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THE NATIONAL
ASSEMBLY
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SOCIALIST
REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM
Independence - Freedom - Happiness
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No.03/2003/QH11
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Hanoi, June
17, 2003
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ACCOUNTING LAW
THE STATE PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM
In order to uniformly manage the accounting,
ensuring that accounting be a tool for managing and supervising closely and
efficiently all economic and financial activities, supplying information in a
complete, truthful, timely, public and transparent manners, thereby meeting the
organization, management and administration requirements of State agencies,
enterprises, organizations and individuals;
Pursuant to the 1992 Constitution of the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam, which was amended and supplemented under Resolution
No. 51/2001/QH10 dated December 25, 2001 of the XthNational Assembly, its
10th session;
This Law provides for accounting,
Chapter I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1. Scope of
regulation
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Article 2. Subjects of
application
1. The subjects of application of this Law
include:
a) State agencies, non-business units and
organizations which are funded with the State budget;
b) Non-business units and organizations which
are not funded with the State budget;
c) Enterprises of all economic sectors, which
are established and operate under the Vietnamese laws; branches and
representative offices of foreign enterprises operating in Vietnam;
d) Cooperatives;
e) Individual business households, cooperation
groups;
f) Accountants, other persons related to
accounting.
2. For representative offices of foreign
enterprises operating in Vietnam, individual business households and
cooperation groups, the Government shall specify the contents of accounting
work on the basis principles laid down in this Law.
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Where the international treaties which the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam has signed or acceded to contain accounting
provisions different from those of this Law, the provisions of such
international treaties shall apply.
Article
4. Interpretation of terms and phrases
In this Law, the following terms and phrases are
construed as follows:
1. Accounting means the collection, processing,
examination, analysis and supply of economic and financial information in the
forms of value, kind and labor time.
2. Financial accounting means the collection,
processing, examination, analysis and supply of economic and financial
information in financial statements to the subjects that need to use
information of the accounting units.
3. Management accounting means the collection,
processing, examination, analysis and supply of economic and financial information
according to the requirement of economic and financial management and decision
within the accounting units.
4. Economic and financial operations mean
specific arising activities that increase or decrease assets and/or
asset-forming sources of the accounting units.
5. Accounting units mean the subjects specified
at Points a, b, c, d and e, Clause 1, Article 2 of this Law, which make
financial statements.
6. Accounting period means a definite period
from the time an accounting unit starts to make entries in accounting books to
the time it ends the making of entries in accounting book and closes accounting
books in order to make financial statements.
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8. Accounting records mean accounting vouchers,
accounting books, financial statements, management accounting reports, audit
reports, accounting inspection reports and other accounting-related records.
9. Accounting regime means regulations and
guidelines on accounting in a particular domain or particular jobs, which are
promulgated by State management bodies in charge of accounting or by organizations
as authorized by State management bodies in charge of accounting or by
organizations as authorized by State management bodies in charge of accounting.
10. Accounting inspection means the
consideration and assessment of the observance of the accounting legislation,
truthfulness and accuracy of accounting information and data.
11. Accountancy practice means the provision of
accounting services by enterprises or individuals that satisfy all criteria and
conditions therefor.
12. Accounting forms mean the forms of
accounting books, order and methods of making entries therein and the
relationships among accounting books.
13. Accounting methods mean specific modes and
procedures for performing each content of accounting work.
Article 5. Accounting
tasks
1. Collecting and processing accounting
information and data according to the subjects and contents of accounting work
as well as the accounting standards and regimes.
2. Inspecting and supervising financial revenues
and expenditures, collection and payment obligation and debt clearance;
inspecting the management and use of assets and asset-forming sources;
detecting and precluding acts of violating the finance and accounting
legislation.
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4. Supplying accounting information and data
according to law provisions.
Article 6. Accounting
requirements
1. To reflect fully arising economic and financial
operations in accounting vouchers, accounting books and financial statements.
2. To reflect accounting information and data in
time and on schedule as prescribed.
3. To reflect accounting information and data
explicitly, understandably and accurately.
4. To reflect truthfully the actual condition
and nature of events, contents and value of economic and financial operations.
5. Accounting information and data must be
reflected continuously from the commencement to the completion of economic and
financial activities; from the establishment to the operation termination of
accounting units; accounting data reflecting this period must ensure continuity
from those of the preceding period.
6. To classify and arrange accounting
information and data in an orderly, systematic and comparable manner.
Article 7. Accounting
principles
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2. The selected accounting regulations and
methods must be applied consistently throughout the annual accounting period;
if there are any changes therein, the accounting units must give explanations
therefor in their financial statements.
3. The accounting units must collect and reflect
objectively, fully and truthfully all economic and financial operations
according to the accounting period when such operations arise.
4. Information and data in the annual financial
statements of the accounting units must be publicized according to the
provisions in Article 32 of this Law.
5. The accounting units must use the methods of
asset valuation and allocation of revenues and expenditures in a prudent manner
without distorting the results of their economic and financial operations.
6. State agencies, non-business units and
organizations funded with the State budget must, apart from complying with the
provisions in Clauses 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of this Article, must also do accounting
work according to the State budget index.
