‘Many industries need personnel with an accounting background’

Episode 9 “UniPrep – Going to University”, two experts, Mr. Nguyen Phan Anh Quoc – Audit Director, EY Vietnam and Mr. Tran Hong Van – Finance Director, International Education Group show readers many perspectives on the current and future accounting-finance industry.

Oppotunity and challenge

Before becoming one of the managers at EY Vietnam, Mr. Nguyen Phan Anh Quoc was also an intern at the unit. After a period of time holding the position of head of accounting and finance department at a large startup, he turned to open a business in this field. Similarly, Mr. Tran Hong Van also comes from the auditing firm KPMG and gradually developed his knowledge and skills in many different companies.

From their personal efforts, the two speakers confirmed that accounting job opportunities are very open because this is an indispensable position in any company. Graduates can work as corporate accountants, open their own service firms, get jobs related to finance or work as auditors for the Big 4 – four of the world’s leading auditing firms.

“Currently, Big 4 has many services that require personnel to have an accounting background such as Accounting Services, Financial Due Diligence, Forensic Accounting…” Mr. Van shared information.

Meanwhile, the Auditing Director of EY Vietnam noted that accountants are under much higher legal pressure than other departments. Compliance with the regulations and legal framework of the workplace is also one of the top skills of accounting, auditing or finance.

“Accounting work as well as art, the profit or loss of a business depends a lot on accounting work, so we will have to have moral values,” Mr. Anh Anh emphasized.

Accountants will also be under pressure from business leaders and shareholders, leading to situations where they have to make accounting records according to the needs of stakeholders. Therefore, workers need to be independent. According to him, ethical values ​​and independence help reflect the true state of the business rather than following the expectations of someone with an interest in the business.

Requirements for personnel in the context of 4.0

When it comes to personnel issues, Mr. Quoc said that technology can help accounting staff get rid of accounting thanks to automation, but the requirements are also increasing.

Firstly, the industry is subject to stricter supervision of legal regulations, especially when the processing speed of state agencies also increases due to the support of technology and many other factors.

Second, the expectations of administrators and shareholders also far exceed before. Instead of leaning towards compliance, control, and reporting as before, accountants – finance people now need to contribute to business planning, provide information to management to support decision-making about the business. business.

From the perspective of personal experience, Hong Van further analyzes, businesses cannot apply a technology that is too good, but users do not know how to operate the software. In contrast, owning a team with good skills to work but not equipped is also a waste of available resources.

Thus, the development of technology also requires young people to update trends and learn constantly, accumulate professional certificates to increase adaptability and avoid rejection.

“You have to have a fairly open mind, dare to accept that there are new things out there that you don’t know,” added Mr. Van.

In addition, the expert also advises young people to cultivate solid expertise, legal issues and always be careful and meticulous. When I work, I will inevitably make mistakes. However, the profession must always put the standards first and follow to be protected.

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