EDI 855 - Purchase Order Acknowledgment
The EDI 855 Purchase Order Acknowledgment is sent by the seller to confirm the receipt of a purchase order (EDI 850) from a buyer. Learn about EDI 855s by reading the guide below.
If you need to send or receive EDI 855s, contact our team of EDI experts today.
EDI 855: Purchase Order Acknowledgement (POA)
What is an EDI 855 Purchase Order Acknowledgment (POA)?
The EDI 855 Purchase Order Acknowledgment is sent by a seller to a buyer in response to an EDI 850 Purchase Order, confirming the receipt of a new order.
How is an EDI 855 Purchase Order Acknowledgement (POA) used?
The EDI 855 is often required by both large retailers and distributors. In addition to requiring its use, trading partners will often demand that it be sent within a predetermined timeframe or in a specific step of the EDI order process workflow.
Additionally, it is worth noting the EDI 855 transaction essentially eliminates the need to call or fax confirmation. And, the EDI 855 is NOT intended to replace the EDI 997 Functional Acknowledgment.
The EDI 855 is solely intended to notify the buyer that an order has been both received and processed.
After an EDI 855 is received by the buyer, a 997 Functional Acknowledgement is then sent back by the buying trading partner to indicate the successful reception of the EDI 855 transaction.
EDI 855 Format
Here are the essential components of an EDI 855.
The EDI 855 of course confirms the receipt of a new order, but it also contains information as to whether the order was accepted, as well as required changes or rejections. Specifically, the EDI 855 must contain:
1. Information from the EDI 850 Purchase Order, including the number and date of the order, general product information, and delivery information.
2. A vendor number for the seller
3. Changes, errors, or other discrepancies that must be corrected such as:
a. Inaccurate pricing or part numbers
b. Insufficient inventory
c. backorders, canceled quantities, or discontinued items
Here is an EDI 855 order series within the Cleo Integration Cloud Platform
Example EDI 855 transaction exchange:
1. First, An EDI 850 Purchase Order is sent from your trading partner (Autozone in this example) and received by your business
2. Second, your Cleo EDI Platform creates and sends an EDI 855 Purchase Order Acknowledgment to your trading partner to recognize that the EDI 850 Purchase Order was received.
3. Third, Cleo's cloud-based EDI platform generates an EDI 856 and sends the document to your trading partner, giving information on the contents of the shipment.
4. Fourth, Cleo Integration Cloud generates an automated EDI 810 invoice and sends the invoice to Autozone as a receipt for goods purchased.
5. Fifth, your trading partner sends an EDI 820 Order Remittance Advice to send the terms of the impending payment for goods purchased.
EDI 855 Specification
This X12 Transaction Set contains the format and establishes the data contents of the Purchase Order Acknowledgment Transaction Set (855) for use within the context of an Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) environment. The transaction set can be used to provide for customary and established business and industry practice relative to a seller's acknowledgment of a buyer's purchase order. This transaction set can also be used as a notification of a vendor-generated order. This usage advises a buyer that a vendor has or will ship merchandise as prearranged in their partnership.
Sources
Accredited Standards Committee X12. ASC X12 Standard [Table Data]. Data Interchange Standards Association, Inc., Falls Church, VA. https://x12.org/index.php/products/transaction-sets
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