Yanagisawa International Tax & Accounting Firm | Entrepreneurs & Startup Support, Expansion Overseas Support, International Tax, International Inheritance, M&A Advisory Services

Before starting a business, why not clarify what you truly want to do?

“I want to start a business, but where do I begin?”

Should you form a company first, or start by developing a product or service and testing whether customers will buy it?

Can I start as a sole proprietor? If I incorporate, should I choose a stock company or a limited liability company? How do I fund it, and how do I handle the bookkeeping?

The more you research, the more decisions seem to arise. You can consult us from that stage.

At Yanagisawa International Tax & Accounting, our principal and tax accountant, Kenji Yanagisawa, speaks with you directly to consider how to start your business and in what order, based on what you want to achieve.

Standalone consultations are welcome. There is no requirement to enter an ongoing advisory agreement afterward.

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Creating a company is probably not your ultimate goal.

I want to earn through my own efforts. I want to support my family.
You want to turn your strengths into work or have more freedom in how you work.
You want to bring a new service to more people. You want to build a business that changes the world.

Everyone has their own reasons for starting a business. You do not need to present a lofty motivation.

What matters is what you want to achieve and the best way to begin a business that will help you achieve it.

For example, if you can test a business on a small scale alone, you may not need to incorporate immediately. If you have co-founders or want to raise investor funding, however, the company structure and share ownership need early consideration.

If your customers or operations will be primarily overseas, it may be worth considering establishing the business overseas and even relocating yourself.

Before deciding whether to incorporate, tell us what you want to do.

In 60 minutes, we will clarify your options and next steps.

The initial consultation is not a session for us to explain our services.

Instead, this is time to understand your current situation, ambitions, and uncertainties, and work out a specific way forward for you.

Questions You Can Bring to Us	What we explore together
Should I form a company first?	Options such as sole proprietorship, a stock company, or a limited liability company, and when to incorporate
Should I develop the product or service first?	What you intend to sell, validation with customers, and when to incorporate
I have people who want to start the business with me	Allocation of responsibilities, share ownership, and preparation for future fundraising
How should I plan startup funding?	Funding requirements, near-term cash flow, and financing methods to consider
I do not understand bookkeeping or taxes	Initial systems, including accounting software and everyday bookkeeping
I am also considering starting a business overseas	Differences from starting in Japan, and tax and local organizational matters to check
I have already started, but something does not feel right	Review your current business structure, what needs to change, and in what order

You do not need to decide everything at once.

What needs deciding now? What should be researched first? What can wait until you have tested it in practice? Clarifying these distinctions helps reveal your next steps.

If specialist research or ongoing support is needed, we explain what must be checked and how to proceed.

Why consult our firm?

When choosing a tax accountant, many people compare fees and the services offered.

What we value is the question that comes before all of this: what do you want to achieve through entrepreneurship?

An approach that works well for tax alone may make borrowing harder or hinder future fundraising or a company sale. Conversely, an option you had not initially considered may better match your goals.

In other words, experience has taught me how strongly mistakes in the initial design can delay the realization of your ambitions.

Our strength isunderstanding what you want to do and designing how your business will work, drawing on our experience in M&A and overseas expansion as well as tax and financeIt is.

What to Compare When Choosing a Tax Accountant	Our Approach
Does the advice assume you will incorporate?	We also consider sole proprietorship and testing your product or service first
How much priority should tax savings receive?	We consider cash on hand, financial health, fundraising, and future goals alongside tax liabilities.
Should all bookkeeping be outsourced?	We support in-house bookkeeping so owners can understand their company's cash flows
How broad a range of options can you discuss?	In addition to starting a business in Japan, we can consider overseas expansion, relocation, and M&A.
Who conducts the initial consultation?	Our principal, tax accountant Kenji Yanagisawa, listens to you directly and proposes next steps

Before commissioning bookkeeping or tax returns, you may want advice on how to start the business itself. We want you to be able to draw on our experience at that stage.

Changes That Began with a Consultation

Consultation Example 01

A company president who began keeping his own books to understand the company's finances.

We began by helping introduce accounting software so that the company president could understand the flow of money. Day-to-day bookkeeping was later handed over to accounting staff.

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A third-generation president who had taken over the business came to us for advice.

His mother had handled the bookkeeping, and he did not really understand how money moved through the company. “I want to try keeping the books myself,” he told us.

We helped with everything from changing accounting software and learning to use it to understanding double-entry bookkeeping. Together, we traced how daily transactions become journal entries and appear in financial statements.

The president kept the books personally for the first one to two years. Routine data entry was then handed over to accounting staff.

The point is not for the president to keep entering transactions forever. It is to connect the movement of money in the company with the figures in its financial statements.

The company continued to accumulate profits and grew into a business with a strong equity base. This case reinforced my understanding of how important it is for owners to understand the flow of money.

Consultation example 02

From a discussion about moving abroad to considering a company sale.

