Case Studies

Enterprise Risk Management (Durable Goods)

USJP analyzed a client’s enterprise risks and prepared a risk model. The president of the U.S company was a locally hired employee who made key decisions quickly. While the operating results were favorable, the parent company was concerned with the heavy reliance on a single person and asked USJP to implement a systematic process to manage the business risks. USJP analyzed the risks and prepared a template which division managers could use to assess, track, and share on a periodic base.

Corporate Governance Enhancement (Transportation Equipment)

USJP assisted a client to improve the governance of a manufacturing subsidiary in a remote location. While the president of this subsidiary was an employee from the Japanese parent company, the daily operation was managed by a locally hired manager. The U.S. parent company was concerned as it did not have visibility into the day to day operations. USJP reviewed how the decisions were made at the subsidiary and developed recommendations to improve the information sharing while still empowering the local team.

J-SOX Rationalization (Leisure)

USJP helped a client review the J-SOX evaluation process, scale down the risk and control matrix, reduce the number of tests to half, and conducted tests for one year, resulting in a significant reduction of costs and time for the annual J-SOX compliance without sacrificing the level of internal controls. Previously, the annual evaluation task was outsourced to a large CPA firm who had extensive experience with US SOX laws, which have stricter requirements than J-SOX.

J-SOX and Internal Audit Outsource (Instruments Manufacturer)

USJP assisted a client by taking over J-SOX compliance and internal audits from an employee and reducing the workload of the auditee. The previous person had focused his work on purchasing and accounting where he was knowledgeable and did not review other important areas such as IT. Two USJP consultants with different skill sets covered all the important areas. USJP consultants evaluated broader sets of items in less than half of the time spent by the predecessor and produced more recommendations that the business eventually implemented.

Control Enhancement for IPO (Retail)

USJP assisted a company to establish a foundation of internal controls over a two-year period. This subsidiary of a Japanese company was planning to offer its share in the U.S. market. However, the company did not have a set of internal controls expected by U.S. investors. USJP’s support included policy preparation and enhancement of purchasing, accounting, operation, and IT processes, training of employees, monitoring of controls, and mock testing of selected controls.

Internal audit co-source (Durable Goods)

USJP assisted the Japanese internal audit team of a client to understand U.S. business practices and to perform internal audits of a U.S company acquired by the parent company. Through this co-sourcing arrangement, the parent company’s IA team started to develop skills to perform audits of foreign entities.