Guides for companies in Japan · Accounting Japan ↔ head office
Japan books in freee, head office wants group figures — and every month someone builds a spreadsheet
In Japan, a tax adviser usually keeps the young entity's books in Japanese software such as freee, Money Forward or Yayoi — with Japanese accounts, tax codes and labels. Head office needs the figures every month in its own chart of accounts and format. In between there is often one person at the Japanese entity who translates exports, maps accounts and builds a spreadsheet. It takes days and errors creep in.
Does this sound familiar?
- Someone in Japan builds head office's report by hand every month.
- Accounts and cost centres from Japan don't match head office's chart of accounts.
- Head office can't read the Japanese labels in the export.
- Questions from head office about single entries take days.
- A group ERP for the small subsidiary would be too expensive.
Why this happens
Two worlds of bookkeeping
Japanese bookkeeping follows Japanese tax and company law; group reporting follows head office's framework. Accounts and tax codes don't map one to one.
Japanese software speaks Japanese
Exports, account names and documents are in Japanese. Whoever checks them at head office needs a translation or a fixed mapping.
A group ERP is too big for a small subsidiary
Rolling out SAP or Oracle in Japan rarely pays off for a handful of staff, and Japanese consumption tax rules would have to be added there too.
Nobody owns the bridge
The tax adviser books, head office consolidates. Neither builds the connection in between.
What to do now
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1
Pin down head office's format
Which chart of accounts, which cost centres, which file format, and by which day of the month?
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2
Clarify the exports in Japan
What your tax adviser's software produces: CSV exports, reports, and with freee also a public API.
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3
Build a fixed mapping
Map Japanese accounts and tax codes once and properly to head office's chart of accounts, with English or German labels.
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4
Automate the monthly run
Fetch the export, map, check, deliver in head office's format — with a list of exceptions instead of a spreadsheet patchwork.
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5
Write down who does what
The tax adviser owns the bookkeeping, head office the consolidation, we the bridge in between.
Checklist: what the bridge needs
- Head office's chart of accounts and reporting format
- Access to the exports or API of the Japanese software
- Mapping of Japanese accounts and tax codes
- English or German labels for every account
- The day of the month by which head office needs the figures
- A contact at the tax adviser's office in Japan
How we help
QkSkima K.K. is based in Japan and has built interfaces between systems since 2008. We talk to head office in English or German and to your tax adviser in Japan in Japanese in writing.
- Setting up the export or API connection to the Japanese software (freee has a public API; other software we check case by case)
- A fixed mapping to head office's chart of accounts, with English or German labels
- A monthly report in head office's format: SAP import, DATEV or an Excel pack
- A list of exceptions and queries instead of manual work
- Running it through a plan: when accounts or formats change, we adapt the bridge
Frequently asked questions
Do you do the bookkeeping?
No. Bookkeeping, closing and tax returns stay with your tax adviser in Japan. We build and run the connection to head office.
Which software do you support?
freee offers a public API. For Money Forward, Yayoi and others we check exports and interfaces case by case.
Isn't an Excel export enough?
Often, at first. It gets expensive when someone has to map and translate every month — that is what we automate.
Do we need a new ERP for this?
No. The bridge connects what you already have: the Japanese software and head office's system.