diff --git a/public/userarea/process_import_xls2.php b/public/userarea/process_import_xls2.php
index 4f29d15..65ef60b 100644
--- a/public/userarea/process_import_xls2.php
+++ b/public/userarea/process_import_xls2.php
@@ -86,25 +86,31 @@ try {
 
                     for ($scanRow = 1; $scanRow <= $scanLimit; $scanRow++) {
                         $score = 0;
-                        $firstMatchCol = $highestColumnIndex + 1;
                         for ($col = 1; $col <= $highestColumnIndex; $col++) {
                             $colLetter = \PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Cell\Coordinate::stringFromColumnIndex($col);
                             $cellVal = $worksheet->getCell($colLetter . $scanRow)->getCalculatedValue();
                             $cellVal = mb_strtolower(trim((string)$cellVal));
                             if ($cellVal !== '' && in_array($cellVal, $templateLabels, true)) {
                                 $score++;
-                                if ($col < $firstMatchCol) $firstMatchCol = $col;
                             }
                         }
                         if ($score > $bestScore) {
                             $bestScore = $score;
                             $bestRow = $scanRow;
-                            $bestCol = $firstMatchCol;
                         }
                     }
 
                     $header_row = $bestRow;
-                    $start_column = $bestCol;
+
+                    // Determine start_column: first non-empty cell in the detected header row
+                    for ($col = 1; $col <= $highestColumnIndex; $col++) {
+                        $colLetter = \PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Cell\Coordinate::stringFromColumnIndex($col);
+                        $cellVal = $worksheet->getCell($colLetter . $header_row)->getCalculatedValue();
+                        if (trim((string)$cellVal) !== '') {
+                            $start_column = $col;
+                            break;
+                        }
+                    }
                     error_log("Auto-detected header row: $header_row, start column: $start_column (score: $bestScore/" . count($templateLabels) . ")");
                     $response['auto_header_row'] = $header_row;
                     $response['auto_header_score'] = $bestScore;