> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.nectarclimate.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Uploading documents

> Upload PDF or image utility bills for AI-powered processing.

<Tip>
  Need help in this area? See [Data Input FAQ](/platform/data-input/faq).
</Tip>

Uploads let you get bills into Nectar when automatic connections aren't an option — old paper bills, PDFs emailed by a client, a small utility that doesn't have an online portal, or historical data the utility portal no longer shows. If you have a utility bill in any form, Nectar can probably read it.

Navigate to [**Data Input > Uploads > New Upload**](https://dash.nectarclimate.com/data-input/uploads/new) to start uploading utility bills.

## What makes a good upload

Not all files are created equal. Here's what works best:

* **Clear, full-page PDF files** are ideal — the kind you'd get downloading a bill directly from a utility website or receiving one as an email attachment.
* **PNG images** work too, as long as the text is legible. Think high-resolution scans rather than photos taken from across the room.
* **Avoid** blurry photos, cropped screenshots, password-protected files, or heavily compressed images.

A useful test: if you handed the document to a coworker and asked them to read the bill, could they? If yes, Nectar can handle it.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Select files">
    Drag and drop files onto the upload area, or click to browse files from your computer. Nectar accepts **PDF**, **PNG**, **JPG**, **XLSX**, and **XLS** formats.

    You can upload multiple files at once. Each file should contain a single utility bill for the best extraction results. The maximum is 100 files per upload, 50MB each.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Site & Account">
    Optionally specify which site and utility account these bills belong to. Nectar will automatically detect both from the bill contents — providing hints here improves accuracy when bills are ambiguous or cover multiple locations.

    * **Site** — Pre-assign all bills in this upload to a specific site. Leave as *Auto-detect* if bills may span multiple sites.
    * **Account** — Select a utility account to associate these bills with. Filters to accounts for the selected site. Leave as *Auto-detect* to let Nectar match automatically.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Options">
    Fine-tune how Nectar processes the upload:

    * **Utility Types** — Check the commodity types (Electricity, Gas, Water, etc.) if you know them. Leave unchecked to auto-detect.
    * **Notes** — Add any context that might help with processing, such as the billing period or a note about the source.
    * **Skip duplicate detection** — Toggle this on to force upload even if Nectar detects bills that may already exist. Use this for corrected or amended bills.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Upload jobs table

After submitting an upload, you can track its progress on the **Uploads** page. The table is organized into status tabs:

| Tab            | Description                                         |
| -------------- | --------------------------------------------------- |
| **All**        | Every upload job regardless of status.              |
| **Processing** | Uploads currently being extracted by the AI engine. |
| **Completed**  | Uploads that have been fully processed.             |
| **Failed**     | Uploads that encountered errors during processing.  |

Click any row to view the [upload job details](/platform/data-input/upload-detail).

## What happens after upload

Once you submit a file, three things happen automatically:

1. **Processing** — Nectar's AI reads the document and extracts service dates, total charges, usage amounts (kWh, therms, gallons, etc.), meter numbers, and account information. Most bills are processed in under five minutes.
2. **Matching** — Nectar matches the extracted data to existing accounts and meters. If it finds a meter number it hasn't seen before, it creates a new meter automatically and attaches it to the right site.
3. **Available** — The bill and all its data appear in **Data Inventory > Bills**, ready for review, editing, and export.

## Duplicate detection

By default, Nectar checks every uploaded bill against existing documents to see if there's a match. It compares the utility provider, account number, service dates, and total charges. If it finds a match, the upload is flagged as a potential duplicate.

**If it's a real duplicate** — great, Nectar caught it. No action needed.

**If it's a false positive** — this occasionally happens with corrected bills or amended invoices that share service dates with the original. You can contest the duplicate flag from the bill detail page in **Data Inventory > Bills**.

To skip duplicate checking for a specific upload (for example, when you know the bill is a legitimate amendment), toggle **Skip duplicate detection** in the Options step.