Guide

What is ANSI X12 Standard?

On September 8, 2020 by Karthikeyan Mani Kannan

The ANSI X12 EDI standard was developed by the Accredited Standards Committee ( ASC ) in 1979. The ASC is a standards organization chartered and supervised by the ANSI ( American National Standards Institute ). The X12 standard was developed by ANSI to design uniform standards for the multi-industry electronic exchange of documents. While the ANSI X12 was initially developed to cater to various industries across North America, thousands of companies worldwide started using this EDI standard because of its increase in popularity. 

The X12 allows companies to transfer electronic documents without compatibility or security issues. The X12 maintains a standardized electronic data transfer system, improving the efficiency of communications between businesses. 

As one of the most commonly used EDI standards, the X12 is adopted across various industry verticals and regions. A prominent use case being the healthcare industry due to the HIPAA (Health insurance portability and accountability act) regulations in 1996. The HIPAA EDI transactions are based on the X12 EDI standard. 

Other main industries that are adopting the ANSI X12 EDI standard

• Insurance sector
• Government services
• Logistics industry
• Retail
• Finance sector

An essential feature of the ANSI X12 EDI standard is the detailed transaction set, which covers many common business transactions such as shipment notices, purchase orders, and so on. Each of these business transactions is assigned a three-digit number such as 810 for the invoice, 850 for the purchase order, 945 for warehouse shipping advice, etc. 

List of a few X12 documents used in Retail

The EDI 810 is sent by the supplier to the buyer to request payment for the goods or services.

X12 816

The EDI 816 provides the trading partner with the seller’s address and corresponding codes.

ANSI X12 824

Trading partners use EDI 824 to inform their partners if the transaction is accepted or rejected. ANSI X12 850

EDI 850 is the electronic version of a Purchase Order sent by a buyer to a supplier requesting goods or services.

X12 856

The EDI 856, commonly known as Advance Shipment Notice, conveys the contents of a shipment to a trading partner.

X12 860

The EDI 860 is used by buyers to request a change to the purchase order.

X12 864

The 864 is used by trading partners to exchange text-based messages with regard to errors or rejections.

X12 940

Represents a buyer’s or seller’s request to ship specific products from a warehouse to the buyer, as stated in the request.

X12 945

The EDI 945 acts as a confirmation. It is sent from the warehouse to the shipping partner when the shipment has taken place.

X12 997

EDI 997 or functional acknowledgment is sent as a response to other EDI transactions that are received.

X12 944

EDI 944, also known as Warehouse Stock Transfer Receipt Advice, is used to inform suppliers that a shipment took place successfully.