Question

What is the hierarchy for matching in Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)?

Answer

The order of priority for matching is:

1. Voyager Line Item ID
2. supplier's subscription ID
3. ISSN or ISBN (possibly restricted by PO number)
4. Vendor title number (possibly restricted by PO number)
5. accept the line as "unmatched" and wait for the user to match it by hand

Additional Information

Voyager looks for the following combinations of codes in the following order of priorities:

1. RFF (segment 48) with "SNL" or "LI" in DE 1153: tries to interpret DE 1154 as a Voyager order line ID (all Voyager order line IDs begin with "VLI") and make the link directly to the order line)
2. RFF (segment 48) with "SNA", "SNP" or "SLI" in DE 1153: tries to interpret DE 1154 as the supplier's subscription identifier
   1. looks for a match to DE 1153 in the "vendor reference number" field of the Voyager line item, AND for a match to DE 1153 in the "vendor reference qualifier" field
   2. if it finds a match to both, links invoice line to order line
3. PIA segment specifying an ISSN or ISBN: Voyager looks for all order lines for that particular item
   1. If RFF segment specifying "ON" in DE 1153, and the value in DE 1154 matches an existing Voyager Purchase Order number, then the search is restricted to the specific order
   2. otherwise all orders are searched; if one order line is found for the item, the invoice line is linked to it.
4. PIA segment specifies "SA" in DE 7143: Voyager attempts to match the value in DE 7140 to the "vendor title number" field on one of the order lines
   1. if an "RFF+ON" is present, the search can be restricted to the lines of one particular order.
5. None of the above searches works, or if they match to more than one order line: the line is accepted as part of the invoice, but it is flagged as unmatched. The user is forced to manually link this line to a purchase order line before either
   1. doing something to the "unmatched" line, OR
   2. approving the invoice.

• Article last edited: 02-Mar-2021