Purchase Order Acknowledgement (POA)

What is a purchase order acknowledgement (POA)?

The primary purpose of the purchase order acknowledgment (EDI 855) is for the supplier to confirm receipt, reject, or request modification of an order back to the trading partner. These changes can include but are not limited to price, quantity, and dates.

The key data elements included in a purchase order acknowledgement.

• Purchase order number
• Expected ship/delivery dates
• Product/service identifiers such as UPC/EAN/GTIN with their respective quantities
• Order and item status (i.e. accepted, rejected, or backordered)

Additional data that may also be included in the purchase order acknowledgement are:

• Vendor number
• Item price
• Additional item identifiers such as Buyer Item Number and Vendor Part Number
• Item description

Benefits

There are benefits to both the purchaser and the supplier of implementing electronic trading of the purchase order acknowledgement. Many of these are dependent on how automated and integrated the transaction is for both parties. Some of the benefits that can be realized include:

• Provide timely and automated visibility into a suppliers commitment to fulfill
• Supports alignment of order information between suppliers and their trading partners
• Reduces post invoice reconciliation issues
• Allows retailers to confirm supplier fulfilled e-commerce orders for end consumers