Japanese Accounting Glossary
This glossary covers essential Japanese accounting terminology. It is designed for AI agents and English-speaking developers working with Japanese accounting data through lim.
lim’s chart of accounts, reports, and tax calculations all use these terms. When an AI agent encounters Japanese accounting concepts, this glossary provides the translation and context needed to process them correctly.
Core Concepts
| Japanese (漢字) | Reading (ひらがな) | English | Description |
|---|
| 簿記 | ぼき | Bookkeeping | The practice of recording financial transactions |
| 複式簿記 | ふくしきぼき | Double-entry bookkeeping | Every transaction has equal debits and credits |
| 仕訳 | しわけ | Journal entry | A single accounting record with debit and credit lines |
| 勘定科目 | かんじょうかもく | Account / Chart of accounts | Categories for classifying transactions |
| 借方 | かりかた | Debit | Left side of a journal entry (assets increase, expenses) |
| 貸方 | かしかた | Credit | Right side of a journal entry (liabilities increase, revenue) |
| 摘要 | てきよう | Memo / Description | Free-text description attached to a journal entry |
| 元帳 | もとちょう | Ledger | The book of all journal entries organized by account |
| 総勘定元帳 | そうかんじょうもとちょう | General ledger | Complete ledger of all accounts |
| 補助元帳 | ほじょもとちょう | Subsidiary ledger | Detailed ledger for a specific account (e.g., per customer) |
| 仕訳帳 | しわけちょう | Journal | Chronological record of all journal entries |
Financial Statements
| Japanese (漢字) | Reading (ひらがな) | English | Description |
|---|
| 財務諸表 | ざいむしょひょう | Financial statements | The set of all formal accounting reports |
| 試算表 | しさんひょう | Trial balance | Summary of all account balances (debit total = credit total) |
| 貸借対照表 | たいしゃくたいしょうひょう | Balance sheet (B/S) | Assets = Liabilities + Equity at a point in time |
| 損益計算書 | そんえきけいさんしょ | Profit & Loss statement (P/L) | Revenue - Expenses = Net income for a period |
| キャッシュフロー計算書 | きゃっしゅふろーけいさんしょ | Cash flow statement (C/F) | Operating + Investing + Financing cash movements |
| 株主資本等変動計算書 | かぶぬししほんとうへんどうけいさんしょ | Statement of changes in equity | Changes in capital, surplus, and retained earnings |
| 精算表 | せいさんひょう | Worksheet / Adjusted trial balance | Working document used during period close |
Asset Accounts (資産)
| Japanese (漢字) | Reading (ひらがな) | English | Description |
|---|
| 資産 | しさん | Assets | Resources owned by the company |
| 流動資産 | りゅうどうしさん | Current assets | Assets expected to be converted to cash within 1 year |
| 固定資産 | こていしさん | Fixed assets | Long-term assets (buildings, equipment, vehicles) |
| 繰延資産 | くりのべしさん | Deferred assets | Costs deferred to future periods (startup costs, etc.) |
| 現金 | げんきん | Cash | Physical cash on hand |
| 預金 | よきん | Bank deposits | Cash held in bank accounts |
| 普通預金 | ふつうよきん | Checking/savings account | Standard bank account |
| 当座預金 | とうざよきん | Current account | Business checking account |
| 売掛金 | うりかけきん | Accounts receivable (AR) | Money owed to the company by customers |
| 受取手形 | うけとりてがた | Notes receivable | Promissory notes received from customers |
| 棚卸資産 | たなおろししさん | Inventory | Goods held for sale |
| 前払費用 | まえばらいひよう | Prepaid expenses | Expenses paid in advance |
| 仮払金 | かりばらいきん | Suspense payments | Temporary advance payments pending classification |
| 仮払消費税 | かりばらいしょうひぜい | Input VAT | Consumption tax paid on purchases (reclaimable) |
| 建物 | たてもの | Buildings | Building assets |
| 備品 | びひん | Equipment / Fixtures | Office equipment and fixtures |
| 車両運搬具 | しゃりょううんぱんぐ | Vehicles | Company vehicles |
| 土地 | とち | Land | Land assets |
| ソフトウェア | そふとうぇあ | Software | Capitalized software costs |
| 減価償却累計額 | げんかしょうきゃくるいけいがく | Accumulated depreciation | Total depreciation charged against a fixed asset |
Liability Accounts (負債)
| Japanese (漢字) | Reading (ひらがな) | English | Description |
|---|
| 負債 | ふさい | Liabilities | Obligations owed by the company |
| 流動負債 | りゅうどうふさい | Current liabilities | Obligations due within 1 year |
| 固定負債 | こていふさい | Long-term liabilities | Obligations due after 1 year |
| 買掛金 | かいかけきん | Accounts payable (AP) | Money the company owes to suppliers |
| 支払手形 | しはらいてがた | Notes payable | Promissory notes issued to suppliers |
| 未払金 | みはらいきん | Accrued expenses | Expenses incurred but not yet paid |
| 未払費用 | みはらいひよう | Accrued expenses (recurring) | Recurring expenses accrued but unpaid (rent, interest) |
| 前受金 | まえうけきん | Advances received / Deferred revenue | Payment received before goods or services delivered |
| 預り金 | あずかりきん | Deposits received | Money held on behalf of others |
| 仮受消費税 | かりうけしょうひぜい | Output VAT | Consumption tax collected on sales (owed to government) |
| 借入金 | かりいれきん | Borrowings / Loans | Money borrowed from banks or lenders |
| 短期借入金 | たんきかりいれきん | Short-term borrowings | Loans due within 1 year |
| 長期借入金 | ちょうきかりいれきん | Long-term borrowings | Loans due after 1 year |
