The revised Accounting Law does not make it difficult for people with college or intermediate degrees.

The National Assembly Standing Committee proposed to maintain the regulation that accountants must have professional qualifications and accounting skills as in the current Law.

Some regulations set forth in the Draft Law on Accounting (amended) on standards, rights and responsibilities of accountants such as: having professional ethics, honesty, integrity, awareness of law compliance as well as regulations on professional qualifications and skills of accountants... have received many different opinions from National Assembly Deputies.

In the report explaining, accepting and revising the Draft Law on Accounting (amended), Member of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly, Chairman of the Finance and Budget Committee of the National Assembly Phung Quoc Hien said that the proposal to raise the standards and conditions for accountants to have a college degree or higher will contribute to improving the quality of accounting work.

However, in practice, in recent times, many people with intermediate or higher accounting qualifications have been trained, but the shortage of accountants in small-scale accounting units in remote communes still occurs. Therefore, to meet practical requirements, the National Assembly Standing Committee (NASC) proposed that the National Assembly allow the regulation that accountants must have professional qualifications and skills in accounting as in the current Law, depending on human resource conditions and requirements of the accounting unit to arrange accountants accordingly.

The National Assembly Standing Committee proposed to maintain the regulation that accountants must have professional qualifications and accounting skills as in the current Law.

Regarding the regulation on the conditions for granting an Accounting Certificate, the person granted the Certificate must have a University degree, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly received many opinions stating that currently, many small and medium enterprises only hire accountants with intermediate qualifications, not necessarily those with university degrees. Therefore, if the regulation is as stipulated in the Draft Law, many people with intermediate and college accounting qualifications will be unemployed.

The Standing Committee of the National Assembly believes that this provision applies to those who want to become practicing accountants to provide accounting services, and is not mandatory for all individuals working in accounting. The draft law also does not limit only those with an accounting certificate to work in accounting, so it will not affect the work of accountants with college or intermediate qualifications.

Accepting the suggestions not to supplement the Certificate of Registration for Practice and the Certificate of Eligibility for Accounting Services, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly found that in practice, there are many cases where there is a need to take the exam to obtain the Certificate of Accountant but not practice accounting services. Therefore, the provisions on the Certificate of Practice for Accounting Services as in the Draft Law will help the state management agency to better control this field.

On the other hand, according to current regulations, because it only stops at the registration stage and does not issue a Certificate of eligibility for accounting services business, many practical problems and difficulties arise in controlling individuals and organizations when practicing accounting services. While this is a conditional business type, registering and issuing a certificate of eligibility for accounting services business will contribute to strengthening management of this type of service.

Ministry of Finance regulates examination and issuance of Accountant Certificate

In the Draft Law on Accounting (amended), which stipulates the competent authority to organize exams and issue Accountant Certificates, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly said that, according to international practice, the organization of exams and issuance of Accountant Certificates is assigned to the Professional Association. Currently, the Accounting Professional Association is conducting training and professional development, coordinating with the Ministry of Finance in developing legal documents (including developing accounting standards), exams and issuance of Accountant Certificates, supervising members, etc.

However, in order to have a roadmap for the Vietnam Association of Accountants and Auditors to complete its organizational structure and human resources, the Draft Law stipulates that the Ministry of Finance shall prescribe the conditions for taking the exam, the exam organizing unit and the method of organizing the exam, organizing the exam and granting the Accountant Certificate because this is the job of the state management agency.

Regarding the accounting service business, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly recognizes that this is a conditional business, the quality of service is based on the professional qualifications and experience of the practitioner, requires professional responsibility for accounting and has control over the capital participation rate of organizations. Therefore, it is necessary to regulate the capital contribution rate.

However, to ensure flexibility in operation, in accordance with the practical situation in each period, the Draft Law will be adjusted in the direction of not regulating the specific capital contribution ratio of practicing accountants and organizations, and will be assigned to the Government to regulate (similar to the Law on Independent Audit).

Regarding the regulation of the minimum number of practicing accountants at accounting service enterprises, the aim is to improve the quality and scale of operations of accounting service enterprises, aiming to improve professional capacity and service quality. In response to the opinions of delegates, if the regulation requires at least 3 practicing accountants in accounting service enterprises, it will cause difficulties for enterprises while the number of accountants with practice certificates is still limited. Therefore, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly has revised and stated in Article 61 of the Draft Law.

The Standing Committee of the National Assembly also said that to ensure consistency in the accounting period as prescribed in this Law, it is necessary to apply it from the beginning of the year. If the provisions on the effective date of the amended Accounting Law are stipulated from January 1, 2016, it will be too urgent, not enough time for the Government and the Ministry of Finance to study the provisions of the Law as well as prepare the necessary conditions for implementation. Therefore, the Standing Committee of the National Assembly proposed that the National Assembly allow the provisions on the effective date of the Law from January 1, 2017 as in the Draft Law./.

According to VOV.VN