Circular No. 23/2024/TT-BTC stipulates amendments and additions to certain provisions of the Circulars guiding the management and inspection of accounting service activities, detailing the cases in which accounting service practices may be suspended.
After more than three decades of development, Vietnam’s accounting and auditing service market has made positive strides. However, there are still instances where enterprises and accountants fail to fully comply with accounting standards and relevant legal regulations. Therefore, timely regulatory adjustments and corrections are necessary.
On April 12, 2024, the Ministry of Finance issued Circular No. 23/2024/TT-BTC (“Circular No. 23”) to amend and supplement certain provisions of the Circulars guiding the management and inspection of accounting service activities, including the following notable changes:
Cases Leading to Suspension of Accounting Service Practices from July 1, 2024
Professional accountants may have their accounting service practices suspended under the following circumstances as per legal regulations:
Firstly, engaging in activities involving: Professional misconduct or violation of accounting standards and ethical standards causing or potentially causing severe consequences; Non-compliance with regulations from competent authorities regarding the inspection and auditing related to accounting practices; Failure to fulfill responsibilities as stipulated in Article 67 of the 2015 Accounting Law.
Secondly, professional accountants not meeting the required number of annual knowledge update hours as stipulated by the Ministry of Finance.
Thirdly, professional accountants violating the following responsibilities: using an expired or invalid Certificate of Accounting Service Practice Registration in professional activities; failing to provide periodic or ad-hoc information related to their accounting service practices as required by the Ministry of Finance; non-compliance with regulations on the inspection and auditing of the registration of accounting service practices by the Ministry of Finance.
Other cases as stipulated by law.
Regulations on Inspecting Accounting Service Business Units
According to this Circular, revenue from accounting services includes income from the following services: accounting services, chief accountant services, financial statement preparation and presentation services, and accounting consulting services based on annual activity reports.
Regarding inspection activities, for accounting firms with an average annual revenue from accounting services of 20 billion VND or more over the past three consecutive years, direct inspections will be conducted once every three years. For other units, direct inspections will be conducted at least once every five years. The determination of inspection subjects is based on the average annual revenue from accounting services over the three years preceding the inspection.
Annually, based on the regular direct inspection schedule for accounting service business activities, the Ministry of Finance reviews, plans inspections, compiles a list of accounting service business units subject to direct inspection within the year, and notifies each subject at least 10 days before the start of the inspection.
Circular No. 23/2024/TT-BTC, amending and supplementing certain provisions of the Circulars guiding the management and inspection of accounting service activities, will take effect from July 1, 2024.
This bulletin is intended solely to provide information about newly enacted legal regulations and should not be used for advising or applying to specific cases.
Bizlawyer is honored to accompany our esteemed readers!
