Electronic Data Interchange

transmission of business transactions from one company's computer to another company's computer. Transmission is achieved through an electronic communication network that uses translation software to convert transactions from a company's internal format to a standard EDI format. Companies that participate in EDI are referred to as trading partners. Trading partners may be involved in on-line banking, on-line retailing, and electronic funds transfer. There are paperless transactions in an electronic format. In the case of EDI, the auditor should be cognizant of the possible impact on the gathering of evidential matter.