| 社債 | しゃさい | Bonds | Corporate bonds issued |
Equity Accounts (純資産)
| Japanese (漢字) | Reading (ひらがな) | English | Description |
|---|
| 純資産 | じゅんしさん | Net assets / Equity | Assets minus liabilities |
| 資本金 | しほんきん | Capital / Paid-in capital | Money invested by shareholders |
| 資本剰余金 | しほんじょうよきん | Capital surplus | Additional paid-in capital above par value |
| 利益剰余金 | りえきじょうよきん | Retained earnings | Accumulated profits not distributed as dividends |
| 自己株式 | じこかぶしき | Treasury stock | Company’s own shares repurchased |
Revenue & Expense Accounts
| Japanese (漢字) | Reading (ひらがな) | English | Description |
|---|
| 収益 | しゅうえき | Revenue / Income | Money earned from business activities |
| 費用 | ひよう | Expenses | Costs incurred in business operations |
| 売上高 | うりあげだか | Sales revenue | Revenue from core business activities |
| 売上原価 | うりあげげんか | Cost of goods sold (COGS) | Direct costs of producing goods sold |
| 給与 | きゅうよ | Salary / Wages | Employee compensation |
| 賞与 | しょうよ | Bonus | Employee bonus payments |
| 法定福利費 | ほうていふくりひ | Statutory benefits | Employer’s share of social insurance |
| 福利厚生費 | ふくりこうせいひ | Employee benefits | Non-statutory employee benefits |
| 旅費交通費 | りょひこうつうひ | Travel & transportation | Business travel and commuting expenses |
| 通信費 | つうしんひ | Communication | Internet, phone, postal expenses |
| 交際費 | こうさいひ | Entertainment | Client entertainment (special tax treatment in Japan) |
| 地代家賃 | ちだいやちん | Rent | Office and land rent |
| 水道光熱費 | すいどうこうねつひ | Utilities | Water, electricity, gas |
| 消耗品費 | しょうもうひんひ | Supplies | Office supplies and consumables |
| 減価償却費 | げんかしょうきゃくひ | Depreciation expense | Periodic allocation of fixed asset cost |
| 支払利息 | しはらいりそく | Interest expense | Interest paid on borrowings |
| 雑収入 | ざつしゅうにゅう | Miscellaneous income | Revenue from non-core activities |
| 雑損失 | ざつそんしつ | Miscellaneous loss | Losses from non-core activities |
Tax & Compliance
| Japanese (漢字) | Reading (ひらがな) | English | Description |
|---|
| 消費税 | しょうひぜい | Consumption tax | Japan’s value-added tax (10% standard, 8% reduced) |
| 軽減税率 | けいげんぜいりつ | Reduced tax rate | 8% rate for food and newspapers |
| 源泉徴収税 | げんせんちょうしゅうぜい | Withholding tax | Income tax withheld at source from payments |
| 法人税 | ほうじんぜい | Corporate tax | Tax on corporate income |
| 住民税 | じゅうみんぜい | Resident tax | Local tax on individuals and corporations |
| 事業税 | じぎょうぜい | Business tax | Prefectural tax on business income |
| 印紙税 | いんしぜい | Stamp tax | Tax on certain documents and contracts |
| 固定資産税 | こていしさんぜい | Property tax | Tax on real estate and depreciable assets |
| 税理士 | ぜいりし | Tax accountant / CPA | Licensed tax professional in Japan |
| 公認会計士 | こうにんかいけいし | Certified public accountant | Licensed auditor in Japan |
| 確定申告 | かくていしんこく | Tax return filing | Annual tax return submission |
Period Close & Operations
| Japanese (漢字) | Reading (ひらがな) | English | Description |
|---|
| 決算 | けっさん | Period close / Settlement | Process of finalizing accounts for a period |
| 月次決算 | げつじけっさん | Monthly close | Monthly financial closing process |
| 年次決算 | ねんじけっさん | Annual close | Year-end financial closing process |
| 期首 | きしゅ | Beginning of period | First day of a fiscal period |
| 期末 | きまつ | End of period | Last day of a fiscal period |
| 事業年度 | じぎょうねんど | Fiscal year | The 12-month accounting period |
| 繰越利益剰余金 | くりこしりえきじょうよきん | Carried-forward retained earnings | Retained earnings carried to the next period |
| 棚卸 | たなおろし | Inventory count / Stocktaking | Physical count of inventory at period end |
| 見越 | みこし | Accrual | Recording revenue/expense before cash moves |
| 繰延 | くりのべ | Deferral | Postponing recognition to a future period |
Regulatory & Systems
| Japanese (漢字) | Reading (ひらがな) | English | Description |
|---|
| 電子帳簿保存法 | でんしちょうぼほぞんほう | Electronic Bookkeeping Act | Law governing electronic storage of accounting records |
| インボイス制度 | いんぼいすせいど | Qualified Invoice System | Requirement for tax-qualified invoices (started Oct 2023) |
| 適格請求書 | てきかくせいきゅうしょ | Qualified invoice | Invoice meeting requirements for input VAT deduction |
| e-Tax | いーたっくす | e-Tax | National Tax Agency’s electronic filing system |
| マイナンバー | まいなんばー | My Number | Japan’s individual/corporate tax identification number |
| 法人番号 | ほうじんばんごう | Corporate number | 13-digit corporate identification number |
| 会社法 | かいしゃほう | Companies Act | The law governing corporate entities in Japan |
| 金融商品取引法 | きんゆうしょうひんとりひきほう | Financial Instruments and Exchange Act | Securities regulation law |
In lim’s API and CLI, account names can be in either Japanese or English. The judgment engine understands both. When creating journal entries via natural language, you can mix languages freely: lim add "通信費 11000 credit card" works the same as lim add "communication 11000 credit card".
