What educe does

educe Co., Ltd. (株式会社エデュース) is a Tokyo-based, privately-held software and services company founded in 2002 as a joint investment by 16 Japanese school corporations (学校法人), an ownership structure the company describes as unique in Japan. Its core offering is the ACOffice suite, an integrated ERP package purpose-built for school-corporation back-office operations, covering financial accounting, HR/payroll, travel-expense management, research-fund (科研費) management, research-results management, and academic affairs, deployed in both on-premises and, since 2021, cloud (ACOffice Cloud) configurations. The Financial Pro module holds a Japanese patent (granted 2009) for department-by-department budget allocation logic tailored to school-corporation accounting standards (私立学校法).

The company sells primarily through direct field sales organized around four regional offices (Tokyo HQ, Osaka, Sapporo, Nagoya), supported by inbound channels including free seminars (200+ schools attending), a podcast/blog from its internal School Management Institute, and customer referrals. Revenue is generated through annual software license fees (with bundled version upgrades and legal-compliance updates), project-based customization and implementation services, and a growing solutions portfolio spanning consulting, RPA implementation, student-recruitment marketing, and (launched January 2026) the UNI-CAREER talent-placement service. In FY2022, the company reported revenue of approximately 1.92B JPY (~$13M USD), achieved 11 consecutive years of record-high revenue, 99% contract renewal, and 126 employees as of September 2023. Its primary customers are private universities and school corporations (94 ACOffice customers; 420+ schools using its research-related modules), with extensions into national/public universities, private middle/high schools (中高プロⅡ), and vocational schools.

Name

educe

Legal name

株式会社エduce

Website

https://educe-ac.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

educe is a Tokyo-based, school-corporation-owned software vendor (founded 2002) that sells the ACOffice ERP suite and related consulting to Japanese private universities, with ~1.92B JPY FY2022 revenue, 99% retention, and 420+ school customers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Education Administration Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (513210)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)

akta.pro primary industry

Education ERP (Student Information, Finance, HR) (HDAEAEAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

HR, Payroll, Time & Attendance for Education (EDAFAEAD), School ERP: Finance, Procurement & Budgeting (EDAFAEAC), Billing, Tuition, Fees & Payments (including Cafeteria/Meal Accounts) (EDAFAEAN), Enrollment Yield, Matriculation & Onboarding Platforms (EDAFAMAG)

Keywords

• School corporation ERP
• Education financial accounting
• Payroll HR system
• Research fund management
• Education consulting services

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. ACOfficeライセンス保守料: 学校法人向け業務システムACOfficeシリーズ（財務プロ、Web財務、人事・給与プロ、科研費プロ、研究業績プロ、中高プロⅡなど）のライセンス販売と年間保守サポートによる収益。毎年バージョンアップを提供するライセンス方式で運用。法改正対応や機能追加も年間ライセンス費用内で対応。
2. コンサルティングサービス: 学校法人経営のコンサルティング（経営再建支援、財務改善、業務改革、人事制度改革、学生募集戦略策定等）および各種研修・講演会の実施による収益。学校特化型の専門コンサルタントが提供。
3. ソリューション事業: 学生募集支援（Webプロモーション、制作支援、募集ソリューション）、RPA導入支援サービス、ワークフローシステム導入支援、研究倫理・コンプライアンス教育支援、人才紹介サービス（UNI-CAREER）等の各種ソリューション提供による収益。
4. 研修・セミナー事業: 大学職員SD研修、集合型新入・若手職員研修会、学校特化型コンサルティング研修の企画・運営による収益。学校経営を改善するための無料有料セミナリーを提供。

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

educe develops, sells, and supports the ACOffice series — an integrated ERP package system purpose-built for Japanese school corporations (学校法人). The package covers financial accounting, HR/payroll, travel expenses, research grant (科研費) management, research performance records, and academic affairs for secondary schools, available as both on-premises and cloud (ACOffice Cloud) deployments. The company also delivers school-specialized consulting, student recruitment support, RPA implementation services, and a job-matching service (UNI-CAREER) for university staff.

