Guide · Order and invoice exports

Reconcile two order or invoice exports by record ID

Month-end checks often come down to two lists that should agree: orders in the web shop and invoices in the accounting system, or invoices in a billing tool and the same invoices in the ledger. CSV Compare matches the two exports on a shared ID and gives you a review list. This page covers the preparation that makes that list trustworthy, and what to check for each result.

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1. Choose the record ID

Use an ID that both systems store for the same record, such as the order number or invoice number, and that appears once per record in each export.
If one system keeps the other system’s number only in a reference field, export that field as its own column and use it as the key.
IDs are matched exactly after surrounding spaces are removed. INV-1001, inv-1001 and 1001 are three different IDs, so make both exports write the number the same way.

2. Align the scope before you export

Period. Use the same date range and the same kind of date: order date, invoice date or posting date. A record dated on the last day of the month can land in different periods in two systems.
Statuses. Decide whether drafts, cancelled orders and credit notes belong in the check, and filter both exports the same way.
Amount basis. Compare gross with gross or net with net. Shipping, fees and discounts must be included on both sides or left out on both.
One row per record. An export with one row per order line repeats the order number. The app reports repeated IDs as duplicates and never adds them up, so export one row per order or invoice.
Currency. If both files have a currency column, map it. The app compares the currency codes but does not convert amounts.

3. Map the files and compare

Choose the delimiter and decimal separator for each file. Each file has its own settings, so a comma-delimited export with dot decimals can be compared with a semicolon-delimited export with comma decimals.
Map the record ID, the amount and, if present, the currency on both sides. Pair text columns such as status → payment_status if you want those checked as well.
Choose Compare exports and work through the review entries.

Example: invoices in a billing tool and in the ledger

The billing tool exports comma-separated values with dot decimals. The ledger exports semicolon-separated values with comma decimals. Each file is read with its own settings.

Left file: billing.csv
invoice_no	amount	currency
INV-2041	1500.00	NOK
INV-2042	980.00	NOK
INV-2043	-250.00	NOK
INV-2044	4200.00	NOK

Right file: ledger.csv
invoice_number	amount	currency
INV-2041	1500,00	NOK
INV-2042	890,00	NOK
INV-2043	-250,00	NOK
INV-2044	2100,00	NOK
INV-2044	2100,00	NOK
INV-2045	640,00	NOK

Map invoice_no to invoice_number as the record key, amount to amount and currency to currency. The app suggests invoice_no on the left, but you choose invoice_number yourself, because INV-2044 appears twice in the ledger.

What the comparison reports
Record ID	Report status	What to check
INV-2044	Duplicate right key	The ledger has two rows of 2100,00, for example two installments. The app does not add them up; INV-2044 is left out of matching on both sides until each file has one row for it.
INV-2041	Mapped fields match	1500.00 and 1500,00 are the same amount in the same currency.
INV-2042	Amount differs	980.00 in billing, 890,00 in the ledger. Possibly a typing error; check the invoice itself.
INV-2043	Mapped fields match	The credit note is -250 in both files. Negative amounts are compared like any other.
INV-2045	Only on right	Only in the ledger. Was it created directly in accounting, or dated outside the billing export’s period?

That is 2 matches and 3 review entries. None of them proves an error by itself; each one tells you where to look.

Copy the example as CSV text

Paste each block into the left and right text boxes of the demo. Choose comma and dot for the left file, semicolon and comma for the right file, and map the key, amount and currency as above.

invoice_no,amount,currency
INV-2041,1500.00,NOK
INV-2042,980.00,NOK
INV-2043,-250.00,NOK
INV-2044,4200.00,NOK

invoice_number;amount;currency
INV-2041;1500,00;NOK
INV-2042;890,00;NOK
INV-2043;-250,00;NOK
INV-2044;2100,00;NOK
INV-2044;2100,00;NOK
INV-2045;640,00;NOK

4. What each result means and what to check next

Report statuses and next checks
Report status	What to check
Only on left / Only on right	The export period and date type, status filters, and whether the correct column is mapped as the record ID on both sides.
Amount differs	Gross versus net, VAT, shipping or fees, discounts, partial credits, and rounding in one of the systems.
Currency differs	Which currency each system reports. Amounts are never converted.
Amount and currency differ	Both of the above.
Text differs / Multiple fields differ	The report names the changed fields. Text comparison is exact, so check case and spaces as well.
Duplicate left key / Duplicate right key	Instalments, split payments, order lines or an invoice entered twice. Get to one row per ID, then compare again.
Invalid left row / Invalid right row	An empty ID, an amount with a thousands separator or currency symbol, or a currency that is not three letters. Fix the export and compare again.
Unresolved left record / Unresolved right record	A record appears in one file only, but the other file contains a row without an ID. Fix the empty ID before concluding that anything is missing.

A review entry is not a loss.

A missing or changed record can come from a different export filter, period or billing schedule. Check the source before you correct anything. The report is a work list, not accounting advice or proof of lost or recovered money.

5. Repeat it next month

After the first run, export a mapping profile. It stores the delimiters, decimal separators and column mappings, but none of your rows. Next month, import the profile, choose the new exports and compare. Keep downloaded reports private: they contain the compared values.

Privacy and limits

The comparison runs in your browser tab. The app makes no network requests while it compares, saves no input to browser storage and contains no analytics, so the invoice data is not uploaded. The free demo handles up to 50 data rows and 2 MiB per file; the full version handles up to 10,000 data rows and 2 MiB per file, offline after you extract the ZIP. Both use exact IDs. Fuzzy matching, currency conversion, combining split invoices and automatic accounting entries are not included.

Start with this month’s exports

Try two small files first.

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