Acenda supports X12 EDI (standard 4010) so purchase orders, shipment tracking, inventory levels, and invoices can move automatically between Acenda and your trading partners. Which documents go which direction depends on the kind of connection: whether Acenda is placing orders with a fulfillment partner, or Acenda is the vendor side of a retailer's drop-ship program.
EDI connections can run over direct SFTP or AS2, or through a third-party EDI network such as SPS Commerce or Orderful. Setup is done together with your Acenda team — see Getting started below.
Which direction documents flow
Acenda supports EDI in two directions, and which one applies depends on the connection:
You're the buyer (the common case): Acenda connects to a fulfillment provider, 3PL, or dropship supplier who ships and stocks your orders. Acenda sends them the 850 Purchase Order. They send back the 855 PO Acknowledgment, the 856 Advance Ship Notice (shipment and tracking), the 846 Inventory Advice (stock levels), and the 810 Invoice.
You're the vendor (drop-ship retail connections): for marketplaces you drop-ship for directly over EDI — for example Sam's Club — the roles reverse. The retailer sends Acenda the 850 Purchase Order, and Acenda sends back the 855 Acknowledgment, the 856 Ship Notice, and the 810 Invoice.
A 997 Functional Acknowledgment confirms that a file arrived and could be read. It's separate from the 855, which is the business answer to a purchase order.
How your connection reaches Acenda
Acenda supports a few ways to carry these documents:
Direct SFTP — the standard setup for a fulfillment-provider connection. Files are picked up from, and dropped to, an SFTP folder on a schedule.
Direct AS2 — used for certain drop-ship retail connections, set up by the Acenda team one partner at a time (for example Sam's Club). Documents are signed and encrypted point-to-point, with a signed receipt for every message.
SPS Commerce — supported both as a fulfillment-provider connection and as a retailer drop-ship connection.
Orderful — used for some drop-ship retail connections. Check with your Acenda team whether it fits your setup.
If your organization needs AS2, or an EDI document not covered here, work with your Acenda team to get it set up.
What happens in Acenda when a document arrives
856 Advance Ship Notice: creates or updates a Ship Advice against the matching order and carries the tracking number through to the sales channel. See How to connect a fulfillment provider.
846 Inventory Advice: updates On Hand stock for the warehouse tied to that EDI connection, which then feeds any Inventory Floor you've set for a marketplace. Each warehouse needs that EDI connection selected as its Fulfillment Provider — see How to add and manage warehouses.
855 Acknowledgment: records your partner's response to the purchase order against the matching order.
810 Invoice and 997 Functional Acknowledgment: received and processed with the related order. If you need invoice details in a specific place, ask your Acenda team how your connection is set up.
Where to find your EDI connection
In the sidebar, under CHANNELS, click Integrations. An EDI connection to a fulfillment provider shows there as a Fulfillment Provider integration; a drop-ship retail EDI connection (like Sam's Club) shows as a Sales Channel integration.
Getting started
EDI setup is done together with your Acenda team — it isn't self-serve. Before you reach out, it helps to have:
Your trading partner's details, and whether they connect via SFTP, AS2, SPS Commerce, or Orderful.
Which documents you need (850, 855, 856, 846, 810).
Test files or a sample EDI interchange, if your partner can provide one.
A contact on your EDI or IT team for setup questions.
Then contact Acenda Support to get the connection configured.
Keep credentials private: don't send real connection details — SFTP host, username or password, AS2 IDs, or API keys — in a support ticket or anywhere else; your Acenda team sets those up with you directly. Use placeholders like YOUR_SFTP_HOST if you need to reference them in writing.
Troubleshooting & FAQ
An Advance Ship Notice (856) doesn't create a Ship Advice: Acenda couldn't match the file to an open order — usually because the purchase order or order reference on the file doesn't match an order in Acenda, or the order was already fully shipped. Confirm the order reference your partner is sending matches what Acenda expects.
846 inventory doesn't update stock: most often the warehouse on your EDI connection isn't set, or the item identifier your partner sends (vendor number, UPC, or EAN) doesn't match a SKU in Acenda. Check the Fulfillment Provider ID on the warehouse (see How to add and manage warehouses) and confirm your partner is sending the identifier your connection is configured to match on.
A line item doesn't match a product: the item identifier (vendor number, UPC, or EAN) on the file has to match the identifier Acenda has on file for that product.
Need the EDI specification or sample files? The old public spec page is no longer online, so ask Acenda Support for the current spec and sample files.
Related articles
Still stuck? Contact Acenda Support and tell Acenda support the trading partner name and which document type (850/855/856/846/810) is involved.
Keywords
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