Article 8. Accounting
standards
1. Accounting standards comprise basic
accounting principles and methods for making entries in accounting books and
for compiling financial statements.
2. The Ministry of Finance shall prescribe
accounting standards on the basis of international accounting standards and the
provisions of this Law.
Article 9. Accounting
objects
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a) Cash, supplies and fixed assets;
b) Funding sources, funds;
c) Payments inside and outside the accounting
units;
d) Revenues, expenditures and handling of
differences to revenues from and expenditures on activities;
e) Revenues, expenditures and the State budget
remainder;
f) Financial investments and credits of the
State;
g) The State's debts and the handling thereof;
h) National properties;
i) Other assets related to the accounting units.
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3. The accounting objects in business activities
include:
a) Fixed assets, current assets;
b) Liabilities and owner's equity;
c) Turnovers, business costs, other outlays and
incomes;
d) Taxes and amounts remittable into the State
budget;
e) Business results and shared business results;
f) Other assets related to the accounting units.
4. The accounting objects in banking, credit,
insurance, securities, financial investment activities, apart from those
specified in Clause 3 of this Article, also include:
a) Financial investments, credits;
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c) Committed and guaranteed amounts, valuable
papers.
Article 10. Financial
accounting, management accounting, general accounting and detailed accounting
1. Accounting at the accounting units comprises
financial accounting and management accounting.
2. When carrying out financial accounting and
management accounting, the accounting units must practice general accounting
and detailed accounting as follows;
a) General accounting must collect, process,
record and supply general information on economic and financial activities of
the units. General accounting uses monetary units to reflect the situation of
assets, the asset-forming sources, the situation and results of economic and
financial activities of the accounting units;
b) Detailed accounting must collect, process,
record and supply detailed information in monetary units, kind units and labor
time units according to each particular accounting object in the accounting
units. Detailed accounting illustrates general accounting. Detailed accounting
data must dovetail general accounting data in a certain accounting period.
3. The Ministry of Finance shall guide the
application of management accounting suitable to each field of activity.
Article
11. Calculation units used in accounting
The calculation units used in accounting
include:
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The accounting units which have revenues and
expenditures mostly in foreign currencies may choose a foreign currency prescribed
by the Ministry of Finance as a monetary unit for accounting, but, when making
financial statements for use in Vietnam, must convert it into Vietnam dong at
the exchange rate announced by Vietnam State Bank at the time of closing books
for making financial statements, unless otherwise provided for by law.
2. The kind unit and the labor-time unit being
the official measurement units of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam; where
other measurement units are used, they must be converted into the official
measurement units of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Article 12. Script and
numerals used in accounting
1. The scrip used in accounting is the
Vietnamese script. Where a foreign script must be used in accounting vouchers,
accounting books and financial statements in Vietnam, the Vietnamese script and
the foreign script must be used simultaneously.
2. Numerals used in accounting are Arabic
numerals: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9; following the thousand, million,
billion, thousand billion, million billion and billion billion, a point (.)
must be placed; for decimals, a comma (,) must be placed after the numeral
representing units.
Article 13. Accounting
period
1. An accounting period may be an annual
accounting period, a quarterly accounting period or a monthly accounting
period, which is prescribed as follows:
a) An annual accounting period consists of
twelve months, counting from the beginning of January 1 to the end of December
31 of the calendar year. For accounting units which have unique organizational
and/or operational characteristics, they may select an annual accounting period
consisting of twelve full months according to the calendar year, starting from
the beginning of the first day of the first month of a quarter to the end of
the last day of the last month of preceding quarter of the subsequent year and
shall have to notify the finance offices thereof.
b) A quarterly accounting period consists of
three months, counting from the beginning of the first day of the first month
of a quarter to the end of the last day of the last month of the quarter.
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2. The accounting period of newly founded
accounting units is prescribed as follows:
a) The first accounting period of newly founded
enterprises is counted from the date they are granted the business registration
certificates to the end of the last day of the annual accounting period, the
quarterly accounting period or the monthly accounting period prescribed in
Clause 1 of this Article;
b) The first accounting period of other
accounting units is counted from the effective date inscribed in their
establishment decisions to the end of the last day of the annual accounting
period, the quarterly accounting period or the monthly accounting period
prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article;
3. For accounting units, when being separated,
split, consolidated, merged, transformed in ownership, dissolved, terminating
operation or going bankrupt, their last accounting period is counted from the
beginning of the first day of the annual accounting period, the quarterly
accounting period or the monthly accounting period prescribed in Clause 1 of
this Article to the end of the day preceding the effective date inscribed in
the decisions on their division, separation, consolidation, merger, ownership
transformation, dissolution, operation termination or bankruptcy.
4. Where the first annual accounting period or
the last annual accounting period is shorter than 90 days, it shall be allowed
to be added (+) to the subsequent annual accounting period or the preceding
annual accounting period for counting as an annual accounting period. The first
or last annual accounting period must be shorter than fifteen months.
Article 14. Prohibited
acts
1. Forging, falsely declaring, colluding with or
forcing other persons to forge or falsely declare or erasing accounting
records.
2. Deliberately supplying or certifying,
colluding with or forcing other persons to supply or certify untruthful
accounting information and data.
