Click on the questions below to view the answer
 
Q. Will Boral's eSolutions save my Company money?
Q. How can I sign up for eSolutions?
Q. How do I become a Boral eCommerce Trading Partner?
Q. Will it affect my payment terms?
Q. If I get earlier invoices, does this mean you want payment earlier?
Q. Can I download documents, such as invoices, directly onto my computer system?
Q. Will it give me a summary of my purchases?
Q. What is Boral's future direction in terms of supplying e-commerce functionality?
Q. What support will Boral provide in implementation?
Q. What assistance will be available if things go wrong?
Q. What happens in the case of an emergency?
Q. Can I go back to paper if I don't like receiving documents in electronic form?
Q. What if I need invoice information sent to two places in my organisation?
Q. What document standards are you using to support EDI?
Q. Is there a formal agreement between parties to support electronic trading?
Q. Are electronic documents legal?
Q. Does the ATO recognise these as tax invoice?
Q. How long will it take to setup - walk me through the steps?
Q. Will my business data be secure if I sign up with Boral?
Q. Have you tested it?
Q. What about security? Can everyone see my business?
Q. What type of hardware and software do I need to get access to the portal?
Q. Is there any potential for virus transfer to my system?
Q. Which third party providers do you currently connect to?
 
 
 
Q. Will Boral's eSolutions save my Company money?
  A1. For the customer We know that many of our customers spend significant resources on data entry, data entry error resolution and paper handling. By taking up the electronic data transmission options that Boral Customer eSolutions offers, customers can achieve reduction in data entry costs, electronic transmission of invoices to multiple locations and earlier receipt of information for resellers so they can pass account information to their customers in a timely manner. In addition, if customers sign up for Customer eSolutions Portal they can save time spent looking for documents and have easy web access to delivery dockets, invoices, statements, credit and debit notes.
   
