With tax authorities increasingly tightening management through electronic invoices, AI-powered risk assessment, and in-depth audits of tax settlements in 2026, hiring an accountant to prepare financial statements has become a crucial solution for many businesses. Not only does this service help manage disorganized accounting records, review errors, and ensure reports are submitted correctly, but it also acts as a legal shield, minimizing the risk of tax arrears and administrative penalties. This article will help businesses understand when to hire an accountant to prepare financial statements, the necessary documents, the standard 2026 process, and how to choose a reputable firm for safe and effective tax settlement.
Why do businesses need to hire an accountant to prepare financial reports right now?
Although the deadline for tax settlement for the 2025 fiscal year has officially passed, hiring an accountant to prepare financial statements at this time is crucial for the safety of businesses. This is a golden opportunity to review and correct errors before the Tax authorities send a notice of inspection or audit at the company's headquarters. Proactively adjusting figures and resubmitting reports as early as possible will help businesses minimize the risk of tax arrears and late payment penalties, which are increasing daily.
Here are the urgent reasons why business owners need to act now:
Submit provisional financial statements to meet the deadline.
Many businesses, due to time pressure or a lack of specialized personnel, have chosen to submit blank reports or estimated figures to avoid late filing penalties. However, according to the latest regulations applicable to the 2025-2026 fiscal year, discrepancies between submitted reports and actual supporting documents will be immediately detected by the tax authority's risk management system.
When a business decides to hire an accountant to prepare its financial statements, the accountant will help the business review all the figures in the provisional financial statements. Adjusting journal entries and submitting supplementary reports before an audit will help the business minimize penalties for late payment or errors in tax payments. Without expertise, arbitrarily altering the figures will only worsen the financial picture in the eyes of the tax authorities.
The books and documents are a mess.
Frequent changes in accounting staff or an inexperienced internal accounting department often lead to consequences such as discrepancies between input and output invoices, unconfirmed accounts payable, and payroll data that doesn't match social insurance data. This creates fertile ground for administrative tax penalties. The need to hire accountants to prepare financial reports arises when businesses realize their current accounting system is insufficient to explain their financial statements to inspectors. In reality, the combined use of... full accounting service Getting tax advice early on helps businesses save up to 70% in costs compared to having to hire lawyers to resolve tax disputes later.
Legal risks and penalties for inaccurate financial reporting.
According to Decree 41/2018/ND-CP Regarding administrative penalties in the field of accounting, businesses can face fines ranging from 10 to 20 million VND for preparing financial statements that do not conform to accounting documents and accounting records. Furthermore, acts of falsifying or inflating financial data can lead to criminal prosecution. Because of this seriousness, finding a reputable accounting firm to prepare financial statements is a top priority for all businesses, especially during the tax season.
See details: If I submit an incorrect financial report, can I resubmit it?
Important documents to prepare when hiring an accountant to prepare financial statements.
To ensure accuracy and authority in the records, when hiring an accountant to prepare financial statements, businesses need to cooperate in providing all the following groups of documents as required by regulations. Accounting Law 2015 and Decree 123/2020/ND-CP:
Input and output document group
This is the core basis for determining a business's revenue and cost of goods sold. To expedite the processing of documents, businesses need to prepare the following:
- Electronic invoices: Includes all XML and PDF data of purchase and sales invoices for the year. When a business hires an accountant from MAN – Master Accountant Network – to prepare financial reports, the accountant will verify the validity of the invoices on the General Department of Taxation's portal to eliminate the risk of "ghost" invoices.
- Economic contracts: Sales contracts, acceptance certificates, and delivery records for goods or services are the most important legal basis for protecting business expenses.
Bank and cash documents
The flow of money through banks and cash funds is the most concrete evidence to verify the authenticity of economic transactions occurring during the year.
- Bank statements: Complete bank statements from January 1st to December 31st for all company accounts held at the bank. Missing bank statements are the most common error that disrupts the process of hiring an accountant to prepare financial reports.
- Fund documents: Receipts, payment vouchers, advance payment and settlement requests, all fully signed.
Labor, payroll, and inventory documents group
These are the documents most frequently scrutinized by the Tax authorities to verify the accuracy of labor costs and cost of goods sold. Hiring an accountant to prepare financial statements will help businesses standardize this set of documents.
- Personnel records: Payroll, employment contracts, time sheets, and social insurance contribution documents. Particular attention should be paid to electronic personal income tax deduction certificates that meet the required standards.
- Inventory report: Year-end inventory count report, goods receipt and dispatch notes for cost of goods sold reconciliation. By hiring an accountant to prepare financial reports, MAN's team of accountants will help businesses thoroughly address issues of fictitious inventory and negative inventory.
Troubleshooting and financial reporting process
When a business trusts and chooses MAN – Master Accountant Network to hire an accountant to prepare financial statements, the following standardized process will be implemented:
- Step 1 – Receipt and Verification: The chief accountant directly receives the data and performs a health check of the current accounting system to identify potential risks.
- Step 2 – Document Review: Check the legality of the invoices, ensuring that the documents are not duplicated or contain incorrect information. This is the most important step in the tax accounting process for preparing financial statements.