3. Not recording in accounting books assets of
or related to the accounting units.
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5. Promulgating or publicizing accounting
standards and/or regimes ultra vires.
6. Abusing one's post and powers to threaten or
take revenge on accountants in the performance of accounting work.
7. Persons in charge of managing and/or administrating
the accounting units and working concurrently as accountants, storekeepers or
cashiers or buying and selling assets, except for private enterprises and
individual business households.
8. Arranging accountants or chief accountants
who fail to satisfy the criteria and conditions specified in Articles 50 and 53
of this Law.
9. Other accounting acts prohibited by law.
Article 15. Value of
accounting records and data
1. Accounting records and data shall have legal
validity with regard to the economic and financial situation of the accounting
units and be publicized according to law provisions.
2. Accounting records and data shall serve as a
basis for drawing up and approving plans, cost estimates, final settlements and
for considering and handling law violations.
Article
16. Responsibilities for managing, using and supplying accounting
information and records
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2. The accounting units shall have to supply complete
and truthful accounting information and records in a timely and transparent
manner to organizations and individuals according to law provisions.
Chapter II
CONTENTS OF ACCOUNTING
WORK
Section 1. ACCOUNTING
VOUCHERS
Article 17. Contents
of accounting vouchers
1. An accounting voucher must contain the
following principal contents:
a) The name and serial number of the accounting
voucher;
b) The date of making the accounting voucher;
c) The name and address of the accounting
voucher-making unit or individual;
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e) The contents of the arising economic or
financial operation;
f) The quantity, unit price and money amount of
the economic or financial operation, inscribed in figures; the total money
amount of the accounting vouchers for money receipt or payment inscribed in
both figures and words;
g) The signatures and full names of the maker
and the approver of, and persons related to, the accounting voucher.
2. Apart from the principal contents specified
in Clause 1 of this Article, accounting vouchers may have other contents,
depending on their types.
Article 18. Electronic
vouchers
1. Electronic vouchers are regarded as
accounting vouchers when they contain the contents specified in Article 17 of
this Law, are expressed in the form of electronic data and encoded, and are not
modified in the process of transmission via computer networks or via such
information-carrying articles as magnetic tapes or discs, assorted payment
cards.
2. The Government shall stipulate in detail
electronic vouchers.
Article 19. Making of
accounting vouchers
1. Accounting vouchers must be made for all
arising economic and financial operations related to the operation of the
accounting units. For every economic or financial operation, the accounting
voucher shall be made only once.
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3. The contents of economic and/or financial
operations inscribed on accounting vouchers must not be abbreviated, erased or
corrected, must be written with ink pen, with figures and words closely
following one another without space in between and blank spaces being crossed;
erased or corrected vouchers shall not be valid for payment and entry into
accounting books. When an accounting voucher is inscribed wrongly, it must be
invalidated with a cross.
4. Accounting vouchers must be made with a
sufficient number of copies as prescribed. When an accounting voucher is made
with many copies for a single economic or financial operation, the contents of
such copies must be alike. For accounting vouchers made by the accounting units
specified at Points a, b, c and d, Clause 1, Article 2 of this Law for dealings
with organizations or individuals outside the accounting unit, the copies
handed over to such organizations or individuals must be appended with the
seals of the accounting units.
5. The makers, approvers and other signatories
of accounting vouchers shall be accountable for the contents thereof.
6. Accounting vouchers made in the form of
electronic voucher must comply with the provisions in Article 18 of this Law
and Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article. Electronic vouchers must be printed on
paper and archived under the provisions in Article 40 of this Law.
Article 20. Signing of
accounting vouchers
1. Accounting vouchers must be properly signed.
Signatures on accounting vouchers must be written with ink pen. Accounting
vouchers must not be signed in red ink or with carved signature seals. A
person's signature on accounting vouchers must be uniform.
2. Accounting vouchers must be signed by
competent persons or authorized persons. It is strictly forbidden to sign
accounting vouchers which are not yet inscribed with the full contents falling under
the responsibilities of the signatories.
3. Accounting vouchers for payment must be
signed by competent persons for approval of payment and chief accountants or
authorized persons before the payment is effected. Accounting vouchers for
payment must be signed on every copy.
4. Electronic vouchers must contain electronic
signatures according to law provisions.
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1. When selling goods or provide services,
organizations and individuals must make sale invoices and hand them over to customers.
For cases of goods retailing or service provision involving a sum of money
lower than the prescribed level, sale invoices may not be made if not asked for
by the goods buyers. The Government shall specify the cases of goods sale and
the sales level for which sale invoices may not be made.
2. When buying goods or being provided with
services, organizations and individuals may ask the goods sellers or service
providers to make and hand over sale invoices to them.
3. Sale invoices may take the following forms:
a) Invoices made on pre-printed forms;
b) Invoices printed from machines;
c) Electronic invoices;
d) Stamps, tickets or cards pre-printed with the
payment prices.
4. The Ministry of Finance shall prescribe the
invoice forms, organize the printing, circulation and use of sale invoices.
Where organizations or individuals print sale invoices by themselves, they must
obtain the written approvals of competent finance agencies before printing.
