XML to Xactimate, without retyping a single line
XML to Xactimate means taking an estimate that already exists as structured data in another system and opening it as a real Xactimate estimate, not as a PDF that somebody retypes. That situation is common: an estimating platform that is not Xactimate, a carrier or administrator export, or a team moving a book of work from one platform to another. ESXPress maps the file's own line items onto Xactimate line item codes from the grounding catalogue, keeps the quantity exactly as the file states it, keeps the file's own unit price where the file is a carrier or another system's export and states one, and returns an import-ready ESX file. Lines it cannot ground are flagged with the reason. Nothing is guessed and no price you already have is overwritten.
Four situations this solves
Migration
You are moving off another estimating platform
A book of work that lives in a different system still has to be opened, adjusted and supplemented in Xactimate. Convert the structured export instead of re-keying it scope by scope.
Carrier export
A carrier or administrator sends structured data
Some send a PDF, some send an export. The export carries better data than the page does, so use it: the quantity and the price are already stated.
Your system
Your own system holds the scope
A CRM, an ERP or an in-house tool that knows the scope but cannot emit an Xactimate file. Send it through the API and get the file back.
Networks
A franchise or branch network runs its own estimating
One format in, one standard out, so every branch produces the same shape of estimate. Batch and reporting are part of that path.
What survives the conversion
Moving a file between systems is where estimates lose their footing. These four things are the ones that decide whether the converted estimate is trustworthy.
The quantity the file states
Quantities are carried as data, not estimated from a page. A Xactimate export, a recognised carrier export, or a ScopeJSON payload with a line missing its quantity is refused and the missing field is named. A file the structural reader handles has the missing quantity read as one, and that line is named in the report.
The unit price the file states
If a carrier or another system's export prices the line, that price is used and recorded as coming from the payload. A Xactimate export carries no price this path reads, so those lines are priced from the grounding catalogue and the row records that source.
The description and the notes
Line text and the notes under a line travel with it, so the person reviewing the estimate reads what the original said rather than a summary.
The flags that matter
Any line whose code stays ambiguous is reported with the reason. Reviewers get a list to work, not a silent guess buried in the file.
Thousands of catalogue codes are the grounding set. A line that matches none of them, or matches more than one equally well, stays flagged instead of picking a side.
Questions
Do I need to own Xactimate to use this?
Yes, in the sense that the output is an ESX file meant for your own licensed Xactimate. ESXPress is an independent tool and is not affiliated with Xactimate's vendor.
Does this replace Xactimate's own pricing?
No. The file you get is priced for import and your Xactimate prices it from your own regional price list when it opens. ESXPress does not resell price list data.
What if the other system's XML uses different names?
That is the normal case. Known shapes are translated by name. A shape we have not seen is read structurally: the repeated table that carries descriptions, quantities and prices is found by field shape, then each line is grounded against the catalogue.
Can we convert a whole book of business at once?
That is the batch path: many files in, one file per scope out, with a per-file status list naming what converted and what needs attention. Ask about it if you are migrating.
How many line items can one scope hold?
A scope above a thousand line items converts whole. Nothing is split, truncated or metered per line.
What happens when a code cannot be found?
The line keeps its own description and price, is flagged as unresolved, and waits for a human pick. A guessed code is a wrong price, so it is never an option.
Send one file and read the report
One scope is one conversion, PDF or XML. For a book of business or an integration, ask about batch and the API.