Home Depot EDI Guide: Setup, Testing & Compliance
Getting set up to supply Home Depot means more than just shipping good product—it means shipping it exactly how, when, and where they expect it, with every digital document in place before a truck ever moves.
That’s where EDI comes in.
And it’s not just a technical formality: it’s the backbone of how Home Depot keeps 2,000+ stores stocked with minimal human error.
If you don’t get this part right, you won’t just delay your first PO—you’ll bleed money on every one that follows.
This guide breaks down what Home Depot expects, what mistakes cost you, and how to set it all up properly from the start.
P.S. If you don’t want the hassle of managing your EDI and wish you had a reliable partner to handle this, schedule a free strategy call and let’s see if we’re a good fit.
1. What If There Was No EDI?
Imagine this: you send a shipment, but no one knows it’s coming.
The labels are wrong, the quantities don’t match, and the receiving doesn’t have time to figure it out. So the shipment sits. Or worse—it gets rejected.
You invoice for the wrong amount because the PO changed last minute, and no one told your system. Now you’re chasing down payment manually.
Multiply that by every PO, every store, every order—and you see the real reason EDI isn’t optional.
Home Depot’s supply chain isn’t designed to run on back-and-forth emails or guesswork.
Without EDI, their DCs wouldn’t know what’s on the truck until it’s opened. Buyers couldn’t track shipments. Invoices wouldn’t match receipts. It would break fast.
That’s why the moment you become an approved supplier, EDI becomes mandatory. It’s how you get the order, how you get paid, and how you stay in good standing.
2. Core EDI Documents and Why They Matter
At Home Depot, every shipment flows through a predictable sequence of documents. Miss one, or send the wrong data, and the whole thing breaks.
Here’s what you’re expected to send—and why it matters:
850 – Purchase Order
This is how Home Depot places the order. It’s the starting point, sent via VAN. Your system needs to receive it automatically.
856 – Advance Ship Notice (ASN)
The most scrutinized document. It tells Home Depot exactly what’s coming, in what cartons, via which truck, and when.
The ASN must match your shipment down to the last unit, and it must be sent before the truck arrives.
Errors or delays here trigger the steepest penalties.
810 – Invoice
You only invoice after the shipment is out the door. And it has to match what was actually shipped, not what was ordered.
820 – Remittance Advice
Used to reconcile payments. Not mandatory for all vendors, but when it’s supported, it helps automate accounting.
GS1-128 Labels
These go on every carton or pallet.
These documents aren’t optional—they’re the infrastructure of your relationship with Home Depot. Together, they create a “scan-based receiving” system: DCs use the ASN to expect what’s arriving, and the GS1-128 labels to verify it during unloading. If those don’t line up, you’re losing time and money.
Supplier Fit – Can Smaller Vendors Comply?
Yes. But you’ll need to come prepared.
Home Depot does not waive EDI just because you’re new or small. They do offer low-cost paths, like web-based portals or simplified integrations, but you’re still expected to follow the same standards as any large supplier.
If you’re shipping a few pallets a week, you can use webforms to get started. But once volume picks up—or once a mistake costs you a few hundred dollars in fines—you’ll want to automate.
Many small suppliers use plug-and-play solutions like SPS Commerce, Orderful, or TrueCommerce to stay compliant without building a system from scratch.
Bottom line: your size doesn’t exempt you. It just changes how you should approach the setup.
3. Setting Up EDI with Home Depot
You don’t just start sending documents to Home Depot. There’s a process—and it’s layered.
Step 1: Become an Approved Vendor
EDI setup doesn’t begin until you’re approved as a supplier. That means completing Home Depot’s vendor onboarding, getting your vendor number, and being cleared for business.
Only then can you reach out to their EDI team to begin integration.
If you need help logging in, click here.
Step 2: Get the Specs and Setup Info
Home Depot will send you a full EDI implementation packet—this includes mapping specs, document requirements, GS1-128 label guidelines, and routing expectations.
They’ll also give you your VAN mailbox details (usually on IBM Sterling), since Home Depot (unlike Walmart) does not accept direct AS2 connections. Everything goes through a VAN (historically IBM Sterling – for EDI exchange).
If you already have a VAN (OpenText, SPS, TrueCommerce), your provider will likely interconnect with Home Depot’s.
Step 3: Build and Test
Once connected via VAN, you’ll need to run test transactions:
- Receive a test 850 PO
- Send back a test 856 ASN and 810 invoice
- Submit sample GS1-128 labels
- Correct every error flagged by Home Depot’s coordinators
There’s no shortcut here. If your ASN doesn’t perfectly match the shipment, or the label doesn’t scan, you’ll stay in testing.
This phase is where most delays happen. Expect close communication with Home Depot’s EDI support and possibly weeks of back-and-forth. You’ll only be certified when everything clears.
Step 4: Go Live and Stay Live
Once certified, you move to production. Real orders begin flowing through your EDI system.
But compliance doesn’t stop there.
Every ASN is still evaluated. Every label is still scanned. And your metrics: on-time rates, accuracy, and invoice match, are tracked in Home Depot’s Supplier Hub portal. Mistakes now trigger real-world fines.
4. The Hidden Cost of Getting It Wrong
Home Depot rarely hits you with one hefty penalty. The damage comes in small, constant cuts that add up fast, and most suppliers don’t even notice until they review their first remittance report.
