Japan’s Big Four Hire to Meet New Sustainability Audit Mandate

The Big Four accounting firms’ Japanese affiliates are staffing up in anticipation of new sustainability disclosure and assurance requirements that are still nearly two years off, but they face hiring challenges including uncertainty over the details of the mandate and a limited pool of qualified CPAs.

Japan is one of several countries developing environmental reporting requirements in line with the International Sustainability Standards Board’s framework. The new standards—slated to take effect in April 2027—are expected to increase the auditing workload by 15% to 20% at the Big Four in the initial phase, according to sustainability experts at the firms. ...