Xactimate contents inventory: complete workflow for adjusters

Contents lines differ from repeated structural estimate items: each item may need its own description, quantity, supporting evidence, replacement comparable, age, condition, and valuation review. The work can happen inside XactContents or upstream in another inventory workflow, but the receiving team still needs a controlled handoff.

This is a working guide to three common operating patterns: building the inventory inside XactContents, using a separate contents-operations platform, or preparing an Excel handoff upstream. We sell software in the third category, so read the comparison with that bias in mind and validate version-specific details against Verisk's current help documentation.

Where contents fits in the Xactimate workflow

Xactimate includes XactContents for personal-property inventory and pricing alongside the broader estimate. Verisk also documents Excel-template import, room grouping, price entry, depreciation, and CAT/SEL review inside that workflow.

A contents schedule in Xactimate has to do four things. It has to name each item in language a desk adjuster recognizes. It has to apply a sourced replacement cost — ideally with a reference link or document trail back to a current retail price. It has to categorize the item against a depreciation table appropriate to its class. And it has to carry a condition grade that matches what the source photo shows.

When those fields are present and consistent, a reviewer can evaluate the line without reconstructing the underlying work. Missing or conflicting fields can create follow-up questions, but the exact review standard depends on the claim and receiving organization.

For a deeper look at the same four-check rubric from the public adjuster side, see the PA contents inventory field guide. For the carrier side, see the staff adjuster desk review guide.

If the question is whether the schedule-building step can move outside Verisk, read the direct XactContents alternative comparison. For severe-loss reconstruction, use the total loss inventory software workflow.

Three common workflow patterns

These patterns are not three equivalent Verisk product modes. They are a practical way to compare where the inventory is captured, where physical contents operations are tracked, and how a completed schedule reaches XactContents.

Path 1: XactContents (in-platform)

XactContents is a contents module that lives inside the Xactimate desktop and cloud editions. Contents lines sit alongside structural lines in the same estimate, share the same export, and reference Xactware's pricing data for replacement costs. For carriers and IA firms that run their entire claims operation inside the Verisk stack, this is the default.

The strength of XactContents is integration depth. The contents schedule is part of the same document as the rest of the estimate, depreciation flows from the same pricing tables, and the export goes to the carrier in the format the desk adjuster opens every day. Nothing leaves the Xactimate environment.

The tradeoff is where schedule construction happens. Teams should test current XactContents capture and import features against their own photo volume, replacement-pricing process, CAT/SEL review, and need for an upstream human-review workspace. Verisk capabilities change, so do not evaluate the product from an old feature list.

Path 2: ContentsTrack (separate Verisk platform)

ContentsTrack is a separate Verisk platform for contents-specialist workflows — pack-outs, cleaning codes, storage tracking, homeowner-facing portals, and large-scale contents claim management. It produces a finished contents schedule that can then be imported into an Xactimate estimate as a contents block.

The strength of ContentsTrack is depth of contents-specific functionality. If your operation handles pack-outs, manages contents in storage facilities, and runs cleaning codes against restoration jobs, no in-platform Xactimate module covers that ground. For restoration enterprises with dedicated contents divisions, ContentsTrack is built for the actual workflow.

The tradeoff is scope. A team that does not manage boxes, locations, cleaning status, storage, and pack-back may not need a physical-contents operations platform. See the restoration pack-out guide for the workflow questions to evaluate.

Path 3: External tool with XLSX import

The third pattern is an external contents inventory tool that prepares an XactContents-format workbook. The schedule is built and reviewed outside XactContents, then validated against the current receiving template before import.

The strength of this pattern is workflow flexibility. Products in the broader market specialize in different jobs: restoration documentation, pack-out operations, item capture, schedule production, or valuation. Confirm that a candidate actually supports the fields and import template your receiving team uses; sharing the label “contents software” does not make the handoffs equivalent.

The weakness is the integration seam. The XLSX import is one-way — schedule corrections made inside Xactimate do not flow back into the source tool. If the carrier revises a line during desk review, the change lives in the Xactimate estimate; the source tool keeps the original. For most workflows this is fine; for round-trip estimating, it is the friction point. For an honest look at where Encircle fits in this picture, see the Encircle alternative comparison.

The Xactimate contents XLSX format

If you are importing a contents schedule from an external tool, use the Excel inventory template downloaded from the receiving XactContents workflow. Verisk's published instructions say the template can group imported items by room and carry administrative and item-level information.

A working contents line carries, at minimum:

• Description — item name in plain language, with identifying detail when known.
• Category code — maps to Xactimate's contents depreciation tables. Furniture, electronics, kitchen, apparel, and so on. Category drives depreciation, so getting it right matters more than it looks.
• Quantity and unit — usually EA (each) for contents, occasionally LF or LS for bulk items.
• Age — the item's age at the date of loss, in years. Drives depreciation.
• Condition — typically a 1–5 or excellent/good/fair/poor grade. Should match the photo.
• Replacement cost (RCV) — current retail price. Ideally with a source reference (URL or retailer notation) carried in a notes column.
• Depreciation percent or ACV — the depreciation applied, either as a percent or as the computed ACV. Most teams carry both.

