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Order to cash in EDI

Follow one order from purchase order to payment: which document moves at each step, who sends it, what it carries and what happens in your ERP.

850 to 820
X12 and EDIFACT names
Real X12 at every step

Interactive walkthrough

One order, start to finish

Contoso Supply orders from Fabrikam Industrial, your company. Comparatio sits between them, translating each document to and from your ERP. Step through it, or press Play.

Names:

Order change (860 and 865)Receiving advice (861)

Customer

Contoso Supply

Your customer, the buyer

Sends PO-48213 (sends)

Comparatio

Managed EDI

Translates, checks, monitors

Checks and translates (passes it on)

Your ERP

Fabrikam Industrial

Prophet 21, NetSuite or CloudSuite Distribution

Sales order created (receives)

Step 1 of 7

Order

850 Purchase order

EDIFACT ORDERS · From Contoso Supply to Fabrikam Industrial, by way of Contoso Supply → Managed EDI → Fabrikam Industrial

What it carries: Purchase order PO-48213, dated October 27: ship to Contoso Supply DC 3, delivery requested November 3, and two lines: 24 hex bolts (your item FB-2201) at $18.75 and 6 boxes of cable ties (FB-3005) at $9.40.
What Comparatio does: Receives the 850, checks it against Contoso’s requirements and your item data, and translates it into a sales order your ERP can take in.
In your ERP: A sales order is created for Contoso Supply, with PO-48213 as the customer PO, the DC 3 ship-to and both lines, ready to pick.

The X12 850, as sent

ST*850*0001~Transaction Set Header
BEG*00*SA*PO-48213**20261027~Beginning Segment for Purchase Order
DTM*002*20261103~Date/Time Reference
N1*ST*Contoso Supply DC 3*92*0003~Name
PO1*1*24*EA*18.75*PE*VN*FB-2201~Baseline Item Data
PO1*2*6*BX*9.40*PE*VN*FB-3005~Baseline Item Data
CTT*2~Transaction Totals
SE*8*0001~Transaction Set Trailer

Read the EDI 850 guide

Reference

The order-to-cash documents at a glance

The EDI documents in the order-to-cash flow, with their X12 and EDIFACT names
Step	X12	EDIFACT	Sent by	What it does
Order	850 Purchase order	ORDERS (Purchase order)	Contoso Supply	Orders the goods
Receipt	997 Functional acknowledgment	CONTRL (Syntax and service report)	Comparatio, for Fabrikam Industrial	Confirms a file arrived and could be read
Confirm	855 Purchase order acknowledgment	ORDRSP (Purchase order response)	Fabrikam Industrial	Accepts, changes or rejects each line
Change (optional)	860 Purchase order change request	ORDCHG (Purchase order change request)	Contoso Supply	Changes an open order
Change (optional)	865 Purchase order change acknowledgment	ORDRSP (Purchase order response)	Fabrikam Industrial	Answers the change
Ship	856 Advance ship notice	DESADV (Despatch advice)	Fabrikam Industrial	Says what is on the truck, carton by carton
Receive (optional)	861 Receiving advice	RECADV (Receiving advice)	Contoso Supply	Reports what was received
Bill	810 Invoice	INVOIC (Invoice)	Fabrikam Industrial	Bills the shipment
Pay	820 Payment order/remittance advice	REMADV (Remittance advice)	Contoso Supply	Says which invoices a payment covers

X12 is the North American standard; EDIFACT is used mostly in Europe and international trade. In EDIFACT, ORDRSP answers both an order and a change.

FAQ

Order-to-cash questions

What is the difference between the 997 and the 855?

The 997 functional acknowledgment only confirms that a file arrived and could be read; the receiving system sends it automatically. The 855 purchase order acknowledgment is a business answer: which lines you accept, at what quantity and when they ship. Many customers ask for both.

Which of these documents does a customer require?

Each trading partner decides, and lists it in their implementation guide. The 850, 856 and 810, with a 997 for each, are the most common set; many partners add the 855, and some the 860, 861 or 820.

What are these documents called in EDIFACT?

EDIFACT, the UN standard used mostly outside North America, has its own message names: ORDERS for the purchase order, ORDRSP for the order response (it also answers a change), ORDCHG for a change, DESADV for the despatch advice, RECADV for the receiving advice, INVOIC for the invoice, REMADV for the remittance advice and CONTRL for the syntax acknowledgment.

We run this flow for you

Comparatio builds, tests and monitors every document in it, between your customers and Prophet 21, NetSuite or CloudSuite Distribution.

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