Hiring a tax accountant is a strategic solution to help businesses cope with the increasingly complex legal environment in Vietnam. The number of Decrees and Circulars on taxes that are constantly being issued and amended requires a team of accountants with in-depth knowledge and timely updates. If you do not master the new regulations such as Circular 78/2014/TT-BTC on corporate income tax good Decree 123/2020/ND-CP Regarding electronic invoices, businesses are prone to making mistakes, leading to the risk of administrative fines and affecting financial reputation.
Tax violations, even unintentional, can lead to large administrative fines according to Decree 125/2020/ND-CP, seriously affecting the cash flow and reputation of the business. Hiring a tax accountant not only transfers work but also provides comprehensive legal risk insurance. The solution helps optimize operating costs, turning fixed costs into flexible service costs, while ensuring accurate and timely financial reporting. Professional tax accounting services bring management efficiency, legal safety and financial stability to businesses.
Overview of hiring tax accountants
In the context of increasingly complex business and constantly changing tax regulations, managing accounting and tax operations has become a major challenge for many businesses. Hiring a tax accountant is an effective solution, helping businesses transfer the burden of legal compliance to a team of experienced experts, while optimizing operating costs, reducing legal risks and improving management efficiency. This solution not only ensures accurate tax reporting and declarations but also provides strategic advice to help businesses develop sustainably.
Concept of hiring tax accountant
Tax accounting outsourcing is a form of outsourcing all or part of the accounting and tax functions of a business to a third-party professional service company. The service company will send a team of experts, with practice certificates, to perform accounting operations according to current standards and legal regulations.
The core difference between hiring a tax accountant and hiring internal staff lies in accountability. The service provider commits to being responsible for the accuracy and legality of the reports and declarations submitted, often with specific compensation provisions if their errors cause tax penalties for the business. This brings absolute peace of mind to business owners.
List of typical tasks in the full tax accounting rental package
The full package of tax accounting services provides comprehensive solutions for businesses, including setting up a bookkeeping system, accounting and bookkeeping, periodic tax declaration and payment, financial reporting and tax settlement. In addition, the service also provides consulting on optimizing legal costs, helping businesses minimize tax obligations, ensure legal compliance and improve financial management efficiency..
- Establish and organize the accounting system: Build and complete the accounting system according to Circular 200/2014/TT-BTC or Circular 133/2016/TT-BTC, suitable for the specific characteristics of the industry.
- Accounting and recording: Process and record all economic transactions based on original documents that have been reviewed for validity.
- Periodic tax declaration and payment: Prepare and submit monthly/quarterly VAT and personal income tax declarations as prescribed.
- Prepare Financial Statements (FS): Prepare Balance Sheet, Income Statement and Notes to the Financial Statements at the end of the fiscal year.
- Perform Tax Settlement: Prepare documents for Corporate Income Tax (CIT) and Personal Income Tax (PIT).
- Cost optimization consulting: Support businesses to maximize reasonable and valid costs to minimize corporate income tax obligations within the legal framework.
The importance of hiring tax accountants for businesses
Tax accounting outsourcing solutions play a key role in optimizing operational efficiency and risk management for businesses, especially during growth or restructuring stages.
Optimize costs and resources
Hiring a tax accountant helps convert fixed costs into variable costs. Businesses do not need to pay a high base salary (usually from 8 million VND or more for an experienced general accountant), do not need to pay social insurance, union fees, training costs or invest in expensive accounting software. The monthly service fee is often significantly lower than the total cost of operating an internal accounting system.
Ensuring professionalism and stability
The team of experts from the tax accounting unit is always updated with knowledge of new tax laws, including Circulars and Guidance Documents. They have practical experience with many types of businesses, from manufacturing, trading to services, and have a deep understanding of complex operations such as related-party transactions (Transfer Pricing) or tax refunds. This ensures higher accuracy and reliability than depending on the personal experience of an internal accountant.
Legal risk protection shield
The biggest risk that businesses face is being fined for late filing of declarations, errors in accounting (administrative fines) or more seriously, tax collection (financial loss). When hiring tax accountants from reputable companies, businesses receive protection from the commitment of responsibility in the contract. These companies will accompany and directly explain to the Tax authorities during the inspection and examination process, minimizing the burden and anxiety for business owners.
| Criteria | Internal accounting | Hire a tax accountant |
| Operating costs | High (Salary, Social Insurance, Bonus, Software, Office). | Low and fixed (Monthly service fee). |
| Law update | Passive, requires training time. | Proactively and promptly update the latest legal documents (Amended Law on VAT, etc.). |
| Risk of error | High, depends on personal experience. | Very low, with cross-control mechanism (Internal audit of service unit). |
| Legal liability | Salaried employee (Penalty borne by the enterprise). | Commitment to compensate for damages according to the contract. |
| Tax optimization | Limited, only do according to the profession. | In-depth consulting, optimizing legal corporate income tax. |
Example: According to regulations, late submission of tax declaration documents for more than 90 days can be fined up to 25 million VND (Decree 125/2020/ND-CP). By hiring a tax accountant, businesses are absolutely guaranteed to submit documents on time, completely eliminating the risk of this administrative fine.
