FAQ for business

+ How K/3 system is licensed to customer

K/3 is an integrated ERP system consisting of subsystems such as finance, supply-chain and manufacturing. Subsystems are further divided into functional modules. The following table is a list of modules of the financial subsystem. Functional modules can be used either separately or in integration with each other based on business logic. License is granted to customer based on selected modules, and number of concurrent users accessing each subsystem. For each subsystem the cost can be calculated when the modules and users are decided. For example, if you buy 3 users for finance subsystem, and in this subsystem you buy General Ledger, Report, A/R, A/P modules, the total list price is RMB 53,300.

Formula: (SUM of the selected module prices) + [user price * (Number of concurrent users - 1)] = total price of the subsystem

+ Competitive advantage versus foreign ERP brands

Kingdee software is positioned as brilliant tool to help run your business in China. Compared with foreign ERP product and service offerings, Kingdee has the following advantages.

- The policies and regulations of Chinese financial accounting, auditing and taxation differ significantly from those of western practices. K/3 system is authorized by China ministry of finance and fully complies with Chinese accounting and auditing regulations. Please refer to the part of common questions in financial accounting for a more detailed description.

- Chinese users are more familiar with and used to the usage of K/3 system, as it is a product that is designed to fit the Chinese business settings and is widely used in Chinese enterprises. Meanwhile, K/3 features are easy to learn and use. This nature of K/3 greatly helps to shorten the training and implementation cycle, and improves the efficiency in using the system.

- Chinese business environment is more unregulated and volatile compared with that in mature and developed countries. As a product originally designed for managing business in China, this nature is adequately accounted for in bringing significant flexibility into the design of K/3 product features.

- Kingdee has established service infrastructure covering most of the 1^st 2^nd and 3^rd tier cities in China by both directly operating branches and authorized service partners. This enables us to provide fast-responsive service to ensure the proper functioning of your system over long-term

- The license, implementation and long-term maintenance cost is considerably lower compared with foreign brands.

- Sage(UK), Navasion(USA), Qad(USA), Exact(), Scala, IFS

+ Competitive advantage versus Chinese ERP brands

Foreign enterprises are relatively better managed and controlled compared with their Chinese counterparts. As their operations and management relies heavily on the system, they poses significantly more demanding requirements on ERP system suppliers in the areas of product, consultancy and service capabilities. Kingdee has acquired vast experiences and built competent capabilities in serving foreign accounts as Kingdee has tapped into this market for more than 4 years. Compared with Chinese domestic product and service offerings, Kingdee has the following advantages.

Kingdee continued to put efforts in strengthening and optimizing its product features in response to specific requirements posed by foreign customers over the last four years. Foreign companies would be delighted to find advanced features in K/3 product which they are familiar with in applications in their homeland operations and be able to readily use them to realize advanced operational procedures and management practices here in China.

Kingdee also supplies highly-qualified implementation consultants with product knowledge, business consulting, project management and English speaking skills. The consultants are capable of precisely capturing and understanding your management requirements and ideas, and get them realized in K/3 system.

Proven capabilities demonstrated in our successful foreign reference customers from different industries.

Technical Questions

+ Running Environment of Client

Components	Requirements
Processor	Type: Pentium 4 Compatible CPU or faster 　　At least: Coro solo 1.7GHz, double core 1.0GHz 　　Recommended: Double core 2.0GHz or faster
Memory	Physical memory: 　　At least: 512MB 　　Recommended: 1.0GB or larger
Hard disk space	Space: 　　At least: 4GB free space 　　Recommended: 8GB free space
Internet	Internet status: 　　Speed: 100Mbps 　　Delay: < 20ms (based on data packet testing of 1024 bytes) 　　Packet loss: < 0.1% (based on data packet testing of 1024 bytes)
Operating System	OSs supporting K/3 client: Windows XP Professional SP2/SP3 Windows XP Professional 64-bit x 64 SP2 Windows Vista Ultimate/Enterprise/Business SP1 Windows Vista Ultimate/Enterprise/Business 64-bit x 64 SP1 Windows Server 2003 Standard/Enterprise/DataCenter SP1/SP2 ① Windows Server 2003 Standard/Enterprise/DataCenter 64-bit x 64 SP1/SP2 ① Windows 2000 Professional/Server/Advanced Server/DataCenter Server SP4 ② For other operating systems, we do not provide supports officially. K/3 client may run on these systems but without strict testing, or may not run on them.
Web browser	Web browsers support K/3 HR/CRM/Portal: Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1/SP2 - 32-bit③ Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0 - 32-bit ③ Only HR/Web client need to apply the Web browser. K/3 GUI client need not. For other Web browsers, we do not provide supports officially. K/3 HR/Web client may run on these browsers but without strict testing or may not run on them.

