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How to convert PDF invoice to Excel – Your Ultimate Guide

By 2025, global e-commerce retail sales are expected to grow 50% over 2021, surpassing 7.4 trillion U.S. dollars. As technology advances and E-commerce share increases, digital invoices become routine. They are easily generated, delivered in seconds, and, compared with paper invoices, more convenient for auditing and accounting.

Modern businesses often collect invoices in different formats. Using Invoice Maker you can quickly generate one in Excel, Google Sheets, PDF, Word, or Google Docs. But what if you need to save PDF as Excel file? How can you export data from PDF to Excel? Are there any benefits of each format? Our Ultimate Guide will shed light on these questions.

How to keep track of invoices and payments?

Learn that the best way to monitor your billing files is to use time-saving software.

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What is a PDF invoice?

Developed almost 30 years ago, Adobe’s Portable Document Format is still one of the most popular for invoicing. All modern computers and smartphones run by different operating systems support PDF invoices. They are usually sent by email or offered for download. Optionally entrepreneurs can export data from PDF to Excel to add information to the accounting database.

How to make a PDF invoice?

PDF invoice sample

PDF sample

You can easily generate a new invoice using a ready-made PDF invoice template. Just fill in the required information about the invoice date and payment terms, the list of provided services or goods, and the billing conditions in the form. Don’t forget to include the customer’s data and assign a unique number for the invoice. When the blanks are filled, download an invoice and mail the customer.

Keep in mind that Invoice Maker helps you create different kinds of web-development invoices for over 100 industries and significantly simplifies your financial management. Real-time generated reports can also be easily uploaded and used by request.

Why choose a PDF invoice?

Over the years PDF has made a reputation for being an excellent format for invoice mailing. And here are just few of the PDF benefits:

Compatible with any operating system. The same display regardless of the device;
Delivered much faster than paper invoices;
Accelerated payment terms. Speeds up the payment receipt;

PDF invoices are easy to fill out. This format allows you to customize an invoice and build in the payment tools. Such documents are easy to store, print, and export invoice format in Excel.

What is an Excel invoice?

Designed 35 years ago by Microsoft Corporation, Excel remains one of the primary formats for freelance and small business bookkeeping. If you use Excel for calculations, you should try Excel invoices. With the Invoice Maker template, you will quickly learn how to make bill in Excel.

How to use Excel invoice template?

Download our ready-made template.
Open the saved copy, fill in the blanks and edit it according to the requirements.
Assign the unique invoice number and save the changes.
Send the invoice to the recipient.

Excel sample

Why choose an Excel invoice?

Excel format might appeal to entrepreneurs who are just starting their businesses. It is also suitable for those who deal with accounting and sales manually. Here are some reasons to try Excel invoicing:

Easy access. The format does not need to be converted to enter into an Excel database;
Automatic formulas. Ability to customize calculation formulas;
Low cost. No need for additional software or extra expenses;

One should keep in mind some disadvantages of this format. First of all, it is a manual input. In this case, the processing and accounting of invoices will be much more durable. You also need to learn special formulas to keep accounts in Excel. In addition, this format is not always displayed correctly on smartphones and tablets, which can cause problems for your clients.

How to Create an Invoice in Excel

Create an invoice with Excel on different devices and use ready-made templates.

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How to convert a PDF invoice to an Excel spreadsheet

PDF invoices have earned a good reputation among entrepreneurs across the U. S. and worldwide. Unfortunately, this format is not suited for Excel calculations. Let’s see how to extract data from PDF to Excel.

Manual transfer

This approach is pretty time-consuming but not trustworthy. As the business expands and transactions increase, the risk of errors increases significantly.

Special software

If you are not a great fan of manual input or coping, try some PDF editing programs. They transfer data to Excel straight from the PDF file, reducing the risk of errors. Sometimes it can happen that the invoice can not be processed correctly. When this occurs, you have to correct the spreadsheet manually.

Online converters

These tools can also be handy in case you need to save PDF as Excel file without downloading extra software. Modern online converters can be based on a simple data conversion or use an Optical Character Recognition technology. OCR provides more accurate and faster document conversion, which is especially useful when working with many invoices.

So, which method to choose? Our team recommends using special conversion tools. Copying and manual transfer can be helpful for novice entrepreneurs but do not show decent performance in everyday use.

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Best tools to convert PDF invoices to Excel online

Choose a converter that matches your requirements. Below we have compiled a list of the most used services for document formatting.

I love PDF quickly exports PDF files to Excel. Notice that its free version operates only one document per request.
Small PDF allows converting, processing, and editing documents in PDF, Excel, PowerPoint, and JPG formats. The tool also allows processing multiple files at once.
Free PDF. Good app, but takes up to 40 minutes per session with a free version of a service.
Soda PDF is a multitasking helper that works both online and via the Desktop version.

When choosing a converter, each tool has its own advantages. We recommend testing them separately to realize which is really up to you.

Ready-made templates from Invoice Maker

Already sick of converting invoices? Start using Invoice Maker from Saldoinvoice. It has over 100 design options and supports the most common formats, including:

Our samples support auto-completion and pre-save a list of items or services. Using the built-in payment form will speed up the checkout process.

Try a new level of invoice management efficiency. Invoice Maker automatically records transactions and calculates the revenue and the number of overdue checkouts. With this helpful tool, you’ll always know your income. Don’t hesitate and learn how to make a bill in Excel, PDF, and other forms in seconds.

Why do we need so many formats?

There are many ways to use the document. You can send it in the mail, via messenger, print it out, edit it, and much more. Different formats are used for different actions, for example, in PDF you can send an invoice to a client and he won't be able to edit it. But, if you need to tweak something, you use Google sheets or another. Also, there are quite a few other programs that may not support integration, for example, Excel. If your customer has a device that doesn`t support some format, you always can send another one.
How to properly invoice in PDF?

It's very simple to make your invoice official. Fill out the form using the ready-made template on the page. Be very clear about all the goods or services you are invoicing. Do not forget to include all required taxes! Fill in full information about your company, as well as about the client. Also, you can add a logo and signature. Download the invoice and you're good to go!
Which format is best for beginners?

It is everyone's own choice who is used to working with what tool. If you have no experience at all, we recommend using Excel. There you can make all the necessary edits at once, understand where what elements should be located and how to configure them. After that, all other formats will be very easy for you.
How can I convert PDF to Excel?

Use one of the options: - Manually transfer the data. This is not the most reliable option and is not the fastest. Good for beginners without a large flow of documents. - Special software. A great solution for large companies, such programs allow you to transfer data directly from the file. But, they need to be paid for and they also have the risk of making a mistake. - Online converters. Such a tool will help companies with a large flow of documents when accuracy is needed.