Qualifications and Professional Requirements for Chief Accountants

To become a chief accountant, one must have corresponding accounting professional qualifications for each accounting unit.

The chief accountant of the following accounting units must have accounting professional qualifications from university level or higher, including:

- Agencies responsible for revenue and expenditure of the state budget at all levels;- Ministries, ministry-equivalent agencies, agencies under the Government of Vietnam, agencies under the National Assembly, other state bodies at the central level, and accounting units under these agencies;- Public non-business units under ministries, ministry-equivalent agencies, agencies under the Government of Vietnam, other central agencies, provincial People's Committees;- Specialized agencies under provincial People's Committees and equivalent; state management agencies under these agencies;- Central agencies organized by sector placed at the province;- Political organizations, sociopolitical organizations, socioprofessional organizations, social organizations, professional social organizations at central and provincial levels using the state budget;- Investment project management boards with separate accounting departments, using the state budget for group A projects and national important projects;- Level 1 budget units under the district budget;- Enterprises established and operating under Vietnamese law, except enterprises without state capital, with charter capital less than 10 billion VND;- Cooperatives, unions of cooperatives with charter capital of 10 billion VND or more;- Branches of foreign enterprises operating in Vietnam.

The chief accountant of the following accounting units must have accounting professional qualifications from intermediate professional level or higher:

- Specialized agencies under the district People's Committees with accounting departments (except level 1 budget units under the district budget);- Central agencies organized by sector placed at the district level, provincial agencies placed at the district level;- Political organizations, sociopolitical organizations, socioprofessional organizations, social organizations, professional social organizations at district level using the state budget;- Investment project management boards with separate accounting departments, using the state budget;- Commune-level budget and finance accounting units, commune-level public administrative units, commune-level towns;- Public non-business units except public non-business units under ministries, ministry-equivalent agencies, agencies under the Government of Vietnam, other central agencies, provincial People's Committees;- Enterprises established and operating under Vietnamese law without state capital, with charter capital less than 10 billion VND;- Cooperatives, unions of cooperatives with charter capital less than 10 billion VND.

For organizations and units not specified above, the standards on accounting professional qualifications of the chief accountant are determined by the legal representative of the unit in accordance with the Accounting Law and other relevant legal provisions.

Regarding actual working time in accounting:

- 05 years for the chief accountant of the parent company which is a state enterprise or an enterprise with over 50% state charter capital;- 03 years for individuals with intermediate, college level accounting professional qualifications;- 02 years for individuals with accounting professional qualifications from university level or higher.

Actual working time in auditing includes the time working as an audit assistant at an auditing firm, internal auditor within the internal audit department of a unit, and auditing time at the State Audit Office.

Additionally, the chief accountant must have a chief accountant training certificate and must possess professional ethics, honesty, integrity, and a sense of compliance with the law.

Legal Basis: Accounting Law 2015, Decree 174/2016/ND-CP

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