Here’s how it happens:
- Late ASN? $250.
- Missing the TMS Ship ID? That’s another $100.
- Both? $350 on one shipment—whether you shipped one pallet or fifty.
And if the ASN is missing altogether?
That’s a $1,000 fine, minimum. Doesn’t matter if it was just a data entry mistake or a delay in your WMS.
Then come the label fines:
If more than 1% of your cartons have unreadable barcodes, you’re charged $5 per carton. If it crosses 2%? It doubles to $10 per carton. And that applies to the full shipment, not just the few mislabeled boxes.
And for those thinking a few bad orders won’t matter:
Home Depot used to charge 3% of COGS on PO shipments missing ASNs. In 2025, they switched to $0.75 per carton (min $100)—a policy designed to be harder to contest and faster to apply.
None of these are theoretical.
Every dollar missed or misrouted gets clawed back through automated chargebacks. And there’s no back-and-forth—most of these penalties are final, with no dispute process.
Multiply these charges across dozens of POs per month, and you’re looking at thousands in lost margin just because someone didn’t enter a shipment ID on time.
5. How to Choose Tools and EDI Providers That Won’t Fail You
You don’t need custom software to trade with Home Depot. But you do need a provider that understands their system—and doesn’t leave you guessing when something breaks.
Here’s what to look for:
Use a Provider That Knows Home Depot
Home Depot has quirks: VAN-only transmission, strict ASN validation, carton-level labeling, and shipment IDs pulled from their TMS portal. Not every EDI provider is ready for that.
These ones are:
- SPS Commerce – Popular, scalable, already connected to Home Depot’s VAN.
- TrueCommerce – Strong QuickBooks/ERP integrations, good for mid-sized vendors.
- OpenText / GXS – Enterprise-level, often used by larger manufacturers.
- Acctivate / B2BGateway / Radley – Tailored to smaller suppliers, often pre-configured.
Watch for These Red Flags
- They say Home Depot supports AS2 – It doesn’t (not in the way most suppliers expect).
- They don’t handle label printing – If ASN and labels are out of sync, you’ll get fined.
- They can’t connect to your ERP or WMS – That’s a bottleneck waiting to happen.
When Webforms Are Acceptable
Home Depot does offer a web-based workaround for low-volume suppliers who can’t afford EDI upfront. You log in, download POs, enter ASN and invoice data manually.
It works—but it’s slow, prone to human error, and doesn’t scale.
Full EDI automation is cheaper in the long run if you’re fulfilling more than a few orders per week. Even small suppliers end up switching once they see the labor and fines stack up.
6. Integrating with Your ERP, Warehouse, and 3PL
Home Depot’s EDI process doesn’t sit in a vacuum. It touches your entire backend—ERP, warehouse, label printers, shipping systems. If those don’t talk to each other, you’ll break compliance before the shipment even leaves the dock.
Here’s what tight integration actually looks like:
ERP Integration: Where POs and Invoices Flow
- 850s (POs) flow straight into your ERP as sales orders.
- 810s (Invoices) are generated post-shipment and sent back through your EDI layer.
- 820s (Remittance Advices) can be imported to auto-reconcile payments—if supported by your system.
Popular ERPs like SAP, Oracle, NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics often use plug-ins (OpenText, Cleo, Radley, etc.) to handle this routing automatically.
But the critical part isn’t just receiving—it’s making sure what gets shipped matches what got ordered, and that your invoice reflects that exactly.
Warehouse & 3PL Coordination: ASN Trigger Point
The ASN isn’t just a digital document. It’s your receipt before the shipment arrives, and it has to line up exactly with the physical labels on each carton.
That means:
- When the warehouse generates the Bill of Lading, your system should already be building the 856 ASN.
- As labels are printed (GS1-128), the data must feed the ASN structure—each SSCC code on each label must appear in the ASN file.
- If a 3PL is involved, they either:
- Generate and transmit the ASN directly,
- Or send shipment data back to you within minutes for automated processing.
This must happen in real time. Home Depot expects ASNs hours before the truck arrives. If you’re relying on manual entry, you’re already late.
Label Printing: Not Just a Sticker
GS1-128 labels must be:
- Auto-generated based on ASN data (no manual input).
- Compliant with Home Depot’s formatting (including their location ID).Printed in the warehouse at pack time.
Most suppliers use tools like Loftware or Bartender connected to their ERP/WMS. If your printer isn’t integrated into your shipping workflow, you’re risking label mismatches—and automatic fines.
8. Need a Partner Who’s Already Done This?
At CrossBridge, we don’t just “help with EDI.”
We handle the entire setup—communicating directly with SPS Commerce or any other EDI provider, managing testing, fixing failed ASNs, and making sure your labels pass the scan test the first time.
Behind that, we run a custom-built ERP system already configured for Home Depot’s requirements. Most of our clients don’t need to build anything from scratch—we just plug them in.
And it doesn’t stop at EDI. We also manage:
- Accounting and tax filing
- ERP setup & management
- Inventory & warehouse operations
- Supply chain & day-to-day logistics
We handle all the backend operations suppliers need to work reliably and compliantly with the biggest retailers—so your leadership can finally focus on the business itself, not get trapped inside the day-to-day grind.
If you want one team that understands Home Depot’s system—and connects your operations to it without the usual chaos—schedule a strategy call.
We’ll walk you through the fastest, cleanest way to get compliant and stay that way.
