How to inspect a price list with multiple currencies

A price list can look consistent while mixing dollars, euros, pounds, or different number formats. A value such as 1,250.50 may mean something different from 1.250,50, and a dollar sign alone does not tell you which country’s dollar it is.

Use the CSV Editor to search, sort, and review the rows in your file. The goal is to identify what each amount means before you compare prices or calculate a total.

Inspect the price list

1. Make a working copy of the original CSV, then open the copy in the CSV Editor. The tool can open CSV files with up to 10 million rows, so you can inspect a large list in your browser.
2. Read the column headers and check several rows near the beginning, middle, and end. Look for separate fields such as price, currency, country, or effective_date. A column called price may contain amounts in more than one currency.
3. Use find to search for currency codes and symbols you expect, such as USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, or $. Search for the codes separately from symbols. The dollar sign is used by several currencies, so it does not identify the currency on its own.
4. Check how amounts are written. Look for decimal points or commas, thousand separators, spaces, currency codes before or after the number, negative amounts in parentheses, and blank or nonnumeric entries such as n/a.
5. Sort by the currency column, if there is one, and review the groups. Only sort by amount after confirming that the values use a consistent format and are treated as numbers. Mixed symbols, separators, or text can make a sorted list misleading.

If you find an unexpected row, inspect the neighboring fields too. A price might be in a different currency because it belongs to a different market, product, supplier, or date, rather than because the row is wrong.

What the results mean

There is a separate currency code for each price

This is the clearest setup. A value such as 125.00 paired with EUR identifies the amount and its currency. Check that the code is present on every row and that it matches the country or market information, if provided.

The currency appears only as a symbol

A symbol can be ambiguous. For example, $ may stand for US, Canadian, Australian, and other dollars. Find a reliable source field, such as a country or supplier, and confirm which currency was intended. Do not assume that every dollar sign means USD.

Amounts use more than one number format

1,250.50 and 1.250,50 can both represent one thousand two hundred fifty and fifty hundredths, depending on the format used. But 1.250 alone is ambiguous: it could mean one thousand two hundred fifty or one and a quarter. Check the source or other values from the same market before changing it.

Currency is mixed into the price text

Entries such as USD 125.00, €125,00, and 125.00 CAD are harder to compare or sort as amounts. Treat the currency and number as separate pieces of information, and keep a copy of the original value so you can check your interpretation.

Some rows are blank, duplicated, or unusually large

A blank currency or price needs clarification before the list is ready for calculations. Repeated rows may be valid entries for different dates or locations, so compare their other columns before deciding they are duplicates. A much larger value might be a bulk price, a different currency, or a formatting error.

How to clean up the data

1. Keep the original values. Work on a copy and retain the unmodified price and currency fields. That gives you a way to trace any cleaned value back to the source.
2. Put currency in its own field. If a value contains both a code and an amount, separate them in the working copy. Use a consistent three-letter currency code, such as USD or EUR, rather than relying on a symbol alone.
3. Use one number format per amount column. Choose a consistent decimal separator and remove currency symbols from the numeric field only after you have identified the currency. Do not convert an ambiguous value based on guesswork.
4. Check unusual rows against the source. Search for the product, supplier, or date in the original records. Correcting a price because it looks unusual can introduce an error if it was a legitimate special price.
5. Review duplicates before removing them. The CSV Editor can remove duplicate rows, but two similar prices may refer to different products, markets, or dates. Compare all relevant columns first and remove a row only when you know it is a duplicate.

Why you should not add the prices yet

Amounts in different currencies cannot be added into a meaningful total without conversion. A conversion also needs a rate and a date, because exchange rates change. If you need a combined total, keep the original amount and currency, record the rate and date used, and put the converted result in a separate field. That way, someone reviewing the list can see both the source price and how the converted amount was calculated.

The CSV Editor opens your file in the browser, and the file stays on your device.