My Nissho Boki Experience

Author: Vergilio De Freitas

Following up from my article on “What is Nissho Boki” last month, I decided to challenge myself to study and pass the Nissho Boki 3 exam. In this article, I will share my experience.

As a quick reminder, Nissho Boki checks the mastery of Japanese bookkeeping which can be useful in many business situations and not only in accounting. In Japan, many companies encourage the acquisition of the Nissho Bookkeeping Certificate as a way of improving skills and self-development, even if the workers’ job is not directly related to accounting.

Nissho Boki has 3 levels, and I decided to try to pass level 3 (the most difficult being level 1). The exam for Boki 3 tests basic knowledge essential to businesspeople and mainly covers fundamental commercial bookkeeping. The exam is divided into 3 parts.

The first section covers journal entry problems. The total number of questions for this section is 15.
The second section consists of two questions on account entries, along with a “fill-in-the-blank” questions section.
The final section includes questions on closing of accounts, preparing financial statements and settlements.

The duration of the exam is 1 hour and the minimum requirement to pass is 70%.

To prepare for the exam, the first thing I did was to buy a theory book that covers the entire scope of the exam. I would like to point out that as the exam is only available in Japanese, the books to study for Nissho Boki are also only available in Japanese (see link below this article). Please note you will need a good level of Japanese to be able to understand the explanations and to pass the exam.

As I work full-time at Bridgewater Japan, I had to organize my study schedule around my work commitments in order to make sure I was able to study daily.

My plan was to read a little bit every morning before leaving for work, and every evening for a while when I got home. I also took advantage of the time I spend on the train to read. Although the crowded train is not the best place for this kind of reading, I eventually got used to it and the journey to and from the office went by very quickly. As far as reading is concerned, in the beginning, it takes quite a long time because there are a lot of technical terms related to accounting in Japanese that I had never studied before. Once I got used to the “vocabulary”, reading became more fluid.

After I finished reading the “theory” book I then started to do the exercises proposed in the book. Unfortunately, I could only do these exercises at home because the train was not optimal for this. In order to utilize my train time, I found an application that allowed me to continue studying while on the train (app details below this article). This app allowed me to practice the first part of the exam by practicing the journal entry problems.

After a while, I felt comfortable with the problems in the book and the app so I bought a book that allowed me to do mock exams (see link below this article). Again, it was impossible for me to do the mock exam on the train (the exam lasts 1 hour and requires concentration) so I did a mock exam every morning before leaving for work and again in the evenings when I arrived home. As soon as I started to feel comfortable I registered and finally took the exam.

It’s very easy to register yourself to take the Nissho Boki exam as this is all done online. There are several test centers available almost all the time. I registered a week in advance in one of these test centers which was close to my home.

On the day I went to the test center I arrived and had to verify my identity while also leaving all personal items in a secured room. The only item I was allowed to carry into the test room was my calculator. Sheets of paper and pens were provided by the test center. Upon entering the test room there were approximately 12 seats each equipped with a computer.

Some people were already there and were taking exams (in these test centers it is possible to take other exams in addition to Nissho Boki). Once I finished my exam I was surprised to receive my result immediately. To be honest I was a little stressed after completing my exam and loading all my answers because the wait to see if I had passed felt very long even though it was only a few seconds. Fortunately, everything turned out well and I comfortably passed the exam.

To conclude, I would say that the first challenge to pass the Nissho Boki 3 is to become familiar with Japanese vocabulary. The second challenge concerns the regularity and organization of your study. Waking up a little earlier each day gave me the time to progress, even a little each day. Thanks to this, in about a month I managed to pass the Nissho Boki 3 exam. As for my next challenge, I am aiming for the Nissho Boki 2 exam.

教材リンク：

スッキリわかる日商簿記3級第13版テキスト&問題集