Accountancy Profession in Japan
CPA Law
The accountancy profession in Japan practices with the title of a Certified Public Accountant ("CPA") under the Certified Public Accountants Law legislated in 1948.
The Certified Public Accountants Law provides key matters relating to the accountancy profession such as examinations, qualifications, registrations, duties and responsibilities of CPAs and Junior CPAs, audit corporations, Certified Public Accountants and Auditing Oversight Board("CPAAOB"), Japanese Institute of Certified Public Accountants ("JICPA"),and penalties.
Responsibilities of CPAs
The certified public accountants assume heavy social responsibilities to the public and therefore high ethical requirements such as independence, professional due care and confidentiality as well as high technical competence are placed upon them.
Meeting Public Expectations
The scope of CPA practices in Japan includes, in addition to financial statements auditing which service may only be provided by the certified public accountants, accounting, tax and management consulting services. To meet the economic environment where business activities are rapidly growing and becoming global, audit corporations, consisting only of CPA partners with unlimited liability were introduced by amending the Certified Public Accountants Law in 1966
