Determining factors affecting the transition of financial statement preparation from VAS to IFRS in enterprises in Vietnam

Abstract

According to the Ministry of Finance's roadmap for applying IFRS in Vietnam, listed enterprises on the stock market and state-owned enterprises holding the dominant power are the first group of enterprises to alter the preparation of financial statements according to Vietnamese Accounting Standards (VAS) to the application of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The voluntary application period is from 2022 to 2025 and the period after 2025 will be the mandatory one. This study was conducted to determine the factors affecting the transition from preparing financial statements following VAS to IFRS for this group of enterprises. The study involved surveying managers and chief accountants at 120 enterprises belonging to the group of companies listed on the stock market, state-owned enterprises holding the dominant power, with the adoption of a regression analysis method. The research results show that five factors are affecting the transition of financial reporting from VAS to IFRS in this group of enterprises, with the order of influence being ranked from high to low, respectively as (i) Size and operation characteristics of the enterprise; (ii) Competence of accountants; (iii) Viewpoints of the enterprise administrators; (iv) Applied accounting regime, and (v) Enterprise owners. On that basis, the study proposes some recommendations for the transition from preparing financial statements according to VAS to IFRS for enterprises to meet the Ministry of Finance's roadmap for IFRS application.