Import Invoices Into Xero: PDF, Supplier and Bulk Invoices

Quick answer: Xero imports invoices and bills from a CSV file, not from a PDF. For sales invoices you go to Business, then Invoices, then Import; for supplier bills you go to Business, then Bills, then Import from CSV. If your invoices arrive as PDFs or scans, you first convert them to a Xero-ready CSV (with the line items intact), then run the standard import. Imported invoices land as drafts so you can review them before approving.

Most of the confusion around getting invoices into Xero comes from one fact: Xero's importer reads a structured CSV, but the invoices you actually receive from suppliers are PDFs and scans. This guide covers both the native CSV import for sales invoices and bills, and the extra step that turns a stack of PDF supplier invoices into a file Xero will accept, with the line items kept.

Three ways to import invoices into Xero

There are three practical routes, and the right one depends on what your source document looks like and whether you need the line-item detail.

Xero's native bill upload accepts PDF, JPG and PNG files under 25 MB and there is no cap on how many you add at once, but it attaches the document and reads top-level fields rather than building a fully coded, multi-line bill for you. Hubdoc, included with most Xero plans, extracts the supplier name, invoice number, amount and due date, and allows up to 300 documents in a 24-hour period. Neither reliably reconstructs a detailed line-item breakdown, which is why a CSV import is still the route for accurate, line-by-line records.

How to import sales invoices into Xero from a CSV

Sales invoices are the ones you issue to customers. To import them in bulk:

1. In the Business menu, select Invoices, then click Import.
2. Click Download template file and open it. Do not delete columns or rename the headings, because Xero matches on them.
3. Enter your invoice data. The only required columns are ContactName and InvoiceNumber; the rest can be left blank and filled in inside Xero later.
4. Set your dates to match your organization's date format (check Settings, then General Settings, then Date Format). A US organization expects MM/DD/YYYY, and a mismatched format is the most common reason an import fails.
5. Click Browse, select your saved CSV, choose whether the amounts in the UnitAmount column are tax exclusive or tax inclusive, then click Import.
6. The invoices come in as drafts. Review them, then approve in bulk or edit first.

How to import bills and supplier invoices into Xero

Bills (also called purchase or supplier invoices) are the ones you receive and owe. The flow is almost identical, just under Bills:

1. In the Business menu, select Bills to pay.
2. Click New bill, then choose Import from CSV (or use the Import option on the Bills screen).
3. Download the bills template, copy your bill and credit note details into it, and keep the headings intact.
4. Drag and drop the saved CSV or click Select file, then import.
5. Bills import as drafts, so approve them after a quick review against the source documents.

Because suppliers send bills as PDFs, this is exactly where the data-entry bottleneck shows up: you cannot drop a PDF into the CSV importer. You need the bill's contents in the template first, which is the next section.

How to import PDF invoices into Xero

Xero will not read a PDF or scanned invoice into a coded CSV on its own. To get PDF invoices into Xero with their line items, add one step before the import: turn the PDF into a structured CSV, then run the standard CSV import above.

The fast way to do that is to run the files through invoice OCR software that reads the header fields and every line. Upload your PDFs to our PDF invoice to CSV converter (or the PDF invoice to Excel converter if you want to check the data in a spreadsheet first), and it extracts the vendor, invoice number, date, amounts and the full line-item table. Map those columns to the Xero template headings, save as CSV, and import. For supplier bills that need to be coded line by line for accurate reporting or three-way matching, make sure the tool can extract every line item, not just the invoice total, because the totals-only shortcut breaks down the moment you need the detail. If you would rather skip the manual mapping, our convert invoices to Xero page is built to output the columns in the order Xero expects.

How to import invoices with line items into Xero

Multi-line invoices follow one rule in Xero's CSV: one row per line item. A bill with three lines becomes three rows. The ContactName, InvoiceNumber, InvoiceDate and DueDate repeat identically on each of those rows, while the Description, Quantity, UnitAmount and AccountCode change line by line. Xero then groups every row that shares the same InvoiceNumber into a single invoice or bill.

This is the part manual data entry gets wrong most often, and it is the reason a totals-only export looks fine until someone needs to see what was actually bought. If your converter outputs one row per line with the invoice number repeated, the file imports cleanly and each bill carries its full breakdown.

How to bulk import invoices into Xero

Bulk importing is just a larger CSV: stack many invoices in one file, each with its rows sharing an InvoiceNumber, and import once. There is no need to import them one at a time. The realistic limit is not Xero, it is how fast you can get dozens or hundreds of PDF invoices into that single file. Running a batch of PDFs through OCR to CSV in one pass, then importing the combined file, is how AP teams clear a backlog in minutes instead of typing each bill. Review the drafts, then bulk approve.

Can you import invoices into Xero?

Yes. Xero imports both sales invoices (Business, then Invoices, then Import) and bills (Business, then Bills, then Import from CSV) from a CSV file built on Xero's downloadable template. The only required columns are ContactName and InvoiceNumber. Everything imports as drafts, so nothing posts to your ledger until you review and approve it.

Can you import PDF invoices into Xero?

Not directly into a coded bill. Xero's bill upload and Hubdoc can attach a PDF and pull a few header fields, but the CSV importer needs structured data, not a PDF. To import PDF invoices with their line items, convert each PDF to a Xero-ready CSV first using invoice OCR, then run the standard CSV import. That extra step is what preserves the line-level detail.

Can you import purchase invoices into Xero?

Yes. Purchase invoices, or supplier bills, import under Business, then Bills, then Import from CSV, using the bills template. Each bill is one or more rows in the CSV (one row per line item, with the invoice number repeated). They arrive as drafts in Bills to pay, ready for you to match against the source document and approve before payment.

Does Xero have an invoice import template?

Yes. Xero provides a separate downloadable CSV template for sales invoices and for bills, available on the Import screen for each. Use the matching template, keep every column heading exactly as supplied, and only ContactName and InvoiceNumber are mandatory. Renaming or deleting headings is a common cause of failed imports, so copy your data into the template rather than building your own columns.

Why won't my CSV import into Xero?

The usual culprits are the date format and the column headings. If your dates are in a format your Xero organization does not expect (for example DD/MM/YYYY in a US org set to MM/DD/YYYY), rows fail or post to the wrong date. Renamed or deleted headings, a missing ContactName or InvoiceNumber, and contacts or account codes that do not exist also cause errors. Fix those and re-import.

What is the difference between Hubdoc and a CSV import?

Hubdoc captures a PDF or photo of a bill and reads top-level fields like supplier, amount, invoice number and due date, attaching the original document. A CSV import pushes fully structured data, including every line item, straight into Xero as drafts. Use Hubdoc to capture and file documents; use a CSV import when you need clean, line-by-line records for coding, reporting or matching.

If your books also run through other tools, the same OCR-first idea helps next door. When you reconcile, you can convert your PDF bank statements to Excel the same way, employee receipts and expense claims can be turned into a spreadsheet with receipt OCR before they go into Xero, and once your bills are in, you can automate the AP approval-to-payment workflow. Going the other direction, see how to export invoices from Xero to Excel and CSV, or if you are on a different ledger, how to import PDF invoices into QuickBooks.

Last updated June 2026.