Accounting Services in Ho Chi Minh City for Foreign-Owned Companies

Accounting Services in Ho Chi Minh City for Foreign-Owned Companies: What to Check Before You Choose a Provider

For a foreign-owned company, the right provider of accounting services in Ho Chi Minh City is one that keeps statutory books in Vietnamese under Vietnamese Accounting Standards (VAS), turns those books into the reports your parent company needs, covers the chief accountant role, and ties the accounts to your tax filings. Being able to speak English is a starting point, not a reason to choose. This guide explains what Vietnamese law requires of your accounting, the seven criteria worth comparing between providers of accounting services in Ho Chi Minh City, and the mistakes to avoid.

Why “English-speaking” is the wrong first filter

Most foreign owners begin their search for accounting services in Ho Chi Minh City by looking for an accountant they can talk to. That is reasonable, but it says little about whether the books will hold up. Under Clause 1, Article 11 of the Law on Accounting No. 88/2015/QH13, as amended, Vietnamese is the language used in accounting. Where a foreign language is used in financial statements in Vietnam, Vietnamese must also be used. Accounting documents in a foreign language must be translated into Vietnamese when requested by a competent state authority.

So the statutory ledger will be in Vietnamese regardless. What you need from a provider is a ledger that is right under VAS, and reports you can read and send to head office. A firm that writes good English emails but keeps weak VAS books will still leave you exposed in a tax examination.

What Vietnamese law requires of your accounting

The table summarizes the requirements that shape what accounting services in Ho Chi Minh City have to deliver. Each one is a reason the work cannot simply be done from abroad in your group’s own system.

Requirement	What it means in practice	Basis
Accounting regime	Books and financial statements follow the applicable Vietnamese accounting regime. Circular No. 99/2025/TT-BTC generally replaces Circular No. 200/2014/TT-BTC for financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2026, subject to specified exceptions.	Clause 1, Article 31, Circular No. 99/2025/TT-BTC.
Language	Vietnamese is the language used in accounting. Where a foreign language is used in financial statements in Vietnam, Vietnamese must also be used. Foreign-language accounting documents must be translated into Vietnamese when requested by a competent authority.	Clause 1, Article 11, Law on Accounting No. 88/2015/QH13, as amended by Law No. 56/2024/QH15.
Accounting currency	VND is the default accounting currency. An eligible company may use a foreign currency as its accounting currency. Financial statements submitted to Vietnamese authorities must generally be presented in VND, unless otherwise provided by law.	Article 10, Law on Accounting; Articles 4 and 6, Circular No. 99/2025/TT-BTC.
First accounting period	The first accounting period starts on the date the Enterprise Registration Certificate is issued. A first or final annual accounting period shorter than 90 days may be combined with the following or preceding annual period, provided the resulting period is shorter than 15 months.	Clauses 2 and 4, Article 12, Law on Accounting No. 88/2015/QH13.
Chief accountant	Accounting entities generally must appoint a chief accountant, subject to statutory exceptions. Eligible businesses may engage a qualified chief accountant service under a written contract. Micro-enterprises may appoint a person in charge of accounting instead.	Articles 53, 54 and 56, Law on Accounting; Articles 20 and 22, Decree No. 174/2016/ND-CP.
Publication of financial statements	Business accounting entities generally must publicly disclose their annual financial statements within 120 days after the financial year-end, unless specific sectoral rules apply. This is separate from the deadline for submitting financial statements to the relevant authorities.	Clause 4, Article 32, Law on Accounting; Circular No. 99/2025/TT-BTC for applicable reporting requirements.
Statutory audit	Foreign-invested enterprises are generally required to have their annual financial statements audited by an independent audit firm, regardless of company size.	Point (a), Clause 1, Article 37, Law on Independent Audit No. 67/2011/QH12.

The chief accountant point matters most for small companies. Under Article 56 of the Law on Accounting, a person engaged as chief accountant must meet the qualifications prescribed in Article 54, including the required chief accountant training certificate and relevant practical accounting experience. The accounting service provider’s responsibilities should be clearly defined in the written agreement. Companies should also review the applicable arrangements under Article 20 of Decree No. 174/2016/ND-CP, particularly where appointing a person in charge of accounting is permitted.