Steps to implement tax accounting in business
Transferring accounting work to a service unit is a professional, rigorous process and requires coordination between both parties to ensure data continuity and transparency.
Prepare input data and documents
The first stage is the foundation for the tax accounting unit to capture and process data most accurately.
Collect and classify documents
Businesses need to collect all types of documents related to production and business activities.:
- Invoice: Input and output invoices (especially E-Invoice according to Decree 123/2020/ND-CP).
- Bank documents: Account statements, debit/credit notices, payment orders.
- Economic contracts: Sales contracts, service contracts, labor contracts.
- Other documents: Appointment decision, salary sheet, loan application, etc.
Validity and legality review process
The tax accounting unit will conduct a thorough review of each document to ensure its validity under tax law. This includes checking the completeness of the invoice content, the digital signature, and especially the economic reasonableness of the transaction. If a risky invoice is detected (e.g., a fake invoice, an invoice that is not suitable for the industry), they will immediately warn.
Make a handover record
The handover must be carried out systematically through a detailed handover record, confirming the number of documents, status and outstanding issues (if any). This record is an important legal basis to determine the responsibility of the tax accounting unit for the input data.
Applying Tax Accounting Hire to Reporting and Auditing
Once the data is processed, the service provider will perform critical operations to ensure legal compliance and provide administrative information.
Electronic tax declaration and payment
The tax accounting unit will be responsible for preparing monthly/quarterly VAT declarations and submitting them on time via the electronic tax system (eTax). They also calculate and declare personal income tax (if any) as prescribed in Circular 111/2013/TT-BTC. This process is automated and strictly controlled to eliminate late payment errors.
Prepare Financial Statements (FS) according to VAS
Financial statements are prepared according to Vietnamese Accounting Standards (VAS), including Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Cash Flow Statement and Notes to Financial Statements. Preparing accurate financial statements is the foundation for internal and external audits (if any) and is the basis for banks and partners to evaluate the financial health of the enterprise.
Corporate Income Tax and Personal Income Tax Finalization
This is the most important task. The unit hiring the tax accountant will conduct a cost analysis to optimize the Corporate Income Tax. They review all costs incurred during the year, ensuring that only reasonable and valid costs are retained according to the Corporate Income Tax Law, eliminating costs without invoices or that do not serve the core business purpose. This not only helps reduce the amount of tax payable but also minimizes the risk of inspection.
Notes when hiring tax accountants
To maximize the effectiveness of cooperation with tax accounting units, businesses need to pay attention to the terms of the contract and working process.
Check and reconcile periodic reports
Despite authorization, business owners or financial management departments should still periodically (quarterly) reconcile Tax Reports and Financial Statements provided by the tax accounting unit. This helps businesses grasp the financial situation in a timely manner and can respond early if errors are detected or tax optimization strategies need to be adjusted.
Terms of Liability and Confidentiality
The service contract is the most important legal basis. It is necessary to ensure that the contract clearly stipulates:
- Scope of work: Which work is the responsibility of the service unit, which work is the responsibility of the business.
- Liability for compensation: Maximum compensation if the error of the tax accounting unit leads to the enterprise being fined for tax.
- Information security: Commitment to absolute confidentiality of financial data, accounting books, and other confidential business information.
Support for explanation during tax inspection
This is an extremely important benefit when hiring a tax accountant. The service unit must commit to sending an expert to represent the business, prepare documents and directly explain to the Tax Authority during the inspection and examination process. This support ensures professionalism and helps businesses not be passive in the face of requests from management agencies.
Tools and software to support tax accounting hiring
Top tax accounting outsourcing companies always leverage technology to improve service quality, ensure accuracy and speed of data processing.
Accounting software integrated with Tax operations
Popular accounting software such as MISA, FAST, or even large ERP systems such as SAP, Oracle are tightly integrated with tax operations to automate work.
Compliance Automation
The software helps automatically update tax declaration forms (e.g., forms according to Circular 80/2021/TT-BTC) and calculate taxes payable (VAT, CIT, PIT) in just a few clicks. The ability to integrate with the Tax Authority's electronic transaction portal helps to submit documents quickly and accurately.
Manage and reconcile electronic invoices (E-Invoice)
The software allows for automatic import and reconciliation of input/output electronic invoice data with the General Department of Taxation. This helps tax accounting units quickly detect illegal or invalid invoices, minimizing the risk of cost exclusion when Corporate Income Tax Finalization.
Auditing and Data Analysis Tools in Tax Accounting
Professional services units use data analytics to dig deeper into transactions, not just bookkeeping but also risk control.
Tax Risk Analysis using AI/Big Data
Modern tools apply AI algorithms to analyze accounting data (expense accounts, revenue, inventory) and compare with industry rates (Benchmarking). For example, if a business's advertising expense/revenue ratio is 200% higher than the industry average, the software will warn of audit risks. This process helps the tax accounting unit proactively adjust and complete the records.
