Start with a trustworthy comparison
A supplier file is a proposal, not an approved replacement for your catalog. Keep its original rows alongside the current approved list. If you still need to find what changed, use the Excel comparison guide. The import check begins after you have candidate changes and a known baseline.
Supplier item codes are especially easy to damage during spreadsheet intake. Excel can remove leading zeros unless the column is imported as text; Microsoft explains the available methods in its identifier guidance. Preserve the code the supplier sent and hold an uncertain catalog match for review.
Six checks before the import handoff
- Keep both source files. Save the supplier's original file and the current approved catalog. Record the sender, file version, receipt date, and stated effective date. Compare against the approved baseline, not an old working copy.
- Validate the item match. Map the supplier SKU to the intended catalog item. Import identifiers as text so leading zeros survive. Hold duplicate, missing, or uncertain matches instead of guessing from a similar description.
- Compare the same cost basis. Check list price and multiplier together, then normalize old and new prices to the same unit and pack. Confirm currency and tax basis before calling a difference an increase or decrease.
- Separate exceptions from approvals. Classify changed, new, missing, and unchanged items. Give ambiguous rows a hold decision and record who approved each usable change. A file-level signoff should not silently approve every line.
- Confirm the effective date. Keep the day the file arrived, the day a reviewer approved it, and the supplier's effective date separate. Resolve missing or conflicting dates before export; do not substitute today's date.
- Test the receiving file. Check column names, types, SKU format, price basis, and date format against your own ERP or price-sheet template. Test a small import where your process allows it, inspect the resulting rows, and keep a rollback copy.
Take the same checks to your next supplier file. The CSV has a status, owner, and notes column for each step.
Download the free import checklist CSVTwo rows that can fool a price-only review
These examples are fictional RowTune sample data. They show why the unit basis and item identity belong in the import decision.
| Fictional row | What changed | Import decision |
|---|---|---|
| Coupling: $100 for 10 to $225 for 25 | Cost per each moves from $10 to $9. | Confirm both pack quantities before accepting the decrease. |
| Supplier SKU 00712-4 | A spreadsheet import may drop the leading zeros. | Hold the row if its catalog match changes or remains uncertain. |
Check one cost change yourself
Use the calculator to compare list price, multiplier, and pack size on a per-unit basis. It uses fictional sample values until you enter your own.
Free calculator
What changed per unit?
Compare one supplier line on the same unit basis. The fictional example starts at $100 for 10 units and moves to $225 for 25. Your numbers are calculated in this browser.
Make dates and approvals visible in the handoff
The file receipt date tells you when the update arrived. The approval date tells you when a person accepted a line. The effective date tells the next system when the new supplier cost is intended to apply. An ambiguous value such as 01/07/2026needs confirmation before anyone decides whether it means January 7 or July 1. Microsoft's CSV import guidance also warns that date formats can differ during import.
The supplier price list templateshows the fields to capture. Keep held exceptions and the reviewer's decisions with the original file. Export only the approved lines, then compare a small sample of the receiving file with those decisions.
Check your system's template before production use
RowTune prepares a reviewed export; it does not write prices directly to an ERP or schedule an effective-dated update. For Prophet 21, start with the staging guideand validate against your own tenant's import template. Other ERPs need the same local template and test-import check. The person responsible for pricing decides when approved changes are applied.