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An EDI 850 is the X12 Purchase Order Transaction Set: a structured electronic document businesses use to place orders for goods or services. On the wire, it is a sequence of coded segments rather than a human-readable form. X12’s annotated 004010 Basic Purchase Order example shows how those segments describe an order, its buyer, and its line item.
What an EDI 850 does—and does not do
X12 defines the 850 as the Purchase Order Transaction Set for use in an electronic data interchange environment. It supports customary business and industry practices for placing orders for goods and services. X12 explicitly says the 850 should not be used to convey purchase-order changes or purchase-order acknowledgment information; those are separate transaction purposes. See X12’s 850 description.
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The example below is specifically an X12 version 004010 sample, under the 004010X357 context. It is useful for learning how an order is represented, but it is not a 005010 example or a universal checklist of segments every trading partner requires. X12’s examples index includes examples in different version contexts.
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ST*850*0001~
BEG*00*RL*508517*1001*20000506**NA*IEL~
N1*BY*ABC Aerospace Corporation*9*123456789-0101~
N3*1000 BOARDWALK DRIVE~
N4*SOMEWHERE*CA*98898~
PO1*1*48*EA*3*PE*MG*R5656-2~
IT8*******B0~
CTT*1~
AMT*TT*144~
SE*10*0001~This is X12’s annotated 004010 example of ABC Aerospace ordering one line item from XYZ Aircraft Parts. In the displayed transmission, asterisks separate elements within a segment and tildes mark segment endings. These visible characters are features of this sample, not a promise that every interchange or partner implementation uses the same delimiters. Check the applicable version and trading-partner guide for implementation details.
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What each segment says
Start the transaction and identify the order
ST*850*0001~starts a purchase-order transaction set. The value850identifies its transaction type, and0001is the transaction control number in this sample.BEG*00*RL*508517*1001*20000506**NA*IEL~supplies the order’s beginning context. X12 annotates it as an original/release/delivery order, with purchase-order number508517, release number1001, and date20000506(May 6, 2000), followed by additional coded values.
Identify the buyer and location
N1*BY*ABC Aerospace Corporation*9*123456789-0101~identifies ABC Aerospace Corporation as the buyer. The segment also includes an identification qualifier and identifier.N3*1000 BOARDWALK DRIVE~provides the street address.N4*SOMEWHERE*CA*98898~provides locality, state, and postal code.
Describe the ordered line
PO1*1*48*EA*3*PE*MG*R5656-2~describes line 1: quantity 48, unit of measureEA(each), and price 3 per each. It also provides product-identification qualifiers and the listed manufacturer’s part number,R5656-2.IT8*******B0~conveys that product substitution is not allowed in this example.
Give the count and total, then close
CTT*1~reports one line item.AMT*TT*144~gives the order total as $144. That matches the example’s 48 units at $3 each; these are illustrative values in this transaction, not an industry statistic.SE*10*0001~ends the transaction set. The segment count is 10, and the control number matches the0001in the openingSTsegment.
These interpretations follow X12’s annotations for its 004010 Basic Purchase Order example. A trading partner’s implementation guide determines which segments, codes, identifiers, and formatting details are required in an actual exchange.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to use this example without treating it as a template
Read the sample as a compact map of an order: transaction identity, order context, buyer and address, line details, totals, and transaction closure. For implementation, first establish the applicable X12 version and the trading-partner guide; then validate the segments and codes against those requirements. The example demonstrates one 004010 aerospace order, not every buyer’s required fields or current partner rules.
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