diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index e83fcafc2..d930f6fe8 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 Type: Package
 Package: datawizard
 Title: Easy Data Wrangling and Statistical Transformations
-Version: 0.9.0.4
+Version: 0.9.0.5
 Authors@R: c(
     person("Indrajeet", "Patil", , "patilindrajeet.science@gmail.com", role = "aut",
            comment = c(ORCID = "0000-0003-1995-6531", Twitter = "@patilindrajeets")),
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index d799a0d5b..e2f2ecdff 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# datawizard 0.9.0.9000 (development version)
+# datawizard 0.9.0.x (development version)
 
 CHANGES
 
@@ -7,6 +7,11 @@ CHANGES
 
 * `to_factor()` and `to_numeric()` now support class `haven_labelled`.
 
+BUG FIXES
+
+* `to_numeric()` now correctly deals with inversed factor levels when
+  `preserve_levels = TRUE`.
+
 # datawizard 0.9.0
 
 NEW FUNCTIONS
diff --git a/R/data_tabulate.R b/R/data_tabulate.R
index 3b16932a3..7a56e6a87 100644
--- a/R/data_tabulate.R
+++ b/R/data_tabulate.R
@@ -179,10 +179,10 @@ data_tabulate.grouped_df <- function(x,
   for (i in seq_along(grps)) {
     rows <- grps[[i]]
     # save information about grouping factors
-    if (!is.null(group_variables)) {
-      group_variable <- group_variables[i, , drop = FALSE]
-    } else {
+    if (is.null(group_variables)) {
       group_variable <- NULL
+    } else {
+      group_variable <- group_variables[i, , drop = FALSE]
     }
     out <- c(out, data_tabulate(
       data_filter(x, rows),
@@ -226,7 +226,7 @@ format.dw_data_tabulate <- function(x, format = "text", big_mark = NULL, ...) {
   # format data frame
   ftab <- insight::format_table(x, ...)
   ftab[] <- lapply(ftab, function(i) {
-    i[i == ""] <- ifelse(identical(format, "text"), "<NA>", "(NA)")
+    i[i == ""] <- ifelse(identical(format, "text"), "<NA>", "(NA)") # nolint
     i
   })
   ftab$N <- gsub("\\.00$", "", ftab$N)
@@ -347,10 +347,10 @@ print.dw_data_tabulates <- function(x, big_mark = NULL, ...) {
     }
   } else {
     x <- lapply(x, function(i) {
-      attr <- attributes(i)
+      i_attr <- attributes(i)
       i <- format(i, format = "text", big_mark = big_mark, ...)
-      i$Variable[attr$duplicate_varnames] <- ""
-      if (!is.null(i$Group)) i$Group[attr$duplicate_varnames] <- ""
+      i$Variable[i_attr$duplicate_varnames] <- ""
+      if (!is.null(i$Group)) i$Group[i_attr$duplicate_varnames] <- ""
       i[nrow(i) + 1, ] <- ""
       i
     })
@@ -375,9 +375,9 @@ print_html.dw_data_tabulates <- function(x, big_mark = NULL, ...) {
     print_html(x[[1]], big_mark = big_mark, ...)
   } else {
     x <- lapply(x, function(i) {
-      attr <- attributes(i)
+      i_attr <- attributes(i)
       i <- format(i, format = "html", big_mark = big_mark, ...)
-      i$Variable[attr$duplicate_varnames] <- ""
+      i$Variable[i_attr$duplicate_varnames] <- ""
       i
     })
 
@@ -401,10 +401,10 @@ print_md.dw_data_tabulates <- function(x, big_mark = NULL, ...) {
     print_md(x[[1]], big_mark = big_mark, ...)
   } else {
     x <- lapply(x, function(i) {
-      attr <- attributes(i)
+      i_attr <- attributes(i)
       i <- format(i, format = "markdown", big_mark = big_mark, ...)
-      i$Variable[attr$duplicate_varnames] <- ""
-      if (!is.null(i$Group)) i$Group[attr$duplicate_varnames] <- ""
+      i$Variable[i_attr$duplicate_varnames] <- ""
+      if (!is.null(i$Group)) i$Group[i_attr$duplicate_varnames] <- ""
       i[nrow(i) + 1, ] <- ""
       i
     })
diff --git a/R/to_numeric.R b/R/to_numeric.R
index 80fb7db27..9a35f9130 100644
--- a/R/to_numeric.R
+++ b/R/to_numeric.R
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ to_numeric.data.frame <- function(x,
     return(x)
   }
 
-  attr <- attributes(x)
+  df_attr <- attributes(x)
 
