Why this seat is different in Japan
The Japan finance head often holds a board seat (取締役) and is personally responsible for the statutory accounts, the tax filings and the relationship with the tax authority during an audit (税務調査). Many are also a second representative director so the company can sign when the Managing Director is abroad. That makes this a governance role as much as a reporting role, and the person needs to understand what they are signing.
The work runs in two accounting worlds. Statutory accounts, tax and the auditor relationship run in Japanese GAAP and Japanese; group reporting runs in IFRS or US GAAP and English, with intercompany and transfer-pricing arrangements that the Japanese tax authority examines closely. Add the consumption-tax invoice system (適格請求書, from October 2023), electronic record-keeping rules (電子帳簿保存法) and year-end tax adjustment for employees, and the Japan finance head needs a competent 経理 team and a good tax adviser (税理士) rather than a theory of either.
The pool divides into two camps. Big Four alumni with qualifications (公認会計士, USCPA) and limited operating experience, and long-serving subsidiary finance leads with deep operating knowledge and uneven English. The person who has both run a subsidiary finance function and can present to a regional CFO is the one everyone wants.
Purpose of the role
Lead finance for the Japan entity: accurate and timely statutory and group reporting, tax and treasury management, financial planning and analysis that leaders act on, and internal controls that satisfy the group and the auditors. Act as the Managing Director's commercial partner and, where appointed, as a statutory director.
Key responsibilities
Accounting and reporting
- Deliver monthly group reporting under IFRS or US GAAP and annual statutory accounts under Japanese GAAP, with reconciliation between the two.
- Manage the external audit and the auditor relationship.
Tax and treasury
- Own corporate tax, consumption tax, withholding and transfer-pricing compliance, and manage tax audits with the tax adviser.
- Manage cash, bank relationships, intercompany funding and foreign-exchange exposure within group policy.
Planning and analysis
- Lead budgeting, forecasting and management reporting, and give the Managing Director and business leaders analysis that changes decisions.
Controls and governance
- Maintain internal controls to group standard, including any parent-company SOX or J-SOX requirements.
- Fulfil director duties where appointed: board resolutions, filings, and the signatures that go with them.
Operations
- Oversee payroll, and where in scope, IT, procurement and general affairs.
- Lead and develop the finance team and the systems they use.
Candidate profile
Must have
- Twelve or more years in finance with at least five leading the function for a foreign-capital subsidiary in Japan.
- Working command of Japanese GAAP, Japanese corporate and consumption tax, and group reporting under IFRS or US GAAP.
- Experience managing an external audit and a tax audit.
- Business partnership that can be described in decisions influenced, not reports produced.
Preferred
- A professional qualification: 公認会計士, USCPA, 税理士 or equivalent.
- ERP implementation or finance transformation.
- Statutory director experience, or understanding of what it entails.
- M&A, integration or carve-out support.
Language
- Japanese at native level for statutory work, tax authorities, auditors and the team.
- English at business level for group reporting, the regional CFO and board discussions.
Decide before you post
- Statutory director or not, and representative director or not.
- Which functions sit under finance: payroll, IT, general affairs, legal.
- Group accounting standard and the state of the reporting calendar.
- Whether an ERP change, a tax audit or a restructuring is in the first year.
- Variant: Finance Director with a team, Controller running accounting under a non-finance MD, or sole-charge Finance Manager. Each is a different pool and pay band.
How hard is this hire
Moderate to hard. There are many qualified accountants in Tokyo and few who have run a subsidiary end to end in both languages. Expect three to five months for a Finance Director. Searches fail when a Controller's budget is attached to a Finance Director's responsibilities, or when the role carries director liability without the pay or the explanation.
Interview questions that separate candidates
- Walk me through your last tax audit. What did the authority challenge and how did it end?
- How do you reconcile Japanese GAAP statutory accounts to group reporting, and where do the differences usually sit?
- Tell me about a decision the Managing Director changed because of your analysis.
- What are you personally liable for as a director, and how do you manage that?
- Describe the finance team you built. Who is ready to be Controller?
