The document chain from quote to payment
A typical deal between two Japanese companies goes like this. The buyer asks for a quote and the seller sends a mitsumorisho. The buyer accepts by sending a hatchūsho, a purchase order; on the seller's side, receiving that order is juchū, and they may confirm with a chūmon ukesho or juchū kakuninsho. The seller delivers with a nōhinsho, a delivery note, and often a kenshūsho or juryōsho for the buyer to sign as acceptance. The seller then issues a seikyūsho, the invoice, the buyer pays by furikomi, bank transfer, and the seller may issue a ryōshūsho, a receipt.
A keiyakusho, a contract, sits above this chain for ongoing or large relationships, and a kihon keiyakusho, a basic agreement, often covers many small orders so that each needs only a quote and an order. Small purchases skip several steps, but learn the order anyway, because each document refers to the one before it by number.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| お見積もりをお願いできますでしょうか。 | O-mitsumori o onegai dekimasu deshō ka. | Could you give us a quote? |
| 見積書の内容で発注いたします。 | Mitsumorisho no naiyō de hatchū itashimasu. | We will place the order as per the quote. |
| ご注文を承りました。 | Go-chūmon o uketamawarimashita. | We have received your order. |
| 納品書を添えてお送りします。 | Nōhinsho o soete o-okuri shimasu. | We will send it with a delivery note. |
| 請求書は月末に発行いたします。 | Seikyūsho wa getsumatsu ni hakkō itashimasu. | We will issue the invoice at the end of the month. |
Reading a mitsumorisho and a hatchūsho
A quote has a header with the buyer's name and onchū, the company equivalent of sama, the seller's name and seal, a number, mitsumori bangō, and the date. The body lists the items, hinmei, with quantity, sūryō, unit, tan'i, unit price, tanka, and amount, kingaku. Below come the subtotal, shōkei, consumption tax, shōhizei, and the total, gōkei. Three fields near the bottom matter most: nōki, the delivery time; shiharai jōken, payment terms; and yūkō kigen, how long the price is valid. A bikō line holds remarks.
A hatchūsho mirrors the quote and adds the delivery address, nōhin-saki, the requested delivery date, nōhin kibōbi, and the buyer's order number, which the seller will quote on the invoice. When you receive a quote, check the unit prices, check whether tax is included, and read the validity period: a quote that expires before your internal approval finishes means a second round.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| この金額は税込みですか、税抜きですか。 | Kono kingaku wa zeikomi desu ka, zeinuki desu ka. | Is this amount with or without tax? |
| 見積もりの有効期限を延ばしていただけますか。 | Mitsumori no yūkō kigen o nobashite itadakemasu ka. | Could you extend the validity of the quote? |
| 納期はいつ頃になりますでしょうか。 | Nōki wa itsu goro ni narimasu deshō ka. | Roughly when would delivery be? |
| 数量を変更した場合、単価は変わりますか。 | Sūryō o henkō shita baai, tanka wa kawarimasu ka. | If we change the quantity, does the unit price change? |
Reading a seikyūsho and the payment terms
An invoice repeats the items and totals and adds the fields that decide when and how money moves. Hakkōbi is the issue date. Shiharai kigen is the due date. Furikomisaki is the bank account: bank, branch, account type, futsū or tōza, number and account name, kōza meigi. Furikomi tesūryō, the transfer fee, is usually borne by the payer, and the invoice may say so. Since the introduction of the qualified invoice system, invoices from registered businesses also carry a registration number beginning with T; ask accounting how it affects your company.
Payment terms are written as a formula of two halves. The first half is the shime, the cut-off that closes a batch of invoices; the second is the barai, when that batch is paid. Getsumatsu shime yokugetsu matsu barai: closed at month end, paid at the end of the next month. Nijū-nichi shime yokugetsu jū-nichi barai: closed on the twentieth, paid on the tenth of next month. Yokuyokugetsu means the month after next. Sōkin is a plain word for sending money; nyūkin is money arriving, so nyūkin kakunin is checking that it came in.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| お支払い条件は月末締め翌月末払いです。 | O-shiharai jōken wa getsumatsu shime yokugetsu matsu barai desu. | Payment terms are month-end close, paid at the end of the following month. |
| 振込手数料はご負担いただけますでしょうか。 | Furikomi tesūryō wa go-futan itadakemasu deshō ka. | Could you cover the transfer fee? |
| 入金を確認いたしました。ありがとうございます。 | Nyūkin o kakunin itashimashita. Arigatō gozaimasu. | We have confirmed receipt of payment. Thank you. |
| 支払期限を過ぎておりますが、ご入金の予定を教えていただけますか。 | Shiharai kigen o sugite orimasu ga, go-nyūkin no yotei o oshiete itadakemasu ka. | The due date has passed; could you tell us when payment is planned? |
| 請求書の宛名を部署名まで入れていただけますか。 | Seikyūsho no atena o bushomei made irete itadakemasu ka. | Could you include the department name on the invoice? |
Nōhinsho, ryōshūsho and keiyakusho
A nōhinsho travels with the goods and lists what was delivered; the buyer checks it against the order, kenshū, and keeps it. A juryōsho or a signed copy goes back to the seller as proof. When a delivery is short or damaged, the nōhinsho number is what you quote when you call.