   # evaluate arguments
   select <- .select_nse(select,
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ to_numeric.data.frame <- function(x,
     # drop numerics, when append is not FALSE
     select <- colnames(x[select])[!vapply(x[select], is.numeric, FUN.VALUE = logical(1L))]
     # process arguments
-    args <- .process_append(
+    fun_args <- .process_append(
       x,
       select,
       append,
@@ -99,8 +99,8 @@ to_numeric.data.frame <- function(x,
       keep_factors = TRUE
     )
     # update processed arguments
-    x <- args$x
-    select <- args$select
+    x <- fun_args$x
+    select <- fun_args$select
   }
 
   out <- sapply(
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ to_numeric.data.frame <- function(x,
   }
 
   # due to the special handling of dummy factors, we need to take care
-  # of appending the data here again. usually, "args$x" includes the appended
+  # of appending the data here again. usually, "fun_args$x" includes the appended
   # data, which does not work here...
 
   if (!isFALSE(append)) {
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ to_numeric.data.frame <- function(x,
   }
 
   # add back custom attributes
-  out <- .replace_attrs(out, attr)
+  out <- .replace_attrs(out, df_attr)
   out
 }
 
@@ -226,6 +226,13 @@ to_numeric.factor <- function(x,
     }
     names(out) <- levels(x)
   } else if (preserve_levels) {
+    if (is.unsorted(levels(x))) {
+      x_inverse <- rep(NA_real_, length(x))
+      for (i in 1:nlevels(x)) {
+        x_inverse[x == levels(x)[i]] <- as.numeric(levels(x)[nlevels(x) - i + 1])
+      }
+      x <- factor(x_inverse)
+    }
     out <- .set_back_labels(as.numeric(as.character(x)), x)
   } else {
     out <- .set_back_labels(as.numeric(x), x)
diff --git a/inst/WORDLIST b/inst/WORDLIST
index 01e138dd1..d48430478 100644
--- a/inst/WORDLIST
+++ b/inst/WORDLIST
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ ggplot's
 https
 interpretability
 interpretable
+inversed
 joss
 labelled
 labelling
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-data_to_numeric.R b/tests/testthat/test-data_to_numeric.R
index df43f401f..3e0a9d095 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-data_to_numeric.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-data_to_numeric.R
@@ -44,7 +44,6 @@ test_that("convert factor to numeric", {
   expect_snapshot(to_numeric(f))
 })
 
-
 test_that("convert factor to numeric", {
   expect_identical(to_numeric(c("abc", "xyz")), c(1, 2))
   expect_identical(to_numeric(c("123", "789")), c(123, 789))
@@ -52,7 +51,6 @@ test_that("convert factor to numeric", {
   expect_identical(to_numeric(c("1L", "2e-3", "ABC")), c(1, 2, 3))
 })
 
-
 test_that("convert factor to numeric, dummy factors", {
   expect_identical(
     to_numeric(c("abc", "xyz"), dummy_factors = TRUE),
@@ -66,7 +64,6 @@ test_that("convert factor to numeric, dummy factors", {
   )
 })
 
-
 test_that("convert factor to numeric, append", {
   data(efc)
   expect_identical(
@@ -94,13 +91,11 @@ test_that("convert factor to numeric, append", {
   )
 })
 
-
 test_that("convert factor to numeric, all numeric", {
   data(mtcars)
   expect_identical(to_numeric(mtcars), mtcars)
 })
 
-
 test_that("convert factor to numeric, dummy factors, with NA", {
   x1 <- factor(rep(c("a", "b"), 3))
   x2 <- factor(c("a", NA_character_, "a", "b", "a", "b"))
@@ -153,6 +148,20 @@ test_that("convert factor to numeric, dummy factors, with NA", {
   expect_identical(nrow(to_numeric(x7, dummy_factors = TRUE)), length(x7))
 })
 
+test_that("to_numeric, inverse factor levels", {
+  f <- c(0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0)
+  x1 <- factor(f, levels = c(0, 1))
+  x2 <- factor(f, levels = c(1, 0))
+  out <- to_numeric(x1, dummy_factors = FALSE, preserve_levels = FALSE)
+  expect_identical(out, c(1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 1))
+  out <- to_numeric(x2, dummy_factors = FALSE, preserve_levels = FALSE)
+  expect_identical(out, c(2, 2, 1, 1, 1, 2))
+  out <- to_numeric(x1, dummy_factors = FALSE, preserve_levels = TRUE)
+  expect_identical(out, c(0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0))
+  out <- to_numeric(x2, dummy_factors = FALSE, preserve_levels = TRUE)
+  expect_identical(out, c(1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1))
+})
+
 # select helpers ------------------------------
 test_that("to_numeric regex", {
   expect_identical(