“Accountants today are not just book-keepers who interpret numbers,” CPA Australia

I am very impressed with how dynamic and enthusiastic students are here. The students I met are smart, keen and appear to be extraordinarily hard-working.

 

The Vietnamese economy is growing strongly. The role of accountants in Vietnam is extremely important. Globalization means Vietnam has a growing need for highly-skilled professionals in accounting, finance and business in order to lead a sustainable future for the nation’s economy. That is why we are here – to promote and strengthen the profession in Vietnam.

 

Sponsoring this event is one of many activities that we undertake, in Vietnam as indeed we do in many other parts of Asia. Such activities help students build and improve their knowledge and skills. 

Globalization means universities must constantly update their curriculum and train their staff in order to keep up with global changes and global best practice. We are certainly impressed with the energy and enthusiasm with which local universities are pursuing these aims. CPA Australia is working closely with these universities in order to support these aims. We are helping them evaluating their curriculum, organizing workshops, conferences, sponsoring students’ events and other activities.

 

CPA Australia is a global accounting body, through which students and professionals can gain access to a prestigious international accounting certificate and importantly, a globally connected network through which to obtain and share knowledge and information.

Accountants today are not just book-keepers who interpret numbers. The requirements of today’s accountant are much broader – and involved. They do more than collect business information. They analyze this information, report on it and also advise and decide the direction their organization should take based on this information. 

 

The CPA Australia Program equips students with the necessary combination of leadership and strategic skills as well as giving them a strong technical base in order to carry out this role.

Nowadays, there is a trend that Vietnamese young people want to run their own business. Could you give some advice for those who own this dream?

There is a strong trend of entrepreneurship in Vietnam, which is good news for the country. A strong culture of entrepreneurship in turn drives business innovation which is critical in a hyper-competitive global environment. Vietnam has very young population. If their energy and ambition can be successfully harnessed the nation’s economic development will be significantly boosted.

 

To establish and run a successful business though, requires meticulous planning and strong financial management skills. They need awareness not only of their immediate markets, but of broader business trends.

 

This is where accountants are crucial. CPA Australia recognizes the importance of these leadership skills and includes them in its program.

All signs indicate that Vietnam’s economy will continue its impressive growth levels in the foreseeable future, so it is critical that the accounting profession grow and strengthen accordingly.

 

CPA Australia is the global professional accountancy designation for strategic business leaders with a membership base of more than 129,000 professionals in more than 114 countries around the globe. CPA Australia produces high caliber, technically proficient professionals with expertise in strategy, leadership and international business that excel beyond a traditional accountant.   Its history dates back to the 1880s when CPA Australia was first established in Melbourne, Australia. At present, it has 23 offices in countries in Asia Pacific, Australia and Europe.   CPA Australia started its two offices in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam in 2008 with the mission to promote accounting industry in Vietnam. With its presence for two years, CPA Australia has built strong relationships with employers, especially the Big Fours, top local auditing firms, multinational corporations, universities, and the government to help improve the quality of accountants in Vietnam. CPA Australia provides Vietnam with CPA scholarships as a way for Vietnamese professionals and students to get access to an international-standard accounting certificate and to become members of one of the largest professional accounting bodies in the world. It also supports leading universities to build effective accounting curriculum and help these university teaching staff update knowledge in the industry via international conferences held world-wide.

Obtaining the necessary levels of foreign direct investment will be crucial. Investors need confidence and certainty about the environment into which they are investing. A Vietnamese accounting profession with a strong adherence to ethics, transparency and reporting rigour will play a key role in attracting such investment. 

 

Business sustainability, both in the economic sense and the environmental sense, will be a growing issue for Vietnam’s accounting profession, through a combination of the effects of local growth and the global focus on these issues. The local accounting industry must be prepared for its key role in addressing these issues and this is an area of focus for CPA Australia.

The World Congress of Accountants reinforced just how interconnected global business, and by extension, the accounting profession has become.

 

It showed how important it is for our profession to continue working toward the convergence of global accounting standards to ensure that in this connected environment we are all speaking the same business language.

 

Accountants after all, will be central in helping the business world negotiate the dynamic but volatile global economic environment. My experiences at the conference however leave me confident that our profession is in good shape. We have to strive for continual improvement however and a professional body like CPA Australia has a key role in this process.