What are standards and requirements to be satisfied by chief accountants in Vietnam? Who are prohibited from practicing accounting in Vietnam?

What are standards and requirements to be satisfied by chief accountants in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Article 21 of the Decree 174/2016/ND-CP stipulating standards and requirements to be satisfied by chief accountants:

- Comply with professional ethics, be truthful, integrated, and abide by law;

- Have a certificate of training in chief accountant’s techniques;

- Experience:

+ The holder of a bachelor’s degree in accounting must have at least 02 years’ experience of accounting works;

+ The holder of an associate degree in accounting must have at least 03 years’ experience of accounting works.

In addition, certain accounting entities will require professional expertise in accounting at the level of a bachelor’s degree or higher than associate degree, as specified in Clause 2, Article 21 of Decree 174/2016/ND-CP.

What are standards and requirements to be satisfied by chief accountants in Vietnam? Who are prohibited from practicing accounting in Vietnam? - image from internet

Who are prohibited from practicing accounting in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Article 19 of the Decree 174/2016/ND-CP stipulating people prohibited from practicing accounting:

People prohibited from practicing accounting

1. The people specified in Clause 1 and Clause 2 Article 52 of the Law on Accounting.

2. Parents, adoptive parents, spouses, children, siblings of the legal representative, head, Director, General Director, deputies of the head, Deputy Director, Deputy General Director in charge of finance – accounting, and the chief accountant of the same accounting unit, except for sole proprietorships, single-member limited liability companies owned by individuals, other types of enterprises not funded by state budget and are extra-small enterprises defined in the law on provision of assistance for small and medium enterprises.

3. People holding the position of managers, executive officers, treasurers, warehouse-keepers, buyers or sellers of assets in the same accounting unit except for sole proprietorships, single-member limited liability companies owned by individuals, and other types of enterprises not funded by state budget and are extra-small enterprises defined in the law on provision of assistance for small and medium enterprises.

As regulated above, following people are prohibited from practicing accounting:

- Minors; people who completely or partly lose their civil capacity as declared by the court; people forcibly sent to reform schools or rehabilitation centers.

- People banned from practicing accounting under an effective court’s judgment or decision; people undergoing criminal prosecution; people sentenced to imprisonment or were convicted of economic crimes or other crimes related to finance, accounting and have not had their criminal records expunged.

- Parents, adoptive parents, spouses, children, siblings of the legal representative, head, Director, General Director, deputies of the head, Deputy Director, Deputy General Director in charge of finance – accounting, and the chief accountant of the same accounting unit, except for following enterprises:

+ Sole proprietorships;

+ Single-member limited liability companies owned by individuals;

+ Other types of enterprises not funded by state budget and are extra-small enterprises defined in the law on provision of assistance for small and medium enterprises.

- People holding the position of managers, executive officers, treasurers, warehouse-keepers, buyers or sellers of assets in the same accounting unit except for following enterprises:

+ Sole proprietorships;

+ Single-member limited liability companies owned by individuals;

+ Other types of enterprises not funded by state budget and are extra-small enterprises defined in the law on provision of assistance for small and medium enterprises.

What are responsibilities of chief accountants in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Clause 1 Article 55 of the Law on Accounting in 2015 stipulating responsibilities of chief accountants in Vietnam:

- Comply with regulations of law on accounting and finance of accounting units;

- Organize the operation of the accounting apparatus in accordance with this Law;

- Make financial statements in accordance with accounting regimes and accounting standards.

In addition, the chief accountant has the right to perform accounting works independently.

Chief accountants of regulatory agencies, organizations and public service agencies using state budget, and enterprises whose over 50% charter capital is held by the State, also have the right to:

- Offer opinions in writing about employment, reassignment, pay raise, commendation, and disciplinary actions for accountants, warehouse-keepers, and treasurers;

- Request relevant departments of the accounting unit to provide adequate documents related to the chief accountant’s accounting works and financial supervision works in a timely manner;

- Preserve his/her opinions in writing if they are at odds with that of the decision maker;

- Submit written reports to the legal representative of the accounting unit on discovered violations against regulations of law on finance and accounting in the unit. If the decision has to be complied with, the report shall be sent to the person superior to the decision maker or a competent authority. In this case the chief accountant is not responsible for the implementation of such decision.

Best regards!