EDI 947 Warehouse Inventory Adjustment Advice

The EDI 947 explains why your inventory changed when nothing shipped or arrived. Receipts come in on the 944 and shipments go out on the 945. Everything else that moves the number (a pallet dropped by a forklift, a lot put on quality hold, a cycle count that finds two extra cases) arrives on a 947. Without it, your on-hand balance and the warehouse's drift apart, and you find out when an order cannot be filled.

This guide covers what the 947 carries, the reason codes that drive it, every segment you will map, a live example with increases and decreases, how it differs from the 846, and the errors that leave your books out of step with the warehouse floor.

What Is an EDI 947?

An EDI 947 is the Warehouse Inventory Adjustment Advice transaction set defined by the ASC X12 standards body. The warehouse sends it to the depositor (the inventory owner) to report adjustments to inventory levels or status that happen inside the warehouse. In the X12 envelope it travels in a functional group with the code AW in GS01.

Two points from the X12 definition shape how it is used. First, the adjustment types that are reported by EDI are set by agreement between the warehouse and the depositor, so no two 3PLs send exactly the same mix. Second, a 947 covers one storage location: a warehouse with adjustments in two buildings sends two 947s for the period, each listing only the products that changed.

Authoritative references for 947 work:

• The X12 transaction set catalog defines the 947 alongside the 940, 943, 944 and 945
• GS1 US governs the UPC case codes and GTINs that identify each adjusted item
• Your 3PL's 947 implementation guide and warehouse agreement list which adjustment reasons it reports, how often, and whether it reports status changes (holds) as well as quantity changes

Who sends it? The warehouse or 3PL, from its WMS.

Who receives it? The depositor, into its ERP or inventory system.

When is it sent? Either as each adjustment is posted, or in a batch per reporting period (often daily), depending on the agreement.

Why does it matter? The 846 Inventory Inquiry/Advice tells you what the warehouse has now. The 947 tells you why that differs from what you expected. Finance needs the reason to write off damage, file a claim or charge it back to the warehouse under the agreement, and customer service needs to know stock is on hold before it promises it.

Common Reasons for a 947

The codes in the 01 to 07 range are stock decreases and the codes in the 51 to 56 range are the matching increases. The quantity in W1902 is reported as a number of units, and the reason code says which way it moves. Your 3PL's guide lists the exact subset it uses, and some add qualifiers to say which stock bucket (available, damaged, hold) the adjustment applies to.

Interactive Example: Damage, Hold and Cycle Count (947)

A week after receiving the Boise transfer, the Reno 3PL reports three adjustments for the depositor's stock in one 947. W15 carries the date the report was created. N1*WH names the reporting warehouse, and G62*07 the effective date of the adjustments. Each W19 line gives a reason code, a quantity, a unit and the item; G69 holds the warehouse's free-text reason and N9*TN its transaction number.

• Line 1: 2 cases of granola damaged by a forklift (02, a decrease)
• Line 2: 4 cases of almond butter, lot L2610B, put on QC hold (05, a decrease to available stock)
• Line 3: 1 case of trail mix found in a cycle count (56, an increase)

Use the Plain English tab for a readable summary, or click any segment to break it down element by element.

947 Structure at a Glance

Unlike the 943 and 944, the 947 has no totals segment. Each W19 line stands on its own.

Key Segments Explained

W15: Warehouse Adjustment Identification

W15*20261113~

W1502 and W1503 are a pair in the X12 syntax: if one is sent, the other must be too. That suits adjustments the depositor asked for (a hold it requested, for example) where both sides have a number. For routine adjustments the warehouse often leaves both blank and puts its own transaction number on each line in N9*TN, as in the example.

W19: Warehouse Adjustment Item Detail

W19*05*4*CA*086123450021*VN*NFP-ALB-16***L2610B~

Further elements carry weights (W1910 to W1915) and an inventory transaction type code (W1916) for warehouses that use them. Read the reason code before the quantity: a 4 with code 05 takes four cases out of available stock; the same 4 with code 55 puts them back.

G69 and N9: The Story Behind the Number

G69*QC HOLD REQUESTED BY DEPOSITOR~
N9*TN*WT-77121~

G69 is free text, and it is often the only place the warehouse says what actually happened. Keep it with the adjustment in your system; it is the first thing anyone asks for in a damage dispute. N9*TN carries the warehouse's transaction reference, which is what you quote back to the 3PL. Some guides also use an N9 to say which stock status (available, damaged, hold) the line applies to.

EDI 947 vs 846, 944 and 945

Think of the 846 as a bank balance and the 947 as the statement lines that are not deposits or withdrawals. You can run a 3PL relationship on the 846 alone and simply overwrite your balance every day, but you lose the reasons. That is fine for a small catalog. It is a problem for anyone who has to account for damage, track holds by lot, or hold a 3PL to an inventory accuracy clause.

A good reconciliation is simple to state: yesterday's balance plus 944 receipts, minus 945 shipments, plus or minus 947 adjustments, should equal today's 846. When it does not, one of the four documents is missing.

Where the 947 Sits in 3PL EDI

For the full setup with a new 3PL, see our guide to 3PL EDI integration.

Common 947 Errors and How to Prevent Them

947 Implementation Checklist

• Get the 3PL's 947 guide and the exact list of reason codes it sends
• Map each reason code to an ERP adjustment type, a direction and a stock location (available, hold, damaged, scrap)
• Agree whether adjustments are sent as they happen or in a daily batch
• Agree how damage is charged under the warehouse agreement, and capture the warehouse transaction number for it
• Confirm lot reporting for holds, releases and destruction
• Build the daily reconciliation: opening balance, 944s, 945s, 947s, against the 846
• Test a decrease, an increase, a hold and its release, and a destruction
• Send a 997 for every 947

For the full list of X12 document numbers, see our EDI document types reference.

Handling 3PL and Order Data With OrderSync

Accurate inventory only pays off if the orders that consume it are entered correctly. For most distributors those orders arrive in every shape: EDI 850s from retailers, PDFs and emails from independents, spreadsheets from reps.

OrderSync reads those orders in any format, matches customers, items and units to your catalog, and outputs clean data to your ERP or valid X12. Paste any 947 into the free EDI inspector to see it parsed segment by segment with a plain-English summary, read about ERP integration, or book a 15-minute walkthrough to see your own orders processed.

Frequently Asked Questions