No. Xactimate does not import a PDF. It imports .esx project files. A PDF is a printout of an estimate, and an ESX file is the estimate itself, so the platform only knows how to open the second one.
That one sentence answers the search. It leaves you holding a PDF and a deadline, so here is what actually works, in the order you should try it.
Why a PDF cannot be imported
A PDF holds the picture of an estimate: pages, line items flattened to text, and a total at the bottom. An ESX file holds the project: line items, groups and folders, CAT and SEL codes, quantities, notes, and the structure Xactimate edits. You can read a PDF. You cannot compute on it, and Xactimate will not open it.
This is why the same carrier scope shows up in two shapes. The PDF is the record that gets emailed around. The .esx is the working file, and it stays with whoever built the estimate.
The three options you actually have
When someone hands you a PDF, you have three ways forward. They differ mostly in time.
- Ask for the ESX. If the scope came from another Xactimate user, a carrier that will share the native file, or a supplement shop that keeps its projects, ask for the .esx before you ask for anything else. It is the cleanest path, and sometimes it is available.
- Rebuild it by hand. Re-key the scope line by line into Xactimate. A full rebuild of a roof scope runs three to six hours, and every line is a chance to mistype a code or transcribe a quantity wrong. It works. It is the slowest option you have.
- Convert the PDF. Map the scope's line items to real codes, keep the printed prices, and export an import-ready .esx. A conversion runs in about two minutes per scope.
For one file a month, hand entry is an annoyance. For a book of business, it is the reason contractors stop taking certain work.
What a converter has to preserve
Not every conversion is worth importing. Before you trust the output, check that it carries the things that make an ESX file usable:
- CAT and SEL code shape on every line, so Xactimate recognizes the item.
- Quantities exactly as the scope stated them, not rounded on the way in.
- The printed price from the PDF attached to each line, as a reference that survives import.
- Groups and structure wherever the PDF shows them, so the estimate keeps its shape.
- A visible flag on any line the converter could not match to a code, instead of a silent guess.
That last point is the difference between a conversion you can defend and one you cannot. An unresolved line you can see is a decision you get to make. An unresolved line that was quietly filled in is a surprise waiting for the reviewer.
When a PDF-only estimate blocks a supplement
If the only file you have is a PDF, you can still build a supplement, but every comparison is by eye. You cannot sort by code, you cannot reconcile quantities line by line, and you cannot see which prices moved on the way in. The fix is the same one: get the scope into ESX first, then compare.
Read more on that split in what an ESX file is and why contractors convert PDF estimates to Xactimate.
What formats Xactimate will take
Xactimate imports its own project formats, and the one you will handle most is .esx. A .xml exported by another estimating system is not an .esx. It is the kind of file a converter reads on the way to producing one, and Xactimate will treat a raw .xml as the wrong file type.
The workflow that works
Ask for the native file first. If that fails and the volume is small, re-key it. When neither is realistic, convert the PDF into an ESX file and import that.
Convert a carrier scope PDF to an import-ready Xactimate ESX file with the printed price kept on every line and anything unverifiable flagged for review. Or, if you already have a clean scope XML from the carrier or your own system, start from the structured file instead and skip extraction. The free plan includes five conversions a month, no card required.