Starting with the client's wish to live overseas, we proposed selling the company and supported both the M&A and the relocation.

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One business owner told us, “I want to keep my Japanese company, move abroad, and manage it remotely.”

Our discussions revealed that the company's structure would make it difficult to continue managing it from overseas. Taking into account the life the owner wanted, we suggested selling the company as an option.

Ultimately, we supported both the company's M&A transaction and the owner's move abroad.

The initial question was how to relocate, but another issue needed attention: how to continue owning the company.

The same applies to startup consultations. We explore options that suit your goals, rather than limiting the discussion to your original approach.

In our 23rd year. We have seen what happens after a business begins.

Founded in 2004, our office entered its 23rd year in 2026.

Among the companies we have worked with, 2 have completed IPOs. Many crypto startups we supported with overseas expansion have also successfully listed their tokens, or crypto assets.

We have also supported small teams steadily building profits and businesses inherited from family members.

I am a business owner myself, running this office. Generating revenue, employing people, and supporting the lives of my family and employees are responsibilities I carry in my work.

Where both parties wish, we sometimes introduce business owners to one another. Seeing relationships lead to information sharing or business partnerships is one of the pleasures of working with entrepreneurs over many years.

Starting alone does not mean you have to handle everything alone.

I believe we will see more solopreneurs using AI and IT to generate substantial revenue on their own or with small teams.

Being able to develop a product or service does not necessarily mean understanding accounting and tax.

Issue invoices. Confirm payments. Record expenses. Keep the necessary documents. Putting these tasks off can create difficulties once business gets busy.

The initial setup matters for MF Cloud, freee, Yayoi Accounting, and similar tools. Linking accounts and cards, organizing document collection, and deciding who checks what can reduce daily work.

Helping clients handle their own bookkeeping is another of our strengths. We support those who want to learn and build effective systems, even if numbers or IT are not their strong suit.

The goal is to reduce time spent on bookkeeping while ensuring you understand your business's finances.

Consultation Bonus: Receive Our “Accounting Revolution” Bookkeeping Manual

What happens after the consultation?

If the initial consultation gives you a clear path and you can proceed independently, there is no need to continue.

If ongoing support is needed, there are two main paths.

1. Ongoing support for your business as its domestic tax adviser.

For Japanese companies and sole proprietors seeking help with routine tax matters, financial statements, and tax returns, we offer ongoing tax advisory agreements.

With bookkeeping performed in-house by the client, our staff handle routine support, while our principal and tax accountant, Kenji Yanagisawa, addresses significant tax matters.

Indicative annual fees are approximately JPY 600,000 for businesses exempt from consumption tax and JPY 1,000,000 for taxable businesses, excluding tax. We provide an individual quotation based on business size, filing requirements, and other factors. We explain in advance any separately charged work, such as initial support for in-house bookkeeping.

Learn More About Tax Advisory and In-House Bookkeeping Support →

2. An individual project led by our principal and tax accountant, Kenji Yanagisawa.

You want to start a business overseas, relocate abroad, or design your business structure in detail.

For these specific topics, we offer a separate project engagement led by our principal and tax accountant, Kenji Yanagisawa, in addition to ongoing tax advisory services.

Our hourly rate is JPY 50,000 (JPY 55,000 including tax). For example, we may initially receive a retainer for 10 hours of JPY 500,000 (JPY 550,000 including tax), which is applied against the hours worked.

Many assignments are completed within 10 hours, but some require additional time and fees. Fees for external professionals, including local accounting firms, are charged separately.

We explain the scope and fees so you can decide whether to proceed.

An initial consultation does not oblige you to proceed with either type of engagement.

Looking a little further ahead, what would you like to do with this business eventually?

Before starting a business, you feel excited: “Let's do this!” Your first goal is probably to delight the customers in front of you and make the business viable.

Still, thinking a little further ahead can help with decisions today.

Based on many years of experience, I group the possible destinations of a business into five broad categories.

IPO, M&A, succession to the next generation, voluntary closure, and insolvency.

This does not mean every company should aim for an IPO.

You may want to sustain the business over many years while supporting your family, pass it to children or employees, sell it and pursue another venture, or close it responsibly after working long enough. There are many possible approaches.

An IPO or M&A transaction is unlikely to be your ultimate purpose in life. What you want to achieve afterward affects the business structure you choose and how you use money now.

You do not need to decide your entire future at the outset. But it is useful to begin with that perspective.

Tell us why you want to start this business.

As much as I want to hear your business plan, I want to know why you want to do it.

You have experienced a problem yourself. You have wished a certain product existed. There is something you cannot achieve in your current job. You want more time with your family.

That reason gives you the strength to keep thinking when things are difficult.

I enjoy hearing what entrepreneurs want to do next. Good purposes attract good people. Being involved as a business grows is one of the pleasures of this work.

It is fine if your ideas are not yet fully formed.

Start by telling us your story in a 60-minute consultation.