, with two or three invented example rows
- A single redacted or public sample page, if you have one; no complete list, price terms you consider confidential, or personal data
Never send passwords, keys, customer records or confidential code in the first enquiry. Secure handover is agreed after scoping.
How we check it is done
- For every page of the agreed PDF, the number of data rows extracted equals the number of rows counted on that page, or the difference is listed with its page number on the exceptions sheet.
- In an agreed random sample of rows, with the sample size and method written down beforehand, every extracted field equals the value printed in the PDF, and any mismatch is corrected or listed as an exception.
- Every row that could not be read with confidence appears on the exceptions sheet with its page, position and reason, and none of those rows sits in the data sheet as if it were clean.
- You review the exceptions and sign off the data sheet, and the result is stated as the measured counts, not as a guaranteed accuracy.
You open the workbook beside the PDF, check the reconciliation and a few rows of your own choosing, settle the exceptions with us and sign off in writing. Payment follows sign-off.
When we would stop or decline
- The pages are images with no text layer, so reading them would be text recognition, not extraction
- The layout changes between sections so that one set of rules cannot cover it, and you do not want that quoted as a larger job
- The document is covered by terms that stop you sharing it, or holds personal or confidential data we have not agreed a secure route for
- The share of exceptions passes the limit agreed beforehand; we stop, report the count and agree whether to re-scope
Questions
Can you read a scanned price list?
Not under this price. A scan has no text to extract, so it needs text recognition first, which is a separate job and carries no promised accuracy.
Will every row be exactly right?
We do not promise that. We reconcile row counts page by page, compare a sample field by field, and list every row we could not read with confidence for you to decide.
Do you load the prices into our shop or accounting system?
No. You receive a checked spreadsheet. Loading it elsewhere stays with you or with a separate agreement.
What happens when the supplier changes the layout?
A changed layout needs its own rules and may change the price. We say so before doing anything, and a monthly arrangement can cover new versions.
Price and terms
From £295 · untested offer price. The fixed price is confirmed in writing and paid after the agreed checks pass and you sign off. No payment before sign-off.
This is a new service with no published client results. The price is a starting point we have not yet tested with buyers. Nothing is ordered or charged by the enquiry. The full specification is on the Synthetic Industry catalogue.