For businesses subject to the enterprise accounting regime under Circular No. 99/2025/TT-BTC, annual financial statements must generally be submitted within 90 days after the financial year-end, as provided in Article 25. This deadline is separate from the 120-day public disclosure period under Clause 4, Article 32 of the Law on Accounting. Circular No. 99/2025/TT-BTC applies to financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2026, including companies with non-calendar financial years, as clarified in the Ministry of Finance’s official guidance.

Foreign-invested enterprises are also subject to annual statutory audits under Point (a), Clause 1, Article 37 of the Law on Independent Audit No. 67/2011/QH12. This requirement applies regardless of company size, as confirmed by the Ministry of Finance’s clarification.

One ledger, two outputs: VAS books and reporting to your parent

Your parent company may report under IFRS, J-GAAP, K-IFRS, US GAAP or another group reporting framework. Your Vietnamese entity must maintain statutory accounting records under the applicable Vietnamese accounting regime, while additional reporting can be mapped to the parent company’s requirements. The efficient approach is one ledger kept under VAS, with a mapping that converts it into the group’s reporting format every month. Two separate sets of books, one local and one for the parent, tend to drift apart and are hard to reconcile at year-end.

When you speak to providers, ask to see how they map VAS accounts to a group chart of accounts and how they explain the differences, for example in revenue recognition, fixed asset depreciation or provisions.

What a monthly accounting cycle usually looks like

The law says what the books must contain; the monthly cycle decides whether they are ready on time. In our professional view, most accounting services in Ho Chi Minh City work to a cycle similar to the one below, although the exact days should be agreed in your contract.

• Days 1 to 5: you send the previous month’s sales and purchase invoices, bank statements, new contracts and payroll data.
• Days 5 to 10: the accountant checks the e-invoices, records the transactions and reconciles the bank and cash accounts.
• Days 10 to 15: payroll, accruals and depreciation are posted, and the month is closed in the VAS ledger.
• Days 15 to 20: the provider sends the management report and, where needed, the reporting pack mapped to your group format.
• Before each filing deadline: tax returns are prepared from the closed books and sent to you for approval.

If a provider cannot say on which day the month will be closed, reports will usually arrive late. Ask for the cycle in writing, and agree what happens when documents reach the accountant after the cut-off date.

7 criteria to compare accounting services in Ho Chi Minh City

Criterion	What to ask	What a good answer looks like
Scope and deliverables	What do we receive each month and each year?	A written list: ledger, reconciliations, VAS financial statements, tax returns, year-end pack
VAS and parent reporting	Can you produce our group reporting pack from the VAS ledger?	A worked mapping example, and a named person who prepares it
Chief accountant	Who will act as our chief accountant, and on what basis?	A named person meeting the criteria in Article 54, under a written contract
Link to tax	Who prepares the tax returns from these books?	The same team, or a defined hand-off with a reconciliation step
Language and format	In which language and format will reports arrive?	Bilingual where you need it, in a format your head office already uses
Software and data access	Which software do you use, and can we see our data?	Software meeting Vietnamese requirements, read access for you, and the data stays yours
Continuity	What happens if our accountant leaves, or we change provider?	A reviewer on every file, and a written handover list

Vietnam introduced temporary changes to certain business conditions and administrative procedures through Government Resolution No. 66.18/2026/NQ-CP, issued on 18 May 2026. Its general application period runs from 1 July 2026 through 28 February 2027, subject to specific provisions and subsequent regulations. When comparing accounting services in Ho Chi Minh City, ask each provider to explain the legal requirements currently applicable to its services, rather than relying solely on an outdated certificate checklist.

Common mistakes when choosing accounting services in Ho Chi Minh City

In our professional view, most problems with an accounting provider can be traced back to how it was chosen. These are the mistakes worth avoiding:

• Comparing quotes before the scope is written down, so that one price includes tax returns and another does not.
• Choosing on language alone, without checking how the provider keeps VAS books.
• Assuming the provider will act as chief accountant without naming the person and checking the criteria in Article 54 of the Law on Accounting.
• Keeping a second set of books for the parent company instead of mapping one VAS ledger.
• Leaving data access out of the contract, so the company cannot obtain its own ledger when it changes provider.
• Accepting a file with no named reviewer, so the quality of the books depends on one person.

