The boom of stock market in 2006, with the massive listing of joint stock companies and establishment of securities companies, has resulted in a serious shortage of auditors for the stock market, state media reported.
There are only 12 auditing companies in Vietnam. However, at the end of March the BHP Auditing and Accountant Consultancy Services Company lost the right to audit securities and listed firms because BHP does not have enough auditors as required by the State Securities Commission (SSC).
The remaining 11 auditing firms are also facing the serious shortage of labor. These auditing firms will have to audit 195 listed companies and 55 securities firms.
Under current regulations, auditing firms get approval from SSC to audit listed companies if they have been operating for three years or more, and have 10 or more auditors.
To settle the current problem of auditor shortage, SSC recently informed auditing companies that firms which can meet the stipulated requirements should send applications to SSC for prompt approval. Under current regulations, the agency only considers applications every two years.
Le Lan Huong, a senior staff at Grant Thorton, a foreign owned auditing and financial consultancy service provider, said her firm would submit an application for SSC approval in April. The information proves to be good news for auditing firms.
However, Huong acknowledged that lack of labor is one of the hottest problems now in auditing firms, stressing that the lack of auditors would influence the quality of auditing services.
Auditing firms now all complained they lack staff and they would employ all experienced candidates, she said.
Dao Xuan Dung, director of UHY, complained that the labor force in auditing firms had never witnessed such a serious shortage as nowadays. “Labor force is the biggest problem of auditing firms.”
UHY, for example, once had 10 auditors with practicing licenses, but two have left for other companies.
Hoang Duc Hung, director of Enterprise Consultancy and Auditing Division under Ernst & Young Vietnam, said staff who had quit their jobs were mainly female staff who had 3-4 years of experience and practicing licenses.
Several years ago, many employees left auditing firms to work for banks, while they now are leaving both auditing firms and banks to work for securities companies, a suitable decision as the stock market is developing strongly. Ernst & Young Vietnam, for example, lost 10 auditors in 2006.
Securities trading companies and investment funds are now offering high wages in a bid to attract more experts. High salary and the right to buy shares at preferential prices prove to be very attractive in the eyes of auditors.
In securities trading companies, the salary level is not less than VND20 million a month for the post of manager. In addition, managers may have the right to buy VND500 million-1 billion worth of shares at face value.
Hung said Ernst & Young had to apply a new policy in order to attract more employees. In 2006, total salaries paid to its staff increased by 20 per cent, while more training courses were provided and office facilities were upgraded.
However, it will be more difficult for Vietnam to settle the current problem, said Johnson, an official from Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). ACCA is also trying to design a mini training course to meet the demand. (VnEconomy, VietnamNet)
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