Preparing your documents for best parsing results

File format recommendations

Excel files (.xlsx, .xls) parse best. They're structured data — Archer can read cells, columns, and rows directly. Parsing typically takes 15-30 seconds with high accuracy.

PDF files work but take longer. Archer converts PDFs through multiple processing steps to extract the data. Parsing takes 1-2 minutes. Accuracy is high for clean, well-formatted PDFs but lower for scanned documents, image-based PDFs, or heavily formatted layouts.

If you have both formats, use Excel. If you only have a PDF, that's fine — Archer handles it. If the PDF doesn't parse correctly, send it to support@archer.re and the team will clean it up within 2 hours.

Tips for better parsing

For rent rolls:

• Make sure the rent roll tab is the first tab in the workbook (or the only tab). If there are multiple tabs, Archer reads the first one.
• Include unit numbers, floor plans or unit types, and at least one charge column (lease rent, market rent, etc.)
• If units have repeating unit numbers across buildings, include the building number in the unit identifier (e.g., "Bldg A - 101" instead of just "101")
• If you have renovation status information in a separate amenity schedule, consider doing a VLOOKUP to add it as a column on the rent roll before uploading — this saves you from manually tagging each unit in Archer

For T12s:

• Include column headers with dates or period labels so Archer can identify the time periods
• PDFs that show only an annual total without monthly columns are harder to parse — if you have the monthly version, use that
• If line item names span multiple rows (e.g., "Repairs and" on one line, "Maintenance" on the next), this is a known parsing challenge. The data will still come through but may need manual cleanup

When parsing doesn't work

If you upload a file and the results look wrong — headers aren't matching, data is garbled, or the T12 won't render at all — click Get Parsing Help in the top right corner of the parsing screen. This sends the file directly to Archer's support team. They'll clean it up and get it back to you, typically within 2 hours during US business hours.

Common reasons a parse fails:

• PDF has no recognizable date headers (Archer needs dates to identify periods)
• File is a scanned image rather than a text-based PDF
• The document has an unusual layout that Archer's system hasn't encountered before

In all cases, the support team can handle it. Don't spend time fighting a tricky file — send it over and move on to your next deal.