Linkers Corporation
Faced with the unexpected resignation of the General Manager and one staff member of the Accounting Department just before the financial closing, Linkers discovered a breakthrough solution to “key-person dependency” through the outsourcing service for financial results disclosure

In recent years, the burden on financial results disclosure operations has been steadily increasing due to the growing demand for the disclosure of non-financial information. In such a situation, more companies are utilizing outsourcing to promote the standardization and efficiency of operations. Linkers Corporation, which has been using PRONEXUS’s “Outsourcing service for financial results disclosure” since 2024, is one such company. We interviewed Hirokazu Egashira, Representative Director and General Manager of the Corporate Management Headquarters, about the reasons and effects of continuing to use the outsourcing service, reflecting on the time when the company overcame its financial results disclosure challenges by using our service after the General Manager and one staff member of the Accounting Department resigned just before the financial closing (Mr. Hirokazu Egashira pictured left with Ms. Chikako Kamiuchi from the Corporate Management Department on the right).

Company name

Linkers Corporation

Listing

Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market

Fiscal year-end

July

Description of business

Information and communication services (business matching and SaaS-based matching system operation)

Number of employees (consolidated)

112 (As of January 31, 2026)

Number of employees in charge of the financial reporting process

2 (As of January 31, 2026)

Number of consolidated subsidiaries

1 (As of January 31, 2026)

Audit firm

Grant Thornton Taiyo LLC

――What prompted the decision to introduce the outsourcing service?

Mr. Egashira (hereinafter the same): In June 2024, the General Manager and one staff member of the Accounting Department resigned, leaving the department with two staff members, which necessitated an urgent restructuring of the system. Our company, which has a July fiscal year-end, was facing the final financial closing the following month, and considering the time required for the financial closing, mid-career recruitment was not realistic. Therefore, I decided to temporarily take on the role of the General Manager of the Accounting Department, leveraging my experience in accounting and disclosure operations, concurrently with existing roles, and revert to the system we had when we went public in 2022.
Upon resuming the role after a long time, I realized that management had become dependent on key personnel, making it difficult to identify the location of the fundamental materials needed for preparing disclosure documents. I felt the need to use this as an opportunity to review the system of the financial results disclosure operations and reconstruct each process.

――The sudden resignation necessitated an urgent restructuring of the system, didn’t it?

Yes. Therefore, we decided to consider the outsourcing service that had been proposed to us previously. In our consideration, we compared it with another company’s, but ultimately decided to go with DISCLOSURE PRO from the PRONEXUS Group, which has certified public accountants with specialized knowledge.
There were three key factors in our decision. The first is that we have had dealings with PRONEXUS for some time and were accustomed to operating the support system for practical side of disclosure “PRONEXUS WORKS,” which gave us a sense of security in being able to complete financial results disclosure operations in a one-stop manner. The second is that by using the control sheet* provided by DISCLOSURE PRO, we thought it would allow the restructuring of the system, enabling the person in charge and their successor to confirm the content of the fundamental documents sequentially. The third is the appeal of receiving explanations from DISCLOSURE PRO experts, being able to discuss and consult (and brainstorm) with them on new systems, such as changes in accounting standards each quarter. Based on these three points, we judged that it would be sufficiently helpful in solving our issues.

* What is a control sheet?

A control sheet is an Excel worksheet that visualizes the creation process and its progress, ensuring traceability and improving operational efficiency. It provides a blueprint-like design that visualizes which fundamental materials are linked to each item on the table of contents in the disclosure documents.

Source: Prepared by PRONEXUS

――Thank you. One more point, your company established Linkers OI Lab inc., a consolidated subsidiary, in August 2024 and transitioned to a company preparing consolidated financial statements. Did this situation also serve as a factor in deciding to introduce the outsourcing service?

We quickly realized that we would need to handle consolidated financial statements starting from the disclosure of the first quarter of the fiscal year ended July 31, 2025. I could handle it personally, but to proceed more efficiently, I chose to receive support from professionals with specialized disclosure skills.
Personally, I believe there are many areas in financial results disclosure operations where outsourcing services are a good match. Especially in corporate operations such as administrative departments and back offices, I think there are many tasks that are well-suited to outsourcing services. There are many situations where specialized knowledge from professionals (such as accountants and lawyers) is required, and I think outsourcing is more efficient than handling it internally.

――After deciding to introduce the outsourcing service, how much time did it take to prepare for using the service? Also, if there were any difficulties during preparation, please let us know.

