What is the difference between MABD and the carrier due date?

Both are Walmart dates. MABD is the date a purchase order must be received at the warehouse, the same as the Must Deliver By Date. The Carrier Due Date is different: Walmart's Transportation Department generates it at load level to set carrier delivery expectations, and Walmart notes the two won't necessarily match.

What is the difference between OTIF and fill rate?

Fill rate is the in-full half of OTIF. CVS defines it as how fully a vendor delivers the original items and quantities ordered on a purchase order. Its OTIF compliance program pairs fill rate with on-time delivery, measured against the original purchase order's ship-to-arrive date, freight terms and shipping mode.

What is the difference between an ASN and a bill of lading?

The ASN is the supplier's electronic message to the retailer, describing a shipment before it arrives, sent as an X12 856. The bill of lading records the freight the shipper hands to the carrier, including the number of packages and a description of the freight. CVS lists the bill of lading number among an ASN's business-critical segments.

Is the EDI 856 the same as an ASN?

Yes. "856" is just the X12 transaction set number for the Ship Notice/Manifest, and "ASN" (advance ship notice) is what retailers such as Burlington call the same message. The 856 lists what's in a shipment: order, product, packaging, marking and carrier detail. Retailers then set their own rules for when an ASN counts as accurate.

What is the difference between EDI 856 and EDI 945?

The 856 is the supplier's list of what a shipment contains, sent to the retailer. The 945 is different: it's a warehouse's advice to the depositor, the party whose goods it holds, that a shipment was made, and X12 says it's used to reconcile order quantities with shipment quantities. Same shipment, two different senders.

What is the difference between EDI 810 and EDI 856?

The 810 is the X12 Invoice, the seller's electronic bill for the goods. The 856 is the X12 Ship Notice/Manifest, the list of what the shipment carrying those goods actually contains. Burlington, for example, requires invoices to match shipments and carry line-item detail.

What is the difference between a proof of delivery and a bill of lading?

A bill of lading records the freight a shipper hands to a carrier. A proof of delivery shows something different: that the shipment reached the retailer, and who received it. At some retailers the proof is just a signed copy of the same bill. Burlington, for instance, accepts only a bill of lading signed or stamped by its receivers.

Glossary

Retail Compliance Glossary

This glossary covers the terms a supplier runs into on remittances, scorecards, routing guides and bills of lading: EDI documents, freight documents, retailer programs and deduction terms. Each one is sourced to the standard or document that defines it, and where a term belongs to one retailer, it's attributed to that retailer. Retailer rules change, so when a definition here and a retailer's current vendor manual disagree, the governing document wins.

Retailer programs and dates

SQEP (Supplier Quality Excellence Program)

SQEP, the Supplier Quality Excellence Program, is Walmart's program to evaluate, measure and monitor suppliers' inbound quality across all of its U.S. distribution networks. Walmart grades receiving on four rights: right item, right condition, right invoice and right time. Its standards state that suppliers may be required to offset additional costs caused by non-compliance.

SQEP is Walmart's term, defined in its own supply chain standards, which describe the program as pursuing end-to-end quality through supplier compliance. The PO Accuracy Compliance table published under SQEP lists three defects tied to the advance ship notice: "No ASN Received", "ASN Error" and "Late ASN". Read those alongside the ASN entry.

MABD (Must Arrive By Date)

MABD (Must Arrive By Date) is Walmart's term for the date by which a purchase order must be received at the warehouse, equal to the Must Deliver By Date. Walmart asks for it in the bill of lading's Must Deliver By Date field so the carrier understands the delivery expectation, using the earliest MABD when one bill covers several orders.

MABD is not the only date on a Walmart shipment. Walmart separately defines a Carrier Due Date: the date its Transportation Department generates at load level to set carrier delivery expectations. Walmart's glossary notes that the Carrier Due Date will not necessarily match the MABD.

Related: Bill of lading · EDI 850

OTIF (on-time in-full)

OTIF (on-time in-full) is a retailer's measure of whether a purchase order arrived when required and with the quantities ordered; each retailer defines both halves. CVS's OTIF compliance program pairs on-time delivery, measured against the original purchase order's ship-to-arrive (STA) date, freight terms and shipping mode, with fill rate: how fully a vendor delivers the items and quantities ordered.

CVS defines on-time delivery as a measure of the extent to which a vendor's merchandise deliveries meet its scheduled delivery requirements. It defines fill rate as a measure of the extent to which a vendor delivers the original items and quantities ordered on a purchase order. The timing basis and the quantity rules sit in each retailer's own program document, so read the current version before working an OTIF deduction.