In-depth Management Reports and Financial KPIs
In addition to the required financial statements, tax accounting also provides customized Management Reports, analyzing important financial indicators (KPIs) such as: Gross Margin, Debt to Equity Ratio, and Days Sales Outstanding. These reports help business owners make quick decisions based on real data.
Real-life examples of hiring tax accountants at MAN – Master Accountant Network
Hiring a tax accountant has proven to be highly effective in solving complex problems that are difficult for internal businesses to handle. Case Study: BCD Company Limited (Manufacturing and Export Sector)
Background
BCD Company is a manufacturing enterprise with export activities to the European market, generating quarterly VAT refund transactions and having related transactions with the parent company abroad. The internal accountant has experience, but lacks expertise in tax refunds and preparing related transaction records.
Problem
The prolonged delay in VAT refunds causes stagnation of working capital; Risk of heavy fines due to failure to prepare a dossier to determine the price of related-party transactions (stipulated in Decree 132/2020/ND-CP).
Tax accounting outsourcing solution
BCD Company has signed a contract to hire a specialized tax accountant with MAN Company.
Procedure
The tax refund and related-party transaction service process at MAN is carried out professionally, ensuring that businesses comply with the law, optimize tax obligations and minimize legal risks. MAN's team of experts reviews documents, standardizes documents and prepares related-party transaction records according to international standards, supporting successful explanations to the Tax authorities.
- MAN sent a team of tax refund experts to review all VAT refund documents, standardize documents and successfully explain to the Tax Authority.
- MAN advises and prepares related party transaction dossiers according to international standards, ensuring compliance with Decree 132/2020/ND-CP, eliminating the risk of corporate income tax arrears and related administrative fines.
Result
The service results at MAN helped the company quickly recover 800 million VND in VAT refund after only 2 months, while optimizing 100 million VND in reasonable costs from personnel and technical services. All related transactions were carried out in absolute compliance, avoiding the risk of large administrative fines, while creating a source of reinvestment capital and improving financial efficiency for the company.
- The VAT refund of VND 800 million was successfully resolved after 2 months, helping the company have immediate reinvestment capital.
- Successfully optimized 100 million VND in reasonable costs from personnel costs and technical service costs.
- Ensure absolute compliance with related party transactions, avoiding fines of up to hundreds of millions of VND.
Lesson
For complex transactions such as tax refunds or related-party transactions, hiring a professional tax accountant is the only option to ensure both legal and financial efficiency.
Conclude
Hiring a tax accountant is not only an administrative solution but also a strategic decision, helping businesses optimize operating costs and comply with the law. With a team of experts knowledgeable in tax laws, regularly updated with new regulations, this solution helps business owners reduce compliance burden, avoid the risk of tax penalties and focus on developing core business. The professionalism, experience and legal responsibility of the service partner are a solid guarantee for the financial health and competitiveness of the business.
Contact MAN – Master Accountant Network now for package consultation auditing services, accounting and tax package that best suits your business. We are committed to providing professional solutions, ensuring legal safety and optimizing financial efficiency. Let MAN accompany you, minimize risks, enhance reputation and promote sustainable business development.
Service contact information at MAN – Master Accountant Network
- Address: No. 19A, Street 43, Tan Thuan Ward, Ho Chi Minh City
- Mobile/Zalo: 0903 963 163 – 0903 428 622
- Email: man@man.net.vn
Content production by: Mr. Le Hoang Tuyen – Founder & CEO MAN – Master Accountant Network, Vietnamese CPA Auditor with over 30 years of experience in Accounting, Auditing and Financial Consulting.
FAQ – Frequently asked questions about hiring a tax accountant
Hiring a full-package tax accountant is a comprehensive service, covering everything from daily work to final reporting. The main items include: Collecting, checking and classifying documents; Accounting and bookkeeping; Preparing and submitting all periodic tax declarations (VAT, PIT); Preparing financial statements, Corporate Income Tax/PIT finalization; Finally, supporting direct explanation to the Tax Authority when there is an inspection. Some units also provide electronic invoice management services.
YES. Hiring a tax accountant is the best solution for startups and small businesses (SMEs). In the early stages, businesses need to focus all their resources on core business activities. Hiring a tax accountant helps them comply with the law right from the first steps (tax registration, initial declaration) without having to spend a lot on human resources. Low cost, high professionalism, and completely eliminating the risk of errors in this important stage are the absolute advantages of outsourcing solutions.
Hiring a tax accountant to perform a full package of daily, quarterly, and annual accounting and tax operations. Hiring a chief accountant focuses on senior management, organizing the apparatus, building internal controls, financial planning, and optimizing tax strategies. Large enterprises often hire a chief accountant to supervise the internal team, while small enterprises choose a full package of tax accounting to both handle operations and support effective management. What does a full tax accounting service include?
Should startups and small businesses hire tax accountants?
What is the difference between hiring a tax accountant and hiring a chief accountant?
