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EDI 832 Price/Sales Catalog: How Suppliers Send Item and Price Data to Retailers and Distributors
Last updated: October 12, 2026 · Independent guide · We do not sell rankings or coverage.
The EDI 832 price/sales catalog is the X12 transaction a manufacturer or distributor sends to tell a retailer or distributor what it sells and at what price: item identifiers such as the UPC or GTIN, descriptions, pack and dimension data, prices and the dates those prices take effect. The buyer loads the 832 into its item and cost files, and those files then drive the price on every EDI 850 purchase order it sends you. If the 832 is late, incomplete or wrong, the PO carries the old cost, your EDI 810 invoice bills the new one, and the difference usually comes back to you as a deduction.
The EDI 832 process at a glance
- Build the item record with GTINs, pack and dimension data.
- Set prices and effective dates within each buyer’s notice period.
- Generate the 832 as a full or change catalog for each buyer.
- Transmit, acknowledge and correct the file.
- Confirm the buyer has loaded it before the effective date.
- Reconcile the 832 price against the 850 and 810.
| Stage | Responsible | Accountable / consulted | Output |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Item record | Product data team | Packaging and operations (dimensions), brand owner (GTINs) | Approved item with GTINs, pack and dimensions |
| 2. Pricing and dates | Sales operations or pricing | Account manager and finance approve; buyer informed | Customer price list with effective dates |
| 3. Generate 832 | EDI coordinator | EDI provider consulted on maps | Full or change 832 per buyer |
| 4. Transmit and correct | EDI coordinator | Product data team fixes data errors | Accepted 832 and functional acknowledgment |
| 5. Buyer load | Buyer’s item or cost team | Your account manager confirms | New cost visible in the buyer’s system |
| 6. PO and invoice reconciliation | Customer service and accounts receivable | Sales operations owns disputes on price | Matched 850 and 810, dispute file for any deduction |
The roles above are a typical split we suggest, not a published standard. Smaller suppliers often give stages 1 to 4 to one person.
Stage 1: Build the item record and its GTINs
The product data team owns this stage. The output is an approved item with an identifier at every level the buyer orders or receives: the consumer unit, any inner pack and the shipping case.
GS1 US describes the GTIN-12 as “synonymous with UPC” and the GTIN-14 as the number for groupings such as a case, “NOT intended for POS use” (GS1 US, no date shown). Harbor Foodservice’s guide, authored by SPS Commerce, uses UK for the 14-digit GTIN and states that “GTIN (LIN02=UK) is preferred, but if not available a vendor number must be sent” (Harbor Foodservice 832 guide, February 19, 2024). Insight makes the UPC mandatory when one has been assigned (Insight 832 guide v3.4, October 29, 2025).
Controls. Check every GTIN against the GS1 GTIN Management Standard before a change goes out. The standard requires a new GTIN for a change to declared net content, a change of more than 20% in any dimension or gross weight, a change to the primary brand, and a change in the number of items in a case (the case GTIN changes, the consumer unit does not). A price change alone does not need a new GTIN unless the price is printed on the pack (GS1 GTIN Management Standard, Release 1.1, September 2023).
What goes wrong. Suppliers change the case count from 12 to 10 but keep the case GTIN and send only a PO4 pack update. The buyer’s system now has one GTIN with two pack sizes, and the cost per case on its PO no longer matches your invoice.
Stage 2: Set prices and effective dates
Sales operations owns this stage, with approval from the account manager and finance. The output is a customer price list where every price carries a start date and, for promotions, an end date.
In the 832, the price sits in the CTP segment. The price identifier in CTP02 tells the buyer what kind of price it is. Harbor Foodservice accepts contract price (CON), discount price (DPR), promotional price (PRP) and unit cost price (UCP), and requires promotion start and end dates when PRP is sent. CVS’s 2026 guide for its IMS catalog uses INV, the invoice billing price, and allows a multiplier in CTP07 where “.90” represents a 10% discount (CVS 832 IMS guide v1.0, July 16, 2026). Insight states that “a CTP with a CON qualifier is mandatory.”
The effective date travels in a DTM segment with qualifier 007. CVS, Insight, Harbor Foodservice and the Electronic Components Industry Association (ECIA) all use it (ECIA 832 guide, May 2017).
Controls. Work back from the buyer’s notice period. Gordon Food Service, a foodservice distributor, requires “45 days’ written notice for all cost changes,” requires the effective date to fall on a Sunday, and bases it on the order date (Gordon Food Service, effective November 2, 2025). It takes cost changes on its own Excel form rather than an 832, so keep a per-customer record of how each buyer wants price changes delivered.
What goes wrong. Pricing approves an increase effective on the 1st, but the 832 goes out on the 28th of the prior month. The buyer cannot load it in time, and every PO cut in the gap carries the old cost.
