What freewayjapan does

Freeway Japan (株式会社フリーウェイジャパン) is a privately held Japanese software vendor founded in 1991 by CEO Inoue Tatsuya and headquartered in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Under the "Freeway Project" mission of providing free IT to small and medium-sized enterprises, the company develops and operates a suite of cloud-based back-office applications — Freeway Keiri Pro (paid cloud accounting for tax and accounting firms) and Freeway Keiri Lite (free accounting for SMBs), plus payroll calculation, time recorder, MyNumber management, sales management, and customer management modules. The platform runs on a hybrid cloud architecture that migrated to AWS in 2024 and integrates with NTT Data Tatsujin, Moneytree bank/card aggregation, and major Japanese financial institutions via the proprietary Multi-Software Data Conversion System, which has been extended to also ingest freee and Money Forward ledgers.

The technical stack combines AI-driven OCR for receipt and invoice digitization (used in the 2023-launched Freeway OCR Electronic Books product to comply with Japan's revised Electronic Books Preservation Law), AI-assisted auto-journal generation from aggregated bank data, and an AI Chat Support layer. Recent product expansion into fintech materialized with Freeway Invoice Card Pay in 2024, a B2B card settlement service for SMB working capital that reached 100 million yen/month in settled volume in its launch year.

Freeway's business model is freemium-led: the free Keiri Lite tier has onboarded 300,000+ SMB users, while revenue is generated through Keiri Pro subscriptions at 1,980 yen/month base plus 1,000 yen per additional user ID for tax and accounting firms, enterprise/group subscriptions, remote support services, and transaction-based fees from Invoice Card Pay. Distribution is anchored in the Japan Federation of Tax Accountants' Associations and the NTT Data Tatsujin tax-firm channel, with a flagship relationship at Tsuji-Hongo Tax Corporation (Japan's largest tax firm, 9,600 corporate clients) where ~400 clients have been rolled onto Freeway. The company is bootstrapped, reporting only 32.05 million yen in stated capital and no external funding across more than three decades of operation, implying a self-funded, profitable operating posture.

Name

freewayjapan

Legal name

株式会社フリーウェイジャパン

Website

https://freeway-japan.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Freeway Japan develops free and low-cost cloud accounting, payroll, and back-office software for Japanese SMBs and tax accounting firms. Founded in 1991 and bootstrapped, it serves 400,000+ cumulative users via a freemium SaaS suite with tax-firm-led distribution.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Freemium Cloud Accounting Software (Freeway Keiri Lite, Freeway Kyuyo Keisan, etc.): Free tier for small businesses with limited employees/data; paid tier unlocked for larger scale. Revenue comes from converting free users to paid plans as their business grows, plus supplementary paid services.
2. Premium Subscriptions for Tax Accounting Firms (Freeway Keiri Pro): Subscription revenue from professional tax accounting firms subscribing to Freeway Keiri Pro. Base ID at 1,980 yen/month plus 1,000 yen/month per additional ID. Annual billing. Also generates revenue from optional add-on ID fees for client data sharing on cloud.
3. Enterprise / Group Company Multi-seat Subscriptions: Mid-size and large enterprises (e.g., large tax accounting firms managing hundreds of client companies) pay per-ID monthly subscriptions, with volume discounts for additional IDs beyond a threshold.
4. Corporate IT Management Software (Freeway My Number, Freeway Sales, Freeway Customer): Paid tiers for services with per-employee or per-company pricing. Freeway My Number: free up to 20 employees, 1,980 yen/month thereafter. Freeway Payroll: free for up to 5 employees, 1,980 yen/month for 6+.
5. Fintech / Working Capital Services (Freeway Invoice Card Payment): Revenue derived from transaction fees on credit card invoice settlements processed through the Freeway Invoice Card Payment service. Monthly settled amount exceeded 100 million yen in 2024.
6. Remote Support Services: Paid remote support (remote screen sharing, troubleshooting) provided to paid-tier users of Freeway products. Requires active paid subscription.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion5 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Freeway Japan develops and distributes the Freeway Series, a suite of hybrid cloud back-office software for Japanese tax accounting firms and SMEs. The flagship Freeway Keiri Pro serves tax accountants with high-speed local processing and cloud synchronization, while Freeway Keiri Lite offers free accounting for small businesses. The portfolio also covers payroll, year-end tax adjustment, time tracking, MyNumber management, sales, CRM, electronic document storage with OCR, and an invoice card payment service.

