X12 850 Purchase Order Explained

The X12 850 is one of the highest-volume EDI transaction sets in existence — it's how retailers, distributors, and manufacturers place orders with their suppliers electronically, without a human faxing or emailing a PDF. This guide breaks down exactly what it contains and how to read one.

What Is an X12 850 File?

The 850 Purchase Order transaction set is sent by a buyer to a supplier to formally request goods or services — the electronic equivalent of a paper purchase order. It specifies what's being ordered, in what quantity, at what price, for delivery where and by when. The supplier's system typically responds with an 855 Purchase Order Acknowledgment confirming or adjusting the order, and later an 856 Advance Ship Notice when the goods ship — see X12 856 Explained.

Key Segments in an 850

• BEG (Beginning Segment for Purchase Order) — the PO number, order type, and date. This is where the order officially begins.
• N1 (Name) loop — identifies the buyer, ship-to, and bill-to parties by name and code.
• PO1 (Baseline Item Data) — one per line item: quantity ordered, unit of measure, unit price, and product/UPC identifiers.
• DTM (Date/Time Reference) — requested delivery date and other relevant dates.
• CTT (Transaction Totals) — a control total: number of line items and hash total, used to verify nothing was dropped in transit.

A Worked Example

BEG*00*NE*PO-2024-8891**20240115~
N1*ST*WAREHOUSE 12*92*LOC-12~
PO1*1*100*EA*4.50**VP*SKU-45501~
DTM*002*20240122~
CTT*1~

Read left to right: a new purchase order PO-2024-8891 dated January 15, 2024, shipping to warehouse location LOC-12, for 100 units of SKU-45501 at $4.50 each, requested for delivery by January 22, with one line item total.

The EDIFACT Equivalent

Outside North America, the equivalent document is the EDIFACT ORDERS message, using segments like BGM, DTM, NAD, LIN, QTY, and PRI instead of BEG/N1/PO1/DTM/CTT. See X12 vs EDIFACT for the full standards comparison, or convert an ORDERS file directly on Convert EDIFACT ORDERS to CSV.

Converting an 850 to a Spreadsheet

To turn an 850 file into a readable table, use Convert X12 850 to CSV or Convert X12 850 to Excel — every BEG, N1, PO1, DTM, and CTT segment is labeled automatically, with each line item broken out as its own row.

Frequently Asked Questions