  A2. For the supplier Cost for a supplier to print and post paper-based documents to their customers is estimated to be in the vicinity of 70-80 cents per transaction (not including your internal processing costs). Boral Supplier eSolutions allows suppliers to deliver documents to Boral using web EDI . In pilot studies it has been shown that cost can be cut to as little as 11 cents per transaction using web EDI through a third party service provider. Even lower costs are possible for Suppliers who take up direct electronic data transfer from their Accounts Receivable to Boral Accounts Payable system. Please contact Boral (there is an enquiry form at the bottom of this page)  to discuss other document transmission methods available besides web EDI.
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Q. How can I sign up for eSolutions?
A. You can register your interest in eSolutions online. On the introductory page of the eSolutions website, just click on the relevant eSolutions links in the Customer and Supplier eSolutions column to find out more about a specific solution, then press either the Enquiry or the Register buttons and complete the eSolutions Registration form detailing the solutions you're interested in. A Boral representative will then contact you to discuss your requirements. You can also contact your Boral sales representative for information on this initiative.
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Q. How do I become a Boral eCommerce Trading Partner?
A. If following registration of interest you have identified that either direct transmission of documents into your system or transmission of documents through a third Party Service Provider is the option that you wish to implement it will be necessary to enter into a simple Electronic Trading Partner Agreement with Boral. A draft copy of this agreement can be forwarded on request. Such an agreement is a standard pre-requisite for electronic document exchange and sets out the obligations of the two parties doing business electronically i.e. agreement to exchange electronic documents, expected time of transmission, document format standards etc. The Electronic Trading Partner Agreement has no impact on your terms of sale or trade with any Boral business.
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Q. Will it affect my payment terms?
A. Payment terms and terms of sale are not affected by the manner in which you choose to transmit or receive documents, such as invoices, in an electronic or paper form.
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Q. If I get invoices earlier, does this mean you want payment earlier?
A. The invoice data remains the same. Receipt of invoices in electronic form does not effect payment terms.
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Q. Can I download documents, such as invoices, directly onto my computer system?
A . Yes, for e-mail invoices this is easy. For more sophisticated options you may need to have the appropriately skilled IT staff to support your implementation. There are a number of options available. Please contact your sales representative to talk about the one that suits your business needs.
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Q. Will it give me a summary of my purchases?
A . We haven't been asked for this information as a high priority, but we will be supplying your trading documents in an electronic format which you can then utilise to conduct further analysis within your own systems. However, if you are interested in this type of functionality please let us know as we may be able to supply it in the future.(there is an enquiry form at the bottom of this page if you wish to contact us)
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Q. What is Boral's future direction in terms of supplying e-commerce functionality?
A. In speaking to customers and suppliers they have expressed an interest in transmitting invoices, statements, credit notes, debit notes and remittance advices in electronic form. If there are other document types or document formats that you would be interested in transacting with Boral we would like to hear from you so that we can take it into consideration when planning for the future.
(Please use the enquiry form at the bottom of this page for this purpose)
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Q. What support will Boral provide in implementation?
A . For simple implementations, like e-mail of invoices and access to the portal, they are designed to be very straightforward so that only knowledge of a web browser is required to access information. With more complex systems, like the transmission of EDI documents, our technical people will work with your people to ensure that appropriate data and transmission protocols are implemented at our end and tested.
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Q What assistance will be available if things go wrong?
A. The sales and accounting contacts you currently deal with at Boral remain unchanged. Should you have a problem with receipt of your electronic documents you can contact your Boral account representative and they will ensure that the problem is sorted out quickly.
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Q. What happens if Boral's e-commerce system fails?
A. We have dual systems for disaster recovery. In case of a serious  system  failure we can recover data and be operational again within 1 business day. Duplicates of the information passing through our eCommerce applications are also held in separate source systems which provides and added level of data security..
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Q. Can I go back to paper if I don't like receiving documents in electronic form?
A. Yes
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Q. What if I need invoice information sent to two places in my organisation?
A. We can send an e-mail (PDF) copy to a primary as well as a secondary location.
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Q. What document standards are you using to support EDI ?
A. We currently support the Australian Hardware Industry Working Group implementation of the UN/EDIFACT invoice . We also support documents in PDF format, facsimile and some proprietary flat file formats. We will comply with international standards compliant document formats wherever appropriate and are happy to discuss requirements for other document formats and standards .There is an enquiry form at the bottom of this page if you whish to contact us in this regard.
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Q. Is there a formal agreement between parties to support electronic trading?
A . If following registration of interest you have identified that either direct transmission of documents into your system or transmission of documents through a third party service provider is the option that you wish to implement it will be necessary to enter into an Electronic Trading Partner Agreement with Boral. Such an agreement is a standard pre-requisite for electronic document exchange and sets out the obligations of the two parties doing business electronically i.e. expected time of transmission, document format standards etc.

Nothing in the Electronic Trading Partner Agreement is intended to change the terms of sale or trade that have been established with any Boral business.
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Q. Are electronic documents legal?
A. The Australian Government's Electronic Transactions Act 1999 (Cth) allows for legal recognition of electronic communications. It also allows electronic communications to satisfy existing requirements for writing, signatures and production of documents. State legislation mirroring that Act has since been passed by all the State and Territory governments to ensure a uniform approach throughout the whole country.

Please Note: This should not be construed as legal advice and if you are in any doubt the services of a qualified legal adviser should be sought.
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Q. Does the ATO recognise electronic invoices as tax invoices?
A. The transmission of invoices in electronic form are dealt with by the Australian Taxation Office. They have issued a ruling (GSTR 2000/17 Goods and Services Tax Ruling Goods and services tax: tax invoices) which states in part: Tax invoices in electronic form 24. A tax invoice may be issued in electronic form, for example by Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). Section 25 of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 defines 'document' to include any article or material from which sounds, images or writings are capable of being reproduced with or without the aid of any other article or device. Therefore, a tax invoice in electronic form is a tax invoice.