Questions to ask in the first meeting

1. Who will work on our file every month, and who reviews their work?
2. Can you show us a sample monthly report with names removed?
3. How do you handle documents we send late or incomplete?
4. When do you close the month, and when will we receive figures?
5. How do you tell us about legal changes that affect our accounts?
6. What will you need from our parent company at year-end, and when?

What drives the fee

Fees for accounting services in Ho Chi Minh City usually depend on the number of transactions and invoices, the number of employees on payroll, whether you need parent reporting as well as VAS, whether the provider acts as chief accountant, and how much audit support is needed at year-end. Comparing quotes is only meaningful once the scope is written down in the same terms for each provider.

In-house, outsourced or a mix?

An in-house accountant gives you someone on site but leaves you exposed when that person is away or leaves. Outsourcing gives you a team and a reviewer but less day-to-day presence. Many small foreign-owned companies keep an administrator in-house to collect documents and outsource the accounting, chief accountant and tax work. What matters is that responsibilities are written down.

Changing provider: what a clean handover includes

Companies often change accounting services in Ho Chi Minh City after the first statutory audit, or when the group’s reporting needs change. A clean handover keeps the books continuous. Ask the outgoing provider for the closed ledger and trial balance at the handover date, an export of the accounting software data, the tax returns filed with their payment receipts, the fixed asset register, open reconciliations and a list of documents still outstanding.

The incoming provider should agree the opening balances to these documents before it posts the first new month. Plan the change around a month-end, and avoid the weeks just before the annual audit or the tax finalisation deadline.

What stays with your company

Outsourcing moves the work, not the responsibility. The financial statements remain the company’s own, and the company remains responsible for its accounting and tax obligations. In our professional view, three tasks should stay in-house: approving payments and contracts, sending complete documents on time, and reviewing the monthly report before it goes to head office.

A good provider of accounting services in Ho Chi Minh City will set these responsibilities out in the engagement letter, together with the cut-off dates and the person on each side who signs off.

How Pham Consult supports foreign-owned companies in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi

PHAM CONSULT provides accounting services in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, including bookkeeping, financial statement preparation, accounting system support and chief accountant services. Our Ho Chi Minh City office is located at Trilimex Building, 487–489 Dien Bien Phu, Ban Co Ward, while our Hanoi office is on the 6th Floor, 54 Lang Ha, Lang Ward.

Depending on the agreed scope, our accounting and outsourced bookkeeping services may also include tax declaration and annual tax finalization support. We assist businesses in maintaining accounting records under applicable Vietnamese requirements and preparing financial or management reports aligned with their operational needs.

For foreign-owned companies requiring reporting to an overseas parent, the reporting format, applicable accounting standards, language, software access and delivery timetable should be agreed upon before the engagement begins.

If you are comparing accounting services in Ho Chi Minh City, you can review our accounting services and outsourced bookkeeping services, or contact PHAM CONSULT to discuss your requirements and request a sample reporting format.

If you are still setting out what you need, our guide to choosing a tax services company that handles everything from A to Z covers the tax side

Frequently asked questions

Can our books be kept only in English? No. Vietnamese is required; English can be added alongside it.

Does a small foreign-owned company need a chief accountant? The requirement depends on the company’s legal classification and applicable accounting arrangements. Under Article 20 of Decree No. 174/2016/ND-CP, accounting units generally must appoint a chief accountant, although specific exceptions and arrangements for a person in charge of accounting apply. Companies may also engage a qualified chief accountant service under Article 56 of the Law on Accounting. Confirm which arrangement applies to your entity before signing a service agreement.

Can we keep our books in USD? A company may use USD or another foreign currency as its accounting currency if it meets the applicable conditions under Article 10 of the Law on Accounting and Article 4 of Circular No. 99/2025/TT-BTC. Financial statements submitted to competent authorities in Vietnam must generally be presented in VND in accordance with Article 6 of the Circular, unless otherwise provided by law.

Do we need an audit every year? Foreign-invested enterprises are subject to annual statutory audit. Your accounting provider prepares the books; an independent audit firm issues the opinion.

How do we compare accounting services in Ho Chi Minh City? Write the scope down first, then put the same questions from the seven criteria above to each provider and compare the answers, not only the fee.

Can we change provider in the middle of the year? Yes. A clean handover at a month-end, with closed books and the software data, lets the new provider continue without rebuilding the year.

Want to see what you would receive each month? Request a sample monthly report.