A global IT company with a newly established Japanese subsidiary needed support with local accounting and reporting.The Japan team lacked internal accounting staff and required a bilingual partner to manage books and reporting.Epic provided full monthly accounting services, reconciliations, and English-language financial reports.
The Challenge
The client had established a wholly owned KK in Japan but had no in-house accounting team.
All accounting needed to comply with Japanese standards (J-GAAP), while simultaneously reporting in formats aligned with IFRS.
The client’s HQ required monthly profit & loss reports, trial balances, and expense breakdowns in English.
Vendors submitted Japanese-language invoices, and bank statements were in Japanese, making it hard for HQ to track payments.
Because of rapid business expansion, transactions increased each month, and manual reporting became unmanageable.
Payroll, social insurance, and expense reimbursements had to be integrated into the monthly books.
Tax filing deadlines (corporate, consumption, withholding) also had to be tracked and coordinated in parallel.
The HQ team needed someone to act as their “local controller” in Japan, managing all financial workflows transparently.
The client also requested an explanation of accounting treatments for certain Japanese expenses unfamiliar to HQ.
Accuracy, timeliness, and bilingual reporting were key to avoiding confusion or rework across the group.
What did epic do
Epic took over all bookkeeping tasks and created a tailored chart of accounts compatible with both J-GAAP and IFRS.
We entered and reconciled monthly transactions from bank, payroll, and vendor systems, and matched receipts to GL entries.
Monthly closing processes were standardized, and reports were delivered in English to HQ on the agreed timeline.
Epic prepared profit & loss statements, trial balances, and general ledger exports in both Japanese and English.
We tracked filing schedules and ensured tax-related entries aligned with quarterly and annual deadlines.
Communication was held in English with HQ and in Japanese with local vendors, ensuring seamless coordination.
We also provided explanations of unique Japanese expense categories (e.g., entertainment, welfare, fixed asset rules).
Our team supported HQ during internal audits by providing reconciliations and source documents as needed.
The Results
- Monthly closings completed accurately and on time
- Dual-language financial reports delivered to HQ each month
- Full visibility into local spend and vendor payments
- Local tax entries aligned with HQ timelines and audit requirements
- Reduced HQ workload by fully outsourcing Japan accounting
