EDI Insights & Facts: Different Types of Acknowledgments

EDI acknowledgments are essential for confirming receipt, processing, and acceptance of transmitted EDI documents.

Here are the different types of acknowledgments commonly used in EDI:

Description: Confirms the receipt of an EDI document and verifies its syntactical correctness (e.g., no missing or incorrect segments or elements).
Purpose:
- Indicates whether the EDI document has been received successfully.
- Notifies the sender of errors in the document structure.
Key Document: 997 Functional Acknowledgment
Example: When a sender transmits an 850 Purchase Order, they might receive a 997 confirming that the file was received and syntactically correct.

Description: Confirms that the content of the EDI document was successfully processed by the application.
Purpose:
- Validates business-level data (e.g., purchase order was accepted or rejected).
Key Documents:
- 855 (Purchase Order Acknowledgment): Confirms the status of a purchase order.
- 865 (Purchase Order Change Acknowledgment/Request): Responds to a request for changes to an order.
- 824 (Application Advice): Provides feedback about errors in the application data.
Example: After sending an 850 Purchase Order, the buyer receives an 855 indicating whether the order was accepted or modified.

Description: Confirms that a transmission has been received at the communication level (e.g., network or protocol level).
Purpose:
- Verifies the communication layer without validating EDI syntax or business content.
Key Protocols:
- AS2 MDN (Message Disposition Notification): Confirms receipt of a message in AS2 communication.
- FTP Response: Confirms successful file transfer in FTP-based communications.

Description: The EDIFACT equivalent of the 997 Functional Acknowledgment in X12.
Purpose:
- Acknowledges receipt of an EDI document.
- Indicates syntactical correctness.
Key Document: CONTRL Message
Example: A CONTRL message is sent to confirm receipt of an EDIFACT ORDERS document and indicate whether there were structural issues.

Description: A protocol-level acknowledgment confirming receipt of an AS2 message.
Purpose:
- Confirms secure message delivery.
- Provides a digital receipt with success or failure status.
Key Document: MDN
Example: After sending an invoice via AS2, the sender receives an MDN confirming successful receipt.

Description: Provides feedback about the interchange envelope structure (ISA/IEA segments) in X12 documents.
Purpose:
- Identifies errors in the interchange header or trailer.
- Validates the integrity of the EDI envelope.
Key Document: TA1 Interchange Acknowledgment
Example: If there is an issue with the ISA segment in an 850 document, a TA1 will be sent to notify the sender of the specific error.

Description: Used in processes like inventory management or financial reconciliation.
Purpose:
- Confirms successful reconciliation of documents like invoices, payments, or inventory adjustments.
Key Documents:
- 820 (Payment Order/Remittance Advice): Confirms payment and reconciliation.
- 861 (Receiving Advice/Acceptance Certificate): Confirms receipt of goods.
Example: A seller sends an 810 Invoice and receives an 820 Payment Advice as an acknowledgment of payment.

Description: Indicates a failure in processing, either at the syntactical or application level.
Purpose:
- Highlights errors in transmission, structure, or business validation.
Key Documents:
- Negative 997: Indicates syntactical errors.
- 824: Indicates application data errors.
Example: A 997 with "R" (Rejected) status informs the sender of structural issues in the transmitted document.

Description: Custom acknowledgments designed to meet specific business or trading partner requirements.
Purpose:
- Provides detailed feedback on the status of a specific transaction or workflow.
Key Documents: Varies based on business needs.
Example: A retailer might send a custom acknowledgment for a unique order processing scenario.

EDI Insights & Facts