I think the preparation period was roughly one month. I didn’t have the impression that there were any particular difficulties during the preparation stage. After deciding to introduce it, I believe we sent the previous year’s fundamental materials to DISCLOSURE PRO and responded to the pre-prepared control sheets and hearing sheets about our current situation, and the service started once preparations were complete. While moving forward with these preparations, I think we were able to organize the series of processes necessary for financial results disclosure operations by having insufficient areas carefully checked.

Because the system for disclosure operations was mainly led by the resigned General Manager and one staff member of the Accounting Department, before using the outsourcing service, it took a bit of time to find where the fundamental materials needed for preparing disclosure documents were located. Benefiting from the introduction of the control sheet, we were able to organize the file management of fundamental materials. Even in cases where the person in charge is replaced due to staffing change, etc., as long as the relevant information can be updated, this is a system and structure where “anyone can handle it with the same quality,” which I think is a significant achievement.

――What about the direct effects of introducing the outsourcing service?

The direct effects are clear, as tasks such as drafting initial versions of disclosure documents like financial results reports and securities reports, as well as various data entry tasks, can be reduced. Moreover, since they are handled quickly and accurately, I believe the effect of reducing the workload is significant. Additionally, it is helpful to have the consistency of figures mentioned in multiple sections of a single disclosure document pointed out. Furthermore, having tasks like XBRL tagging (taxonomy mapping) handled on our behalf contributes to improved work efficiency. Tagging is a task prone to errors, but having the quality assured by the eyes of third-party experts provides peace of mind.

――Do you have any thoughts on whether to continue using the outsourcing service or hire personnel through mid-career recruitment regarding your organizational policy?

From a medium- to long-term perspective, we are certainly considering the recruitment of personnel for financial results disclosure. However, the reality is that salaries for personnel with certain specialized skills, such as those who can handle consolidated financial statements, are soaring, and there is a need to pay fees to recruitment agents. Even if we hire someone, considering the risks of skill mismatches after hiring or the issue of “job hoppers” who frequently change jobs in the short term, we want to carefully consider mid-career recruitment.
In this regard, many financial results disclosure operations can be substituted with the outsourcing service, and we are regularly supported by experts for most of them, so I do not see any inconvenience with the current system. The “reproducibility” that ensures the quality of work every period is also high, so I do not have any immediate plans to change the current system.

――Were there any other effects you felt from using the outsourcing service?

One is the visualization of know-how. For me personally, I roughly have in mind when and which tasks need to be completed for the disclosure of the financial statements in accordance with the Companies Act and the submission of securities reports, but until now, it has not been concretely visualized among the persons in charge. The control sheet visualizes the overall flow of financial results disclosure operations, so by steadily progressing through each process, it leads to the creation of the necessary disclosure documents and a well-organized internal system.

Actually, when we initially introduced the outsourcing service, we considered using the service for just one year and then managing the operations ourselves using the control sheet from the second year onward. In the end, however, we decided to keep using the outsourcing service because of the sharing of information and clear explanations regarding new systems such as changes in accounting standards, as well as recent disclosure trends. During quarterly kickoff meetings, we receive explanations on system revisions from the DISCLOSURE PRO experts who become our discussion and consultation partners, allowing us to obtain the necessary information for financial results disclosure operations in a timely manner. I think it is important to have the necessary information organized before meetings with the audit firm.

――Ms. Kamiuchi, from your perspective in the Corporate Management Department, have you noticed any changes within your company?

Ms. Kamiuchi: As Mr. Egashira mentioned earlier, since the introduction of the outsourcing service, the tasks of accounting and finance and the details of disclosure operations have been visualized through the sharing of the control sheet. That allows us to better understand when work becomes busy, letting us know what to support and when. As we understand the current situation, for example, by grasping the status of document preparation related to the Corporate Management Department, communication has become easier, and the checking of materials can be done smoothly. I feel the significance of smooth information sharing within our company is substantial.

――In which fields do you plan to direct the resources generated by efficiency improvements in the future?

Mr. Egashira: As I mentioned earlier, corporate operations can often be outsourced by properly systematizing them, and I believe the operations are highly compatibility for outsourcing.
In recent years, our company has been investing in new products to transition from a transactional business model to a recurring-revenue business model, and as a result, our performance has not been progressing as planned. However, we have been advancing the recruitment of personnel to strengthen sales capabilities for business expansion, and our staffing levels have been largely fulfilled. By using the outsourcing service to promote the standardization and leveling of the corporate departments’ operations, we aim to direct the management resources secured through this to more productive tasks and areas that lead to business growth.

Research Team, Disclosure Planning and Operation Promotion Department

• The preceding content has been prepared based on various sources of information available as of the date on which this document was released.