Based on the Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) X12 format, the 850 can be used to provide customary and established business and industry practices relative to the placement of purchase orders for goods and services. This transaction set should not be used to convey purchase-order changes or purchase-order acknowledgment information.
Within the retail industry, two distinct methods for ordering goods have been identified. The first type or "basic" one is the most common: goods are ordered separately for each location, e.g., one store ordering per purchase order. The second type or "spreadsheet," is utilized to order the same item for multiple locations, e.g., a specific quantity of one item being distributed to multiple locations.