Before production use, test the workbook in the receiving environment. Confirm claim administration, room grouping, descriptions, quantities, replacement values, notes, CAT/SEL, and valuation. Keep the source workbook version with the claim so later corrections remain traceable.

Where AI-assisted drafting fits

AI-assisted tools can draft visible items from photos and suggest structured fields before a person reviews the schedule. The boundary matters: destroyed or obscured property still requires human reconstruction and supporting evidence, replacement selections need validation, and policy- or carrier-directed valuation rules require authorized judgment.

Do not use a vendor's generic time claim as the business case. Run the same authorized claims through the current and candidate workflows, measure hands-on time, correction count, unresolved lines, and import QA, and publish the sample and method if you cite the result.

This upstream drafting pattern can matter even when XactContents remains the destination. Evaluate whether it reduces manual description, pricing, and valuation work without increasing correction and import risk.

For a thorough look at how AI extraction differs from AI identification — and why most "AI-powered" tools sit at the identification end — see the 2026 contents inventory software buyer's guide.

Fields to check before handoff

Every receiving organization has its own review process. These four fields are useful internal QA checks; they are not a universal carrier acceptance standard.

Four fields worth checking:

Replacement comparable and source. Keep the selected comparable, retailer or database, URL or reference, access date, price, and quantity basis together. Software can organize the research, but a person still needs to validate the selection.

Depreciation basis. Similar items with materially different depreciation need a documented reason. Apply the policy or receiving organization's direction and make exceptions visible.

Condition and evidence. Keep observed post-loss damage separate from estimated pre-loss condition, identify who supplied each fact, and link the supporting photo or document.

Description and category. “Lamp” is difficult to match to a comparable. “Brushed nickel table lamp with white linen shade, approximately 18 inches tall” gives the reviewer and pricing workflow more to work with. Review CAT/SEL in the receiving XactContents workflow.

For the carrier-and-TPA side of these same considerations — what a TPA actually does to compress cycle time on contents claims — see the TPA contents cycle-time guide.

Picking a pattern for your operation

Choose by required workflow, receiving system, and operational scope rather than by a generic “best software” label.

Public adjusters. Decide whether the firm needs XactContents entry, an upstream contents-specialist workspace, or both. Keep the PA CRM and coverage workflow separate from the schedule-building decision.

Staff adjusters at carriers. Follow the carrier's approved systems and templates. When evaluating an upstream tool, measure correction rate, unresolved lines, and import QA as well as hands-on time.

Restoration contractors. Separate field documentation, physical pack-out and warehouse custody, structural estimating, and contents schedule production. A product that covers one layer may not replace the others.

Restoration enterprises with contents divisions. Evaluate ContentsTrack and other physical-contents platforms when boxes, locations, cleaning status, storage, and pack-back are in scope. Evaluate schedule specialists separately.

TPAs and carriers managing claim volume. Establish the approved system of record, import controls, reviewer responsibilities, and data-retention requirements before adding an upstream tool.

Policyholders. Follow the insurer's instructions and use qualified help when needed. A pre-loss home-inventory app and a professional post-loss estimating workflow serve different purposes.

A controlled test plan

If you are evaluating a change to your XactContents workflow, run a small authorized sample in parallel with the current process.

Pick three contents claims that have not yet been written. For each claim, run the schedule both ways: through your current workflow, and through the tool you are evaluating. Track three numbers per claim per tool: total desk time to produce a complete schedule ready for Xactimate import, number of lines that required manual price-sourcing or depreciation correction, and whether the carrier-facing export passed your desk-adjuster eye test on the first pass.

Treat the result as a pilot, not a universal benchmark. Record claim characteristics, sample size, exclusions, and reviewer method before using the result in procurement or marketing.

Where Contents.team fits in this picture

The product behind this guide sits upstream of XactContents. AI drafts visible items from uploaded photos; a person reviews descriptions, source links, age, pre-loss condition, depreciation, RCV, and ACV. Contents.team then exports an XactContents-format XLSX for validation in the receiving workflow.

The pricing is $299 per user per month, with 1,000 items included per organization per month and $0.80 per additional item. There is no annual commitment, and free trials are available through a team invitation.

The honest framing: Contents.team is a candidate for teams that need a focused contents schedule workspace. It is not structural estimating, native XactAnalysis delivery, a PA CRM, or pack-out and warehouse custody software.

Try it on one claim

Pick one residential contents claim you are authorized to use, run it through Contents.team alongside the normal workflow, and review the output and import. Measure the result; do not assume it.

Start a Contents.team account →

Or email sales@contents.team to run a working session on one of your real claims.

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Last updated: July 27, 2026. Xactimate and XactContents version-specific details vary. This guide was refreshed against Verisk's published Excel inventory import and CAT/SEL review documentation; verify the current template in the receiving environment before a production import.