A written-heavy field
Most of what an accounting role handles arrives as a document: an invoice, a statement, a receipt, a system record. Reading allows you to take the time that listening does not, which makes this one of the more approachable professional fields for a learner.
The vocabulary is also closed. A few hundred terms cover the great majority of the work, they recur daily, and many appear in the systems you use, so they are learned by exposure.
| Term | Meaning | Where you meet it |
|---|---|---|
| 請求書 | Invoice | Constantly |
| 領収書 | Receipt | Expense claims |
| 見積書 | Quotation | Before an order |
| 納品書 | Delivery note | With goods |
| 経費精算 | Expense settlement | Monthly |
| 源泉徴収 | Withholding tax | Payroll and payments |
| 消費税 | Consumption tax | Everywhere |
These seven appear daily in almost any finance role. Learning them first makes the documents readable, which is most of the job.
Numbers that group differently
Japanese groups large numbers in units of ten thousand rather than thousand, which means converting a figure in your head is genuinely error-prone at first and remains so under time pressure.
Confirming large figures back is standard practice and worth doing every time, because a misplaced unit in finance is not a small error.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 百万円でよろしいでしょうか。 | Hyakuman-en de yoroshii deshō ka. | One million yen, is that correct? |
| 確認させていただきます。 | Kakunin sasete itadakimasu. | Let me confirm. |
| 税込みでしょうか、税抜きでしょうか。 | Zeikomi deshō ka, zeinuki deshō ka. | Is that tax included or excluded? |
| 端数はどうなさいますか。 | Hasū wa dō nasaimasu ka. | How should the fraction be handled? |
| 桁が一つ違うようです。 | Keta ga hitotsu chigau yō desu. | The figure seems to be out by one digit. |
| もう一度、数字をお願いします。 | Mō ichido, sūji o onegai shimasu. | The figure once more, please. |
Chasing documents
A large part of the job is asking colleagues for things they have not sent: receipts, approvals, invoices. Doing this repeatedly without irritating people is a real skill and it has conventional soft phrasing.
The most effective technique is to state the deadline rather than to make a request. It conveys the same thing and does not read as pressure.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| お忙しいところ恐れ入ります。 | Oisogashii tokoro osoreirimasu. | Sorry to trouble you when you are busy. |
| 締め切りが明日となっております。 | Shimekiri ga asu to natte orimasu. | The deadline is tomorrow. |
| 領収書をご提出いただけますでしょうか。 | Ryōshūsho o goteishutsu itadakemasu deshō ka. | Could you submit the receipt? |
| ご確認いただけましたでしょうか。 | Gokakunin itadakemashita deshō ka. | Have you been able to check it? |
| 再度のご連絡で失礼いたします。 | Saido no gorenraku de shitsurei itashimasu. | Excuse me for contacting you again. |
| ご対応ありがとうございます。 | Gotaiō arigatō gozaimasu. | Thank you for dealing with it. |
The fifth phrase is how to chase a second time politely. It acknowledges the repetition, which is what makes it acceptable.
Month-end and year-end
The spoken load in this job concentrates at closing periods, when the pace rises and everything is chased at once. The vocabulary is small and the pressure is what makes it hard.
Preparing the recurring sentences in advance means you are not composing Japanese during the busiest week of the month.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 月次締めの件です。 | Getsuji-jime no ken desu. | This is about the month-end close. |
| 今月分に間に合いますでしょうか。 | Kongetsu-bun ni maniaimasu deshō ka. | Will it be in time for this month? |
| 翌月計上になります。 | Yokugetsu keijō ni narimasu. | It will be recorded next month. |
| 決算の準備を進めております。 | Kessan no junbi o susumete orimasu. | We are preparing for the year-end close. |
| 残高が合いません。 | Zandaka ga aimasen. | The balance does not match. |
| 原因を調査しております。 | Gen'in o chōsa shite orimasu. | We are investigating the cause. |
Explaining a discrepancy
Explaining why something does not match is the conversation where clarity matters most, and it follows a fixed shape: what the difference is, what caused it, and what you are doing about it.
Keep it factual. Speculation about who made the error is not what the conversation is for.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 差額は三万円です。 | Sagaku wa sanman-en desu. | The difference is thirty thousand yen. |
| 請求書と入金額が異なります。 | Seikyūsho to nyūkin-gaku ga kotonarimasu. | The invoice and the payment differ. |
| 振込手数料の分かと思われます。 | Furikomi tesūryō no bun ka to omowaremasu. | It appears to be the transfer fee. |
| 先方に確認いたします。 | Senpō ni kakunin itashimasu. | I will confirm with the other party. |
| 修正して再提出いたします。 | Shūsei shite saiteishutsu itashimasu. | I will correct it and resubmit. |
| 原因が分かり次第、ご報告します。 | Gen'in ga wakari shidai, gohōkoku shimasu. | I will report as soon as I know the cause. |
Preparing the two recurring conversations
The reading side of this job improves on its own through exposure, because the same documents recur daily. The spoken side does not, because it is concentrated into a few high-pressure days.
Two conversations repeat and are worth rehearsing: chasing a document and explaining a discrepancy. Practising them with an AI Sensei in Unihongo's immersive 3D classroom means they arrive without composition during a month-end, which is exactly when you have no attention to spare.
Numbers deserve their own practice too. Confirming a large figure aloud, with the units grouped the Japanese way, is worth drilling until it is automatic, because that is the error with the largest consequences.
Learn the seven document names first. Once the paperwork is readable, most of the job becomes accessible while your speaking catches up.