Electronic invoices: technical specification

The following is a proposed format for an electronic copy of station broadcast invoices to be sent to advertising agencies or their data processing services, over communication lines or via some other electronic media.

This format has been developed by Donovan Data Systems, Inc. which hereby irrevocably authorizes its use by any party.

The structure is based on variable length records which are identified by record codes, separated by record delimiters, and comprised of variable length fields. The fields within records are variable length, positionally defined and separated by field delimiters.

RECORD TYPE	RECORD CODE	COMMENTS
Agency	21	At the start of invoices for a new agency.
Station	22	At the start of invoices for a new station.
Payee	23	At the start of invoices for a new payee.
Standard Comment (Top)	24	Comment to print on all invoices above the schedule portion.
Standard Comment (Bottom)	25	Comment to print on all invoices below the schedule portion.
Invoice Header	31	One for each invoice.
Invoice Comment (Top)	32	Comment to print for this invoice above the schedule portion. Will print after any standard top comments.
Schedule Line	41	One for each schedule line within an invoice.
Broadcast Detail	51	One for each actual spot.
Reconciliation	52	As needed for each broadcast detail.
Comment
Schedule Comment	42	Comments associated with an individual schedule line.
Invoice Comment (Bottom)	33	Comment to print for this invoice below the schedule portion. Will print before any standard bottom comments.
Invoice Total	34	One for each invoice.
Transmission Total	12	At the end of each transmission.

The sequence of the records is significant. For example, a schedule line record must be followed immediately by the associated actual broadcast detail and reconciliation remark records (if any), and then by its schedule line comments (if any).

A typical record sequence would be-

The first field in each record must be a valid record code.

Each record must be terminated by a record delimiter - new line character, hex, 15 (EBCDIC).

Field within each record will be positional, variable length, and terminated by field delimiter - semicolon, hex 5E. Semicolons cannot appear within a field.

If there is no data for a given field, it still requires a delimiter to mark its position unless there are no subsequent fields in the record that contain data. A record delimiter can always be used to terminate the record after the last field that actually has data.

Much of the data is optional and will not be used in the currently anticipated application. Required records and fields are marked with an asterisk in the record descriptions that follow.

Invoices should be sorted by agency within station.

The length stated below is the maximum length for each field.

Dollar amount fields should not contain decimal points or commas. They must be preceded by a ‘-’ if negative.

FIELD	AGENCY RECORD	LENGTH	TYPE	COMMENTS
1	*RECORD CODE	2	AN	21
2	AGENCY ID	8	AN
3	*AGENCY NAME	30	AN
4	*ADDRESS LINE 1	30	AN
5	ADDRESS LINE 2	30	AN
6	ADDRESS LINE 3	30	AN
7	ADDRESS LINE 4	30	AN

The Agency Record identifies the agency for all following invoices until another Agency Record occurs.

FIELD	STATION RECORD	LENGTH	TYPE	COMMENTS
1	*RECORD CODE	2	AN	22
2	*CALL LETTERS	4	AN	(will be 4 numeric for LC)
3	*MEDIA TYPE	2	AN	TV, R. LC, NC, N, X
4	*BAND	2	AN	AM, FM, X, TV
5	STATION NAME	30	AN
6	ADDRESS LINE 1	30	AN
7	ADDRESS LINE 2	30	AN
8	ADDRESS LINE 3	30	AN
9	ADDRESS LINE 4	30	AN
10	STATION COMPUTER SYSTEM	15	AN	Please see Appendix
11	STATION GST REGISTRATION NUM	20	AN	For Canadian GST or HST Registration Number
12	STATION QST REGISTRATION NUM	20	AN	For Canadian QST Registration Number

The Station Record identifies the Station for all the following invoices until another Station Record occurs.

FIELD	PAYEE RECORD	LENGTH	TYPE	COMMENTS
1	*RECORD CODE	2	AN	23
2	NAME	30	AN	This field was previously required
3	ADDRESS LINE 1	30	AN
4	ADDRESS LINE 2	30	AN
5	ADDRESS LINE 3	30	AN
6	ADDRESS LINE 4	30	AN

The Payee Record identifies the Payee for all following invoices until another Payee Record occurs.

