[Vnbiz] Equivalent of a CPA in Vietnam

[Dyung Le]

[Vietnam Business Forum]

Dear CACE,

I'm trying to help the younger cousin (who is in Saigon) of a friend figure
out whether she should go for a Master degree in Business or Accounting. My
friend's cousin is very smart and studious. She got one degree in Economics
from the University of TPHCM and just got another degree in Accounting this
year. She graduates in the top 3% of her class and speaks English and
Japanase fluently. She currently works for a Japanase firm as accountant.

Her professor is encouraging to go for a Cao Ho.c. My sense is that it would
be a lot more helpful for her career to aim for the Vietnamese equivalent of
a US board certified Certified Public Accountant (CPA). People with
accounting degree in the US would spend a few years working after they
graduate from the universities, then try to take the CPA exam. This is a
very well respected and rigorous exam admistered by the American Institute
of Certified Public Accountant (http://www.aicpa.org/index.htm). Those who
pass advance to a lot more responsibility in their career.

My question is "Is there an equivalent to the CPA in Vietnam?" "How does one
go about figuring this out. I believe accounting standard are being
harmonized across the world, but the American by no mean is holding the only
standard. The EU does have its own standard. Does anybody know what
international accounting standard Chinese firms who are listed on
international exchange adhere to?

I'd be grateful for any insight. If you know of any professional group
inside Vietnam whom one can direct these questions to, I would also greatly
appreciate it.

Dyung Le

_________________________________________________________________
Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today - it's FREE!
http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/

_______________________________________________
To subscribe/unsubscribe, please contact admins at
vnbiz...@vietlinks.net
Info at http://mail.saigon.com/mailman/listinfo/vnbiz
Archive at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vnbiz
Or http://groups-beta.google.com/group/VNBIZforum/
Or http://mail.saigon.com/pipermail/vnbiz
Or http://www.tin.le.org/archive

[Dieu Linh]

[Vietnam Business Forum]

Dear anh Dyung Le

As far as I know, there are two popular Accounting
Certificates in Vietnam: CPA (Certified Public
Accountant) and ACA or ACCA (Association of Chartered
Accoutant). While CPA Vietnam is locally recognised,
ACCA is an international certificate. Chartered is
said to be a more difficult certificate to obtain in
general.

I have never heard any cases you can take CPA US exam
in Vietnam.

For CPA Vietnam, it requires certain work experience
(3 or 5 years) and education background. You may refer
to provisions of Ministry of Finance for further
details.

For ACCA, there are courses running by training
organisations. Any candidate may take exam to pass
their required paper (13, if my memory serves me well)
to be qualified.

Hope it helps.

Linh

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

[Tran Dinh Hoanh]

Dear anh Dyung , chi Dieu Linh & All.

 

In my previous life, before reincarnating to be a lawyer, I was an accountant. 

 

International accounting standards are set up by International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) ( http://www.iasb.org/ ). This is a voluntary board and its standards are voluntary, meaning, you don't have to follow its standards. 

 

Each country has its own financial reporting requirements--a set of requirements is for general purposes and a set is for tax purposes.  The two sets have some minor differences here and there.  These requirments must be followed in-country. 

 

On the other hand, international standards are voluntary.  However, since IASB members are major accounting bodies of major commerce countries of the world, the IASB standards are followed seriously in the international trade community, at least as reference.

 

Vietnam's accounting standards are still very much socialist.  But it has started to change a bit here and there to handle private businesses and multinationals. Auditing has been done by the government traditionally.  But there are now private international auditing firms (Andersen & Cooper and the like in Vietnam.  It is safe to assume that as Vietnam's economic develops (which it is doing at a good pace), the accounting profession and independent auditing firms will rise greatly.  So the future of the accounting profession looks good.  And the Vietnamese CPAs will be in high demand and respect (if they don't sell their soul to the corrupted crowd).

 

About advice to your niece.  Here is what I have always advised students in the US who sought my advice over the years (for the US, not for Vietnam).

 

1. For undergraduate business degree, I think the best major to do is accounting, for two reasons:

 

a.  With a bachelor in accounting, you can work as an accountant for a couple of years, then take the CPA test. CPA (certified public accountant) is a very well respected profession.

 

b.  Even if you don't want to be a CPA, accounting is the backbone of a business.  Knowing the accounting system of a company means you know that company very well.  From that knowedge, you can do many things, from marketing to personnel management with ease.

 

2.  For graduate degree, I recommend an MBA  instead of a master in accounting  (unless they have an MBA program with emphasis on accounting).  The reason is that:

 

a.  A master in accounting really gives you very little.  You don't need a master to be a CPA.  Also, accounting is more practice than theory.  Sitting in school for a master doens't help you understand accounting more at all.  Your true knowledge and understanding come with actual work on the field.

 

b.  An MBA general gives you fairly good fundamental knowledge for business in general.  So I would recommend an MBA.

 

In sum, for undergrad I recommend accounting, for grad I recommend MBA.

 

However, the whole discussion may become moot, because many US schools now have MBA program with an emphasis in accounting (or banking, or hotel management, etc.)

 

Hope this helps.

 

Hoanh

 

 

 

On 1/14/06, Dyung Le <dyu...@hotmail.com> wrote:

[Vietnam Business Forum]



Dear CACE,

I'm trying to help the younger cousin (who is in Saigon) of a friend figure
out whether she should go for a Master degree in Business or Accounting. My
friend's cousin is very smart and studious. She got one degree in Economics
from the University of TPHCM and just got another degree in Accounting this
year. She graduates in the top 3% of her class and speaks English and
Japanase fluently. She currently works for a Japanase firm as accountant.

Her professor is encouraging to go for a Cao Ho.c. My sense is that it would
be a lot more helpful for her career to aim for the Vietnamese equivalent of
a US board certified Certified Public Accountant (CPA). People with
accounting degree in the US would spend a few years working after they
graduate from the universities, then try to take the CPA exam. This is a
very well respected and rigorous exam admistered by the American Institute

of Certified Public Accountant ( http://www.aicpa.org/index.htm). Those who

pass advance to a lot more responsibility in their career.

My question is "Is there an equivalent to the CPA in Vietnam?" "How does one
go about figuring this out. I believe accounting standard are being
harmonized across the world, but the American by no mean is holding the only
standard. The EU does have its own standard. Does anybody know what
international accounting standard Chinese firms who are listed on
international exchange adhere to?

I'd be grateful for any insight. If you know of any professional group
inside Vietnam whom one can direct these questions to, I would also greatly
appreciate it.

Dyung Le

--
Tran Dinh Hoanh, LLB, JD
Attorney of Law
Washington DC