MJM
Jun 16, 2008, 14:22
Hello,
Over the past half-year or so I've been trawling the posts on this site and others for info on opening a sole proprietorship here in Japan. As I found a lot of useful information (and some that was a bit dubious), I thought I'd put my two cents in for the record.
I opened my sole proprietorship about three months ago. It's a one-man operation; I work as a translator, and handle all of the translation work and the business work myself. Before I took the sole-proprietorship plunge, I bought a very helpful book in Japanese that had all the steps laid out for opening a small business. The most helpful part of reading the book was that, when I got about halfway through, I realized that there was no way I could do it alone. So, I enlisted the help of an accountant. This is the one thing that I most wanted to share with other readers--if you're considering opening even a very tiny SP like mine, please do yourself a favor and at least go in to speak to an accountant. The process of registering a SP wasn't nearly as simple as some posts I've read made it sound. My accountant does my paperwork at no charge (it probably takes him about ten minutes every month) in exchange for being able to add a 'foreign firm' to his client roster. (I regret to say that I feel I come out much better in the deal.) Even if he were to charge me, though, it would be on the order of 2-30,000 yen a month. The peace of mind of knowing that my paperwork is being done correctly (especially when it comes time for status-of-residence renewal) would be well worth it...
So, I thought I'd add this post into the mix for anyone who might be in the same position I was last year. Talking with an accountant is probably the best time investment you can make if you're thinking about striking out on your own.
Over the past half-year or so I've been trawling the posts on this site and others for info on opening a sole proprietorship here in Japan. As I found a lot of useful information (and some that was a bit dubious), I thought I'd put my two cents in for the record.
I opened my sole proprietorship about three months ago. It's a one-man operation; I work as a translator, and handle all of the translation work and the business work myself. Before I took the sole-proprietorship plunge, I bought a very helpful book in Japanese that had all the steps laid out for opening a small business. The most helpful part of reading the book was that, when I got about halfway through, I realized that there was no way I could do it alone. So, I enlisted the help of an accountant. This is the one thing that I most wanted to share with other readers--if you're considering opening even a very tiny SP like mine, please do yourself a favor and at least go in to speak to an accountant. The process of registering a SP wasn't nearly as simple as some posts I've read made it sound. My accountant does my paperwork at no charge (it probably takes him about ten minutes every month) in exchange for being able to add a 'foreign firm' to his client roster. (I regret to say that I feel I come out much better in the deal.) Even if he were to charge me, though, it would be on the order of 2-30,000 yen a month. The peace of mind of knowing that my paperwork is being done correctly (especially when it comes time for status-of-residence renewal) would be well worth it...
So, I thought I'd add this post into the mix for anyone who might be in the same position I was last year. Talking with an accountant is probably the best time investment you can make if you're thinking about striking out on your own.