Present financial data VAS and IFRS side by side.

When a business must submit reports to the tax authority and domestic banks according to VAS (Vietnamese Accounting Standards), while also presenting to investors or the parent corporation according to IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards), the practical question is: how to place these two sets of numbers on the same document so that no one misunderstands. The short answer: clearly separate, label fully, and use a reconciliation table to explain discrepancies. This is a presentation principle, not an accounting principle. The accounting part belongs to your finance and audit department.

Why are there two standards for different numbers?

VAS and IFRS handle certain items according to different logic, for example, revenue recognition, asset depreciation, or lease accounting. As a result, the same business, in the same period, can have profit according to VAS and profit according to IFRS that differ without any issue. The problem arises when the reader does not know which standard they are looking at, or when two standards are mixed in the same table. At that point, even a knowledgeable reader spends time checking from the beginning.

The separate and label principle.

The approach recommended by IFRS reporting standards and emphasized by KPMG Vietnam is: each set of figures should stand in its own section, without sharing columns with other sets. Each table needs to clearly state at least two pieces of information right in the title or just below the table name:

• Applicable standards: VAS or IFRS
• Reporting period and end date of the period

This information should not be a small footnote at the bottom of the page but should appear where the reader's eyes first look. When comparing over years, each column still needs to be labeled separately as there may be cases where the applicable standards change between periods according to mandatory schedules.

Comparison table: essential parts

Foreign investors or partners familiar with IFRS will question discrepancies when they see profits reported under two different standards. Without an explanation, they will question the quality of the data, not the difference between the two standards. A reconciliation table does one thing: it lists each adjustment from VAS to IFRS with a brief explanation. This section is provided by the finance department, and the studio presents it in a format consistent with the rest of the document.

Common mistakes when mixing two standards

• Place the VAS column and the IFRS column next to each other in the same table without clear separation, leading the reader to believe they are based on the same figures.
• Not recording the reporting period leads to incorrect comparisons between years when applying changes.
• The studio retypes numbers from old printouts or rounds them off, altering the original figures without the finance department catching it before release.
• Skipping the comparison section for brevity results in investors needing to ask questions again, prolonging the approval process.

The viewpoint of Sinh Vũ

Sinh Vũ sets clear boundaries here: the studio does not write, recalculate, or define financial figures. That responsibility entirely belongs to the finance and auditing department. Sinh Vũ's role is to make the heavy numbers easy to read, separating two standards into two coherent layers, labeling standards and periods on every table, and creating templates so that each report only needs number updates without redesigning from scratch.

Clearly state the reporting basis for each set of numbers so that readers know which standard they are following.

KPMG Vietnam, IFRS roadmap guidance.

The roadmap for implementing IFRS in Vietnam continues to evolve according to Decision 345/QĐ-BTC and accompanying guiding circulars. The mandatory milestones for each group of enterprises may change. You should confirm with your auditor about the current applicable milestones for your business before deciding on document structure, rather than relying on a fixed milestone stated in old documents.