Decision No. 480/QD-TTg dated March 18, 2013 of the Prime Minister approving the accounting and audit strategy up to 2020, with a vision toward 2030

THE PRIME MINISTER

Decision No. 480/QD-TTg of March 18, 2013, approving the accounting and audit strategy up to 2020, with a vision toward 2030

THE PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to the December 25, 2001 Law on Organization of the Government;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 118/2008/ND-CP of November 27, 2008, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

At the proposal of the Minister of Finance,

DECIDES:

Article 1. To approve the accounting and audit strategy up to 2020, with a vision toward 2030 (the sub-sector strategy of the finance strategy up to 2020 approved in the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 450/QD-TTg of April 18, 2012), with the following principal contents:

I. VIEWPOINTS, GENERAL OBJECTIVES AND SPECIFIC TASKS

1. Viewpoints

a/ Accounting and audit is an important economic management instrument with the function of setting up an economic, financial and budgetary information system serving the economic management and decision of the State as well as each unit, organization and enterprise. Therefore, it is necessary to improve information quality and, at the same time, build an adequate accounting and audit information system.

b/ To work out a synchronous system of solutions to promote the development of accounting and audit: To be properly and fully aware of the importance of accounting and audit; to complete the legal framework and the system of standards and professional methods suitable to Vietnam’s developing market economy and conformable with international practices; to intensify the management and supervision of activities, especially accounting and audit services; to increase the examination and monitoring of law implementation by grassroots units; to raise the quality of training and retraining of human resources; to properly build an information technology system serving the management and supervision of accounting and audit activities.

c/ To intensify and enhance the state management of accounting and audit, especially the planning, implementation and examination of implementation of the accounting and audit laws and examination and supervision of accounting and audit activities in the national economy.

2.  Overall objectives

a/ To set up a complete accounting and audit system conformable with the Vietnamese State’s management mechanism and the development of regional and world accounting and audit professions in order to satisfy information requirements for management, administration, inventory and control of economic resources and national economic and financial activities.

b/ To build and develop a legal framework on accounting and audit based on researching and applying fundamental international practices in Vietnam’s specific conditions; to create an adequate, strict and suitable legal environment conducive to the development of accounting and audit activities and, at the same time, strictly manage and raise professional quality and ethics.

c/ To raise the role and capacity of state management of accounting and audit; to intensify the management and supervision of accounting and audit activities; to monitor the implementation of accounting and audit law accounting and audit practice; at the same time, to step up the operation of professional accounting and audit organizations aiming to promote professional management and support the development of the accounting and audit service market.

d/ To strongly develop human resources in the accounting and audit sector on par with those of developed regional countries in both quantity and quality.

dd/ To strengthen the relationship and cooperation with international accounting and audit organizations and build close relationship and mutual recognition between Vietnam and other countries in the region and the world.

3. Specific tasks

a/ To improve the quality of the economic, financial and budgetary information system by completing and strictly implementing the Law on Accounting and the Law on Independent Audit; to update and improve the system of accounting and audit standards in line with the renovation of international standards and satisfying requirements of Vietnamese market economy management; to build a complete legal framework for examination of the implementation of accounting and audit laws, and management and supervision of accounting and audit activities and the accounting and audit market.

b/ To intensify state management of accounting and audit based on renewing operation mechanisms and increasing staff for the Ministry of Finance’s state management agencies in charge of accounting and audit; concurrently to raise the quality of professional management in conformity with international practices based on close cooperation between state management agencies and professional organizations; to build a mechanism and system of state examination and supervision of the quality of accounting and audit of information in financial statements of units, enterprises and organizations in order to intensify supervision of the quality of financial statements, ensuring the truthfulness, reasonableness and transparency of financial statements, and strictly handling violations in the compilation and presentation of financial statements.     

c/ To strongly develop the accounting and audit service market; to quickly increase the numbers of accounting and audit service enterprises, certified public accountants and accounting practitioners; to expand domestic and overseas accounting and audit service markets; to raise the quality of accounting and audit services; to diversify accounting and audit service products to meet the national economy’s management requirements.

d/ To develop human resources of accounting and audit with sufficient quantity and assured quality based on effectively implementing the following contents: To renovate and intensify training and retraining; to combine advanced specialized training and retraining and training to raise educational levels to create high-quality human resources. To develop standard training and retraining programs and documents in conformity with international practices; accounting and audit training and exams for accounting and audit practice certificates.

dd/ To promote international integration, building close relationship and mutual recognition between Vietnam and other countries in the region and the world and international organizations; to participate as an official member in  international professional organizations; to take the initiative in participating in formulating international financial statement standards, international public accounting standards and international audit standards through regional and world forums.

e/ To further organize the information system through building an information system connected online among levels and sectors, senior and subordinate accounting units and accounting and audit service enterprises; to create and develop websites of agencies managing and supervising and professional organizations toward online practice registration and management.

II. STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION SOLUTIONS

1. Completing legal documents on accounting and audit

a/ For accounting: To submit to the National Assembly amendments and supplements to the Law on Accounting along the line of approaching to the maximum international principles and conformity to Vietnam’s conditions. On that basis, to review, supplement and improve synchronously documents guiding the state accounting regime and the accounting regime applicable to enterprises, including credit institutions, insurance enterprises, securities companies, fund management companies, state financial funds, investment funds of all economic sectors and financial institutions with special activities.

b/ For the Law on Independent Audit: To promulgate documents guiding independent audit, process and procedures for grant of certificates of business eligibility for audit enterprises, audit practice certificates for auditors and approval for audit firms to audit financial statements of units with public interests; regulations on examination and supervision of the quality of audit firms and certified public accountants.

c/ To formulate a decree on handling administrative violations in the field of accounting and audit in accordance with the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations, ensuring conformity with the Accounting Law and the Law on Independent Audit.