5. When selling goods or providing services, if
organizations or individuals fail to make or hand over sale invoices or make
sale invoices at variance with the provisions in Articles 19 and 20 of this Law
and Clauses 1, 2, 3 and 4 of this Article, they shall be handled according to
law provisions.
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1. Information and data written on accounting
vouchers shall serve as a basis for making entries in accounting books.
2. Accounting vouchers must be arranged
according to their economic contents, in the temporal order and safely
preserved according to law provisions.
3. Only competent State bodies may temporarily
seize, confiscate or seal up accounting vouchers. In case of temporary seizure
or confiscation, the competent State bodies must make copies of the temporarily
seized or confiscated vouchers and signed such copies for certification, and
concurrently make records thereon, clearly stating the reasons therefor, the
quantity of each kind of temporarily seized or confiscated vouchers, append
their signatures and stamps thereto.
4. The competent bodies which seal up accounting
vouchers must make records thereon, clearly stating the reasons therefor, the
quantity of each kind of sealed-up accounting vouchers, append their signatures
and stamps thereto.
Section 2. BOOK-KEEPING
ACCOUNTS AND ACCOUNTING BOOKS
Article
23. Book-keeping accounts and the system thereof
1. Book-keeping accounts are used to classify
and systemize economic and financial operations according to their economic
contents.
2. The system of book-keeping accounts consists
of accounts needed to be used. Each accounting unit must use a system of
book-keeping accounts.
3. The Ministry of Finance shall stipulate in
detail book-keeping accounts and the systems of book-keeping accounts.
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1. The accounting units must base themselves on
the system of book-keeping accounts prescribed by the Ministry of Finance to
select a system of book-keeping accounts for application at their respective
units.
2. The accounting units may itemize the selected
book-keeping accounts in service their management requirements.
Article 25. Accounting
books and the system of accounting books
1. Accounting books are used to record,
systemize and store all economic and financial operations that have arisen in
relation to the accounting units.
2. An accounting book must be legibly inscribed
with the name of the accounting unit, the book's name, the dates of its opening
and closing; the signatures of its maker, the chief accountant and the
accounting unit's representative at law, the number of pages, and
page-overlapping stamps.
3. An accounting book must contain the following
principal contents:
a) The dates of entries;
b) The serial numbers and dates of accounting vouchers
used as a basis for making entries.
c) Summaries of the contents of the arising
economic and financial operations;
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e) The period-beginning balance, amounts arising
in the period and the period-end balance.
4. Accounting books include general and detailed
accounting books.
5. The Ministry of Finance shall stipulate in
detail the accounting forms, the systems of accounting books, and accounting
books.
Article 26. Selection
and application of the system of accounting books
1. Each accounting unit shall have only one
system of accounting books for an annual accounting period.
2. The accounting units must base themselves on
the systems of accounting books prescribed by the Ministry of Finance to select
a system of accounting books for application at their respective units.
3. The accounting units may concretize the
selected accounting books in service of their management requirements.
Article 27. Opening,
recording and closing of accounting books
1. Accounting books must be opened at the
beginning of an annual accounting period; for newly set up accounting units,
they must open accounting books upon their establishment.
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3. Accounting books must be recorded timely,
legibly and fully according to their contents. Information and figures recorded
in accounting books must be accurate, truthful and true to accounting vouchers.
4. Entries must be made in accounting books in
the temporal order of the economic and financial operations. Information and
figures recorded in accounting books of this year must continue from those
recorded on accounting books of the preceding year. Accounting books must be
recorded continuously from their opening to closing.
5. Information and figures in accounting books
must be written with ink pen and without inserts above or below; must not be
written overlapping and on every other line; where a page is not fully written,
the blank space must be crossed; when a page is written fully, the total of
figures on the page must be calculated and carried forward to the next page.
6. Accounting units must close their accounting
books at the end of an accounting period before making financial statements and
in other cases of closing accounting books as prescribed by law.
7. The accounting units may make entries in
manual or computerized accounting books. If making entries in computerized
accounting books, they must comply with the provisions on accounting books in
Articles 25 and 26 of this Law and Clauses 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 of this Article.
After closing computerized accounting books, they must print them on paper and bind
in separate books for each annual accounting year.
Article 28. Correction
of accounting books
1. When errors are detected in manual accounting
books, wrong information or figures must not be erased untraceably but
corrected by one of the three following methods:
a) Making correction by crossing the wrong
figures or words, then writing the correct figures or words above, next to
which there must be the chief accountant's signature;
b) Writing negative figures by re-writing the
erroneous figures in red ink or putting them in brackets, then writing the
correct ones, next to which there must be the chief accountant's signature;
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2. If detecting errors in accounting books
before submitting annual financial statements to competent State bodies,
corrections must be made on the accounting books of that year.
3. If detecting errors in accounting books after
submitting annual financial statements to competent State bodies, corrections
must be made on the accounting books of the year when errors are detected and
notes thereon must be given on the last line of such accounting books.
4. Making corrections on computerized accounting
books:
a) If detecting errors in accounting books
before submitting annual financial statements to competent State bodies,
corrections must be made directly on the computerized accounting books of such
year.
b) If detecting errors in accounting books after
submitting annual financial statements to competent State bodies, corrections
must be made directly on the computerized accounting books of the year when
errors are detected and make notes thereon at the last line of such accounting
books.
c) Corrections in computerized accounting books
shall be made by the methods specified at Point b or c, Clause 1 of this
Article.