Note①——Support Windows Server 2003 R2, too. Windows Server 2003 R2 is an expansion pack of Windows Server 2003. They are compatible.

Note②——It is not recommended to use Windows 2000, which MSDTC efficiency is low to reduce the performance of K/3.

Note③——If you select 64-bit OS as the HR/Web client, please use the built-in 32-bit IE to visit the K/3 HR/Web site. All 64-bit Windows have built in two sets of Internet Explorer with 32-bit and 64-bit. It is default to apply the one with 32-bit.

+ Running Environment of Application Server

Components	Requirements
Processor	Type: Intel Xeon or AMD Opteron Speed: 　　At least: 1.6GHz 　　Recommended: 2.4GHz or faster Total cores: 　　At least: 2 cores 　　Recommended: 4 cores (less than 200 concurrent users) 　　　　　　　　　8 cores (between 200 to 400 concurrent users) For users more than 400, please use more application server. The same as below.
Memory	Physical memory: 　　 At least: 1GB 　　 Recommended: 2GB (less than 200 concurrent users) 　　　　　　　　　 4GB (between 200 to 400 concurrent users)
Hard disk space	Type: 　　 SCSI or faster enterprise-type storage. It is recommended to set as RAID1 or RAID5. Space: 　　 At least: 10GB free space 　　 Recommended: 20GB free space
Internet	Internet status: 　　 Speed: 100Mbps. It is recommended to link with database in 1000Mbps 　　 Delay: < 20ms (based on data packet testing of 1024 bytes) 　　 Packet loss: < 0.1% (based on data packet testing of 1024 bytes)
Operating System	OSs supporting K/3 application server: Windows Server 2003 Standard/Enterprise/DataCenter SP1/SP2 ① Windows Server 2003 Standard/Enterprise/DataCenter 64-bit x 64 SP1/SP2 ① Windows Server 2008 Standard/Enterprise/DataCenter ② Windows Server 2008 Standard/Enterprise/DataCenter 64-bit x 64 ② Windows 2000 Server/Advanced Server/DataCenter Server SP4 ③ For other operating systems, we do not provide supports officially. K/3 application server may run on these systems but without strict testing, or may not run on them. Please see Note ④ for running K/3 application server in virtual machine.

Note①——Support Windows Server 2003 R2, too. Windows Server 2003 R2 is an expansion pack of Windows Server 2003. They are compatible.

Note②——Only support to the complete installation of Windows Server 2008. Do not support the server core installation.

Note ③——It is not recommended to use Windows 2000, which MSDTC efficiency is low to reduce the performance of K/3.

Note④——The encryption service of application server does not support to run in virtual machine (such as VMware and Virtual PC). The encryption service runs as demo in the virtual machine. It does not support to import License file. But other components of application server can run normally in the virtual machine.

