Identify an appendix table that should not join the main table

Define the question the main table answers

Keep it separate until its role is clear so the workbook does not gain extra rows that should never be compared together.

For multipage invoices, use ParseMill to review extracted invoice data beside the source and export separate summary and line-item sheets. Include a page break in your trial and check that every required line made it through. Other report types need their own fit assessment.

The decision is about scope, not whether the appendix is useful. Keep excluded supporting material available as evidence. It may explain the main results without belonging in the same data range.

Separate three synthetic ranges

These invented ranges deliberately use similar measurement headings. A value called Result on page 5 does not establish that it came from a delivered sample. The appendix title, row identifiers and explanatory text determine its role. Write the reasons for exclusion next to the range, so another reviewer can challenge the scope decision.

Microsoft: Pdf.Tables supports page bounds. Bounds can help process the chosen ranges separately, although page selection alone cannot distinguish two tables appearing on the same page.

Apply an inclusion checklist

1. Read the section title and the paragraph introducing each candidate table. Identify what one row represents and which source statement establishes that meaning.
2. Compare report identifiers, sample populations, dates and units with the main results. Record differences without trying to harmonize them during extraction.
3. Assign a range status: included observations, separate supporting table, or unresolved scope. Keep this status in the source manifest.
4. Combine only included observations. Reconcile their row counts back to the separate ranges and retain the appendix outputs under distinct names.

Microsoft: Table.Combine describes combining tables. The ability to append rows is a technical operation; the reviewer must supply the inclusion decision that makes the combined dataset meaningful.

Handle ambiguous appendices

A continuation of the actual results can be placed in an appendix. Do not exclude it automatically because of its location. Look for explicit references from the main section and a matching row population. Conversely, identical identifiers may represent a reference example rather than repeated measurements.

If the appendix’s role remains unclear, keep its rows separate and ask the document owner for clarification. Record the affected range and the decision needed. Avoid silently discarding those rows or treating them as observations to achieve a convenient total.

Check the deliverable against the scope

For the fixture, the main register contains eighteen delivery samples. The four reference rows remain available in a separate table and the method page stays in the evidence package. The handoff states these choices explicitly, including any unresolved inclusion decisions.

Bring a report with a mixed appendix to a document-workflow discussion and agree which observations would belong in a pilot. For the invoice product, test an invoice with supporting pages and check the resulting line-item workbook; do not treat the report fixture as a supported self-service input.