College of Management I-Shou University Master Thesis
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College of Management I-Shou University Master Thesis Implications of Applying the International Financial Reporting Standards for Vietnam Advisor: Dr. LIN WEN-HSIANG Graduate Student: PHAN THI THANH June 2011 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to show my deepest gratitude to the people who have been contributing and supporting to the completion of this dissertation. Especially, I would like to take this opportunity to especially thank the following people, without whom this dissertation would not have become a reality. My sincere and deepest appreciation is to my advisor - Dr. LIN WEN-HSIANG who provided valuable advice, encouragement and support. He willingly gave valuable guidance and advice, encouragement and support in relation to my research. I would like to say that your intelligence, patience and generosity of spirit are the precious things I will carry with me forever. I feel so blessed to have been given the opportunity to be your student. I would like to acknowledge other members Dr. Su Shu-Hui, Dr. Lin Tzong- Huei and Dr. Lin Ching-Chieh of my committee for their helpful comments, assistance, and commitment for the research. My appreciation and thanks also to my colleagues at the Hanoi University of Business and Technology. Appreciation is also extended to Prof. Dang Van Thanh, chairman of the Vietnam Association of Accountants and Auditors (VAA) for his encouragement and support. I would like to thank all the lecturers and the members of ACCA teach network, Chief Accountant’s Club, and VAA who responded to the survey. Without their participation, this study could not have been completed. Finally, my utmost gratitude goes to my parents, who have supported me studies spiritually and financially all long the way. I would also like to thank my brother and his wife, who have always trusted and supported me. Thank for all your help. i ABSTRACT Globalization is an objective trend which creates not only opportunities but also great challenges for any country. In the field of accounting, most countries in the world are moving towards International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs). As one of the global players, Vietnam’s goal is to complete the integration in the field of accounting and auditing before 2020. However, a formal date for full adoption of IFRSs has not yet been established in Vietnam (FRSGlobal, 2008). Therefore, this study is designed to investigate the implications of applying IFRSs for Vietnam. First, this paper provides insight into the information related to IFRSs and the trend of adopting IFRSs around the world. Next, it analyzes the actual status of Vietnam Accounting Standards (VASs) and provides a macro-comparison between two systems. Moreover, it discovers how other countries such as China and Malaysia have been successful in taking advantage of the convergence of IFRSs and what Vietnam can learn from their experiences. Last but not least, a survey was conducted to identify available solutions for Vietnam in applying IFRSs smoothly. A total of 148 respondents in Vietnam including 80 lecturers from 14 universities, 62 accountants, 4 auditors and 2 financial officers willingly took part in the study. The results of the questionnaire indicate that: (1) the information on IFRSs in Vietnam right now is not really adequate and is not diversified enough, (2) a large percent of respondents believe and tend to agree with the benefits of applying IFRSs, only one small doubt refers to the change in accounting and reporting under IFRSs, including better comparability with other businesses, lower cost of capital, and reduce reporting transform cost, (3) the lack of knowledge and the complexity of IFRSs as well as the training of accounting staffs are important challenges in applying IFRSs, and (4) interestingly a large majority of respondents believe that convergence IFRSs is consistent with the conditions of Vietnam and the best time to introduce convergence to IFRSs is the period 2015 to 2016. Keywords: International Financial Reporting Srandards (IFRSs), Vietnamese Accounting Standards (VASs), Convergence to IFRSs ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................... i ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................... ii LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................ v LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................. vii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 1 1.1 Research Background ................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Problem Statement and Research Objectives ............................................................. 4 1.3 Significance and Scope of the Research ..................................................................... 6 1.4 Organization of the Thesis .......................................................................................... 6 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................ 8 2.1 Background of International Financial Reporting Standards ..................................... 8 2.1.1 International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) .............................................. 8 2.1.2 International Financial Reporting Standards ......................................................... 9 2.1.3 Why does Global Accounting tend to Converge to IFRSs? ................................ 10 2.1.4 The Adoption of IFRSs Worldwide .................................................................... 12 2.1.5 Advantages of IFRSs ........................................................................................... 13 2.2 Background of Vietnamese Accounting Standards .................................................. 16 2.2.1 The Formation and Development of Vietnam’s Accounting .............................. 16 2.2.2 Present Status of Vietnamese Accounting Standards .......................................... 17 2.3 Various Provisions of VASs and IFRSs ................................................................... 23 2.3.1 General Comparison between VASs and IFRSs ................................................. 23 2.3.2 The Significant Differences between VASs and IFRSs ...................................... 28 2.4 International Experience in Implementing IFRSs .................................................... 31 2.4.1 General Experience and Lesson Worldwide in Applying IFRSs ........................ 32 2.4.2 Experience of China in Converging IFRSs ......................................................... 33 2.4.3 Experience of Malaysia in Converging IFRSs .................................................... 36 2.4.4 The Lesson for Vietnam ...................................................................................... 38 CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................ 41 iii 3.1. Development of hypotheses ..................................................................................... 41 3.2 Research Design ....................................................................................................... 43 3.2.1 Questionnaire Design .......................................................................................... 44 3.1.2 Pretesting of Questionnaire ................................................................................. 45 3.3 Sampling Design ....................................................................................................... 45 3.4 Data Collection ......................................................................................................... 46 3.5 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................ 47 CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ................................................................... 48 4.1 Characteristics of the respondents ............................................................................ 48 4.2 Hypotheses testing .................................................................................................... 50 4.2.1 Test for the first hypothesis ................................................................................. 50 4.2.2 Test for the second hypothesis ............................................................................ 56 4.2.3 Test for the third hypothesis ................................................................................ 63 4.2.4 Test for the fourth hypothesis .............................................................................. 75 CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS ....................................................... 83 5.1 Research Summary ................................................................................................... 83 5.2 Theoretical and Practical Implications ..................................................................... 84 5.3 Limitation and Suggestion for Future Research ....................................................... 87 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................... 88 Appendix A: An Overview of IFRSs as Issued on 1 January 2010[] ..................................