Circular No. 56/2015/TT-BTC amends and supplements certain provisions of Circular No. 150/2012/TT-BTC dated September 12, 2012, of the Ministry of Finance guiding annual knowledge updating for registered auditors.

CIRCULAR

Amending and supplementing certain articles of Circular No. 150/2012/TT-BTC

dated September 12, 2012 of the Ministry of Finance guiding annual knowledge updating

for registered auditing practitioners

______________

Pursuant to the Law on Independent Auditing No. 67/2011/QH12 dated March 29, 2011;

Pursuant to Decree No. 17/2012/NĐ-CP dated March 13, 2012 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Independent Audit Law;

Pursuant to Decree No. 215/2013/NĐ-CP dated December 23, 2013 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

At the proposal of the Director of the Accounting and Auditing Regulations Department;

The Minister of Finance issues this Circular amending and supplementing certain articles of Circular No. 150/2012/TT-BTC dated September 12, 2012 of the Ministry of Finance guiding annual knowledge updating for registered auditing practitioners.

Article 1. Amending and supplementing certain articles of Circular No. 150/2012/TT-BTC as follows:

1. Clause 3 of Circular No. 150/2012/TT-BTC shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

“Article 3. Object of knowledge updating

The object of knowledge updating is auditing practitioners practicing auditing, registered auditing practitioners; except for those registering to practice auditing for the first time within the period from the date of obtaining the certified public accountant certificate to December 31 of the year following the year they obtained the certified public accountant certificate.”

2. Clause 2, Article 5 of Circular No. 150/2012/TT-BTC shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

“2. Auditing practitioners who do not engage in auditing activities for a continuous period of 24 months or more up to the registration date must have at least 80 hours of knowledge updating in the immediately preceding year before the year of registration to practice auditing, including at least 40 hours of knowledge updating on accounting and auditing laws of Vietnam and 8 hours of knowledge updating on professional ethics.”

3. Amending and supplementing Point b, Clause 7, Article 11 and adding Clauses 8, 9, Article 11 of Circular No. 150/2012/TT-BTC as follows:

a) Point b, Clause 7, Article 11 shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

“b) Auditing practitioners participating in discussions, reviews, and providing opinions on the contents of Vietnamese Accounting Standards, Vietnamese Auditing Standards, and Vietnamese Professional Ethics Standards shall be counted as 1 hour of participation equal to 1 hour of knowledge updating on Vietnamese accounting and auditing laws. The duration counted as knowledge updating hours shall not exceed 4 hours/meeting and 8 hours/day.”

b) Adding Clauses 8, 9, Article 11 as follows:

“8. On counting knowledge updating hours for auditing practitioners who are members of the Quality Control Inspection Team:

a) Only auditing practitioners who are members of the Quality Control Inspection Team named in the Decision on Quality Control Inspection issued by the Ministry of Finance (or the Securities Commission) and directly participate in inspections at auditing firms shall be counted for knowledge updating hours.

b) Auditing practitioners who are members of the Quality Control Inspection Team shall be counted as 8 hours of knowledge updating on Vietnamese accounting and auditing laws for each inspection session, and 16 hours of knowledge updating on Vietnamese accounting and auditing laws for each inspection day;

c) Auditing practitioners who are members of the Quality Control Inspection Team participating in training courses on inspection procedures, processes, and practices organized by the Ministry of Finance (or the Securities Commission) shall be counted as 1 hour of participation equal to 1 hour of knowledge updating on Vietnamese accounting and auditing laws. The duration counted as knowledge updating hours shall not exceed 4 hours/training session and 8 hours/training day.

9. On counting knowledge updating hours for auditing practitioners who are lecturers in training courses on inspection procedures, processes, and practices

Auditing practitioners who are lecturers in training courses on inspection procedures, processes, and practices organized by the Ministry of Finance (or the Securities Commission) shall be counted as 1 hour of lecture equal to 1 hour of knowledge updating on Vietnamese accounting and auditing laws. The duration counted as knowledge updating hours shall not exceed 4 hours/lecture and 8 hours/day. In cases where auditing practitioners are both lecturers in training courses on inspection procedures, processes, and practices and members of the Quality Control Inspection Team participating in such training courses, they shall only be counted for knowledge updating hours in their role as lecturers.”