+ Running Environment of HR/Web Server

Components	Requirements
Processor	Type: Intel Xeon or AMD Opteron Speed: At least:1.6GHz Recommended:2.4GHz or faster Total cores: At least: 2 cores Recommended: 8 cores
Memory	Physical memory: At least: 1GB Recommended: 4GB
Hard disk space	Type: SCSI or faster enterprise-type storage. It is recommended to set as RAID1 or RAID5. Space: At least: 10GB free space Recommended: 20GB free space
Internet	Internet status: Speed: It is recommended to link with the application server in 1000Mbps Delay: < 20ms (based on data packet testing of 1024 bytes) Packet loss: < 0.1% (based on data packet testing of 1024 bytes)
Operating System	OSs supporting K/3 HR/Web server: Windows Server 2003 Standard/Enterprise/DataCenter SP1/SP2 ① Windows Server 2003 Standard/Enterprise/DataCenter 64-bit x 64 SP1/SP2 ① Windows Server 2008 Standard/Enterprise/DataCenter ② Windows Server 2008 Standard/Enterprise/DataCenter 64-bit x 64 ② Windows 2000 Server/Advanced Server/DataCenter Server SP4 ③ For other operating systems, we do not provide supports officially. K/3 HR/Web server may run on these systems but without strict testing, or may not run on them. Please see Note ④ for separately deploying K/3 portal server and application server.

+ Running Environment of Database Server

Components	Requirements
Processor	Type: Intel Xeon, AMD Opteron or Intel Itanium 2 Speed: At least: 1.6GHz (for Itanium processor, 1.4GHz) Recommended: 2.4GHz or faster ( for Itanium processor, 1.6GHz) Total cores: At least: 2 cores Recommended:   4 cores (less than 100 concurrent users or less than 10GB database entity) 8 cores (between 100 to 200 concurrent users or between 10 to 20GB database entity) 16 cores (between 200 to 400 concurrent users or between 20 to 40GB database entity)
Memory	Physical memory: At least: 2GB Recommended:   4GB (less than 100 concurrent users or less than 10GB database entity) 8GB (between 100 to 200 concurrent users or between 10 to 20GB database entity) 16GB (between 200 to 400 concurrent users or between 20 to 40GB database entity)
Hard disk space	Type: SCSI or faster enterprise-type storage. It is recommended to set as RAID10, and to built at least two LUN to keep the production database and temporary database (TempDB) Space: At least: 10GB free space Recommended: 50GB or more free space
Internet	Internet status: Speed: It is recommended to link with the application server in 1000Mbps Delay: < 20ms (based on data packet testing of 1024 bytes) Packet loss: < 0.1% (based on data packet testing of 1024 bytes)
Operating System	OSs supporting K/3 database server: Windows Server 2003 Standard/Enterprise/DataCenter SP1/SP2 ① Windows Server 2003 Standard/Enterprise/DataCenter 64-bit x 64 SP1/SP2 ① Windows Server 2003 Enterprise/DataCenter 64-bit IA64 SP1/SP2 ①② Windows Server 2008 Standard/Enterprise/DataCenter ③ Windows Server 2008 Standard/Enterprise/DataCenter 64-bit x64 ③ Windows Server 2008 Enterprise/DataCenter 64-bit IA64 ②③ Windows 2000 Server/Advanced Server/DataCenter Server SP4 ④ Windows 2000 Advanced Server/DataCenter Server 64-bit IA64 SP4 ②④ For other operating systems, we do not provide supports officially. K/3 database server may run on these systems but without strict testing, or may not run on them.
Database engine	Database engines supporting K/3 database server: SQL Server 2005 Standard/Enterprise SP3 SQL Server 2005 Standard/Enterprise 64-bit x 64 SP3 SQL Server 2005 Enterprise 64-bit IA64 SP3 ② SQL Server 2008 Standard/Enterprise SQL Server 2008 Standard/Enterprise 64-bit x 64 SQL Server 2008 Enterprise 64-bit IA64 ② SQL Server 2000 Standard/Enterprise SP4 ⑤ SQL Server 2000 Enterprise 64-bit IA64 SP4 ② For other database engines, we do not provide supports officially. K/3 database server may run on these engines but without strict testing, or may not run on them. See Note ⑥ for deployment of K/3 database server in environment of non Chinese simplified See Note ⑦ for deployment in environment of K/3 BI (business intelligence) + SQL Server 2008