FIELD	INVOICE HEADER RECORD	LENGTH	TYPE	COMMENTS
1	*RECORD CODE	2	AN	31;
2	REPRESENTATIVE	25	AN
3	SALESPERSON	25	AN
4	*ADVERTISER NAME	25	AN
5	*PRODUCT NAME	25	AN
6	*INVOICE DATE	6	N	YMMDD
7	ORDER TYPE	15	AN	Mid Flight CL if needed
8	AGENCY ESTIMATE CODE	10	AN	See note 1
9	*INVOICE NUMBER	10	AN
10	*BROADCAST MONTH	4	N	YYMM
11	INVOICE PERIOD START DATE	6	N	YYMMDD
12	INVOICE PERIOD END DATE	6	N	YYMMDD
13	SCHEDULE START DATE	6	N	YYMMDD
14	SCHEDULE END DATE	6	N	YYMMDD
15	CONTRACT START DATE	6	N	YYMMDD
16	CONTRACT END DATE	6	N	YYMMDD
17	BILLING INSTRUCTIONS	25	AN
18	RATE CARD NUMBER	10	AN
19	AGENCY COMMISION FLAG	1	AN	Y=yes, N=no
20	SALES TAX PERCENT	10	N	Include decimal point
21	AUDIENCE PERCENT (FOR TAX)	10	N	Include decimal point
22	REP ORDER NUMBER	10	AN
23	STATION ORDER NUMBER	10	AN
24	STATION ADVERTISER CODE	8	AN
25	AGENCY ADVERTISER CODE	8	AN	See note 2
26	STATION PRODUCT CODE	8	AN
27	AGENCY PRODUCT CODE	8	AN	See note 3
28	STATION CONTACT	25	AN
29	AGENCY CONTACT	25	AN
30	DUE DATE	6	AN	YYMMDD
31	NETWORK FOR LOCAL CABLE	4	AN	Not used for Local Cable – see 51 Record. Can be used for Agency Package Code for National Cable
32	TRADING PARTNER CODE	8	AN
33	DEAL NUMBER	10	AN	Optional
34	REP ID	10	AN	National Rep or LOC for Local
35	PACKAGE CODE	3	N	Optional for Cable Networks
36	REFERENCE INVOICE NUMBER	10	AN	The invoice being replaced
37	REFERENCE INVOICE CODE	2	AN	The version being replaced
38	INVOICE VERSION CODE	2	AN	The version of current invoice, See note 4
39	NATIONAL LOCAL CODE	2	AN	N=National, L=Local (future)
40	Special Paying Rep Code	3	AN	Special Paying Rep

1. For invoices to be processed at DDS, the estimate field should contain a number between 1 and 250
2. For invoices to be processed at DDS, the agency advertiser code field should contain a 2 or 3 character alpha­numeric code. The first two characters must be alpha or a number from 1 to 5, the third may be alpha or a number from 0 to 9 or it may be blank.
3. For invoices to be processed at DDS, the agency product code field should contain a 2 or 3 character alpha­numeric code where the first character must be alpha, the second and third characters can be alpha or a number from 0 to 9, or the third character can be blank. DDS agency cannot use NO, ZZZ, ALL, YES, UNA, or AAA as valid products. For piggybacks two codes should be present, separated by a space.
4. An Invoice Version Code should not be present if the invoice has not had a version modification.

FIELD	INVOICE COMMENT (TOP)	LENGTH	TYPE	COMMENTS
1	RECORD CODE	2	AN	32
2	COMMENT	130	AN

Top printing Invoice Comments print above the Schedule lines but after any top printing Standard Comments. There is no fixed limit on their number.

FIELD	STANDARD COMMENT (TOP)	LENGTH	TYPE	COMMENT
1	RECORD CODE	2	AN	24
2	COMMENT	130	AN

Standard Comment records apply to all following invoices until replaced. Replacement is not line by line but for the whole set of top printing comments. In other words, once a comment set has been established and used (i.e. it has been followed by at least one Invoice Header) in order to make any changes to it you must replace the entire set. A single ‘24’ record with a zero length comment will cancel any top printing standard comments that may be in effect. A maximum of 5 top printing standard comments may be present.

FIELD	STANDARD COMMENT (BOTTOM)	LENGTH	TYPE	COMMENT
1	RECORD CODE	2	AN	25
2	COMMENT	130	AN

Treated the same as top printing Standard Comments. Use this for affidavit warrant.

FIELD	SCHEDULE LINE RECORD	LENGTH	TYPE	COMMENTS
1	RECORD CODE	2	AN	41
2	LINE NUMBER	3	AN
3	DAYS OF WEEK	7	AN	MTWTFSS - blank in a given position means this day omitted.
4	START TIME	4	N	HHMM -military time: If fields are
5	END TIME	4	N	zero filled, see comment record 42.
6	RATE DETAIL	3	AN	Use MG for makegood; use PKG for package.
7	RATE PER SPOT	10	N
8	NUMBER OF SPOTS SCHEDULED FOR THIS INVOICE LINE	3	N
9	LINE START DATE	6	N	YYMMDD
10	LINE END DATE	6	N	YYMMDD
11	PLAN CODE	10	AN
12	PACKAGE CODE	10	AN

To handle multiple day/time period combinations on the same schedule line (e.g. Monday through Friday, 600p to 700p, Saturday 630p-730p), simply repeat the schedule line record for each combination. The line number must be the same on all repeats, but all other fields beside the days and start and end times are ignored.

