JPS provides customized accounting & bookkeeping solutions for clients doing business in Japan. A Japanese legal entity is required to maintain accounting records in Japanese. Accounts need to be prepared in accordance with Japanese accounting standards. JPS provides management reports to clients in English on a monthly basis. This reporting is prepared in accordance with each client’s specific requirements. Usually this reporting is provided in Excel which can then be uploaded into the clients’ own system. After year-end, the accounts are finalized and attached to the corporate tax and Japanese consumption tax (VAT) returns. Our service aims to ensure that clients maintain a high level of statutory compliance. In addition, we can undertake special purpose accounting – for example to clients who are utilizing a tokumei kumiai structure in Japan.

JPS’s Bank Account Management & Expense Payment Service helps clients to manage cash and make expense payments in Japan. As a first step, we guide clients through the complexities of opening a local bank account in Japan. JPS maintains good relationships with several large Japanese bank and that relationship generally helps to move the account opening forward with a minimum of delay. JPS’s Bank Account Management & Expense Payment Service then involves payment of bills such as rent, utilities, vendors, etc. from the client’s Japan bank account. Cash reports are generally provided to the foreign head office on a weekly or monthly basis. JPS tracks cash on hand and makes funding requests when the account balance runs low. Utilizing JPS’s Bank Account Management & Expense Payment Service ensures a high level of internal control.

JPS is able to assist with all of the steps required to incorporate a company in Japan. Most foreign companies will incorporate a subsidiary in Japan — either a Godo Kaisha (“GK”) or a Kabushiki Kaisha (“KK”). It is also possible to establish either a Japan branch of a foreign company or a Japan Representative / Liaison Office. Our team initially provides consulting aimed at determining which business structure will best match the client’s needs. Thereafter, we provide advice regarding fundamental issues such as the optimal level of paid in capital and provide advice with respect to issues that affect the directors and shareholders of the new corporation. Once these basic issues have been decided, JPS’s qualified Japanese professionals prepare and file the Articles of Incorporation with the Japan Legal Affairs Office.

All incorporated entities in Japan require at least one director. Upon request, JPS is able to provide a Japan Resident Nominee Director to fill the local director role and act on the client’s behalf in the Japan. From an internal control viewpoint, it is important to understand that the director of a Japan entity has full power to bind the company and this fact is a source of concern for many foreign companies in Japan. An experienced Japan Resident Nominee Director can thus become an essential component of a clients’ Japan internal control environment. In addition, the existence of a local nominee director means the incorporation process will proceed more smoothly and practicalities such as visa applications, bank accounts, and entering leases will be less problematic.