freee Publishes Case Study of freee Product Utilization by Heian Shindo Kogyo Co., Ltd.

freee Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Daisuke Sasaki; hereinafter “freee”) announces the publication of a case study on the utilization of freee products by Heian Shindo Kogyo Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Osaka-shi, Osaka; Representative Director: Kayoko Takeuchi; hereinafter “Heian Shindo Kogyo”), a household goods manufacturer known as a pioneer of “tension rods.” ■ Eliminating the “Information Black Box” and Fostering an Autonomous Organization Where Each Employee Takes Ownership Since its founding in 1952, Heian Shindo Kogyo has continued to provide innovative products tailored to Japanese homes. With the appointment of its third-generation Representative Director, Ms. Kayoko Takeuchi, the company embarked on an organizational transformation. Previously, management information was not disclosed, and progress sharing between departments was insufficient. However, Ms. Takeuchi decided to open up all financial information, excluding parts related to individual salaries, to encourage “employee ownership” of management information. The goal was to create an autonomous organization where employees on the ground could check revenues and expenditures themselves and consider “what is the most effective use of money” from product development to sales. freee Accounting was introduced and utilized as the foundation for this transformation. ■ “The Value of Information is All About Freshness.” Transforming Figures from “Past History” to a “Weapon for Improvement” through Real-Time Management Mr. Ido, the financial manager, felt that the previous situation, where it took 10-15 business days to finalize monthly management figures, led to a cooling of enthusiasm on the ground due to outdated data, resulting in delayed actions. By thoroughly reducing lead times, the company is promoting real-time management that directly links to improvement actions at the operational level. Furthermore, by shifting from viewing figures as “points (single months)” to “surfaces (trends),” a system was established that makes it easier to detect anomalies from trends. This allowed the accounting department to break away from passive tasks and evolve into a proactive team that independently analyzes information and provides feedback to the field. ■ Advancing Management Accounting with “freee for Excel.” Accelerating Decision-Making by Combining Non-Accounting Data Heian Shindo Kogyo is not just keeping ledgers; it is directly linking freee Accounting data to business decisions. By utilizing “freee for Excel” and combining accounting data with non-accounting data such as working hours, sub-KPIs like “productivity per person-hour” and “average hourly charge per member” have been visualized. This has enabled the company to operate a rapid, data-driven decision-making cycle. By using management information as the foundation for communication, the company is advancing an organizational transformation where each employee voluntarily works to improve the company. With the motto “Do not change the commitment to keep changing,” the company continues to further update its management. Case Study URL: https://www.freee.co.jp/cases/heianshindo/ Interview Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-x1-Dz75pM ■ Heian Shindo Kogyo Co., Ltd. Company Overview Company Name: Heian Shindo Kogyo Co., Ltd. Representative: Representative Director, Kayoko Takeuchi Established: 1952 Location: Edobori East Building 4F, 1-22-17 Edobori, Nishi-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka URL: https://www.heianshindo.co.jp/ ■ freee Co., Ltd. Company Overview Company Name: freee Co., Ltd. Representative: CEO, Daisuke Sasaki Established: July 9, 2012 Location: Art Village Osaki Central Tower 21F, 1-2-2 Osaki, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo https://corp.freee.co.jp/ : https://www.freee.co.jp/kb/ : https://jobs.freee.co.jp/ freee aims to realize an integrated management platform where anyone can manage freely, with the mission of “Making Small Business the Main Act in the World.” As a Japan-born SaaS cloud service, it builds an open platform by collaborating with partners and financial institutions, continuously delivering “Magic Value.”