2. Elaborating and promulgating Vietnamese accounting and audit standards conformable with international practices and Vietnam’s conditions

a/ For accounting: To update enterprise accounting standards and promulgate new ones. To complete the update of 26 promulgated accounting standards during 2012-2015. To elaborate and promulgate remaining standards, and guide the application of standards to enterprises with special activities during 2016-2020.

b/ For independent audit: To evaluate the application of 37 new accounting standards (applied form 2013); to study and update remaining accounting standards during 2013-2015; to continue updating accounting standards during 2016-2020, ensuring conformity with international accounting standards.

3. Developing the accounting and audit service market

a/ To direct all subjects which are subject to financial statement audit to implement the audit mechanism; to encourage expansion of subjects applying independent audit in order to increase the publicity and transparency of economic and financial activities.

b/ To increase the quantity and quality of independent audit firms and audit service-providing enterprises by improving the mechanism and conditions for practice; to strengthen the contingent of auditors and intensify examination of the quality of accounting and audit services.

c/ To develop the accounting and audit service market through participating in international agreements and mutual recognition of certified public accountants in ASEAN and between Vietnam and other countries like the UK, Australia, etc.

4. Intensifying examination and supervision of the implementation of laws, standards and regimes on accounting and audit

a/ To intensify examination and supervision of accounting and audit activities in the national economy.

b/ To make public and transparent the economic and financial situation of agencies, units, enterprises and economic entities.

c/ To apply the self-management mechanism to professional organizations; to raise professional ethics.

5. Strengthening the organization of the apparatus of state management agencies in charge of accounting and audit

a/ To re-evaluate the position, roles, functions and tasks of the Ministry of Finance’s units in the management and supervision of accounting and audit.

b/ To elaborate and submit to competent authorities for consideration and decision a scheme on strengthening  the organization of the apparatus of management and supervision of accounting and audit, aiming to enhance the status and improving the functions and tasks of state management agencies in charge of accounting and audit.

c/ To intensify training and retraining of officers in charge of state management of accounting and audit.

6. Stepping up the development of domestic professional accounting and audit organizations to become self-managing organizations

To step up the development of domestic professional accounting and audit organizations in the direction of incrementally assigning tasks under the function of state management to professional organizations (VAA, VACPA) such as elaborating, updating accounting and audit standards, organizing exams for auditors and accounting practitioners. By 2020 to strive for the target that Vietnamese professional organizations will truly operate as self-managing professional organizations with functions, tasks and organizational structure similar to international professional accounting organizations in order to step up the development and raise the operation effectiveness and roles of professional associations in financial, accounting and audit services.

7. Further expanding international cooperation relations and enhancing the status of Vietnamese accounting and audit

a/ To further study, exchange experiences and learn contents and methods of state management of accounting and audit with international professional accounting and audit organizations. To study developed countries’ models of developing accounting and audit professional techniques, developing accounting and audit services, and training, examination and grant of accounting or audit practice certificates in order to apply them to Vietnam.

b/ To take advantage of the assistance of international professional accounting and audit organizations in supporting projects on research and implementation of accounting and audit reform.

c/ In the years to come, after completing the announcement of the legal framework on accounting and audit, to continue strengthening international cooperation relationship and supporting professional associations in fulfilling their member’s role in the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), ASEAN Federation of Accountants (AFA) and Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants (CAPA).

8. Developing human resources

a/ To improve the quality of staff and services through stepping up the training and updating of knowledge in suitable forms based on adopting international practices under Vietnam’s specific conditions.

b/ To renovate models of training, examination and grant of certificates for certified public accountants and accounting practitioners in the direction of credit-based training and examination; concurrently to expand and increase the number of exams for accounting practitioners, notary accountants and auditors.

c/ To increase the application of modern, standard and professional methods and information technologies.

d/ To adopt appropriate mechanisms to recruit experts and persons with accounting and audit experience in agencies managing and supervising accounting and audit practice, agencies promulgating accounting and audit standards and research agencies.

9. To build an information system satisfying management requirements based on modern technology through establishing a strong system connecting online information in state management agencies in charge of accounting and audit; to build a data bank to manage and supervise accounting and audit practice; to connect information between senior and subordinate units to ensure the consolidation of financial statements of the whole system.

Article 2. Responsibilities for organizing and implementing the strategy

1. The Ministry of Finance shall:

a/ Assume the prime responsibility for organizing the implementation of the strategy; approve, and direct the implementation of, plans on the implementation of the strategy in each period.

b/ Guide and urge ministries, agencies and localities in elaborating and implementing programs and contents related to the strategy according to their assigned functions and tasks.

c/ Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related ministries and localities in, examining the implementation of the strategy; annually and once every five years review, evaluate and draw experiences from the implementation of the strategy.

d/ Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related agencies in, proposing and submitting to the Prime Minister for decision the adjustment of the strategy’s objectives and contents when necessary.

2. Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-attached agencies and provincial-level People’s Committees shall coordinate with the Ministry of Finance and related agencies in, on the basis of their state management functions and tasks prescribed by law, directing and participating in the implementation of relevant contents of the strategy.

Article 3. This Decision takes effect on the date of its signing.

Article 4. Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-attached agencies and chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees shall implement this Decision.-

Prime Minister
NGUYEN TAN DUNG