Identifying Problems That Need to Be Solved for Current Corporate Financial Statement Systems

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Content

International Accounting Standards (IAS 38)

Vietnamese Accounting Standards (VAS 04)


Two recording conditions

Three main cases:


receive assets

- Assets purchased separately


- The business receives the

special (Purchase price – discount,

Note

future economic benefits

discount, operating costs

intangible assets

property-linked;

dynamic);

image.

- Cost of formation

- Assets arising from the


Assets are recorded at one

Merger of Enterprises (Price)


reliable way

reasonable value);


rely

- Internal construction assets



(The cost is included in the cost)



business).

The costs

- Commercial advantage development

- Commercial advantage arises

impossible

internal birth;

internal;

accounting

- Pre-operation costs

- Pre-operation costs;

into intangible assets

dynamic;

- Training costs;

image

- Training costs;

- Advertising costs during the period

(allocated to

- Advertising costs;

pre-operational section;

business costs

- Relocation costs.

- Costs incurred during the period

business).


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Identifying Problems That Need to Be Solved for Current Corporate Financial Statement Systems

Source: IAS 38; VAS 04; author's synthesis.


Table 2.5 shows that the scope of reflection of intangible assets is limited to a narrow scale, focusing on organizational resources rather than external resources and human resources. In the Vietnamese accounting system, intangible assets are often considered as fixed assets, which is somewhat inconsistent with international accounting standards and practices, according to which, intangible assets of enterprises are not simply fixed assets.

Regarding social responsibility reporting, while social responsibility reporting has become very popular in corporate financial statements in many countries around the world, in Vietnam, besides the annual reports of some corporations and companies,

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Although large-scale enterprises have mentioned the results of social responsibility implementation, the Vietnamese accounting system has not yet had specific regulations on recording and presenting this information on financial statements. According to a recent study by the World Bank, in Vietnam, the main barriers and challenges for implementing social responsibility in Vietnam include: limited awareness of social responsibility, lack of financial and technical resources, confusion between social responsibility regulations and the labor code (World Bank, 2006).

Fifth , restrictions on financial statement disclosure.

The usefulness of information can only be realized when it is timely and accessible, which is closely related to the method of information disclosure and access.

The disclosure of information on financial statements is currently carried out in accordance with the Accounting Regime and Guidelines on disclosure of information on the stock market.

On April 5, 2012, the Ministry of Finance issued Circular No. 52/2012/TT-BTC guiding the disclosure of information on the stock market. However, the content of analytical and non-financial information is still not really complete; there are gaps in the truthfulness of disclosed information, when there is a significant difference in financial data before and after auditing. Profits in 2013 of many listed companies decreased by more than 40% after auditing. Some large public companies that were delisted did not fulfill their obligation to disclose information as prescribed. In addition, more and more listed companies have not complied with regulations on means, forms and timing of information disclosure. According to the State Securities Commission (SSC), as of the trading session on May 24, 2013, on both exchanges there were still more than 60 enterprises (nearly 10%) that had not yet published their 2012 annual reports despite the deadline having expired by nearly a month (SSC, 2013). These things have caused many obstacles for those who want to obtain official, complete and timely information on the financial situation and operating results of enterprises.

The limitations of the Vietnamese corporate financial reporting system may stem from various objective and subjective causes.

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Objectively, it is mainly the influence of the old mechanism and the cultural and legal environment; the influence of rapid changes in the process of deep and wide integration. Subjectively, it is mainly the issuance of accounting regulations, especially the issuance of new and updated accounting standards, which is not timely; business managers have not really taken seriously the role of the internal control system in preventing, detecting and controlling risks to financial statements (Nguyen Dinh Hung, 2010).

2.3.4. Identify issues that need to be resolved with the current corporate financial reporting system

Based on the results of the assessment of the current financial reporting system and the requirements of the international integration process in economics and accounting, the thesis identifies important issues that need to be resolved for the corporate financial reporting system, both in the short and long term, in order to develop and perfect the Vietnamese corporate financial reporting system.

(1) Clearly and appropriately establish the viewpoint and direction for developing and perfecting the financial reporting system.

