The Strengths and the Culture of Learning That Encourage Continuous Growth

―What are the factors that have allowed you, from among all the Japanese accounting firms, to continue growing as you have?

First is that we can undertake all aspects of accounting and tax on an outsourced basis. Companies that are expanding overseas for the first time are often small-starters and lack personnel resources. So they need to outsource labor-intensive work and focus on their core business. We are constantly striving to put out the Tokyo-level quality of service, here in Singapore—not just performing straightforward secretarial work but bringing our specialist know-how and experience to the table to provide a higher level of service.

Second is that we have industries we place particular emphasis on. We provide support in all directions, but we have achieved excellent results by establishing our strategy of specializing in the kinds of business that are especially suited to this country. Specifically, these are the three industries of shipping, finance, and real estate. Singapore is a hub of logistics, being a place where people, things, and money move. These three industries are uniquely suited to Singapore, and it is easy to build a mutual synergy among the three. I am confident that creating strengths and promoting differentiation have led to our current growth.

―Please tell us about your employee training, workshops and the like.

Our employee education is mostly on-the-job training. Since our founding we have also had study meetings in our teams (or on an inter-team basis) roughly once a month. The systems and laws relating to the accounting business are changing every year, and when a client comes to us and says something like “We want to do an M&A,” new knowledge is required. There is a lot that we need to learn, so we continue these even when we are busy with our regular work. The basic parts of the services we provide become more sophisticated the larger our clients grow, and discussions become more complex. The reason we do these things is because, in order to keep up with such an environment, we need to study every day and expand our knowledge.

I proactively share my experience and know-how with the younger employees. Not only do I want them to be of the mindset that “working at Aoyama Sogo Accounting Office will give me a fulfilling and rewarding experience,” but I want them to have a precious time here and to become highly-valued talents. I also want both our clients and our competitors to know the excellence of the human resources cultivated at Aoyama Sogo Accounting Office.

An Eternal Venture That Never Stops Innovating

―Is there any kind of special corporate culture your company values?

We are currently in our ninth year of business, but I like to think we are an “eternal venture business.” We value the spirit of innovation, continually adding new services and thinking about how we can do more, while maintaining principle-based management.
Our employees are young, having an average age of 29, and full of energy. Our motto is “Work hard, play hard.”

Policy-wise, we hold an awareness of the idea of “making the experiences of others our own.”
Experts are not a leveraged business, and the most time a single person can have is only 24 hours a day.
With the growth of our company and the development of our clients, we receive a variety of opportunities from the clients. So we are constantly challenging ourselves with new things, sharing the experience thereby cultivated among all of our members, accumulating know-how, and growing together. That is the corporate culture of Aoyama Sogo Accounting Office Singapore. By making the experiences of others our own, the growth of the entire team is promoted. To keep that up, we need the strength of youth and the energetic spirit of a venture company.

Aiming to Be the Optimal Partner for Clients

―Is there anything you put particular emphasis on in running the Singapore operations?

What we as a company particularly value is our employees, their families, and “being the optimal partner for our clients.” We want to be not only a simple outsourcing contractor but a trusted partner for accounting, taxes, and legal affairs. It is also my desire to “make supporting our clients the pleasure of our employees.”

―What made you feel satisfied about expanding into Singapore?

The first three years were rough, but it’s precisely because I had a difficult job when first setting the office up that I was able to get better at my job. I am now able to sympathize with clients who experience the same kind of difficult circumstances and use that fact to build a rapport. It is a real pleasure whenever I learn that a client’s business has been going better because of our work.

As a result of working hard to make steady achievements, I feel that young employees are steadily building their skills and growing every day. It is a great pleasure for me to see such growth. I’m also delighted that the continued growth of the office has caused high-quality talents to gather around us.