Establishing An Accounting And E-Invoicing System In Vietnam (2026): A Compliance Foundation For FDI Enterprises

In recent years, Vietnam has attracted foreign direct investment not only due to competitive costs but also thanks to improvements in the legal environment toward greater transparency and digitalization. However, this progress comes with increasingly stringent compliance requirements, particularly in accounting and taxation. For FDI enterprises, building a suitable accounting and e-invoicing system from the outset is not only about meeting legal requirements, but also about ensuring financial control and integration with the group’s global systems.

Therefore, for FDI enterprises, the issue is not merely “doing things in compliance,” but designing systems from the beginning that are compliant, operationally stable, and globally integrable.

Accounting system in Vietnam

From a legal perspective, the accounting system in Vietnam requires enterprises to comply with Vietnamese Accounting Standards (VAS), including the chart of accounts, bookkeeping, and financial reporting. This is mandatory and offers very limited flexibility.

However, merely complying with VAS is not sufficient for FDI enterprises.

In practice, the accounting system in Vietnam must simultaneously serve two objectives:

• One is to serve local tax compliance and regulatory requirements
• The other is to serve group reporting under international standards (IFRS or internal reporting)

These two systems are not identical, and if not properly designed from the outset, businesses will face continuous data conversion, which increases the risk of discrepancies.

Therefore, the correct approach is not centered on software or documentation, but on system design:

• The chart of accounts must be detailed enough while still allowing mapping
• Revenue and cost recognition processes must be consistent from the beginning
• Data must be controlled at the point of origin, rather than adjusted afterward

In reality, most risks for FDI enterprises do not stem from misunderstanding regulations, but from poor initial system design.

E-invoicing in Vietnam – How is it managed by the tax authority?

If accounting is the recording layer, then e-invoicing is the data layer that tax authorities use to directly monitor business activities.

A major distinction in Vietnam today is that invoices are no longer merely internal documents; they have become data directly connected to tax authorities.

The basic issuance process is relatively clear: create the invoice, digitally sign it, submit it to the tax system (in certain cases), issue it to the customer, and store it electronically.

However, the key issue lies not in the process, but in how it is managed:

• Before being allowed to use e-invoices, enterprises must complete notification and registration procedures with the tax authority in accordance with regulations.
• During this stage, the tax authority requires businesses to provide full legal information and clearly explain their operational status, usage needs, and purposes for issuing e-invoices, ensuring alignment with actual business activities and compliance with current regulations.
• Previously, invoices could be adjusted internally with relative flexibility
• Currently, there is no mechanism to cancel e-invoices
• If errors occur, they must be handled through adjustment or replacement invoices

This fundamentally changes how businesses must control data from the outset, as every error leaves a trace within the system.

More importantly, invoice data no longer stands alone. It is used by tax authorities to:

• Reconcile with tax declarations
• Analyze risk at the enterprise level
• Gradually move toward automated tax filing based on actual data

The trend is clear: tax management in Vietnam is shifting from “document-based management” to “data-driven management.”

Looking at the overall picture, accounting and e-invoicing are no longer separate functions but part of an interconnected data system.

For FDI enterprises, the issue is not whether they comply, but whether the system is correctly designed from the beginning.

Because if done correctly:

• The enterprise can control tax risks
• Financial data becomes transparent and consistent
• Integration with global systems becomes seamless

Conversely, if the initial design is flawed, the cost of fixing it later is often significantly higher than the initial setup cost.

In the context of Vietnam accelerating tax digitalization and raising financial transparency standards, establishing a compliant accounting and e-invoicing system is no longer optional but mandatory for businesses, especially FDI enterprises. A system properly set up from the beginning will help minimize legal risks, improve operational efficiency, and facilitate integration with global systems. This serves as a critical foundation for sustainable growth and for fully capturing opportunities in the Vietnamese market.

For detailed consultation on setting up an accounting system in Vietnam, please contact TPM via the website or hotline (+84) 28 3505 1800 for prompt support.

Thao Phung