We've brought in freee HR. So what does a retained shakai hoken roumushi actually do?

Key points: A company can use freee人事労務 to process its own payroll and filings, or engage a Shakai Hoken Roumushi, a Japanese Certified Social Insurance and Labor Consultant, to perform the work. Software functions and the professional qualifications to accept another company's filing work are different matters. 四葉社会保険労務士事務所 offers the HR Outsourcing Plan, covering freee人事労務, LINE time clock, payroll, routine filings and labor advice. For 1–3 people on the payroll, fees are from 33,000 yen per month, including tax / initial setup and workflow design from 88,000 yen, including tax.

After adopting freee, the difficult question is often who checks the facts and how much work to entrust to someone else, rather than which button to press. Distinguishing software use, the consultant's scope and company approval makes monthly work easier to organize.

Can freee HR also handle electronic filing?

freee's official help describes an electronic filing function for corporate establishments. Conditions such as gBizID apply; check the official help for supported documents and eligible plans. The same help page states that filing by a Shakai Hoken Roumushi as a representative is not supported (updated April 10, 2026; checked September 9, 2026).

Distinguish the function through which a company submits its own filings from the arrangements through which a consultant submits documents on a client's behalf. When engaging a consultant to handle filings, separately establish the submission method and the necessary authorization and checking steps. Using freee does not make every submission route the same.

Features change. Check freee's official help to confirm whether your company can submit the particular filing itself.

Does having the software let you handle another company's filings?

Article 2, paragraph 1 of Japan's Certified Social Insurance and Labor Consultant Act defines work including preparation of labor and social insurance application documents, submission services, administrative representation, preparation of statutory books and documents, and labor-related consultation and guidance. Article 27 generally restricts persons other than Shakai Hoken Roumushi and other authorized persons from carrying out, as a business for remuneration at another person's request, the work in Article 2, paragraph 1, items 1 through 2. Exceptions under other laws and provisions may apply; a qualified professional checks whether an individual engagement can be accepted.

This restriction is distinct from a company processing its own payroll and filings. It is also inaccurate to describe all payroll calculation or all general consultation and guidance as work reserved exclusively for a Shakai Hoken Roumushi. However, the points requiring confirmation change when the outsourced work includes preparation of statutory documents or submission services.

Do not choose a provider only on whether they can use freee. Confirm which documents they will prepare, where they will submit them, and what they will do in whose name.

How is monthly work divided when 四葉 handles it?

The HR Outsourcing Plan includes freee人事労務 Standard, LINE time clock, online payslips, monthly payroll processing, updates such as social insurance rates, and routine labor advice. Routine filings cover enrollment and withdrawal, dependent changes, monthly remuneration change reports, bonus payment reports, annual remuneration reports and annual labor insurance renewal.

Work entrusted to 四葉	Work the company performs	Separately priced work
Payroll and routine filings	Checking, correcting and finalizing attendance	Initial social insurance registration, establishment of labor insurance coverage and employment insurance establishment registration
Everyday labor advice; advice and review on hiring terms	Providing personnel change information and obtaining necessary internal approvals	Residence status applications, year-end tax adjustment and full recruitment process outsourcing (RPO)
Basic advice on employing foreign nationals and basic explanations in Chinese	Final approval of payroll results	Specialist translation and extended interpreting

The company is responsible for checking and finalizing attendance and giving final approval of payroll results. For example, when a time entry is missing, the company checks the actual work performed, corrects and finalizes attendance, and payroll is then processed using that data. AI or software does not infer the actual hours worked and finalize them.

What does the initial fee cover?

Fees are from 33,000 yen per month for 1–3 people on the payroll, including tax / initial setup and workflow design from 88,000 yen, including tax. The initial fee includes freee configuration, LINE time clock setup, pay structure and allowance/deduction settings, employee registration, social insurance information, the first payroll test and workflow design.

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The first run establishes the cutoff date, the deadline for reporting changes, the person responsible for checking and the final approval process, as well as the calculation results. Initial implementation is not offered as a free configuration service included in the monthly fee.

Monthly fees are 44,000 yen for 4–5 people, 55,000 yen for 6–10, and 55,000 yen plus 3,300 yen for each person above 10 for 11 or more people. All prices include tax. Headcount bands reflect the volume of payroll, filings, usage capacity and inquiries. The fee schedule shows the monthly and initial fees together.

Are year-end tax adjustment and residence status applications included in the same contract?

A feature being available in freee does not mean our office accepts the corresponding engagement. freee会計 is not included in the HR Outsourcing Plan. For tax representation, preparation of tax documents and tax advice, we guide clients to engage a Japanese tax accountant directly. This does not mean that every bookkeeping task is reserved exclusively for tax accountants. Year-end tax adjustment is outside the monthly scope; any tax-related work, support scope and fees must be confirmed in advance.

四葉行政書士事務所 handles residence status applications, while 四葉社会保険労務士事務所 handles social insurance, payroll and labor matters after hiring. They are independent businesses, with separate contracts, direct billing and direct payment to each office. For registration matters we guide clients to consult a judicial scrivener directly, and for contentious matters an attorney directly. No referral fees are paid or received.

We directly provide basic consultations and explanations in Chinese. Other foreign languages use AI and translation assistance; specialist translation and extended interpreting are charged separately. Legal judgments and important explanations are not left to AI alone.

What should you discuss if your company will continue processing payroll itself?

First, identify which parts of payroll, filing submissions and labor advice you want to keep in-house. Then share your current settings, headcount, attendance closing process and difficulties. You can consult us about in-house processing, but the support scope, initial costs and transfer conditions do not follow automatically from the outsourcing plan.

Our article on processing payroll in-house with freee explains how to compare roles and costs; what a retainer fee pays for explains how to assess the contract overall. The first consultation is free for up to 60 minutes.

Frequently asked questions

Q. Can we consult you if we already use freee?
A. Yes. We check your current plan, settings and contracts, then identify what can continue and what needs changing. The contracting party and data transfer conditions are confirmed before signing.

Q. Does the consultant file as our representative from within freee?
A. The official help checked on September 9, 2026 states that representative filing by a Shakai Hoken Roumushi is not supported. The submission method for an outsourced filing is confirmed separately.

Q. Does the monthly fee include both payroll and routine filings?
A. The HR Outsourcing Plan includes both. Initial insurance registration, residence status applications and similar work are charged separately. The company finalizes attendance and gives final approval of payroll results.

Q. Is the initial fee included in the monthly fee?
A. A separate initial setup and workflow design fee starts at 88,000 yen, including tax. It covers freee configuration through the first payroll test and workflow design, and is presented at the same time as the monthly fee.

Sources for this article

• Certified Social Insurance and Labor Consultant Act, Article 2, paragraph 1, items 1, 1-2, 1-3, 2 and 3, and Article 27. Checked using the e-Gov legislation API on September 9, 2026. The latest promulgated amendment is Act No. 77 of 2025, effective June 25, 2025, with some provisions effective July 5 and October 1, 2025. See also the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare amendment overview.
• freee official help: Electronic filing of various documents. Updated April 10, 2026; checked September 9, 2026. Functions and eligible plans change; check the latest information when using them.
• National Tax Agency: What work do tax accountants perform?. Checked September 9, 2026.
• 四葉's services and prices follow the V10 specification dated September 9, 2026. See also the fee schedule and the consultation-to-contract process.

This article provides general information. A qualified professional makes judgments about individual circumstances after a consultation. Written by 浦松丈二, a Japanese Certified Social Insurance and Labor Consultant, Administrative Scrivener and Real Estate Transaction Specialist.