Vietnam’s IFRS Transformation: What the Next Phase Means for Finance Careers

IFRS Careers Worldwide — Vietnam

Vietnam’s IFRS journey has been underway for years. But in 2026, something has changed.

IFRS is no longer just an accounting-standard project sitting inside the Ministry of Finance’s long-term roadmap. It is increasingly being positioned as part of a much broader transformation of Vietnam’s financial market — one aimed at attracting international capital, strengthening transparency, and connecting Vietnam more closely with global markets.

On July 27, 2026, Vietnam approved Decision No. 1413/QĐ-TTg, a comprehensive financial-market reform plan extending through 2045. Among its measures, the government explicitly calls for accelerating the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

That raises a question that matters not only to companies, but to finance professionals:

As Vietnam moves closer to IFRS, what will actually change — and what new opportunities will this create for accounting and finance careers?

Vietnam IFRS by the Numbers

A few numbers help put the transformation into perspective:

26
Vietnam currently has 26 Vietnamese Accounting Standards (VAS), most of which were issued between 2001 and 2005. Many of the standards therefore predate major developments in today's IFRS framework.

2020
Vietnam formally established its IFRS/VFRS roadmap through Decision 345/QĐ-BTC, issued on March 16, 2020.

2026
The new Circular 99/2025/TT-BTC took effect on January 1, 2026, replacing the long-standing Circular 200 and moving Vietnam's accounting regime closer to IFRS in several areas.

2027
Vietnam plans to introduce a central counterparty (CCP) clearing mechanism for the cash equity market, another major step in developing market infrastructure aligned with international practice.

September 2026
Vietnam is scheduled to move from Frontier to Secondary Emerging Market status in the FTSE Russell classification, effective September 21, 2026.

These numbers tell a bigger story: Vietnam is not pursuing IFRS in isolation. Accounting reform is happening alongside capital-market development, institutional investment, market infrastructure upgrades and international integration.

1. Vietnam’s IFRS Moment: Why Now?

The July 2026 reform plan is an important signal.

Vietnam wants its financial system to mobilize more long-term capital, attract foreign investment and strengthen the role of capital markets in financing economic growth.

The reform package includes measures covering:

• Foreign ownership rules;

• State-owned enterprise equitization;

• New securities-market infrastructure;

• Derivatives products;

• Institutional investors;

• Corporate governance;

• Financial technology; and

• Accelerated IFRS adoption.

The connection is important.

International investors need financial information that they can understand and compare across markets. IFRS does not solve every capital-market problem, but internationally comparable financial reporting can reduce one important barrier: the difficulty of interpreting financial performance across different accounting frameworks.

Vietnam's IFRS push therefore needs to be understood as part of its broader effort to become a more internationally connected capital market.

2. Vietnam’s IFRS Journey: From Roadmap to Implementation

Vietnam did not suddenly decide to adopt IFRS in 2026.

The formal roadmap dates back to Decision 345/QĐ-BTC in 2020. The roadmap was designed around two related directions:

1. Adoption of IFRS for targeted entities; and

2. Development and application of Vietnamese Financial Reporting Standards (VFRS) for broader use.

The original roadmap envisaged a voluntary IFRS adoption phase from 2022 to 2025, followed by a post-2025 phase involving broader application.

However, implementation has not followed a simple “VAS today, IFRS tomorrow” path.

Vietnam continues to operate its domestic accounting framework, while progressively incorporating international concepts and preparing the regulatory environment for greater IFRS use.

That distinction matters.

Vietnam is not simply switching from VAS to IFRS overnight.

Instead, the country is moving through a transition architecture involving:

VAS → closer IFRS alignment → VFRS development → targeted IFRS application → broader IFRS implementation

This makes Vietnam particularly interesting as an IFRS implementation case study.

3. 2026: The Accounting Framework Is Already Changing

One of the most concrete developments is Circular 99/2025/TT-BTC, issued by the Ministry of Finance on October 27, 2025 and effective for financial years beginning on or after January 1, 2026.

It replaces Circular 200/2014/TT-BTC, which had governed the enterprise accounting regime for more than a decade.

The Ministry of Finance describes Circular 99 as part of the modernization of Vietnam's accounting framework and notes that future work will continue toward developing VFRS based on convergence with and reference to IFRS.

The changes include greater flexibility in accounting systems, updated financial-statement requirements, new guidance around areas such as restructuring and foreign-currency accounting, and stronger emphasis on accounting governance and internal controls.

This is important for finance professionals because implementation does not begin when a company produces its first full IFRS financial statements.

Implementation begins when the underlying accounting infrastructure starts changing.

4. The Hidden Implementation Challenge: IFRS Is Not Just an Accounting Project

It is easy to think of IFRS implementation as:

Learn the standards → make adjustments → prepare financial statements.

In practice, it is much bigger.

An IFRS implementation can affect the entire financial-information pipeline

This is why IFRS implementation often becomes a finance transformation project rather than simply an accounting exercise.