Product overview

educeは、学校法人16校による共同出店企業として2002年に設立された、学校経営支援の統合サービスプロバイダー。主力製品はERP型業務パッケージシステム「ACOffice（アコフィス）」シリーズで、財務・会計（財務プロ/Web財務）、人事・給与・旅費（人事・給与プロ）、科研費管理（科研費プロ）、研究業績管理（研究業績プロ）、中高教務（中高プロⅡ）から構成される。これらのコアシステムに対し、Amazonビジネス連携、Web調達、Web資産、納付金プロなどのオプションモジュールが追加され、オンプレミスまたはクラウド環境で提供される。ACOfficeシリーズと並行して、学校特化型コンサルティング（経営戦略・組織人事・業務最適化・学生募集）、学生募集支援（Webプロモーション、制作支援、evo/+LETTER/TETORIなどのソリューション）、RPA支援サービス、UNI-CAREER人材紹介、X-point Cloudワークフロー、戦略人事・労務管理支援、研究関連業務支援など、ソリューション事業とコンサルティング事業を展開。SD研修・新入若手職員rianoなどの研修サービスも提供しており、IT・コンサルティング・ソリューションの3領域で学校経営を包括的に支援する。学校法人向け業務システムACOfficeの導入法人数は94法人、研究業績プロ導入103校、科研費プロ導入193校実績がある。

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ACOffice（アコフィス）: 学校法人向け業務システムのパッケージ製品群。包括财务・会计系统（财务Pro/Web财务）、人事・工资・旅费管理系统（人事Pro/工资Pro/Web旅费）、科研费管理系统（科研费Pro）、研究业绩管理系统（研究业绩Pro）、私立中学/高等学校向け教务系统（中高ProⅡ）等产品线。
• UNI-CAREER（ユニキャリア）
• evo
• ＋LETTER
• TETORI

Products and services

• ACOffice (School Corporation ERP Package) An integrated ERP-style package system for Japanese school corporations covering financial accounting, HR/payroll, travel expenses, research grant management, research performance records, and secondary-school academic affairs. Adopted by more than 400 schools nationwide and offered as both on-premises and cloud deployments.
• Financial Pro (財務Pro) Financial and accounting system aligned with school corporation accounting standards. Covers budget compilation, budget execution, payment processing, receipt processing, and settlement. Includes a patented department-specific budget allocation capability.
• HR & Payroll Pro (人事・給与Pro) HR, payroll, and travel expense management system tailored to school corporation-specific rules. Supports history management by base date, multiple role management (faculty/staff with concurrent university appointments), private university mutual aid scheme (私学共済) handling, and flexible payroll calculation. Web payroll and Web travel expense options are available.
• Research Grant Pro (科研費Pro) Research grant management system that handles the full cycle from grant receipt through expenditure management to report creation. Provides efficiency improvements and governance reinforcement for research grant administration.
• Research Performance Pro (研究業績Pro) Database system for managing faculty research performance and supporting information disclosure. Generates application data for various grant and reporting workflows. Includes researchmap integration.
• Secondary School Pro II (中高プロⅡ) Academic affairs system for private junior high and senior high schools that integrates academic administration and supports an environment where teaching staff can focus on education and student support.
• UNI-CAREER Job-matching service specialized for the school industry. Provides introductions of specialized personnel who support school management, including job-change support services for universities.
• X-point Cloud / Agile Works Integration Workflow system that digitizes business processes, enabling rapid decision-making and paperless operations. Operates in coordination with the ACOffice series (財務Pro and 人事・給与Pro) to enable business automation.
• School-Specialized RPA Support Service Business improvement service leveraging RPA (such as WinActor) to automate routine school administrative tasks. Examples and case studies are provided through the "School Administrative RPA Database."
• Strategic HR & Labor Management Support Service Support service that uses talent management systems and labor management systems to advance general affairs and HR digital transformation at schools.
• Research-Related Operations Support Service Comprehensive support service including assistance with research grant acquisition and research ethics / compliance education support.
• Management Strategy Consulting Support School-specialized consulting support, including financial perspective, to build sustainable management strategies.
• Organization & HR Reform Consulting Support Consulting support for designing HR systems and training systems that support both employee growth and organizational vitality.
• Business Optimization Consulting Support Consulting support for optimization, addressing school-specific challenges from business review through to digital utilization, all handled consistently.
• Student Recruitment Consulting Support Student recruitment consulting support providing framework building, strategy planning, and ongoing support to enhance self-driven execution capability.
• Web Promotion (Ad / SNS Operation Support) School-specialized consulting-style Web advertising and SNS operation support service.
• Creative Production Support (Web, Pamphlet, Video) Production support service that strengthens self-media such as websites, school pamphlets, and videos to enhance appeal to prospective students.
• Student Recruitment Solutions (evo, +LETTER, TETORI) Tools that optimize recruitment activities such as contact management systems to advance the digital transformation of student recruitment.
• University Staff SD Training Staff Development (SD) training service leveraging the company's school-derived expertise to bring out the strengths of schools.
• Intensive New / Junior Staff Training Intensive new and junior staff training program that focuses on imparting the knowledge necessary for school staff.