Related: MABD (a date on an order, not a performance measure) · Compliance chargebacks

Routing guide

A routing guide is a retailer's rulebook for getting freight to it: how to request routing, how to schedule and document the shipment, and how to pack it. CVS's guide covers routing, scheduling, documentation and packaging and is incorporated by reference into its purchase orders. Burlington requires every collect purchase order to request routing through its Transportation Management System.

CVS states that noncompliance with its routing and freight handling requirements results in a chargeback of the excess expenses incurred plus an administrative fee. At Burlington, the routing request returns a routing confirmation number (RTS#). Burlington pays the freight on a collect shipment when the vendor routes it through its Transportation Management System portal, uses a carrier Burlington assigns and meets its other requirements.

Vendor compliance

Vendor compliance names two things on the retailer side: the vendor compliance manual and the vendor compliance department. A retailer deduction almost always originates in that manual or a routing guide that defines what correct looks like, and the retailer issues the chargeback through its accounts payable or vendor compliance department. The supplier sees the same charge as a short-pay in its own accounts receivable. Chargeback is the term the retailer's compliance group uses; deduction is what accounts receivable calls it. Burlington bills labeling non-conformance under its Vendor Compliance (VC) program. Ross's Vendor Compliance Manual is not public, sitting behind the password-gated Ross Partners portal.

Chargeback is the term the retailer's compliance group uses; deduction is what accounts receivable calls it.

EDI transaction sets

EDI 850 (Purchase Order)

EDI 850 is the X12 Purchase Order transaction set: the electronic purchase order a buyer sends to place an order for goods or services. X12 says it should not carry purchase order changes or acknowledgments. Burlington takes its ship window from the 850 and uses the 850's purchase order dates, exactly as shown, for its delivery window.

Burlington describes the 850 as used to electronically advise the seller of a request for the delivery of a purchased product, and lists a separate 860 transmission for changes or cancellations to the original 850. Its ship window runs from the Start Ship date to the Ship Cancel date; its delivery window runs from Do Not Deliver Before to Do Not Deliver After.

Related: EDI 810 · EDI 856 · MABD

EDI 856 (Ship Notice/Manifest)

EDI 856 is the X12 Ship Notice/Manifest transaction set. X12 describes it as listing the contents of a shipment of goods with related detail: order information, product description, physical characteristics, packaging, marking, carrier information, and how the goods are configured in the transport equipment. Retailers such as Burlington call the message an advance ship notice, or ASN.

Burlington's manual says each carton's shipping label number and contents are entered on the 856. Burlington uses the 824 Application Advice to report an 856 that was rejected or accepted with errors. This entry covers the standard itself; the ASN entry covers how retailers use the message and what they count as accurate.

Related: ASN and ASN accuracy · EDI 945 · EDI 810

ASN (advance ship notice) and ASN accuracy

An ASN, or advance ship notice, is the electronic message a supplier sends a retailer describing a shipment before delivery, transmitted as an X12 856. Burlington describes it as "Required to be transmitted by the seller to advise an intended delivery." ASN accuracy means the message matches the physical shipment and the retailer's rules.

Each retailer sets those rules. Burlington requires the carton identifiers in the ASN to match the ones displayed on the shipping labels. CVS runs an ASN Compliance Program whose stated purpose is "to ensure accurate ASN transmissions," and it treats missing, rejected, late and inaccurate ASNs as noncompliant. CVS lists the bill of lading number among the business-critical segments an ASN must carry.

EDI 945 (Warehouse Shipping Advice)

EDI 945 is the X12 Warehouse Shipping Advice transaction set. X12 describes it as the message a warehouse uses to advise the depositor, the party whose goods it holds, or another business party that a shipment was made, and says it is used to reconcile order quantities with shipment quantities.

The 945 and the 856 both describe a shipment, from different senders. The 945 is the warehouse's report to the depositor that the shipment was made. The 856 is the supplier's list of what the shipment contains.

Related: EDI 856 · Shortage deductions

EDI 810 (Invoice)

EDI 810 is the X12 Invoice transaction set: the electronic invoice a seller sends to bill a buyer for goods and services. Burlington describes the 810 as "Generated by the seller to bill the buyer for products provided," and requires every invoice to be sent through EDI or its Gateway portal, with line-item detail and invoices that match shipments.

Burlington asks vendors to invoice for the quantity of units shipped and states that it pays for the quantity of units received. It does not allow summary invoices. Burlington also ties each shortage deduction to an invoice: the number after the DMQ prefix correlates to the invoice number the shortage is taken on.