When starting to build the Vietnamese accounting standards system, the Ministry of Finance determined that the Vietnamese accounting standards system must be built "on the basis of international accounting standards". Up to now, looking back at the Vietnamese accounting standards system that has been built and issued, in addition to the achieved results, there is currently a significant gap between VAS and IAS/IFRS. The issue of using fair value in valuation has not been clearly oriented. The application of adjusted VAS to the capital market and the stock market as implemented has not fully and accurately reflected the operational information of the entities operating in this market. Thus, the viewpoint of building the Vietnamese accounting system in general and the financial statements system in particular is both consistent with international practices and consistent with the development conditions of the Vietnamese economy, which is a reasonable choice. However, in the current context of deep and wide integration, to some extent

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Therefore, the lack of high consensus on its content in implementation has contributed to slowing down the process of international integration in accounting in Vietnam.

Regarding the accounting regime, we are trying to build a system of very detailed and specific regulations on accounting practices. This is completely appropriate in the context of limited management level, awareness and practical capacity of the accounting team. However, the problem is that there are currently too many accounting regimes, even too many forms of accounting books, which are both specific and complicated... Sometimes, we struggle with whether there should be many regimes or just one unified enterprise accounting regime is enough.

Regarding financial statements, as presented, the content and structure of financial statements are framework-based and lack flexibility. As a result, the current financial statement system is not only unable to harmonize with accounting standards and international practices, but also fails to meet the needs of using useful information of economic entities.

Therefore, the most fundamental and first thing that needs to be solved in order to develop and perfect the financial reporting system of Vietnamese enterprises, meeting the requirements of economic development and international integration in accounting, is to clearly, consistently and appropriately establish the viewpoint and direction of development.

(2) Build a reasonable roadmap to develop and perfect the enterprise financial reporting system

The development and completion of the corporate financial reporting system in Vietnam needs to be carried out according to a reasonable roadmap. Building a reasonable roadmap for the development and completion of the corporate financial reporting system is not only an important basis for proposing appropriate solutions in each stage, but it also helps to control the implementation process and allocate resources reasonably.

(3) Implement short-term solutions to overcome the limitations of the current financial reporting system.

As assessed in section 2.3.3.2, the basis of valuation, quality characteristics and principles of preparing financial statements , financial statement system, recording and presenting items

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There are certain limitations in the current financial statements. These limitations are partly related to accounting principles, mostly to the method of preparation and presentation, some are technical issues that can be adjusted in the short term and need to be urgently implemented.

(4) Building a flexible financial reporting system in the market economy in Vietnam

The limitations of the "rigidity" of the financial reporting system as well as the diverse information needs of many subjects in the economy analyzed in section 2.3.3.2 show that building a flexible financial reporting system is a necessary solution to enhance the usefulness of financial reporting.

(5) Develop and implement long-term solutions to develop and perfect the financial reporting system.

If establishing a clear and consistent viewpoint and direction is key, then building and implementing long-term solutions is considered the focus of the process of developing and perfecting the financial reporting system. Long-term solutions are related to: using fair value in valuing elements of financial statements; recording and reporting knowledge resources; recording and reporting corporate social responsibility on financial statements. These contents have been applied by countries around the world. These are also issues directly related to 7 long-term development trends of international accounting, including: social accounting, knowledge resource accounting, capital cost accounting, financial forecasting, cash flow reporting, labor reporting, and value-added reporting (Ahmed et al, 2004).

To meet the requirements of international accounting integration, the use of fair value in valuation is necessary and an inevitable trend in Vietnam. Reporting on intellectual resources and corporate social responsibility in financial statements is equally important to meet the requirements of harmonization with international standards and practices, with an appropriate roadmap.

The basis, orientation and solutions for these problems will be presented in Chapter 3.

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(6) Synchronously implement supportive solutions

This is considered a necessary condition for the process of perfecting the Vietnamese accounting system in general and the financial reporting system in particular. If the economic environment and economic law are inadequate, the accounting system cannot develop completely. If the asset trading market lacks "transparency" and "positivity", it is difficult to use fair value as a basis for asset valuation... In addition, many equally important issues need to be considered such as the quality of accounting training, the application of information technology in accounting, etc.

