Section 4: Excel/Google Sheets, data analysis and reporting

Scenario 40: Converting PDF invoice line items into an editable table

Level: Intermediate · Tools: Claude, PDF upload, code execution and file creation, and Excel `.xlsx`

Who and in what situation

Sibel, an operations support specialist at a shipping agency in Mersin, transfers dates, service descriptions, quantities and amounts from shipping invoices into a tracking spreadsheet. Some invoices are text-based, while others are scanned PDFs.

How it is done today

Sibel copies line items from text-based PDFs; for scanned files, she enters the amounts manually. She then compares the total with the PDF.

How to do it with AI

  1. In Claude, she checks Code execution and file creation under Settings > Capabilities. PDF and XLSX are supported; this feature must be enabled to upload XLSX files. [72] [81]
  2. She uploads the invoice using Add files or photos from the + button at the bottom left. [81]
  3. She asks it to create an Excel file with columns for invoice number, date, description, quantity, unit price, amount and source page; she tells it to leave unreadable fields blank. Anthropic provides an example workflow for extracting Excel files and charts from PDFs. [72]
  4. She compares the .xlsx file with the PDF and recalculates line totals and overall totals; she sets aside visually complex line items for a second check.

Example prompt

Transfer the line items from {the invoice I uploaded} into an Excel file. Columns: invoice number, date, service description, quantity, unit price, amount and source page. Do not guess unreadable fields; leave them blank and add a review note. Show the sum of the line items and the invoice total in a separate verification area.

Evidence and real-world example

No published independent case study was found for this shipping scenario. Anthropic’s official file creation page documents the workflow for extracting Excel files and charts from PDFs; its upload page documents PDF and XLSX support. [72] [81]

Points to consider

Claude processes text and images in PDFs of 100 pages or fewer, and only text in PDFs of 101-1000 pages; embedded images in non-PDF files are not read. [81] Verify every amount in a scanned invoice against the original document, and do not upload sensitive documents to an account that your organisation has not approved.

Sources for this scenario

  1. Create and edit files with Claude (support.claude.com)
  2. Upload files to Claude (support.claude.com)