Fixing Inconsistent Vendor IDs in Excel Data

If you’ve ever worked with vendor or supplier spreadsheets, you’ve likely faced the nightmare of inconsistent vendor IDs.

Sometimes the same vendor shows up as:

• V001
• V1
• Vendor-001
• Or even just their name, like ABC Supplies.

This inconsistency causes duplicates, mismatched records, and reporting errors — especially when you’re merging data from multiple suppliers.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to detect and fix inconsistent vendor IDs in Excel, step by step.

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🛑 Why Inconsistent Vendor IDs Are a Problem

• Duplicate Vendors → One vendor appears multiple times with different IDs.
• Broken Lookups → VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP fails because IDs don’t match exactly.
• Reporting Errors → Sales, orders, and inventory may be overcounted or undercounted.
• Integration Issues → Importing data into ERP or accounting systems fails.

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✅ Step-by-Step Fix in Excel

1. Standardize Text Formatting

• Use TRIM() to remove extra spaces.
• Use UPPER() or LOWER() to make IDs consistent in case.
• Example: =TRIM(UPPER(A2))

2. Use Find & Replace

• Replace patterns like Vendor- with nothing.
• Convert all IDs into a numeric or standardized format.

3. Apply a Mapping Table

• Create a two-column table:
  Old Vendor ID | Standardized Vendor ID
• Use XLOOKUP() or VLOOKUP() to map messy IDs into clean ones.

4. Validate for Duplicates

• Use COUNTIF() to find duplicate IDs.
• Apply conditional formatting to highlight mismatches.

5. Lock Schema Moving Forward

• Decide on a Golden Schema for vendor IDs (e.g., V001, V002, …).
• Enforce it across all sheets.

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📊 Example: Before & After Fix

Before

Vendor ID	Vendor Name	Orders
V001	ABC Supplies	120
V1	ABC Supplies	60
Vendor-001	ABC Supplies	30

After (Cleaned)

Vendor ID	Vendor Name	Orders
V001	ABC Supplies	210

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🤖 How RowTidy Helps

With RowTidy, you don’t have to manually clean vendor IDs anymore:

• Upload messy vendor sheets.
• Our AI automatically detects inconsistent IDs.
• Maps them into a Golden Schema.
• Flags duplicates and errors for quick review.

No formulas, no endless VLOOKUP fixes.

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📌 Conclusion

Fixing inconsistent vendor IDs ensures:

• Accurate reporting
• Cleaner merges across suppliers
• Fewer system import errors

By standardizing vendor IDs and enforcing schema rules, you’ll save hours and avoid costly mistakes.

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✍️ Tired of fixing vendor IDs by hand?
👉 Try RowTidy and let AI standardize your vendor data automatically.