Use manual line items in Dext to split a receipt, bill, or invoice into multiple rows with different categories, customers, tax rates, or tracking fields.
Note: This article covers manually creating line items. If you want Dext to extract line items from documents automatically, go to Using Line item extraction in Dext. Manual line item creation is free of charge.
Create manual line items
To manually split a document into multiple rows:
Go to Costs or Sales.
Open the item you want to split.
Scroll to the Line items section.
Select Create line items.
The line item editor will open.
Add and edit line item rows
After selecting Create line items, you can enter each row manually.
For each line item, you can:
Enter a description
Select a Category
Assign Customer, Product/service, or tracking fields (if enabled)
Choose a Tax rate
Set Quantity and Unit price
Use + Add new line item to add additional rows.
The totals update automatically as you edit. The combined Net, Tax, and Total must match the item total.
When finished, select Done.
Bulk edit manual line items
You can update multiple manual line items at once.
Select the checkboxes next to 2 or more rows.
Select Bulk edit.
Update fields such as Category, tracking fields, Customer, or Tax rate.
Select Bulk edit to confirm.
The changes apply to all selected rows.
Note: The available tracking fields can vary depending on the connected accounting software.
Merge line items
You can combine multiple line items into 1 row.
Select the checkboxes next to 2 or more rows.
Select Merge line items.
Dext combines the selected rows and adds their Net, Tax, and Total values together.
After merging, the combined row appears without a description and shows a merge icon with a number indicator.
Select the merge icon to open the Merged line items modal and view the individual rows.
Unmerge line items
You can reverse a line item merge.
Open the merged line items view.
Select Unmerge all.
This restores the original individual line items.
What happens if totals don’t match?
When using line items, the sum of all rows must equal the item total. If there’s a difference, Dext shows an Out by value at the bottom of the screen. You must resolve this before publishing or marking the item as ready.
"Line item tax is greater than the item tax" / "Adjust the Line Item Total so that it matches the Total Amount of the item."
This warning appears when a percentage-based tax rate - such as 5% or 20% - causes the combined tax across your line items to differ slightly from the item-level tax total. This is a rounding effect common on multi-line invoices, not a data entry mistake.
To resolve it, switch the affected rows to Extracted amount and enter the correct tax figure manually:
Select Edit line items on the item.
Change the Tax rate to Extracted amount for each affected row.
Enter the correct tax figure.
Select Done.
Add remaining balance
The Add remaining balance button activates when the total of your line items does not match the item total.
To complete the split automatically:
Select Add remaining balance.
Dext creates a new line item for the remaining amount.
The new row is automatically labelled Remaining balance.
Edit the Description, Category, or other fields as needed.
This helps you quickly balance the transaction without manually calculating the difference.
Adjust the line items view
You can also change how the document preview and line item editor are displayed, and manage which columns and table density the line item table uses. For instructions, go to How to customise the line item editor in Dext