- Step 3 – Adjusting the accounting entries: Record any missing invoices and adjust unreasonable expenses in accordance with current tax laws.
- Step 4 – Detailed reconciliation: Reconcile accounts payable and receivable with customers or suppliers; inventory fixed assets and bank loans.
- Step 5 – Closing entries: Perform the closing entries for revenue and expenses in accordance with regulations.
- Step 6 – Finalize the financial statements: Prepare the balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement, and detailed notes to the financial statements.
- Step 7 – Submission and Explanation: Submit the report through the system and prepare a detailed explanation of the data.
Why hire an accountant to prepare financial statements instead of doing it yourself?
Many small businesses try to prepare their own reports to save costs, but the reality is often the opposite. In-house accountants are sometimes only good at payroll or inventory but lack a comprehensive understanding of taxes. When hiring accounting services to prepare financial reports, businesses are buying the knowledge of an entire accounting and tax team. They are able to identify risks from numbers that an average accountant might overlook. Hiring accountants to prepare financial reports helps make the company's financial data cleaner, more presentable, and more honest in the eyes of banks when seeking business loans.
Price list for hiring an accountant to prepare financial statements for 2026.
The cost of hiring an accountant to prepare financial reports is typically calculated based on the volume of invoices and the complexity of the business's operations. Below is a transparent price list for reference:
| Business Sector | Number of invoices/year | Estimated service fee (VNĐ) |
| Trade – Services | Under 20 | 2.500.000 – 4.000.000 |
| Trade – Services | 20 – 100 | 4.500.000 – 8.000.000 |
| Manufacturing – Construction | Under 30 | 6.000.000 – 10.000.000 |
| Troubleshooting and rewriting financial statements. | Depending on the actual accounting records | From 10,000,000 |
Note: The price list above is for reference only. Contact MAN – Master Accountant Network for consultation, review, and verification of your accounting records and documents. A detailed and specific price quote for each transaction will then be provided.
Criteria for choosing a reputable firm to hire for accounting and financial reporting.
Hiring an accountant to prepare financial statements requires adherence to strict criteria to ensure the legal entity's safety:
- Experience: The company has a team of experienced accountants who understand the specifics of each industry and, importantly, have experience in explaining matters to tax authorities.
- Expertise: Continuously updating on changes in tax policies, especially regulations on electronic invoices and financial reporting, such as those from the 2026 tax year. Are businesses still allowed to submit provisional financial statements?.
- Authority: As an entity, the accounting team must possess a professional license issued by the Ministry of Finance.
- Trustworthiness: Commitment to data confidentiality and provisions for liability compensation if errors are found on the part of the accounting firm providing the financial reporting services.
Conclude
Hiring an accountant to prepare financial reports is not just a solution for handling data, but also a step to protect businesses from tax risks, audits, and unnecessary penalties. A well-prepared, transparent, and compliant set of financial reports will help businesses confidently settle taxes, easily obtain bank loans, and enhance their reputation with partners.
Instead of spending a lot of time handling messy bookkeeping or facing the risk of errors when submitting supplementary reports, businesses should choose to hire professional accounting services to prepare financial reports. This ensures comprehensive review, optimizes legal tax costs, and guarantees long-term legal security.
If your business needs help resolving financial reporting issues, completing tax return filings, or correcting long-standing accounting errors, please contact us. contact Contact the MAN – Master Accountant Network team today for free consultation and to develop the most suitable plan for your specific business model.
Contact information 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.
Frequently Asked Questions about Hiring an Accountant to Prepare Financial Statements
Businesses should hire an accountant to prepare financial statements when their books are inaccurate, they have submitted provisional reports, lack specialized accounting staff, or are preparing for tax settlement. Hiring services early helps to review risks, adjust data promptly, and limit the risk of back taxes or administrative penalties.
Businesses need to prepare input and output invoices, economic contracts, bank statements, receipts and payment vouchers, payroll records, social insurance documents, personal income tax certificates, inventory records, and fixed asset records. The more complete the documentation, the more accurate and faster the financial statement preparation process will be.
Yes. Businesses are allowed to resubmit financial statements when they discover errors in revenue, expenses, taxes, or incomplete documentation. However, they must follow the correct supplementary declaration procedure, clearly explain the reasons, and complete the process before the tax authorities issue a decision to conduct an audit.
In many cases, hiring accounting services is safer because businesses are supported by a team of experts with practical tax settlement experience. They are able to quickly identify risks, stay up-to-date on new policies, and provide more appropriate solutions than in-house accountants who lack in-depth expertise.
Businesses should prioritize firms with accounting service licenses, experienced chief accountants, clear data security procedures, and a commitment to taking responsibility in case of errors. Additionally, their ability to handle actual tax filings and their capacity to explain matters to the tax authorities should be assessed. When should a business hire an accountant to prepare financial statements?
What documents are needed when hiring an accountant to prepare financial statements?
Can financial statements that were submitted incorrectly be resubmitted?
Is hiring an accounting service safer than using an in-house accountant?
How to choose a reputable accounting firm to prepare your financial statements?