FIELD	SCHEDULE COMMENT	LENGTH	TYPE	COMMENT
1	RECORD CODE	2	AN	42
2	COMMENT	130	AN

Schedule Comments print immediately after the associated Schedule line. There is no fixed limit on their number.

FIELD	BROADCASTDETAIL	LENGTH	TYPE	COMMENT
1	*RECORD CODE	2	AN	51
2	*RUN CODE	1	AN	Y=spot ran, N=did not run
3	*RUN DATE	6	N	YYMMDD
4	DAY OF WEEK	1	N	Monday=1, Sunday=7
5	*TIME OF DAY	4	N	HHMM - military
6	*TYPE (SPOT LENGTH)	3	N	Seconds. For minutes: 3=30, 6=60, 12=20
7	COPY ID	30	AN	Commercial codes - see note 1.
8	*RATE	10	N	NC if spot is missed. See note 2.
9	CLASS	3	AN
10	PIGGYBACK	6	N	Second split e.g. 020010=20/10
11	MAKEGOOD DATE 1	6	N	YYMMDD - see note 3.
12	MAKEGOOD DATE 2	6	N	YYMMDD
13	MAKEGOOD TIME 1	4	N	HHMM - military
14	MAKEGOOD TIME 2	4	N	HHMM - military
15	MAKEGOOD LINE #	3	N	If fields are zero filled, see remarks for record 52.
16	ADJUSTMENT DR	10	N
17	ADJUSTMENT CR	10	N
18	PROGRAM DESCRIPTION	40	AN
19	- BILLBOARD INDICATOR	1	A	Y, N
20	-LENGTH	3	N	SECONDS
21	-VIDEO COPY ID	30	AN	See note 1
22	-AUDIO COPY ID	30	AN	See note 1
23	SERIAL NUMBER	12	AN	Optional
24	NETWORK for Local Cable	3	AN	For Local Cable Only
25	Network Integration Cost	10	N	Rate for Integration Charge
26	PACKAGE for Network Only	3	N	Package code for the Unit

1. Twelve character Industry Standard Commercial Identification (ISCI) code. In the case of piggybacks there should be two commercial codes separated by a space.
2. If a spot is flagged as N in the run code and has no charge, it will show on the facsimile but will not count toward total spots and it will not convert into the agency invoice program.
3. These MAKEGOOD dates and times refer to the schedule start and end dates and times of the line being made good.

FIELD	RECONCILIATION REMARKS	LENGTH	TYPE	COMMENTS
1	RECORD CODE	2	AN	52
2	REMARKS	20	AN

Reconciliation remarks are associated with actual broadcast detail records or directly with schedule line records if there are no broadcast details for the line.

There is no fixed limit on their number.

FIELD	INVOICE COMMENT (BOTTOM)	LENGTH	TYPE	COMMENTS
1	RECORD CODE	2	AN	33
2	COMMENT	130	AN

Bottom printing Invoice Comments print after the schedule line but before any bottom printing Standard Comments. There is no fixed limit on their number.

FIELD	INVOICE TOTAL	LENGTH	TYPE	COMMENTS
1	*RECORD CODE	2	AN	34
2	INVOICE CONFIRMED COST	11	N
3	*ACTUAL GROSS BILLING	11	N
4	*AGENCY COMMISSION	11	N
5	*NET DUE	11	N
6	RECONCILIATION DR	11	N
7	RECONCILIATION CR	11	N
8	RECONCILIATION TOTAL	11	N
9	STATE TAX	11	N	Canadian GST here
10	LOCAL TAX	11	N	Canadian QST here
11	PRIOR GROSS BALANCE	11	N
12	PRIOR NET BALANCE	11	N
13	NUMBER OF SPOTS	11	N
14	GST (CANADA)	11	N	No longer used
15	PST (CANADA)	11	N	No longer used

FIELD	TRANSMISSION TOTAL	LENGTH	TYPE	COMMENTS
1	*RECORD CODE	1	AN	12
2	NUMBER OF INVOICES	5	N
3	GROSS TOTAL (ACTUAL)	11	N

Revised May, 2009