Stage 3: Generate the 832 as a full or change catalog
The EDI coordinator owns this stage, working with the EDI provider that maintains the maps. The output is one 832 per buyer, built to that buyer’s guide. First decide between a full and a change catalog. BCT10 carries the transaction purpose and G53 an item-level maintenance code, and buyers read them differently:
| Buyer guide | Full catalog | Change catalog | Item-level codes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Insight (October 29, 2025) | BCT10 = 00; “A full file (00) indicates an implicit delete to Insight” | BCT10 = 04, only changes reported | No G53; UNSPSC required for new items |
| ECIA (May 2017) | BCT10 = 00, “Full Catalog” | BCT10 = 04, “Delta Catalog” | G53 used with BCT10 = 00 |
| Harbor Foodservice (February 19, 2024) | “Absence of BCT03 indicates entire catalog” | BCT10 = 02 Add or 05 Replace | G53 001 Change, 003 Add; G53 takes precedence over BCT10 |
| CVS IMS (July 16, 2026) | BCT10 = 00 only | Handled at item level | G53 001 Change, 002 Delete, 003 Add |
The Insight rule matters most. If you send a full file to a buyer that treats it as an implicit delete and your extract misses items, those items drop out of the buyer’s catalog.
PID holds the description and PO4 the pack data: CVS and Harbor Foodservice define PO401 as the number of inner containers or eaches per outer container, PO402 as the unit size and PO403 as the unit of measure. Insight requires PO4 length, width and height in inches and a gross weight above zero for inventory items. The 004010 standard also offers MEA for measurements and CTT for the LIN count (Stedi X12 004010 832 reference, no date shown; Stedi sells EDI software).
Illustration. A change record for one item might carry LIN with UK 10012345678902 (the case GTIN) and UI 012345678905 (the consumer unit UPC), G53 001, PO4 12, CTP with UCP at 10.80, and DTM*007 with the effective date. These numbers are made up for this example.
What goes wrong. One generic map serves every buyer, so a CON price that Insight requires reaches a buyer that expects UCP or INV.
Stage 4: Transmit, acknowledge and correct
The EDI coordinator owns transmission. Cleo, which sells EDI software, notes that a 997 functional acknowledgment is sent back after an 832 is received (Cleo, no date shown). A 997 confirms receipt, not that the buyer accepted your prices.
Check envelope rules before go-live. Insight states that it “only accepts 1 832 transaction set per ISA envelope.”
Controls. Alert on any 832 without a 997, and send data rejections back to the product data team instead of patching the map.
Stage 5: Confirm the buyer has loaded the catalog
The buyer’s item or cost team owns the load, and your account manager should confirm it. Buyers load 832 data into their item master and cost files, and the 850 is generated from those files. Not every buyer uses the 832 for this. Kroger’s EDI FAQ states that “Data related to item information is stored and maintained in our procurement applications, not within EDI” (Kroger EDI FAQ, no date shown).
SPS Commerce, which sells item data services, notes that the 832 “only accommodates a limited set of data attributes,” so some retailers ask for additional attributes on a spreadsheet (SPS Commerce, no date shown).
What goes wrong. The 832 was accepted, but a buyer analyst holds the cost change for review. You only find out when the first deduction posts.
Stage 6: Reconcile the 832 price to the 850 and 810
Customer service checks the inbound 850 price, and accounts receivable watches remittances. The output is a matched PO and invoice, or a dated dispute file.
SPS Commerce explains that Walmart generates a Code 11 deduction when the invoice cost is higher than the PO cost, and removes the difference from payment. It recommends keeping a record of price changes and effective dates, and not shipping against a wrongly priced PO until the buyer corrects it (SPS Commerce, April 24, 2025). Gordon Food Service states that “The costs shown on the purchase order are the costs that Gordon Food Service will pay.”
Illustration. You send an 832 raising a case cost from $10.20 to $10.80, effective November 1. The buyer loads it late, and a PO dated November 3 still shows $10.20 for 500 cases. If your ERP invoices at $10.80, the buyer short-pays $300 (500 × $0.60). The figures are made up for this example.
Controls. Compare each inbound 850 line price with your customer price list for the PO date, and hold orders that differ before you ship. Our guides to the EDI 850 purchase order and the EDI 810 invoice cover those checks in detail, and our deductions management software guide covers disputing short payments.
Metrics to track
- 832 lead time: days between 832 transmission and the price effective date, against each buyer’s notice period (for example, 45 days at Gordon Food Service).
- Acknowledgment rate: share of 832s with a 997 received, and share rejected.
- PO price match rate: share of 850 lines whose price matches your price list for the PO date.
- Price deductions: count and value of price-related short payments by customer, and the share recovered after dispute.
- Item data completeness: share of active items with GTINs at each pack level and complete PO4 dimensions and weight.
How software supports each stage
ERP (stages 1, 2 and 6). Oracle NetSuite holds price levels, quantity pricing and customer-specific item pricing, and its Effective Date Pricing SuiteApp lets you “set a schedule for specific price changes in advance” (Oracle, no date shown). X12 comes from partners: TrueCommerce lists the 832 for its NetSuite integration without stating direction (TrueCommerce, May 5, 2025), while Orderful’s NetSuite page lists the 850, 810, 856 and 846 but not the 832 (Orderful, no date shown). Confirm 832 support in writing before you choose a provider.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central uses price lists assigned to a customer or customer price group, with dates when each price is valid (Microsoft Learn, August 25, 2026). Item References link your descriptions, units of measure and variants for an item to the terms each customer uses (Microsoft Learn, May 2, 2025). We found no X12 832 generator in Microsoft’s standard documentation, so plan on an AppSource EDI app or an EDI provider.