EDI transaction sets and codes

A transaction set is X12's term for one electronic business document. X12 "defines and maintains transaction sets that establish the data content exchanged for specific business purposes," and each one is "identified by a numeric identifier and a name."

This glossary defines EDI 850, EDI 856 (the ASN), EDI 945, and EDI 810. The retailer sends the 850. The vendor sends back the 855 purchase order acknowledgment, the 856, and the 810. Whichever party receives a document sends the 997 functional acknowledgment in return. Burlington, for example, publishes its footprint as "X12 v4010 and covers documents 810, 824, 850, 856, 860, and 997."

Transaction sets: 850 flows from retailer to vendor. 855, 856, and 810 each flow from vendor to retailer. The 997 acknowledgment flows from receiver to sender.

Related: EDI compliance chargebacks

Freight and delivery documents

Bill of lading (BOL)

A bill of lading records the freight a shipper tenders to a carrier. Federal motor-carrier rules require it to show the consignor and consignee, origin and destination, number of packages, a description of the freight, and weight, volume or measurement where that sets the rate. The standard retail form also records seal numbers and who loaded and counted the freight.

Retailers add their own requirements. Burlington asks for each purchase order number on the bill of lading, a carton count subtotal for each purchase order, and a total of all cartons at the bottom. Several other terms in this glossary, including shipper load and count, concealed shortage and proof of delivery, are defined by reference to the bill of lading.

Related: SLC · Proof of delivery · Burlington DMQ · Burlington

Collect vs prepaid freight

Collect and prepaid freight say who pays the carrier for a shipment. Under collect, the receiver, the consignee, pays the carrier. Under prepaid, the shipper, the vendor, pays all transport charges, including the freight bill and ancillary fees.

Some retailers' routing guides set the term. Burlington requires every collect purchase order to request routing through its Transportation Management System (TMS), and pays the freight on a collect shipment when it is routed that way. Macy's Backstage requires freight to ship collect or third-party bill unless MTO pre-approves otherwise.

Shipping prepaid when a retailer's routing guide requires collect is a routing-guide miss. Freight and routing deductions covers how that miss gets disputed.

Who pays the carrier: under collect, the receiver, the consignee, pays the carrier. Under prepaid, the shipper, the vendor, pays all transport charges.

SLC (shipper load and count)

SLC stands for shipper load and count: the shipper loaded the trailer and counted the freight, rather than the carrier's driver. The standard retail bill of lading records this in the "Trailer Loaded" and "Freight Counted" fields, each of which offers a "By Shipper" option alongside driver options.

Proof of delivery (POD)

A proof of delivery is the document showing that a shipment reached the retailer and who received it. Each retailer decides what counts. Burlington accepts only a bill of lading signed or stamped by its receivers; Macy's requires a signed bill of lading or small-package tracking confirmation showing the full delivery address.

Macy's rule applies to invoice non-payment and invoice shortages, and the delivery address must include street, city and state. Its Vendor Standards cover Macy's and Bloomingdale's, not Macy's Backstage, so this entry does not extend the rule to Backstage. A document that is proof of delivery at one retailer may not satisfy another.

Related: Bill of lading · Burlington · Macy's

Cargo claim (freight claim)

A cargo claim, also called a freight claim, is a supplier's or shipper's claim against a carrier for loss, damage, or delay to a shipment. It is distinct from a chargeback, which a retailer takes from a supplier; see Chargeback vs deduction. Liability runs to "the person entitled to recover under the receipt or bill of lading," the Carmack Amendment's language for who may bring the claim.

Under 49 CFR 370.3(b), a claim must meet three minimum filing requirements: identifying the shipment, asserting the carrier's liability for loss, damage, injury, or delay, and stating a specified or determinable amount of money.

See Filing a freight claim against the carrier for who may file, what to attach, and the full deadlines.

A cargo claim runs from the supplier to the carrier. A chargeback runs from the retailer to the supplier.

Shortage and deduction terms

Concealed shortage

A concealed shortage is one found after delivery was accepted, when the receiver's later count comes up short of the paperwork: cartons missing from a pallet, or units missing inside cartons that were counted in full. Definitions differ by source, so check the governing vendor manual.

Burlington's manual says cartons are counted at receipt and defines a concealed shortage at the carton level: a pallet whose total number of cartons is less than the bill of lading number of cartons on that pallet. A different reading counts units missing inside cartons that were delivered in full. Neither is a single industry definition.

Chargeback vs deduction

A deduction is an amount a retailer subtracts from a payment it owes a supplier, shown on the remittance with a code. A chargeback is one kind: Family Dollar defines chargebacks as fees charged when contract terms are not met, for errors in shipping, labeling or compliance. A shortage deduction instead bills back product the retailer says it never received.

