Perceptions of accounting professionals towards international financial reporting standards (IFRS) in developing country: Evidence from Vietnam

The current paper reports on an exploratory study of the perceptions of three different sub-groups of accountants (i.e. public auditors, corporate accountants and accounting academics) about issues relevant to adopting and implementing International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in Vietnam. Vietnam represents an interesting research case of IFRS acceptance by emerging and transition economies. Recently, the Ministry of Finance of Vietnam (MoF) announced its intention to revise the existing Vietnamese accounting standards (VAS) to align with the current IFRS. The MoF has not yet determined whether to fully adopt IFRS, converge or keep VAS as they are. Therefore, this study is timely and important to provide important insights from the Vietnamese accounting community and in turn, assist the Vietnamese accounting standard setters in making favorable accounting decision affecting accounting practices. The preliminary survey results suggest that the Vietnamese accounting professionals are optimistic about potential benefits from IFRS adoption. These findings also indicate expected costs and challenges in implementing IFRS and suggest strong support in a gradual switch from VAS to IFRS, though the level of support varies amongst the three different sub-groups of accountants.