The EDI 812 credit and debit adjustment is the document that makes a deduction explicit and disputable, instead of a silent short payment you find weeks later on a remittance.
Most retail deductions arrive as a smaller payment and an explanation you have to go looking for. The 812 credit and debit adjustment is the opposite: an explicit document, with an amount, a reason and a reference to the order it came from. Fewer retailers use it than should. When one does, take it, because a claim you can see is a claim you can dispute.
The EDI 812 is the transaction set used to raise or settle a financial adjustment against an invoice, outside of the invoice itself. A retailer sends one to claim money back: a shortage, a pricing difference, a compliance failure, an allowance. A supplier sends one to issue a credit: a return, an agreed markdown, a correction.
It sits alongside the 810 invoice and the 820 remittance advice rather than replacing either. The 810 is what you asked for. The 820 is what they paid. The 812 is the argument about the difference, stated as a document rather than inferred from a shortfall.
Adoption is uneven. Some grocery, mass and distribution partners use it routinely. Plenty of apparel and department store retailers do not use it at all and simply deduct on the remittance, which is why many brands have never seen one. If one of your accounts offers it, it is worth taking, because it converts an invisible problem into a visible one.
A simplified debit adjustment claiming a shortage against one invoice.
ST*812*0001 / BCD*ADJ88213*20260812*D*580.00**INV10022*20260731 / N1*BY*BIG RETAILER / N1*SE*YOUR BRAND**91*VENDOR123 / REF*PO*4500098765 / IT1*1*40*EA*14.50**UP*012345678912 / CDD*A1*580.00*ADJ*Shortage on receipt / SE*8*0001| BCD | Beginning credit or debit adjustment. Carries the adjustment number, the date, whether it is a credit or a debit, the total amount, and the invoice it is being raised against. |
| N1 BY / N1 SE | Buyer and seller. The seller segment normally carries your vendor number, which tells you which account the claim belongs to. |
| REF | Reference identifiers. The purchase order number here is what lets you tie the claim back to a specific order rather than just an invoice. |
| IT1 | Line item detail where the adjustment is line specific: quantity, unit of measure, price and item identifier. |
| CDD | Credit or debit adjustment detail. The reason code, the amount and usually free text. This is the segment you actually argue with. |
| SE | Closes the transaction set with a segment count. |
The example claims 580.00 back against invoice INV10022 for a shortage of 40 units on purchase order 4500098765. Everything needed to test the claim is in the file: the order, the invoice, the item and the quantity. Compare that with the same 580 arriving as a short payment on a remittance, where you have the amount and nothing else.
| EDI 812 | Deduction on the 820 | |
|---|---|---|
| How you learn about it | A document arrives, usually before or independent of payment | A payment is smaller than expected |
| Reason | Coded in CDD, often with free text | Sometimes in an ADX segment, sometimes only in a portal, sometimes nowhere |
| Traceability | Carries invoice and usually purchase order references | Invoice level at best |
| Timing | Can arrive early enough to dispute before cash is affected | You are already short the money |
| Adoption | Uneven. Common in grocery, mass and distribution | Near universal |
AIMS360 imports the 812 and matches it to the invoice and purchase order it references, both of which already carry the shipment, the ASN and the carton detail. A shortage claim lands next to the ASN that declared the quantity, rather than in a spreadsheet someone reconciles later.
An inbound debit adjustment becomes a tracked claim with an owner and a deadline, not an email.
Chargeback management holds the ASN timestamp, carton manifest and invoice line against the same order, so a dispute goes out complete.
Supplier initiated credits for returns or agreed markdowns generate from accounting against the original invoice.
Structured reasons mean you can see which failure is actually costing you across accounts, rather than treating each claim as a one off.
It raises or settles a financial adjustment against an invoice. A retailer sends one to claim money back for a shortage, a pricing difference, a compliance failure or an allowance. A supplier sends one to issue a credit for a return, an agreed markdown or a correction. It is an explicit document with an amount, a reason code and a reference to the invoice and often the purchase order.
Visibility and traceability. An 812 arrives as its own document with a reason code and references, often before or independent of the payment. A deduction on the 820 shows up as a smaller payment, sometimes itemized in an ADX segment and sometimes not explained at all outside a portal. Since dispute windows run from the deduction rather than from when you notice it, the 812 effectively gives you more time.
No. Adoption is uneven. It appears more often in grocery, mass and distribution relationships than in apparel or department stores, many of which simply deduct on the remittance. Costco lists it in its transaction set. Macy's does not publish one at all. If one of your accounts offers it, set it up, because an explicit claim is easier to work than an unexplained shortfall.
Both directions are valid. Suppliers use it to issue credits, typically for authorized returns, agreed markdown allowances or correcting an invoice that was overstated. Whether a given retailer will accept a supplier initiated 812 is an account level question, and some prefer credits to arrive as a corrected invoice instead. Confirm before building it.
The CDD segment carries an adjustment reason code, and the standard provides a broad list covering shortages, pricing differences, damage, allowances, returns and compliance charges. In practice the meaningful set is whatever your retailer actually uses, and the accompanying free text is often more informative than the code. Do not build reporting on a code list from another account.
The 810 is the invoice, what you asked for. The 820 is the remittance, what was paid and what was held back. The 812 is the adjustment in between, raising or settling a specific amount against a specific invoice. In a relationship that uses all three, an 812 usually precedes the netted payment, so you see the claim before you see the shortfall.
Last reviewed 7 August 2026 by the AIMS360 EDI team. Segment detail reflects the ANSI ASC X12 812 transaction set. Adoption, reason code usage and dispute windows vary by retailer and can change. Confirm against the guideline issued to your vendor account.
See AIMS360 tie every adjustment back to the order, shipment and invoice, in a 30 minute demo.