Please Note: This should not be construed as legal advice and if you are in any doubt the services of a qualified legal or tax adviser should be sought.
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Q. How long will it take to setup - walk me through the steps?
A. The first step is to fill in the electronic registration form (see link at the bottom of this page) setting out the accounts that you wish to initiate electronic trading for. If you are requesting a service, such as receipt of invoices by e-mail or access to the eSolutions Portal, this will be actioned within two business days and requires no additional effort other than the registration. Other services, such as an integration between accounting systems via EDI will take longer to ensure that data standards are understood, the appropriate agreements are in place and testing is completed.
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Q. Will my business data be secure if I sign up with Boral?
A. Boral maintains high standards of business security in relation to every aspect of its operation. All eSolutions electronic business to business transactions will be via a B2B adapter that supports security standards such as FTP, http and https . eSolutions Portal protects your business data using SSL Encryption. This 128- bit encryption is used for all data sent between your computer and the eSolutions Portal. This protects the data by encrypting it and making it unreadable as the data travels through the internet. Additionally, all transaction data and information is secured behind sophisticated firewall systems. Boral has also installed an Automatic Logout feature whereby the system detects that your login session has not recorded any activity for some time, your session will be automatically terminated. You will need to login again using your User ID and Password. We also conduct regular security reviews against stringent IT security policies.
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Q. Have you tested it?
A. Boral has completed extensive testing of the system backed by Oracle consulting. Additionally, security testing has been conducted by internal security experts as well as an external organisation that specialises in security testing. We also go through a comprehensive test phase prior to going live with electronic transmissions.
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Q. What about security? Can everyone see my business?
A.No, The eSolutions Portal uses SSL Encryption. This 128- bit encryption is used for all data sent between your computer and the eSolutions Portal. This protects the data by encrypting it and making it unreadable as the data travels through the internet. Additionally, all transaction data and information is secured behind sophisticated firewall systems. Boral has also installed an Automatic Logout feature whereby when system detects that your login session has not recorded any activity for some time, your active session will be automatically terminated. You will need to login again using your User ID and Password, We also conduct regular security reviews against stringent IT security policies.
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Q. What type of hardware and software do I need to get access to the portal?
A. No special applications are required to enable access to Boral eSolutions Portal or to receive documents by e-mail. You will need to have an account with an internet service provider and your computer set up with a browser and e-mail access. Other specialised requirements for Electronic Data Interchange will be discussed with you on a case by case basis.
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Q. What about the potential of my computer system getting a virus transfer from the internet?
A.Boral protects its systems by a sophisticated firewall system and conducts regular security reviews against stringent IT security policies. It is recommended that you take appropriate security steps to protect your system against this type of attack.
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Q.Which third party providers do you currently connect to?
A.We currently have connections with B2Be and the Timber and Hardware Exchange. We are also setting up relationships with a limited number of other service providers. Contact us to discuss if you would like more information on this method of connecting electronically with Boral.
 
Understanding Electronic Trading
Glossary of Terms
 
EDI Electronic Data Interchange - Transmission of data in a structured and international standards compliant format. We currently work with the United Nations EDIFACT standard.
Electronic Trading Partners Companies that have signed an agreement to do business electronically within a set of standard contract provisions.
B2B Business to Business, the electronic exchange of services or information between two or more businesses.
EDIFACT Electronic Data Interchange for Administration Commerce and Transport. A United Nations standard for EDI.
Digital Signature Digital signatures authenticate the source of a document and/or its author. A common form are digital certificates whereby the issuing company gives you a unique identifier.
3rd Party Service Provider An organisation that a customer or supplier can retain to carry out transport, routing and data conversion of electronic documents e.g. B2Be and Timber and Hardware Exchange.
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Finding Out More
 To find out more about Boral eSolutions and electronic partnering with Boral, contact your local Sales Representative, submit an enquiry , or register now!