Payment Order/Remittance Advice
The EDI 820 Payment Order/Remittance Advice tells a supplier what is being paid and why: which invoices, what adjustments, and how the funds are moving.
What is EDI 820?
The EDI 820 is the ANSI X12 Payment Order/Remittance Advice transaction set. Buyers send it to suppliers (and their banks) to initiate or describe a payment, itemizing which invoices are covered, what was short-paid or adjusted, and the payment method and trace numbers.
The 820 answers the question every AR team asks about a bank deposit: "what is this paying?" A single ACH credit might settle forty invoices with three deductions; the 820 lists each one by invoice number so cash application happens automatically instead of by spreadsheet detective work. It typically travels alongside the ACH payment (as a CTX addendum or a separate transmission) and references the EDI 810 invoices being settled. In freight, the same pattern pays carrier invoices: the 820’s remittance detail against EDI 210 freight bills is what keeps carrier AR teams from chasing paper.
Key segments
What's inside an EDI 820.
Example
A sample EDI 820 message.
ST*820*0001~BPR*C*888*C*ACH*CTX~TRN*1*TRACE448821~DTM*097*20260901~N1*PR*Northgate Retail Group~N1*PE*Pacific Supply Co*92*SUP221~ENT*1~RMR*IV*INV-90331**888~SE*9*0001~
Illustrative values in X12 format (segment terminator ~, element separator *) showing the common segments of a 820. Each trading partner's spec defines its own required segments and qualifiers.
Frequently asked
EDI 820 questions, answered.
What is an EDI 820?
The EDI 820 is the X12 Payment Order/Remittance Advice. It communicates payment: which invoices a payment covers, any adjustments or deductions taken, the amount, and how the funds move. Suppliers use it to apply cash automatically instead of manually matching deposits to invoices.
Is an EDI 820 the same as an ACH payment?
No. The ACH transaction moves the money through the banking network; the 820 is the data that explains it. The 820 can ride inside the ACH file as CTX addenda records or travel separately over the EDI connection, tied together by the trace number in the TRN segment.
What is the difference between an EDI 820 and an EDI 835?
Both are remittance advices, but the 835 is the healthcare-specific version used for insurance claim payments under HIPAA. General commerce, retail, and freight use the 820.
How does the 820 handle short payments and deductions?
The RMR segment shows the invoice amount versus the amount paid, and ADX segments carry reason codes for the difference: shortage claims, compliance chargebacks, promotional allowances. That structure is what lets AR teams route disputes instead of discovering them at month-end.
Is the 820 used to pay freight invoices?
Yes. Shippers and brokers that receive carrier EDI 210 freight invoices commonly settle them with 820 remittance data against the carrier’s invoice or PRO numbers, so the carrier’s AR can auto-apply payments across hundreds of loads.
Related transactions
Melrose maintains full segment-level specs for the core freight set (204, 990, 214, 210) and stands up new transaction sets like the 820 on request. See the partner network or book a demo.
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