PIM and item data services (stages 1 and 5). Akeneo Activation exports to retailers through APIs, SFTP or XLSX and CSV flat files, and its help page does not mention EDI or the 832 (Akeneo, no date shown). Syndigo claims connections to more than 3,500 endpoints and GDSN support, and states that 1WorldSync is now part of Syndigo, but its comparison page does not mention the 832 (Syndigo, no date shown). SPS Commerce Assortment says it delivers data to each trading partner as an EDI 832, API, flat file or spreadsheet and validates it against partner business rules (SPS Commerce, no date shown). None of the three publishes pricing on these pages.
EDI provider (stages 3 and 4). Ask for a test 832 against each buyer’s guide, including full and change files.
How we researched this
We read the top-ranking pages for “edi 832” from TrueCommerce, SPS Commerce, Cleo and Logicbroker, all EDI vendors. None compared buyer rules for full and change catalogs or tied the 832 to deductions. We then read 832 guides from CVS, Insight, Harbor Foodservice and ECIA, Gordon Food Service’s cost change rules, the GS1 GTIN Management Standard and vendor documentation, all checked on October 12, 2026.
Related guides
- EDI 846 Inventory Inquiry/Advice: Process and Setup
- EDI 856 ASN: What Suppliers Need From ERP and EDI
Frequently asked questions
What is an EDI 832 used for?
A supplier uses the EDI 832 to send a buyer its item identifiers, descriptions, pack data and prices, with the dates those prices take effect. The buyer loads it into its item and cost files.
What is the difference between a full and a change 832?
A full catalog sends every active item, and a change catalog sends only new, changed or deleted items. Buyers mark the difference in BCT10 and the G53 segment, but their rules vary. Insight treats a full file as an implicit delete, so items missing from it are removed.
Do I need a new UPC when my price changes?
No, not if only the price changes. The GS1 GTIN Management Standard requires a new GTIN when a price printed on the package is added, changed or removed. Price tickets, stickers and hangtags do not count as price on pack.
How far ahead should I send a price change on the 832?
Follow each buyer’s notice period. Gordon Food Service, for example, requires 45 days’ written notice and an effective date on a Sunday. If a buyer publishes none, agree one in writing.
Why did I get a pricing deduction after sending an 832?
Usually the buyer had not loaded the new cost when it cut the PO, so the 850 carried the old price and your 810 billed the new one. Walmart’s Code 11 deduction is one example.
Does every retailer accept the EDI 832?
No. Kroger says its item information is maintained in its procurement applications rather than in EDI. Check each trading partner’s guide before you build a map.
Sources
- CVS Health, 832 Price/Sales Catalog for IMS, Supplier Implementation Guide v1.0, July 16, 2026. cvssuppliers.com
- Insight Direct USA, X12 V4010 832 Price/Sales Catalog vendor guidelines v3.4, October 29, 2025. insight.com
- Harbor Foodservice, 832 Price/Sales Catalog X12 v5010 (authored by SPS Commerce), February 19, 2024. spscommerce.com
- Electronic Components Industry Association, EDI Transaction Set 832 Price/Sales Catalog, May 2017. ecianow.org
- Gordon Food Service, North American Cost Change Requirements, effective November 2, 2025. gfs.ca
- Kroger, EDI Frequently Asked Questions, no date shown. edi.kroger.com
- GS1, GTIN Management Standard, Release 1.1, September 2023. ref.gs1.org
- GS1 US, What is a GTIN, no date shown. gs1us.org
- Stedi (sells EDI software), X12 004010 832 Price/Sales Catalog reference, no date shown. stedi.com
- SPS Commerce (sells EDI and item data services), Code 11: Pricing Overcharge, April 24, 2025. spscommerce.com
- SPS Commerce, EDI 832 Price/Sales Catalog, no date shown. spscommerce.com
- SPS Commerce, SPS Assortment product page, no date shown. spscommerce.com
- Cleo (sells EDI software), EDI 832: Price/Sales Catalog, no date shown. cleo.com
- Oracle NetSuite, Effective Date Pricing, no date shown. docs.oracle.com
- Oracle NetSuite, Item Pricing, no date shown. docs.oracle.com
- TrueCommerce (sells EDI services), NetSuite Integration Overview, May 5, 2025. help.truecommerce.com
- Orderful (sells EDI services), Orderful for NetSuite, no date shown. docs.orderful.com
- Microsoft Learn, Record special sales prices and discounts in Business Central, August 25, 2026. learn.microsoft.com
- Microsoft Learn, Use item references in Business Central, May 2, 2025. learn.microsoft.com
- Akeneo, Akeneo Activation: export your products to the retailers, no date shown. help.akeneo.com
- Syndigo, Syndigo vs. Akeneo, no date shown. syndigo.com
Sherman Hsieh
Independent analysis of enterprise software — ERP, CRM and more