Section 3. FINANCIAL
STATEMENT S
Article 29. Financial
statements
1. Financial statements are drawn up according
to the accounting standards and regimes and used for synthesizing and
describing the economic and financial situation of the accounting units.
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a) The accounting balance sheet;
b) The revenue and expenditure report;
c) The written explanation on the financial
statements;
d) Other reports as prescribed by law.
3. Financial statements of the accounting units
engaged in business activities comprise:
a) The accounting balance sheet;
b) The report on business results;
c) The cash flow report;
d) The written explanation on the financial
statements.
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Article
30. Compilation of financial statements
1. The accounting units must compile financial
statements at the end of the annual accounting period; where it is prescribed
by law that financial statements are compiled according to other accounting
periods, the accounting units must compile financial statements according to
such accounting periods.
2. The compilation of financial statements must
be based on the figures after the closing of accounting books. The superior
accounting units must make general financial statements or consolidated
financial statements on the basis of financial statements of the accounting
units in the same superior accounting units.
3. Financial statements must be compiled
according to the contents and methods and be presented consistently in
different accounting periods; where the financial statements are presented
inconsistently in different accounting periods, the reasons therefor must be
clearly explained.
4. Financial statements must be signed by the
compilers, chief accountants and the representatives at law of the accounting
units. The signatories of financial statements must be accountable for their
contents.
Article 31. Time limit
for submission of financial statements
1. Annual financial statements of the accounting
units must be submitted to competent State bodies within ninety days after the
last day of the annual accounting period as prescribed by law; for budget
settlement reports, they must be submitted according to the time limit
prescribed by the Government.
2. The Government shall specify the time limits
for submission of financial statements and budget settlement reports for each
field of activity and each managerial level.
Article 32. Financial
statement contents to be publicized
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a) Annual State budget settlement, for
accounting units engaged in State budget collection and spending activities;
b) Annual settlement of the State budget and
other financial revenues and expenditures, for administrative agencies,
non-business units and organizations funded with the State budget;
c) Annual settlement of financial revenues and
expenditures, for non-business units and organizations not funded with the
State budget;
d) The objectives of mobilization and use of
contributed amounts, contributors, mobilization levels, use results and the settlement
of collection and spending of each contributed amount, for accounting units
using the people's contributed amounts.
2. The to be-publicized contents of financial
statements of the accounting units engaged in business activities include:
a) The situation of assets, liabilities and
owners' equity;
b) The business results;
c) Deductions for, and the use of, various
funds;
d) Laborers' incomes.
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Article 33. Forms of
and time limits for publicization of financial statements
1. Financial statements may be publicized in the
following forms:
a) Publication;
b) Written notification;
c) Public posting;
d) Other forms as prescribed by law.
2. The accounting units engaged in State budget
collection and spending activities must publicize their annual financial
statements within sixty days after getting the approval of competent
authorities.
3. The accounting units which are administrative
agencies, non-business units or organizations funded with the State budget or
non-business units or organizations not funded with the State budget or which
use people's contributed amounts must publicize the annual financial statements
within thirty days after getting the approval of competent authorities.
4. The accounting units engaged in business
activities must publicize their financial statements within one hundred and
twenty days as from the last day of the annual accounting period.
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1. The accounting units' annual financial
statements which are, as prescribed by law, subject to audit must be audited
before they are submitted to competent State bodies and before they are
publicized.
2. When audited, the accounting units must
observe all the law provisions on audit.
3. The audited financial statements, when being
submitted to competent State bodies specified in Article 31 of this Law, must
be enclosed with the audit reports.
Section 4. ACCOUNTING
INSPECTION
Article 35. Accounting
inspection
The accounting units must be subject to
accounting inspection by competent bodies with no more than one inspection of
each content in a year. The accounting inspection shall be conducted only on
decisions of competent bodies as prescribed by law.
Article 36. Contents
of accounting inspection
1. The contents of accounting inspection
include:
a) Inspecting the performance of the contents of
accounting work;
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c) Examining the organization of the management
and practice of accountancy;
d) Inspecting the observance of other law
provisions on accounting.
2. The contents of accounting inspection must be
stated in the inspection decisions.
Article 37. Rights and
responsibilities of accounting inspection teams
1. When conducting accounting inspection, the
accounting inspection teams must produce accounting inspection decisions. They
may request the inspected accounting units to supply accounting records
pertaining to the accounting inspection contents and give justifications when
necessary.
2. Upon concluding the accounting inspection,
the accounting inspection teams must make records thereon and hand over one
copy to the inspected accounting unit; if discovering any violations of the
accounting legislation, they shall handle them according to their competence or
transfer the dossiers thereof to competent State bodies for handling according
to law provisions.
3. The heads of the accounting inspection teams
shall be accountable for inspection conclusions.
4. The accounting inspection teams must observe
the process, contents, scope and time of inspection, without affecting the
normal operation of the inspected accounting units and harassing them.
