「自身の給与がどのような根拠によって決定されているかを理解している人は、果たしてどれほどいるだろうか。
How many people truly understand what determines their own salary?
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Even if you ask this question at a company with many female sales employees, almost no one will raise their hand to answer.
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There are even employees who cannot distinguish between sales and profit.
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This situation is not limited to specific companies, but is a phenomenon commonly seen in many workplaces.
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Emi Matsumoto, drawing on her own experiences facing many challenges in managing small and medium-sized enterprises, devised a unique accounting education method called Balloon Accounting, which she has widely promoted through corporate training programs.
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After getting married and working at an automobile parts manufacturing factory, Matsumoto faced challenges such as poor business performance, personnel issues, customer relations, and inventory management. While raising three young children, she wondered, Is there a way to turn this job into something more creative and meaningful, rather than just a temporary solution?
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As a result, she developed a method called Balloon Accounting, which uses the imagery of balloons and piggy banks to teach accounting. This method attracted attention and led to numerous training requests from both large corporations and small to medium-sized businesses.
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Employees who participated in this training came to understand the basis for their salaries and the significance of numbers in their work, and were so moved that some were even brought to tears.
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Mr. Matsumoto believes that accounting is a map for leading from conflict to consensus, and it helps everyone move toward the future.
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Even vague anxieties about the future, when expressed as numbers and spread out like a map, can be transformed into concrete intentions and hopes.
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Mr. Matsumotos article appears at the beginning of the December issue of Finance, a magazine published by the Ministry of Finance, and presents a warm perspective necessary for Japans future.
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She once studied electrical and electronic engineering at a technical college and worked as an engineer at a semiconductor equipment company, but at that time, she wasnt even aware of the difference between sales and profits.
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In the field, efficiency and accuracy are prioritized, but the business perspective is lacking.
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After that, she earned an MBA in Switzerland and relearned accounting from the basics. This experience had a significant impact on her current management approach.
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Currently, Mr. Matsumoto has been serving as a management executive at an automobile parts manufacturing company for over 10 years, and he is constantly facing issues related to people and money.
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Previously, each department often had conflicting opinions, the management’s intentions were not communicated to the field, and problems related to personnel occurred.
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Therefore, she devised a method called Balloon Accounting, converting numbers into a form that anyone could easily understand, allowing people to grasp financial reports visually. As a result, all employees began to think like managers, checking sales, gross profit, inventory, fixed costs, and collections themselves, and quietly adjusting their direction as needed.
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When numbers become a common language, conflict turns into agreement, and waiting for instructions shifts to autonomy.
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Similar results have been obtained in the field of education as well.
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She has taught students of various ages from elementary school to university, but recently, when she compared the financial statements of Sanrio and Oriental Land with 50 ninth-grade students, the survey results showed a 100% understanding rate.
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I have taught hundreds of students, 500 small and medium-sized business owners, and more than 10,000 employees of large companies how to read financial statements. Many people felt that they were not good with numbers, but once they understood the relationship between the balance sheet BS and the income statement PL, their expressions brightened and our conversations became much more engaging.
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Financial statements are a mirror reflecting society, and if you understand how to read them, vague anxieties can turn into concrete hopes.
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I would like to refer to the ideas of Yukichi Fukuzawa.
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What he values is a ledger that anyone can read and reach the same conclusion.
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If you have the books, you can discuss things based on facts and make decisions more easily.
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The ledger is evidence of promises, and as trust accumulates, both people and capital gather, making fair distribution possible.
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If the books of families, shops, and factories are in order, waste across the whole country will decrease and wealth will increase.
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The spread of the Chōai Method bookkeeping method promoted a shift in society from relying on loud voices to one based on contracts and calculations.
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What we need to reclaim now is not complex academics, but practical accounting that is useful in daily life and in the workplace.
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If accounting were introduced into compulsory education, the range of future career options would be much broader.
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Not only large corporations, but also growing small and medium-sized enterprises, startups, and even taking over a family business will likely become realistic options.
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Accounting provides sustainable strength. Even when the economy or workplace environment changes, you can recover by using the maps of the BS Balance Sheet, PL Profit and Loss Statement, and CF Cash Flow Statement.
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In companies, using accounting—a common language—to discuss overall optimization can reduce friction between departments.
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If the sources and uses of funds become common knowledge in the public sector, it will increase a sense of participation, reduce waste, and make accountability clearer.
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Numbers are not meant to judge people; they are simply tools that quietly illuminate the path toward tomorrow.
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Accumulating small changes at the workplace nurtures a resilient and strong nation.
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I would like to start that future with todays financial report.
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What I want to convey there is to cultivate business skills in Japan.
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Business ability refers to the ability to carefully communicate the value you have created and reflect it in the price, the ability to protect employees peace of mind by avoiding cash shortages, and the ability to calmly discuss matters based on data when in doubt.
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In families, everyone looks at their household financial statements together, and in companies, data is checked every week and small adjustments are decided.
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At school, children read financial reports, and at government offices, income and expenses are recorded on a single sheet of paper.
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If we can share the same map no matter where we are, well naturally be in sync.
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If you can understand numbers, youll be able to do more things.
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When you accomplish many things, challenges are no longer something to be feared.
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I want to cultivate business skills in Japan, starting from each individuals daily life and workplace.
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