In summary, in Vietnam, after more than 35 years since the country's reunification, the current corporate financial reporting system has been built in line with international accounting standards and practices, quite complete and systematic. Vietnamese accounting in general and the corporate financial reporting system in particular have been reformed and innovated, basically meeting the requirements of the country's economic integration and development process.

However, based on the requirements of the international integration process in accounting, the current financial reporting system also has many unresolved issues such as : the basis for valuation, quality characteristics and principles for preparing financial statements are not clearly and fully defined, lacking consistency; the financial reporting system lacks flexibility; the reporting system, some contents and items on the financial statements are not complete, or not in accordance with international accounting standards and practices; there are no regulations on the recognition and presentation of intellectual resources and corporate social responsibility on the financial statements.

Therefore, what needs to be done now is to clearly and appropriately establish the viewpoint and direction for developing and perfecting the financial reporting system. On that basis, implement short-term solutions to overcome the limitations of the current financial reporting system. At the same time, gradually build a flexible financial reporting system in the market economy in Vietnam, as well as implement long-term solutions to develop and perfect the financial reporting system.

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Chapter 3

COMPLETE SYSTEM SOLUTIONS

FINANCIAL REPORT OF VIETNAMESE ENTERPRISES


In Chapter 1 and Chapter 2, the thesis presented descriptions, comments, and analyses of the nature, role, quality characteristics, and factors affecting financial statements; the impact of IAS/IFRS on the accounting and financial reporting systems of countries and experiences for Vietnam; assessed the advantages, limitations, and issues that need to be resolved in the current Vietnamese corporate financial reporting system in the context of international economic and accounting integration. On that basis, in this chapter, the thesis identifies viewpoints, goals, and directions; proposes short-term and long-term solutions and recommendations to support the development and improvement of the Vietnamese corporate financial reporting system, enhancing its usefulness and meeting the requirements of international integration.


3.1. Viewpoints and directions for perfecting the Vietnamese Enterprise Financial Reporting system

The correct establishment of viewpoints, goals and directions for perfecting the financial reporting system is carried out on the basis of identifying the specific conditions and contexts in which the Vietnamese accounting system exists and develops.

Currently, we are building, reforming and gradually perfecting accounting in general and the financial reporting system in particular in the context of: (i) Vietnam is in the process of strong and comprehensive economic reform, promoting the development of the market economy and economic integration; (ii) Vietnam has been reforming the legal environment in a complete and open direction; especially reforming the accounting system on the basis of approaching and harmonizing with international accounting standards and practices; (iii) More and more international organizations are actively participating in promoting the process of international accounting harmonization, creating real pressure on the financial reporting systems of countries to comply with international accounting standards and practices, in order to meet

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meet the requirements of economic and accounting integration.

The above conditions significantly affect and influence the accounting system and financial statements of Vietnamese enterprises.

3.1.1. Perfection perspective

Vietnam is in the process of building an accounting and financial reporting system that is in harmony with international accounting standards and practices, useful to many subjects. Accordingly, the thesis identifies the viewpoint throughout the process of building and perfecting the financial reporting system as: (i) In harmony with international accounting standards and practices; (ii) In line with the conditions of market economy development and economic integration in Vietnam; (iii) Emphasizing the flexibility of the financial reporting system, suitable for the scale, characteristics of enterprises and the diversity of information users .

(1) In accordance with international accounting standards and practices

Accounting is the common language in business. The current trend of globalization and the strong development of the global capital market require that financial statements be prepared on a unified basis. Therefore, international accounting harmonization is a path that any country must consider implementing for its own benefit. Vietnam is no exception. Although the viewpoint of building a Vietnamese accounting system in general and a financial reporting system in particular that is both consistent with international accounting standards and practices and at the same time consistent with the development conditions of the Vietnamese economy is a reasonable choice, in the current context of deep and wide integration, to some extent, the lack of high consensus on its content in implementation has contributed to slowing down the process of international accounting integration in Vietnam.

The objective of the IASB is to develop a single set of high-quality, understandable and globally applicable accounting standards that meet the requirements for quality, transparency and comparability of financial reporting information to help participants in the world's capital markets and other users make economic decisions; to promote the use and application of these standards; and to bring about convergence between national and international accounting standards.

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