Quantifiable outcome

• 99%継続契約率 — 導入実績580システム超
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers30 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• 株式会社ヴァル研究所coreTechnology or IntegrationACOfficeのWeb旅費システムに『駅すぱあと』を提供。出張経路の正確な运费計算と、定期経路登録による交通費控除を実現。株式会社ヴァル研究所は経路検索サービスのパイオニア。
• NTTデータminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNTTデータが主办する「国立5大学による座談会」でエバースユーザー校（長岡技術科学大学・新潟大学・岩手大学・弘前大学・帯広畜産大学）が出席し、RPA活用の情报交换を行うなど、RPA（WinActor）に関する协側の场を提供。
• アマゾンジャパン合同会社coreTechnology or IntegrationACOffice Web財務のオプション「Amazonビジネス連携」の提供に向けて协侧。Amazonでの購入時に財務システムと連携し、予算選択・伝票起票・検収・支払処理まで自动化される。エバースは代理店としてこの联携オプションを提供。

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves12 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• 株式会社TKC: Japanese mid-market ERP and accounting software vendor that serves specific verticals (accounting firms, healthcare, public sector) with on-prem and cloud deployments. Comparable strategy of vertical-specialized packaged software in Japan with high customer retention.
• 株式会社システムディ (SystemD): Japanese software vendor specializing in school ERP and student information systems for private K-12 and vocational schools. Directly competes with educe in the same Japanese private-school vertical with similar finance/academic affairs modules and customer base.
• 株式会社ワークスアプリケーションズ (Works Applications): Japanese enterprise software vendor selling HCM/ERP to large Japanese enterprises with vertical specialization and direct enterprise sales motion. Comparable GTM approach to educe but targeting general enterprise verticals rather than education.

Broad incumbents

• 日本電気株式会社 (NEC Corporation): Major Japanese IT services conglomerate. Provides school information systems, network infrastructure, and consulting to national and private universities and schools, overlapping with educe's finance/HR modules at the higher end of the market.
• Workday, Inc. Global cloud HCM/financials vendor with higher education customers globally. Some Japanese universities use Workday for HR/finance, making it an alternative for the largest accounts where educe's specialization is less decisive.
• 株式会社NTTデータ (NTT DATA): Major Japanese IT services firm with an established education vertical practice. Competes in the same Japanese university RFP pool via broad-system integration capabilities and consortium-led national-university projects (e.g., the 5 national universities roundtable).
• 富士通株式会社 (Fujitsu): Major Japanese IT services conglomerate with a sizeable education vertical. Competes for large Japanese school and university contracts through broader ERP, SIS, and digital transformation offerings that overlap with parts of ACOffice's footprint.
• 日立製作所 (Hitachi): Major Japanese conglomerate with IT services division. Pursues large Japanese university and public-sector ERP contracts with broader portfolio offerings, competing head-to-head with educe at upper-end accounts and consortium projects.
• SAP SE: Global enterprise ERP leader with an established Higher Education and Research practice. Competes for the largest Japanese universities seeking standardized global ERP/HCM, offering an alternative to educe's specialized stack.

Emerging players

• 株式会社内田洋行 (Uchida Yoko): Japanese IT services and educational technology vendor with solutions for K-12 schools (SIS, e-learning, digital transformation). Provides partial overlap with educe's offerings to middle/small private schools rather than universities.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/educe16

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about educe