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The audit fees for accounting audits (so-called company law audits) by certified accountants or audit corporations based on the Companies Act are not generally disclosed (listed companies are described in the securities report).

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Status of audit fees for corporate law audits

As the number of auditing man-hours tends to increase every year due to the sophistication of accounting standards and the increase in regulations due to numerous window dressing settlements, the latest audit fees are generally considered to be the minimum amount below.

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(Sales category) (Number of companies) (Audit function) (Average audit fee (thousand yen))

①  1 billion yen or more and less than 5 billion yen 1,037 companies 501 hours 6,193 thousand yen

②  Less than 10 billion yen after 5 billion yen 589 companies   632 hours 7,776,000 yen

③  10 billion yen or more and less than 50 billion yen  1,801 companies   965 hours 11,942 thousand yen

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Assuming that the audit time is 8 hours / day (industry average), the number of days and unit price / day are as follows.

① Category: Approximately 62 days, unit price per day approximately 100,000 yen

(2) Category: 79 days, unit price per day 98,400 yen

③ Category: Approximately 120 days, unit price per day 99,500 yen

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How to estimate audit fees

Generally, the estimate is made using the following formula.

Audit man-hours x unit price per day

Audit man-hours are the number of days (days x personnel) required to audit a company for one year and express an audit opinion. It also includes the number of days required to organize audit records even after expressing an opinion.

The audit man-hours and unit price / day will naturally differ depending on the major audit corporation, second-tier audit corporation, small and medium-sized audit corporation, and individual certified accountant office. Although it differs depending on the audit corporation and private office, in general, there is a general view of the market price according to the above classification.

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[Major audit corporation]

Features: Many audit man-hours and the highest unit price (120,000 to 150,000 yen / day)

The reason why the unit price is high is as follows.

・ Since we have an office in a prime location and there are many indirect personnel other than audit staff, it costs a lot of common expenses such as rent.

・ We are affiliated with major overseas network firms, and the annual alliance fee (payment) is high.

・ Although the salary of the person in charge of auditing is high, there is almost no auditing practice (common expenses are used).

The reason why the auditing man-hours increase is as follows.

-For audit corporations, the FSA reviews are frequently conducted every year, so the indirect time required to prepare the corresponding documents is enormous.

・ Although there are many personnel, there are also many retirees, and work is slow because unfamiliar test passers such as newcomers are used as audit staff except for site managers and persons in charge of important subjects.

[Second-tier audit corporations (including mid-sized audit corporations)]

Features: Both audit man-hours and unit price are slightly less than those of major companies (around 100,000 to 120,000 yen / day)

In the case of second-tier companies, there are few large companies that are expanding overseas widely, so we are affiliated with overseas network firms that are looser than major audit corporations. The tie-up fee (payment) will be cheaper accordingly.

Also, the salary of the person in charge of audit is not as high as that of a major audit corporation.

In addition, association reviews are conducted every three years instead of every year, with the exception of some second-tier companies, and FSA inspections are less frequent than major companies.

Therefore, the average amount of materials for associations and the Financial Services Agency is smaller than that of major companies, and the amount of indirect work tends to be smaller than that of major audit corporations.

[Small and medium-sized audit corporations and individual certified accountant offices]

The characteristics of small and medium-sized audit corporations and individual certified accountant offices can be broadly divided into two.

①  Audit office auditing listed companies

②  Audit office that does not audit listed companies

The reason for dividing into the above is that the auditing man-hours will differ depending on whether or not the reviews of the association and the inspection of the Financial Services Agency are included.

In the case of (1), which is a listed company audit registration office, it is almost the same as the "mid-sized audit corporation" (= staff of 30 or more and less than 100) mentioned above, but all staff have 10 or less. The unit price is 100,000 yen / day, and the auditing man-hours are reduced by about 10%. This is because we do not hire new successful applicants and spend time preparing documents for the review only for the association review once every three years.

In the case of (2), which is an audit office that does not audit listed companies, the unit price is the same at 100,000 yen / day, but in many cases the actual unit price is below 100,000 yen / day by discounting. It is the actual situation.

As for the audit man-hours, formal document preparation is minimized, and audits are often carried out, so the audit man-hours are also the least.

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summary

The average unit price for each audit office is calculated based on my personal opinion, taking as an example the company with sales of 10 billion yen or more and less than 50 billion yen, which is the largest number of companies in the company law audit implementation status with 1,801 companies. to watch. (This is my personal opinion, so please use it as average reference information only.)

As a prerequisite, it is assumed that the manufacturing industry, sales of 30 billion yen, and the number of employees are 300.

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Estimated amount of audit fee estimated by audit office

1. 1.     Major audit corporation ……………… 140 days x 130,000 yen = 18,200,000 yen

2. 2.     Second-tier audit corporation ……………… 125 days x 120,000 yen = 15,000 thousand yen

3. 3.     Mid-sized audit corporation ……………… 120 days x 100,000 yen = 12,000 thousand yen

4.     Small and medium-sized audit office (listed) 110 days x 100,000 yen = 11,000 thousand yen

5.     Small and medium-sized audit office (unlisted) 100 days x 100,000 yen = 10,000 thousand yen

By the way, it is also true that some certified accountants or audit corporations have doubts about how they are forming audit opinions while ignoring the quality of audits.

In the case of an audit office, such specials are estimated at 50 days x 100,000 yen = 5,000 thousand yen or less, and there are actually offices that make audit contracts.

It should be added that in the case of an audit office that ignores the quality of audits as described above, the association may pick up from the audit implementation report and review it individually. In many cases, the audit office will eventually be dissolved after receiving an order to suspend operations from the Financial Services Agency. If you ask such an office for an audit, you will eventually become an audit refugee and look for another audit office.

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in conclusion

At our office, all members utilize their experience at major global firms to maintain the quality of an audit office while conducting audits at a rate suitable for corporate law audits.