CVS states that chargeback expense offsets are assessed as deductions against future invoice payments, and it publishes the deduction codes as they appear on payment remittances. Burlington's Accounts Payable Terms list the codes on its remittance, for example DMQ: shortage deduction and DMC: price difference, discount, substitution. Burlington provides the shortage details on the last page of the check remittance.

Remittance advice

A remittance advice is where a supplier sees a deduction. It arrives as a short-pay line, netted against invoices the supplier already expected to be paid in full, not as a separate bill. The short-pay line carries the retailer's deduction code beside the amount. In X12 EDI, transaction set 820 is titled "Payment Order/Remittance Advice". See the deduction code library for the full list.

A deduction arrives as a short-pay line on a remittance advice, netted against the invoice. The short-pay line carries the retailer's deduction code.

Related: EDI 810 · Deduction management

Deduction code

A deduction code is the short identifier a retailer prints on a remittance to say why it subtracted money from what it owes a supplier. It sits beside the amount and names the claim category, such as shortage or pricing. Each retailer defines its own codes and its own remittance layout.

Burlington's remittance lists DMQ for a shortage deduction and DMC for a price difference, discount, or substitution. The digits after DMQ are the original invoice number. Bealls' code 901 marks a concealed shortage, where the amount invoiced exceeds the amount received. See the deduction code library for the full list, and chargeback vs deduction for how a deduction differs from a chargeback.

Anatomy of a remittance line (illustrative, not a real retailer's remittance): the retailer, the invoice number, the deduction code, and the amount.

Deduction management

Deduction management is the end-to-end handling of a retailer deduction: tracking it from the remittance, validating whether it's disputable, pursuing recovery when the evidence supports it, and resolving what's left, either recovered or written off. It covers more ground than deduction recovery, which is one stage inside it.

Deduction recovery is the disputing-and-reclaiming stage: identifying the invalid deductions and disputing them with documentary evidence inside the retailer's window. Tracking draws on deduction KPIs like aging buckets and days deductions outstanding. Validating means comparing your records against the retailer's claim, covered in how to dispute a retailer deduction. What recovery doesn't resolve still needs a close: when to write off a deduction covers that decision.

The four stages of deduction management, in order: track, validate, recover, resolve. Recover, highlighted here, is deduction recovery, one stage inside deduction management.

Expense offset

Expense offset is the term CVS, Macy's, and Bealls each use for compliance charges taken from a supplier. CVS assesses these as deductions against future invoice payments. Macy's calls its compliance charges expense offsets and lists them in Appendix H of its 2023 Vendor Standards. A supplier disputes one with Macy's Expense Offset Dispute APForm. Bealls' Chargeback Policy carries a domestic expense-offset key, with codes listed in the deduction code library.

Expense offset is the term CVS, Macy's, and Bealls each use for compliance charges taken from a supplier.

Open deduction

An open deduction is a retailer deduction taken but not yet resolved: not reversed, written off, or otherwise closed. Deduction KPIs such as aging buckets and days deductions outstanding measure how much is open, and for how long. Closing it out runs through deduction management, the process that tracks and resolves it.

An open deduction is a retailer deduction taken but not yet resolved: not reversed, written off, or otherwise closed.

Off-invoice vs deducted allowance

An allowance, such as a trade promotion or co-op allowance, is created by a signed rate in the vendor agreement, PO, or promotion terms, then taken as an off-invoice reduction or as a later deduction against the remittance advice. A single allowance taken once off-invoice and again by deduction is the classic double-take, and the record of how it was taken the first time is what proves it.

A single allowance taken once off-invoice and again by deduction is the classic double-take.

Retail acronyms cheat sheet

These acronyms show up constantly in ordering, shipping, receiving, and payment paperwork, and each one below links to a fuller definition on this page when one exists, or is grounded in a public standard or a retailer's own vendor documentation.

Twenty-four retail acronyms grouped into four workflow stages, in order: Ordering (PO, EDI, UPC, SKU, VMI, DSD, EDLP); Shipping and routing (ASN, BOL, SLC, LTL, TL, FOB, 3PL, TMS, MABD); Receiving and delivery (DC, POD, OTIF, GS1-128); Money (AP, AR, RTV, DDO).