Product overview

FreewayJapan operates the Freeway Project (フリーウェイプロジェクト), a portfolio of cloud and hybrid-cloud business software for tax accounting firms (税理士事務所) and SMEs in Japan. The core offering consists of the accounting platform フリーウェイ経理Pro (with free companion フリーウェイ経理Lite), supplemented by a suite of integrated back-office modules: フリーウェイ給与計算 (payroll/year-end adjustment), フリーウェイタイムレコーダー (attendance), フリーウェイ販売管理 (sales), フリーウェイ顧客管理 (CRM), フリーウェイマイナンバー (MyNumber management), and フリーウェイOCR電子帳簿 (electronic document storage with OCR). A cash-flow service (フリーウェイ請求書カード払い) and support services (AI chat, remote support, Q&A community) round out the ecosystem. All products share data integration capabilities; the flagship Freeway Keiri Pro additionally offers optional add-ons for data conversion with competing accounting software (弥生会計, PCA会計, 勘定奉行, JDL IBEX, A-SaaS, freee, MFクラウド会計), direct NTT Data 達人シリーズ tax filing linkage, and bank/credit card auto-journal via Moneytree. The platform follows a freemium model with free tiers for small-scale use and paid plans for larger organizations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Freeway Keiri Lite (フリーウェイ経理Lite): Free accounting software for individuals and small businesses
• Freeway Keiri Pro (フリーウェイ経理Pro)
• Freeway Payroll Calculation (フリーウェイ給与計算)
• Freeway Time Recorder (フリーウェイタイムレコーダー)
• Freeway Sales Management (フリーウェイ販売管理)
• Freeway Customer Management (フリーウェイ顧客管理)
• Freeway My Number (フリーウェイマイナンバー)
• Freeway OCR Electronic Books (フリーウェイOCR電子帳簿)
• Freeway Invoice Card Pay (フリーウェイ請求書カード払い)

Products and services

• Freeway Keiri Pro (フリーウェイ経理Pro) Hybrid cloud accounting software for tax accounting firms. Combines locally installed software for high-speed input with cloud data synchronization. Supports bidirectional data conversion with competing accounting software, direct linkage with NTT Data Tatsujin Series, and bank/credit card auto-journal via Moneytree integration.
• Freeway Keiri Lite (フリーウェイ経理Lite) Free accounting software for individuals and small businesses handling one company. Used by over 300,000 businesses.
• Freeway Payroll Calculation (フリーウェイ給与計算) Cloud payroll calculation software with year-end tax adjustment functionality. Free for up to 5 employees; 1,980 yen/month for 6+. Integrates with Freeway Keiri and Freeway MyNumber.
• Freeway Time Recorder (フリーウェイタイムレコーダー) Cloud-based time tracking and attendance management system for employee clock-in/out with attendance data usable in payroll processing.
• Freeway Sales Management (フリーウェイ販売管理) Sales management software for sales, invoicing, and related workflows. Free for up to 3 IDs. Integrates with Freeway Keiri for journal data transfer.
• Freeway Customer Management (フリーウェイ顧客管理)

Quantifiable outcome

• Processing time reduction: 2,000 journal entries from 2 days to 2 hours for one tax firm using bank/credit card auto-journal entry
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers20 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration11 records