Article
38. Responsibilities and rights of the accounting units subject to
accounting inspection
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a) To supply the accounting inspection teams
with the accounting records related to the inspection contents and give
justifications at the request of the inspection teams.
b) To abide by the conclusions of the accounting
inspection teams.
2. The accounting units subject to accounting
inspection shall have the right:
a) To reject the inspection if seeing that such
inspection is conducted ultra vires or its contents are contrary to the
provisions in Article 36 of this Law;
b) To lodge complaints about the accounting
inspection teams' conclusions with the agencies competent to decide on
accounting inspection; comply with the law provisions if disagreeing with the
conclusions of the agencies competent to decide on accounting inspection.
Section 5. ASSET INVENTORY,
PRESERVATION AND ARCHIVAL OF ACCOUNTING RECORDS
Article 39. Asset inventory
1. Asset inventory means the weighing,
measurement or counting of volumes or quantities; the certification and
evaluation of the quality or value of assets and/or capital sources available
at the time of inventory in order to check and compare with the data in
accounting books.
2. The accounting units must inventory their
assets in the following cases:
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b) Division, separation, consolidation, merger,
dissolution, termination of operation, bankruptcy, sale, contracting or lease
of enterprises;
c) Transformation of the ownership of
enterprises;
d) Occurrence of fires, floods or other
unexpected damage;
e) Re-evaluation of assets under decisions of
competent State bodies;
f) Other cases as prescribed by law.
3. After inventorying their assets, the
accounting units must make general reports on the inventory results. If there
are any discrepancies between the actual inventory figures and those recorded
in accounting books, the accounting units must identify the causes and reflect
the discrepancies and the handling results in accounting books before making
financial statements.
4. The inventory must reflect the actual assets
and asset-forming sources. The makers and signatories of the general reports on
inventory results shall be accountable for the inventory results.
Article
40. Preservation and archival of accounting records
1. Accounting records must be fully and safely
preserved by the accounting units in the process of use and archival.
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3. Accounting records must be archived for
twelve months as from the last day of the annual accounting period or after the
accounting work finishes.
4. The accounting units' representatives at law
shall have to organize the preservation and archival of accounting records.
5. Accounting records must be archived according
to the following time limits:
a) At least five years, for accounting records
used for the accounting units' management and administration work, including
accounting vouchers not directly used for making entries in accounting books
and financial statements;
b) At least ten years, for accounting vouchers
directly used for making entries in accounting books and financial statements,
accounting books and annual financial statements, unless otherwise provided for
by law;
c) Perpetual archival, for accounting documents
of historical value and of important economic, security or defense significance.
6. The Government shall specify each kind of
accounting records to be archived, the archival time limits and the time for
counting the archival time limits prescribed in Clause 5 of this Article, the
archival places and the procedures for destruction of archived accounting
records.
Article 41. Accounting
work in cases where accounting records are lost or damaged
Upon detecting that accounting records are lost
or damaged, the accounting units must immediately:
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2. Organize the restoration of damaged
accounting records;
3. Contact those organizations and individuals
with transactions in accounting records and data for copying or
re-certification of the lost or damaged accounting records;
4. For accounting records related to assets,
which cannot be restored by methods defined in Clauses 2 and 3 of this Article,
the related assets must be inventoried so as to recompile the lost or damaged
accounting records.
Section 6. ACCOUNTING WORK IN
CASE OF DIVISION, SEPARATION, CONSOLIDATION, MERGER, OWNERSHIP TRANSFORMATION,
DISSOLUTION, OPERATION TERMINATION OR BANKRUPTCY OF ACCOUNTING UNITS
Article 42. Accounting
work in case of division of accounting units
1. An accounting unit, when being divided into
new accounting units, must:
a) Close the accounting books, inventory assets,
identify liabilities and make financial statements;
b) Divide assets, liabilities, make records on
the hand-over thereof, and record the accounting books according to the
hand-over records;
c) Hand over the accounting records related to
assets and liabilities to the new accounting units.
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Article 43. Accounting
work in case of separation of accounting units
1. An accounting unit, when having one section
separated to form of new accounting unit, must:
a) Inventory assets and identify liabilities of
the separated section;
b) Hand over the assets and liabilities of the
separated section, make records on the hand-over, and record the accounting
books according to the hand-over records;
c) Hand over the accounting records related to
assets and liabilities to the new accounting unit; for accounting records not
handed over, the separating accounting unit shall archive them in accordance
with the provisions in Article 40 of this Law.
2. The newly set up accounting unit shall base
itself on the hand-over records to open and record its accounting books
according to the provisions of this Law.
Article 44. Accounting
work in case of consolidation of accounting units
1. Where several accounting units are
consolidated into a new accounting unit, each of them must:
a) Close the accounting books, inventory assets,
identify liabilities and make financial statements;
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c) Hand over all accounting records to the
consolidated accounting unit.
2. The consolidated accounting unit must:
a) Base itself on the hand-over records to open
and record the accounting books;
b) Synthesize the financial statements of the
consolidating accounting units into its financial statements.
