Engagement
Statutory financial audit
Year-end audit of financial statements under Japanese GAAP or IFRS, ending in an independent auditor’s report for shareholders, lenders, and regulators.
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A statutory financial audit is Harborline’s primary engagement. We examine whether the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the company’s financial position and results under the agreed framework — ordinarily Japanese GAAP or IFRS.
Who sits across the table
Controllers and CFOs who need an opinion for shareholders, banks, or a foreign parent. We are built for entities large enough that inventory, revenue cut-off, and related parties matter, yet small enough that a partner still knows the warehouse layout.
What the work looks like
Planning sets materiality and significant risks. Fieldwork includes walkthroughs, tests of details, analytical procedures, and — when inventory is material — physical observation. We discuss proposed adjustments before they appear in a board pack. The opinion is signed only after representation letters and subsequent-events procedures are complete.
What we will not pretend to do
We do not prepare your books, file your tax returns, or design systems. Those roles belong to management and other advisers. Our role is independent examination and clear reporting.
Engagement particulars
Who it is for
Mid-size companies in Japan — manufacturers, trading houses, and professional-service groups — that need a statutory audit opinion for articles of incorporation, lenders, or parent consolidation.
Result
An independent auditor’s report on the financial statements, a management letter of observations, and a closing discussion of adjustments and subsequent events.
Scope
Single-entity or group financial statements for a defined reporting period; significant accounts including revenue, inventory, receivables, payables, and related parties as identified in planning.
Included
Planning and materiality assessment, risk assessment and walkthroughs, inventory observation where material, substantive testing, confirmations, draft and final opinion, and one bilingual board summary when requested at scoping.
Not included
Bookkeeping, preparation of the trial balance, tax return filing, valuation opinions outside audit procedures, and advisory on transactions that would impair independence.
Led by
Engagement partner Aya Fujimoto (or Daniel Reese for IFRS group reporting), with a fieldwork manager and staff assigned to your sites.
Process
Acceptance and independence checks → planning memo and document list → interim or year-end fieldwork → proposed adjustments → representation letter → signed opinion.
Timeline
Typically six to twelve weeks from planning kickoff to opinion, depending on entity size, locations, and close readiness.
Where we work
Client offices and inventory sites in the Greater Tokyo Area; other regions by arrangement. Some testing performed from our Tokyo office.
Preparation
Reconciled trial balance, bank and inventory reconciliations, related-party listing, prior-year adjustments rollforward, and access to perpetual inventory and shipping logs for cut-off.
Constraints
We decline when independence is impaired, books are incomplete beyond the available window, or inventory access is refused. Peak season capacity is limited December–March.
Fees
Fixed fee quoted after scoping; starting informational range from ¥2,800,000 for a single-entity J-GAAP audit with one inventory site. Multi-location and first-year audits quoted higher.
Next step
Request a scoping call with your reporting framework, entity structure, inventory locations, and board or lender deadline.
Ready to discuss your books?
Tell us about your entity, reporting period, and any lender or board deadlines.
Schedule a scoping call