Acronym	Stands for	One-line meaning	Link
Ordering
PO	Purchase Order	The buyer's order for goods, often sent as EDI 850.	Definition
EDI	Electronic Data Interchange	Standardized electronic messages between trading partners, like the 850 and 856.	Definition
UPC	Universal Product Code	The barcode number identifying a specific retail product.
SKU	Stock Keeping Unit	A retailer's own item identifier, distinct from the UPC.
VMI	Vendor Managed Inventory	The vendor manages the retailer's stock and replenishment levels.
DSD	Direct Store Delivery	The vendor ships straight to the store, bypassing the retailer's DC.
EDLP	Every Day Low Price	A retailer's pricing strategy of steady low prices, not sale-driven.
Shipping and routing
ASN	Advance Ship Notice	Electronic shipment notice sent before delivery, transmitted as X12 856.	Definition
BOL	Bill of Lading	The document recording the freight a shipper tenders to a carrier.	Definition
SLC	Shipper Load and Count	The shipper loaded the trailer and counted the freight itself.	Definition
LTL	Less Than Truckload	A shipment too small to fill a trailer, sharing space with others.
TL	Truckload	A shipment large enough to fill a trailer on its own.
FOB	Free On Board	Marks where ownership and freight risk pass from seller to buyer.
3PL	Third-Party Logistics	An outside company handling a vendor's warehousing or freight.
TMS	Transportation Management System	The system you use to request and manage carrier routing.	Definition
MABD	Must Arrive By Date	Walmart's date by which a purchase order must reach the warehouse.	Definition
Receiving and delivery
DC	Distribution Center	The retailer's warehouse where purchase orders are received.
POD	Proof of Delivery	The document showing a shipment reached the retailer, and who received it.	Definition
OTIF	On-Time In-Full	Whether a purchase order arrived on time and in the right quantity.	Definition
GS1-128	GS1-128	The barcode format retailers require on carton shipping labels.	Definition
Money
AP	Accounts Payable	The retailer function that takes deductions against what it owes.	Definition
AR	Accounts Receivable	The vendor function tracking what retailers owe on open invoices.
RTV	Return to Vendor	Product sent back to the vendor, billed on the remittance.	Definition
DDO	Days Deductions Outstanding	How long a supplier's open deductions have been outstanding, relative to sales.	Definition

Questions

Frequently confused terms

What is the difference between MABD and the carrier due date?: Both are Walmart dates. MABD is the date a purchase order must be received at the warehouse, the same as the Must Deliver By Date. The Carrier Due Date is different: Walmart's Transportation Department generates it at load level to set carrier delivery expectations, and Walmart notes the two won't necessarily match.
What is the difference between OTIF and fill rate?: Fill rate is the in-full half of OTIF. CVS defines it as how fully a vendor delivers the original items and quantities ordered on a purchase order. Its OTIF compliance program pairs fill rate with on-time delivery, measured against the original purchase order's ship-to-arrive date, freight terms and shipping mode.
What is the difference between an ASN and a bill of lading?: The ASN is the supplier's electronic message to the retailer, describing a shipment before it arrives, sent as an X12 856. The bill of lading records the freight the shipper hands to the carrier, including the number of packages and a description of the freight. CVS lists the bill of lading number among an ASN's business-critical segments.
Is the EDI 856 the same as an ASN?: Yes. "856" is just the X12 transaction set number for the Ship Notice/Manifest, and "ASN" (advance ship notice) is what retailers such as Burlington call the same message. The 856 lists what's in a shipment: order, product, packaging, marking and carrier detail. Retailers then set their own rules for when an ASN counts as accurate.
What is the difference between EDI 856 and EDI 945?: The 856 is the supplier's list of what a shipment contains, sent to the retailer. The 945 is different: it's a warehouse's advice to the depositor, the party whose goods it holds, that a shipment was made, and X12 says it's used to reconcile order quantities with shipment quantities. Same shipment, two different senders.
What is the difference between EDI 810 and EDI 856?: The 810 is the X12 Invoice, the seller's electronic bill for the goods. The 856 is the X12 Ship Notice/Manifest, the list of what the shipment carrying those goods actually contains. Burlington, for example, requires invoices to match shipments and carry line-item detail.
What is the difference between a proof of delivery and a bill of lading?: A bill of lading records the freight a shipper hands to a carrier. A proof of delivery shows something different: that the shipment reached the retailer, and who received it. At some retailers the proof is just a signed copy of the same bill. Burlington, for instance, accepts only a bill of lading signed or stamped by its receivers.
What is the difference between a concealed shortage and a shortage deduction?: A shortage deduction bills back product the retailer says it never received. A concealed shortage is more specific: it's a shortage found after delivery was accepted, when the receiver's later count comes up short of the paperwork. Burlington, for example, counts cartons at receipt in its distribution center and defines a concealed shortage at the carton level.

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