Article 45. Accounting
work in case of merger of accounting units
1. Where an accounting unit is merged into
another accounting unit, it must:
a) Close the accounting books, inventory assets,
identify liabilities and make financial statements;
b) Hand over all assets and liabilities, make
records on the hand-over, and record the accounting books according to the
hand-over records;
c) Hand over all accounting records to the
merging accounting unit.
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Article 46. Accounting
work in case of ownership transformation
1. The accounting units which transform their
ownership must:
a) Close the accounting books, inventory assets,
identify liabilities and make financial statements;
b) Hand over all assets and liabilities, make
records on the hand-over, and make entries in accounting books according to the
hand-over records;
c) Hand over all accounting records to the
accounting units with the new form of ownership.
2. The accounting units with the new form of
ownership shall base themselves on the hand-over records to open and record the
accounting books according to the provisions of this Law.
Article 47. Accounting
work in case of dissolution, operation termination or bankruptcy
1. The accounting units, when being dissolved or
terminating operation, must:
a) Close the accounting books, inventory assets,
identify liabilities and make financial statements;
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c) Hand over accounting records after their
dissolution or operation termination completes to superior accounting units or
archiving organizations or individuals as prescribed in Article 40 of this Law.
2. Where an accounting unit is declared
bankrupt, the bankruptcy-declaring court shall designate persons to take over
the accounting work as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article.
Chapter III
ORGANIZATION OF
ACCOUNTING APPARATUS AND ACCOUNTANTS
Article
48. Organization of the accounting apparatus
1. The accounting units must organize their
accounting apparatuses, arrange or hire accountants.
2. The accounting units must arrange persons to
work as chief accountants. Where an accounting unit cannot arrange a chief
accountant yet, it must appoint a person responsible for accounting work and
hire a chief accountant (hereinafter chief accountants and persons responsible
for accounting work are collectively referred to as chief accountants).
3. If agencies or enterprises have superior and
subordinate accounting units, the organization of their accounting apparatuses
shall comply with law provisions.
Article
49. Responsibilities of the accounting units' representatives at law
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2. To decide to hire accountants and/or chief
accountants.
3. To organize and direct the accounting work in
the accounting units according to the law provisions on accounting and take
responsibility for consequences caused by their wrong-doings or violations.
Article 50. Criteria,
rights and responsibilities of accountants
1. Accountants must satisfy the following
criteria:
a) Possessing professional ethics, being honest,
incorruptible and having the sense of law observance;
b) Having professional accountancy
qualifications.
2. Accountants have the right to work
independently in their professional accountancy activities.
3. Accountants shall have to observe the law
provisions on accounting, perform their assigned tasks and take responsibility
for their professional work. When accountants are changed, they shall have to
hand over the accounting work and documents to their successors and take
responsibility for the accounting work in the period when they worked as
accountants.
Article 51. Persons
banned from practicing accountancy
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2. Persons banned from practicing accountancy or
working as accountants under court judgments or decisions; persons being
examined for penal liability, persons who are serving imprisonment sentences or
who have been convicted for economic or position-related crimes related to
financial or accounting matters and not yet have their criminal records wiped
off.
3. Parents, spouses, children or siblings of
persons in charge of managing or administering the accounting units, including
chief accountants in the same accounting units which are State enterprises,
joint-stock companies, cooperatives, non-business units or organizations funded
with the State budget as well as non-business units or organizations not funded
with the State budget.
4. Storekeepers, cashiers, buyers or sellers of
assets in the same accounting units which are State enterprises, joint-stock
companies, cooperatives, non-business units or organizations funded with the State
budget as well as non-business units or organizations not funded with the State
budget.
Article 52. Chief
accountants
1. Chief accountants shall have the task of
organizing the accounting work in the accounting units under the provisions in
Article 5 of this Law.
2. Chief accountants of State agencies,
non-business units or organizations funded with the State budget, non-business
units and organizations not funded with the State budget as well as State
enterprises shall perform, apart from the tasks mentioned in Clause 1 of this
Article, the tasks of assisting the accounting units' representatives at law in
supervising financial matters in the accounting units.
3. Chief accountants shall submit to the
leadership of the accounting units' representatives at law. Where superior
accounting units exist, chief accountants shall also submit to the direction
and supervision by superior chief accountants regarding professional matters.
4. Where an accounting unit appoints the person
responsible for accounting to replace the chief accountant, such person must
satisfy the criteria specified in Clause 1, Article 50 of this Law and
discharge the tasks, responsibilities and rights prescribed for chief
accountants.
Article 53. Criteria
and conditions of chief accountants
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a) Satisfying the criteria specified in Clause
1, Article 50 of this Law;
b) Having professional accountancy
qualifications of intermediate or higher level;
c) Having actually performed accounting work for
at least two years for those who have professional accountancy qualifications
of university or higher level or at least three years for those who have
professional accountancy qualifications of intermediate level.
2. Chief accountants must have a certificate of
chief accountant's training.
3. The Government shall specify the criteria and
conditions of chief accountants suitable to each type of accounting unit.
Article
54. Responsibilities and rights of chief accountants
1. Chief accountants shall have the
responsibility:
a) To implement the law provisions on accounting
and finance in the accounting units;
b) To organize and administer the accounting
apparatuses according to the provisions of this Law;
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2. Chief accountants have the right to work
independently in their professional accountancy activities.
