Leaders Message

Aiming to improve audit quality and fill the "trust gap" in the future society

With geopolitical risks increasing and divisions deepening over energy and climate change issues, as well as the explosive increase in the use of generative AI, society is rapidly changing. Existing rules are unable to govern these changes effectively, and that is creating areas known as ‘trust gaps’ where the necessary trust in society has not been established.

PwC's purpose is to ‘build trust in society and solve important problems’. In a society where uncertainty is increasing at an accelerating pace, PricewaterhouseCoopers Aarata LLC (hereinafter ‘PwC Aarata’) and PricewaterhouseCoopers Kyoto (hereinafter ‘PwC Kyoto’) merged and began operations on 1 December, 2023 in order to utilise assurance technology to fill these ‘trust gaps’ and contribute to building trust in society.

Although PwC Aarata and PwC Kyoto were firms that belonged to the same network and shared the same PwC purpose, each had their own characteristics. PwC Aarata has a rich track record of auditing globally expanding companies as well as providing advisory services for non-audit clients that utilise the knowledge gained from auditing services related to accounting/internal control, governance/risk/compliance, digitalisation and sustainability. This has created a synergistic cycle between the audit and non-audit services. PwC Kyoto has a wide range of experience in auditing companies ranging from start-ups to large global companies as well as a wealth of experience in auditing and supporting IPOs. We believe that by integrating the strengths of both firms, we will be able to create an organisation that is more resilient to change.

Our first step is the further improvement of the quality of our audit work. PwC uses auditing methods that are common around the world to provide consistently high-quality audits on a global basis that take into account each country's business environment. Regarding corporate management, we manage, check and improve our corporate operations from a global perspective that goes beyond the Audit Firm Governance Code in Japan. As the only Japanese audit firm that can utilise the PwC global network, we will continue to strive for further quality improvement.

As for our non-audit services, as discussions on information disclosure regarding sustainability progress rapidly around the world, we hope to contribute to building trust by actively participating in discussions on how to ensure the reliability of that information in addition to providing a wide range of support for disclosure-related initiatives. Furthermore, we will strengthen our research and development system for building trust services with projects such as commencing research on building a mechanism to ensure the reliability of all the different kinds of data obtained from GPS and IoT in smart cities, etc. and proceeding with other preparations to fill ‘trust gaps’ in the future.

The most important thing in moving forward with these initiatives is ‘human capital’. We adhere to the spirit of ‘Speak up’, which encourages everyone to speak freely regardless of their position or how long they have been with the company, and make 'Critical Few Behaviours’, which is our code of conduct developed by all employees from the bottom up, one's own issues. We promote the long-term development of human capital to align each individual's career path with the growth of our firm. We aim to continue to be a group that values the idea of contributing to others.

In order to follow these paths and fulfil our social responsibilities as an auditing firm, we will continue to work tirelessly while giving ample consideration to the opinions of our stakeholders.

PricewaterhouseCoopers Japan LLC

Chief Executive Officer
Takaaki Ino

acting CEO
Keiichiro Kagi