Note ①——Support Windows Server 2003 R2, too. Windows Server 2003 R2 is an expansion pack of Windows Server 2003. They are compatible.
Note ②——Database server of 64-bit IA64 architecture does not support the installation of service components at the moment. So when you link to such kind of database server, you cannot add, backup and restore A/C set in A/C Set Management, but other functions are normal. The service components of database are not mandatory for K/3 system and it does not run depending on K/3 except for the three functions above mentioned. There is no any limit for database server of 64-bit x64 architecture. You can install the service components to it.
Note ③——Only support to the complete installation of Windows Server 2008. Do not support the server core installation.
Note ④——It is not recommended to use Windows 2000, which MSDTC efficiency is low to reduce the performance of K/3.
Note ⑤——It is not recommended to use SQL Server 2000 standard, but SQL Server 2000 enterprise. The standard version only supports 2GB physical memory at most, which reduces the performance of K/3. But the enterprise version has no any limit, so it is recommended.
Note ⑥——If you want to install SQL Server in the environment of non Chinese simplified, please set Collation to Chinese_PRC_CI_AS (CI means case insensitive, AS means accent sensitive). Otherwise K/3 database server cannot run normally. For SQL Server 2005/2008, it is default to set the collation during the installation. For SQL Server 2000, you need select custom installation to set the collation. The collation cannot be modified after the installation, so please set it correctly.
Note ⑦——If you want to apply K/3 BI and if the database engine is SQL Server 2008, please install Backward Compatibility Components for the database server. It is part of SQL Server 2008 Features Pack. Here are the links from Microsoft Official Website:

+ Other Technical Parameters

System Architecture: Based on 3 Tiers Architecture, Client Server
Programming Language: VB; VC
Database supported: SQL Server 2000 2005
OS supported: Win XP/2000/2003/98; Both in English & Chinese version
Database Schema: Available for additional programming purpose (BOS)
Exchange Data via: ODBC; Web Service; XML; Excel
Remote Access available: Cytrix; VPN etc

Standard costing

+ Standard costing is commonly used by manufacturing companies for purposes such as cost variance analysis, standard cost calculation, or inventory valuation at standard cost, or combination of any of these. Kingdee can support all of them, and has had successful experience in coming up with solutions to customers with varied standard costing requirements:

Standard Costing is not only a module to fulfill your accounting requirement of standard costing, but also a tool for cost control and decision-making. System can roll up standard cost according to standard BOM, standard routing, etc automatically. All the stock-in and stock-out transactions are valued at standard cost in General Ledger. It is also possible to revert standard cost into actual cost so as to comply with Chinese accounting and tax regulation. Abundant variance analysis reports make it easy to track cost variance and evaluate performance of production department. Kingdee has had successful experience in coming up with solutions to customers with standard costing requirements:

• Standard cost calculation rolled up from standard BOM (material) and standard routing (labor & overhead).
• 3-hireachys to calculate standard cost: Material, Work Order and Production Operation.
• All inventory transactions booked at standard cost.
• Purchase receipt variance report displays PPV (purchase receipt price versus purchase order) and IPV (purchase invoice price versus purchase order).
• Production variance report breaks down production variance into direct material variance, direct labor variance and overhead variance.
• Revert standard cost into actual cost so as to comply with Chinese accounting and tax regulation.
• System provides a tool to roll up standard cost of a new product according to cost BOM, routing and purchase price of the raw material. The result of roll-up can help you pricing new product and make cost-quantity-benefit analysis.
• For the variance between standard cost and actual cost, a tolerance level can be set to indicate the acceptable variance range for one works order. This feature differentiates the normal variances from abnormal variances, and therefore would help to control the usage of raw material, to reduce unnecessary waste and unreasonable production cost so as to improve the cost control level.
• Work order booking at completion, with variances rising from time difference, BOM difference, routing difference, scrap, rework, etc. differentiated and booked to P&L.
• Operation booking and WIP variance report generation.
• Selective standard cost update, with revaluation for inventory and WIP booked to P&L.
• By simulating standard cost, you can compare standard cost of your company with standard cost of benchmarking company and derive information for operating analysis and management decision-making.

Since a full application of standard costing requires of your accounting staff a totally different understanding and practice of costing and puts a relatively higher demand on the corporate management level, we suggest you make an internal feasibility evaluation before you make the decision to go with a full standard costing application.