AI capability7 records

Feature12 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• アマゾンブレインズ / AWS (Amazon Web Services)coreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2024AWS powers the Freeway My Number cloud infrastructure. Specifically mentioned as using AWS infrastructure adopted by public institutions, educational institutions, and financial organizations, emphasizing the high-security standard of the cloud environment for storing individual number (My Number) personal data.
• マネーツリー (Moneytree)coreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2024Moneytree asset management service integrates with Freeway Keiri Pro to enable automatic import of bank account and credit card transaction data. AI automatically generates journal entries. Supports 1,000+ bank accounts and 100+ credit card brands.
• 日本税理士協同組合連合会 (Japan Federation of Tax Accountants)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2006Sales partnership established in 2006 for distribution of Freeway accounting software through the national network of tax accountant cooperatives. Japan Federation of Tax Accountants is the umbrella organization for tax accounting cooperatives nationwide.
• 東京地方税理士協同組合 (Tokyo Regional Tax Accountant Cooperative)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2006Sales partnership for distribution of Freeway software to member tax accounting firms in the Tokyo region.
• 大阪・奈良税理士協同組合 (Osaka-Nara Tax Accountant Cooperative)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2006Sales partnership established in 2006 for distribution of Freeway accounting software to member tax accounting firms in Osaka and Nara prefectures.
• 千葉県税理士協同組合 (Chiba Prefecture Tax Accountant Cooperative)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2005Sales partnership for distribution of Freeway software to member tax accounting firms in Chiba Prefecture.
• 名古屋税理士協同組合 / 東海税理士協同組合 (Nagoya and Tokai Tax Accountant Cooperatives)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2003Sales partnerships for distribution of Freeway software to member tax accounting firms in the Nagoya and Tokai (Aichi) regions. Nagoya/Tokai branch established in 2009.
• 名古屋・東海税理士協同組合 (Nagoya/Tokai Tax Accountant Cooperatives)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2003Sales partnership established in 2003 for distribution of Freeway software through Nagoya and Tokai (Aichi Prefecture) tax accounting cooperatives. Regional branch opened in 2009.
• 株式会社NTTデータ (NTT Data Corporation)coreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2000Strategic technology partnership established in 2000 for business alliance. Freeway Keiri Pro integrates directly with NTT Data's Tatsujin Series tax filing software (法人税, 所得税, 消費税, 内訳概況書) without intermediate file export. This integration targets the approximately one-third of Japan's ~30,000 tax accounting firms (~10,000 firms) that use Tatsujin.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves11 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• freee K.K. freee is a Japan-focused cloud accounting and payroll SaaS company for SMEs and sole proprietors, offering freee会計, freee人事労務, freee開業, and freeeアプリストア. It is Freeway's most direct pure-cloud competitor in Japanese SME accounting, and Freeway explicitly supports one-way data conversion from freee to Freeway Keiri.
• Money Forward, Inc. Money Forward provides cloud accounting (MFクラウド会計), payroll, expense, and ERP for Japanese SMBs and enterprises, and is one of Freeway's most comparable direct competitors. Freeway's Multi-Software Data Conversion System includes bidirectional support with MFクラウド会計.
• JDL株式会社: JDL is a long-established Japanese accounting software vendor known for dedicated accounting machines and JDL IBEX Accounting series. Freeway supports JDL via the dedicated Convert J System because standard converters do not interoperate, reflecting JDL's distinct legacy architecture.
• A-SaaS株式会社: A-SaaS provides cloud accounting and tax return preparation SaaS for Japanese tax accounting firms. Freeway Keiri Pro supports one-way data conversion from A-SaaS and Freeway's multi-software converter has historically maintained A-SaaS version compatibility as recently as Ver4.1 (Jan 2026).
• PCA株式会社: PCA provides on-premise and cloud accounting, payroll, and sales software (PCA会計, PCA商魂, PCA給与) for Japanese SMBs and tax firms. Freeway's data converter supports bidirectional conversion with PCA Accounting X, X Cloud, and DX editions.

Broad incumbents

• 株式会社オービックビジネスコンサルタント (OBC): OBC is the maker of 勘定奉行 (Kanjyo Bunchō), one of Japan's leading on-premise and cloud accounting/payroll suites for SMBs and accounting firms. Freeway's converter supports bidirectional data conversion with multiple 奉行 versions (i, i8, i10, i11).
• 株式会社TKC: TKC provides professional tax and accounting software (TKC会計工房, FXシリーズ) plus consulting services for tax accounting firms and SMBs. It is a structural peer in the professional tax channel that competes for the same ~30,000 Japanese tax firm customers Freeway targets.
• 弥生株式会社 (Yayoi): Yayoi is Japan's incumbent leader in desktop and cloud accounting software for small businesses (弥生会計, 弥生会計オンライン, 弥生Next) and operates a large tax-firm channel via A-SaaS. It is Freeway's legacy rival for installed-base tax firms and a benchmark for data-conversion compatibility.

Emerging players

• SBIビジネス・ソリューションズ株式会社: SBI Business Solutions offers cloud accounting, payroll, and expense (BK cloud, ビズらく, MoneyLook) targeting Japanese SMBs. It overlaps with Freeway in payroll and accounting free tiers and represents an emerging competitive threat in the SME segment.

Others

• 株式会社NTTデータ (NTT Data) — Tatsujin Series: NTT Data's 達人シリーズ is the dominant tax-return filing software used by ~one-third of Japan's ~30,000 tax accounting firms. Freeway is a strategic integration partner since 2000 — not a direct competitor, but a critical distribution and workflow dependency for Freeway Keiri Pro.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/share

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 freewayjapan