3. Chief accountants of State agencies,
non-business units or organizations funded with the State budget or
non-business units or organizations not funded with the State budget and State
enterprises shall have, apart from the rights prescribed in Clause 2 of this
Article, the right:
a) To give written opinions to the accounting
units' representatives at law on the recruitment, transfer, salary rise, commendation
or disciplining of accountants, storekeepers and/or cashiers;
b) To request the relevant sections in the
accounting units to supply fully and timely documents related to their
accounting work and financial supervision;
c) To reserve in writing their professional
opinions which differ from the opinions of decision makers;
d) To report in writing to the accounting units'
representatives at law when detecting violations of the finance and accounting
legislation in the establishments; if they still have to abide by decisions,
the chief accountants shall report such decisions to the immediate superiors of
the decision makers or competent State bodies and not have to bear
responsibility for the consequences of the implementation of such decisions.
Chapter IV
ACCOUNTANCY
Article 55. Practice
of accountancy
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2. Organizations dealing in accounting services
must set up accounting service enterprises according to law provisions. The
managers of accounting service enterprises must have the accountancy practice
certificates granted by competent State bodies specified in Article 57 of this
Law.
3. Individual accountancy practitioners must
have accountancy certificates granted by competent State bodies defined in
Article 57 of this Law and must have the accountancy service business
registration.
Article 56. Hiring
accountants or chief accountants
1. The accounting units may sign contracts with
the accounting service enterprises or individuals who have registered
accounting service business for hiring accountants or chief accountants.
2. The hiring of accountants or chief
accountants must be made in written contracts as prescribed by law.
3. The accounting units which hire accountants
or chief accountants shall have to supply in a full, timely and truthful manner
all information and documents related to the hiring of accountants or chief
accountants and pay fully and on schedule accounting service charges as agreed
upon in the contracts.
4. Hired chief accountants must satisfy all
criteria and conditions prescribed in Article 53 of this Law.
5. Enterprises and individuals providing
accounting services and hired chief accountants shall be accountable for
accounting information and figures as agreed upon in the contracts.
Article
57. Accountancy practice certificates
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a) Possessing professional ethics, being honest,
incorruptible, having the sense of law observance; and being other than those
subjects specified in Clauses 1 and 2, Article 51 of this Law;
b) Having professional financial and accounting
qualifications of university or higher degree and having actually performed
financial and accounting work for five years or more;
c) Passing recruitment exams organized by
competent State bodies.
2. To be granted the accountancy practice
certificates, foreigners must satisfy the following criteria and conditions:
a) Being permitted to reside in Vietnam;
b) Having the accountancy specialist's
certificates or accountancy certificates granted by foreign or international
organizations and recognized by the Vietnamese Ministry of Finance;
c) Passing the test on the finance and
accounting legislation of Vietnam, organized by competent State bodies.
3. The Ministry of Finance shall prescribe the
training programs, examination councils, procedures and competence for granting
and revoking the accountancy practice certificates according to the provisions
of this Law and other relevant law provisions.
Article 58. Right to
participate in accountancy organizations
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Chapter V
STATE MANAGEMENT OVER
ACCOUNTING
Article 59. Contents
of State management over accounting
The contents of State management over accounting
include:
1. Formulating, and directing the implementation
of strategies, plannings and plans on development of accounting;
2. Promulgating, disseminating, directing and
organizing the implementation of legal documents on accounting;
3. Inspecting accounting; inspecting accounting
services;
4. Guiding the accountancy practice, organizing
examinations, granting and revoking the accountancy practice certificates;
5. Organizing the accountancy training and
fostering;
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7. Undertaking international cooperation on
accounting;
8. Settling accounting-related complaints and
denunciations and handling violations of the accounting legislation.
Article 60. Agencies
performing the State management over accounting
1. The Government shall perform the unified
State management over accounting.
2. The Ministry of Finance shall be responsible
to the Government for discharging the function of State management over
accounting.
3. The ministries and the ministerial-level
agencies shall, within the scope of their respective tasks and powers, have to
perform the State management over accounting in the branches or domains
assigned to them for management.
4. The People's Committees of the provinces or
centrally-run cities shall, within the scope of their respective tasks and
powers, have to perform the State management over accounting in their
respective localities.
Chapter VI
COMMENDATION AND
HANDLING OF VIOLATIONS
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Organizations and individuals that record achievements
in accounting activities shall be commended and/or rewarded according to law
provisions.
Article 62. Handling
of violations
Organizations and individuals that commit acts
of violating the accounting legislation shall, depending on the nature and seriousness
of their violations, be administratively sanctioned or examined for penal
liability; and, if causing damage, pay compensation therefor according to law
provisions.
Chapter VII
IMPLEMENTATION
PROVISIONS
Article
63. Implementation effect
1. This Law shall take effect as from January 1,
2004.
2. The May 10, 1988 Accounting and Statistics
Ordinance shall cease to be effective as from the effective date of this Law.
Article
64. Implementation detailing and guidance
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This Law was passed on June 17, 2003 by the
XIth National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam at its
3rd session.
CHAIRMAN OF
THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Nguyễn Văn An
(This translation is for reference only)