SPICE™ Glossary / Functional acknowledgment (EDI 997)

Functional acknowledgment (EDI 997)

A functional acknowledgment (EDI 997) is an X12 transaction set the receiver returns to confirm that a group of EDI documents arrived and whether they passed syntax checks.

When a trading partner receives an EDI interchange, its translator checks the structure of each functional group and transaction set: required segments, valid codes, correct counts and envelopes. It then sends back a 997 reporting the result. The 997 can show a group as accepted, accepted with errors, partially accepted or rejected, and can point to the segments and elements that failed.

A 997 is a technical acknowledgment, not a business one. It says the file was readable, not that the order will be filled. Confirming items, quantities, prices and dates is the job of the PO acknowledgment (EDI 855). The related 999 implementation acknowledgment also reports compliance with the implementation guide and is used mainly in healthcare.

Missing 997s are an early warning. If a trading partner hasn’t acknowledged a document within the expected window, it may never have arrived, and the order, ship notice or invoice behind it may be stuck. Many retailers also require suppliers to return 997s on time and treat late or missing ones as a vendor compliance issue.

How SPICE™ handles it

SPICE™ tracks technical acknowledgments alongside the business documents they relate to. SPICE Insight™ connects each order, acknowledgment, shipment and invoice into one lifecycle and flags gaps, such as an acknowledgment that hasn’t arrived past its expected time, so your team can act before it becomes a missed shipment or a disputed invoice. See visibility and exception management.

Related terms

EDI transaction set

ANSI X12

PO acknowledgment (EDI 855)

Exception management

Vendor compliance

AS2

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FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a 997 and an 855?

A 997 confirms that an EDI document was received and passed syntax checks. An 855 is a business response to a purchase order, accepting, changing or rejecting items, quantities, prices or dates. A purchase order typically gets both: a 997 first, then an 855.

What is the difference between a 997 and a 999?

Both are technical acknowledgments in X12. The 999 implementation acknowledgment adds reporting on compliance with the implementation guide and is mainly used for healthcare transactions. Most supply chain trading partners use the 997.