The Prospects of Appling The International Financial Reporting Standards In Vietnam – An Empirical Study of Accounting Professionals

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the implications of applying International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) in Vietnam. A survey was conducted to identify issues of applying IFRSs in Vietnam. The results indicate that: (1) the information of IFRSs in Vietnam is not really adequate and not diversified enough, (2) a large percent of respondents tend to agree with the benefits of applying IFRSs, such as better comparability with other businesses, lower cost of capital, and less reporting transform cost, (3) the lack of knowledge and the complexity of IFRSs and the training of accounting staffs are important challenges in applying IFRSs, and (4) a large majority of respondents believe that convergence to IFRSs is consistent with the conditions of Vietnam and the best time to introduce convergence to IFRSs is the period 2015 to 2016.