"Cindy" Yoshiko Shirata (born 2 December 1952) is a Japanese accounting scholar who specialized in corporate bankruptcy prediction.

[1] Her bankruptcy prediction model has been used by major banks and rating companies in Japan.

She is considered one of the most well-known experts to develop bankruptcy prediction models in Japan.

[2] After graduating from high school, Shirata first worked for Japan Airlines (JAL) as a cabin attendant in the 1970s.

From 2007 to 2014, she was Professor of Accounting, Graduate School of Business Sciences, University of Tsukuba Tokyo Campus.

[5] At present, she holds various positions such as: On March 9, 2010, Dr. Shirata won the Best Faculty Member in 2009 Award from the University of Tsukuba.

[11]On June 16, 2017, she was named a Lifetime Achiever by Marquis Who's Who endorsing her as a leader in the accounting education industry.

The variables for the model were selected by using a Classification and Regression Tree (CART) type of decision tree learning approach to analyze the financial data of Japanese companies that entered bankruptcy between 1992 and 2001.

Based on a linear model, which exhibited the most stable and discriminant results, the model's SAF value for each firm is based on the following equation: A SAF value of 0.7 or below quickly raises a firm's bankruptcy risk.