In August 2026 the Japanese Institute of Certified Public Accountants issued an exposure draft revising Auditing Standard 240, “Fraud in an Audit of Financial Statements.” It would be a mistake to file this as an audit firm matter. As the auditor’s work on fraud risk becomes more explicit, the demands land on the company’s accounting…
Having a CPA prepare a business plan is one thing. Having one review a plan you have already written can look like paying for a second opinion you do not need. The value is in one thing: the plan comes back more defensible. What “defensible” means, though, depends entirely on who is going to read…
The third-party committee report on alt Inc. is worth reading closely if you work in or around the technology sector. Round-trip transactions are not something you necessarily set out to join — you can be drawn into one — and simply knowing the shape of the arrangement changes how you respond. What follows is a…
Generative AI took another step forward with the arrival of Deep Research, and agentic AI is widely expected to be the theme of this year. It is worth thinking about what that actually does to an accounting function. That the impact will be large is not in question. It will also be larger at big…
Reporting to an overseas parent is where a Japanese finance function is most visible and most often misread. The numbers are usually fine. What goes wrong is the transmission: terminology, register, and a set of unstated assumptions about deadlines that neither side has ever put in writing. This is written from the middle of that…
Dividend discussions usually start from the P&L and retained earnings. This one starts from cash: if the company carries debt, is it better to repay the borrowing than to pay a dividend? The common answer is to prioritise repayment and reduce or suspend the dividend, and that instinct is sound as far as it goes…
In this blog, I am going to write about the usage of accounting / finance professional. Until recently, even if international companies (Gaishi), outsouring for accoiunting professional is not so popluar.