Standards, rights and obligations of accountants in Vietnam

Standards, rights and obligations of accountants in Vietnam (Internet image)

Regarding this issue, LawNet would like to answer as follows:

1. Standards, rights and obligations of accountants in Vietnam

According to Article 51 of the Law on Accounting 2015, the standards, rights and obligations of accountants are stipulated as follows:

- Every accountant must meet the standards below:

+ Comply with professional ethics, be truthful, integrated, and abide by law.

+ Have professional accounting knowledge and skills.

- Accountants have the right to perform accounting works independently.

- Accountants must comply with regulations of law on accounting, perform given tasks, and take responsibility for their performance. When an accountant is replaced, the replaced accountant shall hand over his/her works and documents to the replacing accountant. The replaced accountant is still responsible for the accounting works done during his/her practice.

2. People prohibited from practicing accounting in Vietnam

According to Article 52 of the Law on Accounting 2015, the 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 private enterprises, single-member limited liability companies owned by individuals, and other cases specified by the Government.

- People holding the position of managers, executive officers, treasurers, warehouse-keepers, buyers or sellers of assets in the same accounting unit except for private enterprises, single-member limited liability companies owned by individuals, and other cases specified by the Government.

3. Accounting subjects in Vietnam

Pursuant to Article 8 of the Law on Accounting 2015, accounting objects include:

(1) Accounting subjects with regard to revenues, expenditures of state budget, administrative operation; operation of units and organizations using state budget include:

- Money, supplies, and fixed assets;

- Budgets, funds;

- Internal and external payments of the accounting unit;

- Revenues, expenditures, and settlement of difference between revenue and expenditure;

- Revenues, expenditures, and surplus of state budget;

- Financial, credit investment by the State;

- Debt and settlement of public debt;

- Public assets;

- Other property, assets, and liabilities related to the accounting unit.

(2) Accounting subjects with regard to operation of units and organizations that do not use state budget include the following assets and sources of assets.

- Money, supplies, and fixed assets;

- Budgets, funds;

- Internal and external payments of the accounting unit;

- Revenues, expenditures, and settlement of difference between revenue and expenditure;

- Other property, assets, and liabilities related to the accounting unit.

(3) Accounting subjects with regard to business operation, except for the activities specified in (4), include:

- Assets;

- Liability and owner’s capital;

- Revenues, operating cost, incomes, and other cots;

- Taxes and amounts payable to state budget;

- Business outcome and distribution thereof;

- Other property, assets, and liabilities related to the accounting unit.

(4) Accounting subjects with regard to the fields of banking, credit, insurance, securities, and financial investment include:

- The subjects specified in (3);

- Financial and credit investment;

- Internal and external payments of the accounting unit;

- Commitments, guarantees, valuable papers.

Ho Quoc Tuan

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