Are Vietnamese Accounting Academics and Practitioners Ready for International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)?

The purpose of this chapter is twofold. First, it reports the findings of a survey on the perception of Vietnamese accountants regarding the benefits and disadvantages of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as well as the potential costs and challenges of IFRS implementation. Second, it examines the differences in the perceptions of accounting academics and practitioners pertaining to IFRS adoption in Vietnam. Perceptions of Vietnamese accountants and academics were obtained and analysed from 3,000 mailing survey questionnaires across Vietnam in 2012. A total of 728 usable responses were received producing an effective response rate of 24 per cent.The respondents perceived that credibility and comparability are the most perceived benefits of IFRS reporting. Over-complexity and time-consumption are the most perceived disadvantages of IFRS reporting. Although IFRS reporting was perceived as being costly and challenging, surprisingly, the respondents were optimistic on the long-term benefits and two-thirds of the respondents showed their willingness to adopt IFRS.