A ryōshūsho confirms payment received. With bank transfers, many companies treat the transfer record as the receipt and do not issue one unless asked. A keiyakusho sets out the whole relationship: the parties, kō and otsu, the scope, the price, the term, kikan, renewal, kōshin, termination, kaijo, and confidentiality, himitsu hoji. Contracts are often prepared in two copies, one for each side, and each company stamps both. Refer to articles by number, jō: dai-san-jō, article three.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 納品書の数量と実際の数が合いません。 | Nōhinsho no sūryō to jissai no kazu ga aimasen. | The quantity on the delivery note doesn't match what arrived. |
| 受領書に署名してご返送ください。 | Juryōsho ni shomei shite go-hensō kudasai. | Please sign the acknowledgement and send it back. |
| 領収書は必要でしょうか。 | Ryōshūsho wa hitsuyō deshō ka. | Do you need a receipt? |
| 契約書の第三条について確認させてください。 | Keiyakusho no dai-san-jō ni tsuite kakunin sasete kudasai. | Let me confirm article three of the contract. |
| 契約期間は一年で、自動更新でよろしいですか。 | Keiyaku kikan wa ichinen de, jidō kōshin de yoroshii desu ka. | The term is one year with automatic renewal, is that right? |
Inkan, kakuin and denshi keiyaku
Traditional contracts are stamped rather than signed. The company's registered seal, jitsuin, goes on the signature block; a keiin is pressed across the boundary of each pair of pages so that pages cannot be swapped; and a teisei-in marks any handwritten correction. Ordinary internal papers use a square kakuin or a personal mitome-in, and the verb for stamping is ōin or nattsuin. Who holds the seal and who may use it is a strict internal rule.
Electronic contracts, denshi keiyaku, signed through a web service are now widespread. The vocabulary shifts to denshi shomei, electronic signature; denshi shoshiki, the electronic form of a document; and shōnin, approval, in a workflow. Some counterparties still ask for paper, so a request may need to state which form you can accept. Whether a given contract needs a seal, a signature or an e-signature depends on the company, the document and the counterparty, so ask your legal or general affairs team, sōmu.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 契約書に押印をお願いいたします。 | Keiyakusho ni ōin o onegai itashimasu. | Please stamp the contract. |
| 割印は各ページの綴じ目にお願いします。 | Wariin wa kaku-pēji no tojime ni onegai shimasu. | Please put the cross-page seal on the binding of each page. |
| 電子契約でも対応可能でしょうか。 | Denshi keiyaku demo taiō kanō deshō ka. | Would an electronic contract be acceptable? |
| 原本を二部作成し、一部をご返送ください。 | Genpon o nibu sakusei shi, ichibu o go-hensō kudasai. | Please prepare two originals and return one. |
Requesting each document politely
The request pattern is the same for every document. Name it with o or go, say what it covers, give a deadline and a format, and close with thanks for the trouble. The core verb is go-sōfu itadakemasu deshō ka, could you send, or o-okuri itadakemasu deshō ka; for issuing a new document, go-hakkō itadakemasu deshō ka. Add a reason if the deadline is tight: shanai shori no tsugō de, for internal processing.
On the phone, add your company and name, and repeat the document number. When you send a document, use o-okuri itashimasu and ask them to check with go-kakunin kudasai. Chasing a late document is polite but direct: sakujitsu o-negai shita seikyūsho no ken desu ga, and then the question.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 恐れ入りますが、今月分の請求書を来週金曜日までにご送付いただけますでしょうか。 | Osoreirimasu ga, kongetsu-bun no seikyūsho o raishū kin'yōbi made ni go-sōfu itadakemasu deshō ka. | Sorry to trouble you, could you send this month's invoice by next Friday? |
| PDFでお送りいただければ助かります。 | PDF de o-okuri itadakereba tasukarimasu. | It would help if you could send it as a PDF. |
| 見積書を添付いたしましたので、ご確認ください。 | Mitsumorisho o tenpu itashimashita node, go-kakunin kudasai. | I have attached the quote; please check it. |
| 昨日お願いした請求書の件ですが、ご送付の予定はいつ頃でしょうか。 | Sakujitsu o-negai shita seikyūsho no ken desu ga, go-sōfu no yotei wa itsu goro deshō ka. | About the invoice I requested yesterday, roughly when will it be sent? |
| お手数をおかけしますが、よろしくお願いいたします。 | O-tesū o o-kake shimasu ga, yoroshiku onegai itashimasu. | Sorry for the trouble, and thank you. |
Document vocabulary
The table gathers the document names and the fields you will read on them.
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 見積書 | mitsumorisho | quotation |
| 発注書 | hatchūsho | purchase order |
| 受注 | juchū | receiving an order (seller's side) |
| 納品書 | nōhinsho | delivery note |
| 請求書 | seikyūsho | invoice |
| 領収書 | ryōshūsho | receipt |
| 契約書 | keiyakusho | contract |
| 支払条件 | shiharai jōken | payment terms |
| 締め | shime | cut-off for a billing period |
| 翌月末払い | yokugetsu matsu barai | paid at the end of the following month |
| 振込先 | furikomisaki | bank account for transfer |
| 有効期限 | yūkō kigen | validity period |
| 押印 | ōin | affixing a seal |
| 電子契約 | denshi keiyaku | electronic contract |
Mistakes that delay payment
Most delays come from a field, not a dispute. An invoice addressed to the wrong company name or missing the department; a purchase order number that does not match; a tax line missing or doubled; bank details with the account name in the wrong script; a due date that ignores the client's shime, so the invoice arrives a day late and waits a month. On contracts, the classic errors are a missing keiin, a stamp from the wrong seal, and a counterparty name that differs from its registered name by one character.
Before you send any document, check the recipient's name, the number it refers to, and the terms against the previous document in the chain. If a client says a document is wrong, apologise briefly, ask exactly which field, and reissue the same day with sai-hakkō in the subject line. Company practice differs on nearly everything here, from seals to payment months, so learn the language and then ask a colleague how your company does it.
- Check the name, onchū or sama, and department on every document
- Quote the previous document's number on the next one
- Confirm zeikomi or zeinuki and the tax line before sending
- Read the client's shime and send the invoice before it
- Ask before you stamp; seals have rules about who may use them