Consider a few examples.

Chart of accounts

Companies may need to rethink how transactions are classified and mapped between local accounting requirements and IFRS reporting.

Data

IFRS requirements can require information that was not historically captured at the necessary level of detail.

Consolidation

Groups may need sophisticated processes for subsidiaries, foreign operations, intra-group transactions, non-controlling interests and consolidation adjustments.

Systems

ERP, consolidation and reporting systems may need new data structures and reporting logic.

Controls

The organization needs evidence that accounting judgments, estimates, reconciliations and adjustments are controlled and auditable.

People

And ultimately, people need to understand why the numbers change — not merely how to book the journal entry.

This is where IFRS skills begin to overlap with technology, data and finance transformation.

5. Why Vietnam’s Capital-Market Development Matters for IFRS

Vietnam's IFRS story also needs to be viewed through the lens of capital markets.

The country is simultaneously working to:

• Deepen its capital markets;

• Attract foreign investment;

• Improve market infrastructure;

• Strengthen corporate governance;

• Increase institutional-investor participation; and

• Move toward Secondary Emerging Market status under FTSE Russell.

The government also plans a CCP clearing mechanism for the equity market in 2027.

These developments reinforce the same underlying objective:

Make Vietnam's financial market easier for international capital to access, understand and participate in.

Financial reporting is part of that infrastructure.

This is why IFRS should not be viewed only as a compliance topic for accountants.

It is increasingly connected to the country's broader financial-market strategy.

6. What Does This Mean for Vietnam’s Finance Professionals?

This is where the IFRS story becomes a career story.

The obvious opportunity is for accountants and auditors to deepen their IFRS knowledge.

But the opportunity goes much further.

As companies prepare for more internationally aligned reporting, demand can emerge across several professional areas.

The important shift is this:

The valuable IFRS professional of the future may not be the person who only memorizes the standards.

It may be the person who can connect standards + accounting + systems + data + controls + business.

7. The Vietnam IFRS Career Map

A useful way to think about the emerging career landscape is as a progression.

8. What Should Finance Professionals in Vietnam Do Now?

For someone building an IFRS career in Vietnam, the message is not simply:

“Go study IFRS.”

A stronger approach is to build three layers of capability.

① Learn the standards

Build a solid foundation in IFRS and understand the major differences between IFRS and the Vietnamese framework.

② Learn implementation

Understand how standards translate into:

policies → journal entries → data → systems → controls → financial statements

This is where theoretical IFRS knowledge becomes commercially useful.

③ Add a second skill

Combine IFRS with something else.

For example:

IFRS + Audit

IFRS + Consolidation

IFRS + ERP

IFRS + Data

IFRS + AI

IFRS + Finance Transformation

IFRS + Investor Relations

This combination can be significantly more valuable than IFRS knowledge alone.

9. Vietnam Is Only the Beginning

Vietnam is one example of a much larger global trend.

Countries do not implement IFRS in exactly the same way.

Some mandate IFRS for listed companies.

Some permit it voluntarily.

Some develop local standards based heavily on IFRS.

Others introduce IFRS gradually through specific sectors or reporting requirements.

But behind these different approaches is a common question:

How do countries connect their domestic financial reporting systems to an increasingly global capital market?

And that question creates another:

What happens to the careers of the professionals who build, operate and manage those reporting systems?

This is the idea behind IFRS Careers Worldwide.

We will look country by country at:

IFRS implementation → business impact → skills required → career opportunities

Vietnam is the first stop.

10. The Bigger Picture: IFRS Is Becoming a Career Skill

Vietnam's IFRS journey is not finished.

In fact, 2026 may be better understood as another transition point than as an endpoint.

The country's financial-market reform plan explicitly puts IFRS alongside broader reforms designed to attract capital and strengthen international integration.

At the same time, the accounting framework itself is changing, with Circular 99 already effective from January 1, 2026 and further development of Vietnam's financial-reporting framework expected.

For finance professionals, this creates an important opportunity.

The future demand will not be limited to people who can read an IFRS standard.

It will increasingly favor people who can answer a harder question:

How do we turn IFRS requirements into reliable numbers, systems, processes and decisions?

That is where accounting meets technology.

And that is where an IFRS career can become much bigger than accounting.

IFRS Careers Worldwide

Vietnam is the first case study in our global series exploring how IFRS implementation is changing finance careers around the world.

Next, we will look at another market — its IFRS roadmap, implementation progress, company impact and the skills finance professionals need to stay ahead.

Explore IFRS Careers Worldwide

Sources:
Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry — Vietnam unveils comprehensive financial market reform plan
Vietnam Government Portal — Decision 1413/QĐ-TTg
Vietnam Ministry of Finance — Circular 99/2025/TT-BTC
IFRS Foundation — Vietnam jurisdiction profile
FTSE Russell — Vietnam reclassification to Secondary Emerging Market status