4. Article 12 of Circular No. 150/2012/TT-BTC shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

“Article 12. Insufficient knowledge updating hours

1. In cases where there is insufficient time for knowledge updating as prescribed in Clause 1, Clause 2, Article 5 of this Circular due to special reasons (pregnancy, prolonged illness exceeding two months; or sudden illness coinciding with the last scheduled knowledge updating course in the year regarding the content with insufficient knowledge updating hours), auditing practitioners will be allowed to postpone knowledge updating hours in the current year if all the following conditions are met:

a) Having completed at least twenty hours of continuing professional education;

b) Submitting a request for postponement of knowledge updating hours (according to Form Appendix 07/CNKT) to continue practicing auditing in the following year and sending it to the Ministry of Finance before August 31 each year;

c) Providing documentation to substantiate the aforementioned reasons.

2. Within seven working days from the date of receipt of the request and related documents as stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article, the Ministry of Finance shall issue a notification to the auditing practitioner regarding whether the postponement of knowledge updating hours is granted or not.

Auditing practitioners who are granted postponement of knowledge updating hours in the current year may continue to practice auditing in the following year if they complete the remaining required knowledge updating hours before December 15 of the current year and report in writing to the Ministry of Finance about the completion of the required knowledge updating hours before December 25 of the current year.

If auditing practitioners fail to complete the required knowledge updating hours by December 15 of the current year or if the Ministry of Finance does not receive a written report on the completion of knowledge updating hours by December 25 of the current year, then the auditing practitioners will be suspended from practicing auditing from January 1 to December 31 of the following year.”

5. Adding Clause 4, Article 13 of Circular No. 150/2012/TT-BTC as follows:

"4. For auditors practicing who are members of the inspection team directly conducting inspections at auditing firms, auditors practicing who are lecturers in training courses on procedures, processes, and auditing practices, and auditors practicing who are members of the quality service auditing inspection team participating in training courses on procedures, processes, and auditing practices, evidence of knowledge updating hours shall be a confirmation letter from the decision-making authority for inspection, clearly stating the full name and auditor certificate number of the practicing auditor."

6. Clause 3 of Appendix No. 06/CNKT of Circular No. 150/2012/TT-BTC shall be amended and supplemented as follows:

“3. Summary of knowledge updating hours for auditors:

Note:

(1) arranged in ascending order by auditing firm according to the number of auditor certificates;

(2) Including lecturers if they are practicing auditors, their knowledge updating hours shall be counted.

7. Add a sample form for requesting postponement of knowledge updating hours (Appendix No. 07/CNKT).

Article 2. Transitional Provisions

1. The registration for practicing auditing for cases where the auditor certificate was issued in 2014 shall be applied in accordance with the provisions of Clause 1, Article 1 of this Circular.

2. Practicing auditors who have been officially approved in writing by the Ministry of Finance to postpone knowledge updating hours in accordance with Article 12 of Circular No. 150/2012/TT-BTC shall implement the approval document of the Ministry of Finance.

Article 3. Effectiveness

1. This Circular takes effect from June 8, 2015.

2. During implementation, if there are any difficulties, please report them to the Ministry of Finance for study and resolution./.

Appendix No. 07/CNKT

(Annexed to Circular No. 56/2015/TT-BTC dated April 23, 2015 of the Minister of Finance)

SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIET NAM
Independence - Freedom - Happiness
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APPLICATION FOR POSTPONEMENT OF KNOWLEDGE UPDATING HOURS IN YEAR ...⁽¹⁾

Respectfully submitted to: Ministry of Finance

(Department of Accounting Regulations and Auditing)

My name is:...

Year of Birth: …

Auditor Certificate No.: …issued on…/…/…

Registration Certificate for Practicing Auditing No.: …issued on…/…/… with the period of practicing auditing from…/…/… to…/…/… at Company …

Year …⁽¹⁾ I have updated my knowledge for a total of ... hours (from August 16 of the previous year to August 15 of the following year), including: ... hours on accounting and auditing laws of Vietnam, ... hours on professional ethics. Comparing with the regulations, I am still short of a total of ... hours, including: ... hours on accounting and auditing laws of Vietnam, ... hours on professional ethics.

I hereby submit this application to request postponement of knowledge updating hours in year ……⁽¹⁾ to be allowed to practice auditing in year ...⁽²⁾

* Reason for postponement:

-………………………

- …………………….

* Supporting documents include:

-………………………

- …………………….

I hereby take full responsibility under the law for the accuracy and truthfulness of the documents attached to this application.

Note:

(1) Indicate the year lacking knowledge updating hours

(2) Indicate the year immediately following the year lacking knowledge updating hours