Financial-Statement Audit: The Most Complete Handbook 2026

An overview of financial-statement audit

Financial-statement audit is one of the most important tools to ensure the accuracy and transparency of financial information. To understand this activity more deeply, we need to grasp its basic concepts, subjects and objectives.

The concept of financial-statement audit

Financial-statement audit is the process of independently and objectively examining and evaluating the financial statements of an economic unit (enterprise, organisation). This is to determine whether these statements are prepared and presented truthfully and reasonably according to accepted accounting standards.

This activity is carried out by independent auditors (from an audit firm or practising auditors), based on Vietnamese and international auditing standards. The auditor collects audit evidence, evaluates the internal-control system, examines the figures and vouchers and gives a professional opinion on the level of truthfulness and reasonableness of the financial statements.

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Subjects required to audit financial statements

According to the provisions of Vietnam’s Law on Independent Audit and the guiding documents, the subjects required to audit financial statements annually include:

• State enterprises: All state companies, state economic corporations and state general companies must audit their financial statements annually.
• Public companies and listed enterprises: Joint-stock companies with shares listed on the stock exchange, and public companies according to the provisions of securities law.
• Enterprises with foreign investment: 100% foreign-owned companies and joint ventures with foreign investment.
• Credit institutions, insurance enterprises: Commercial banks, insurance companies, securities companies and other financial organisations.
• Large-scale enterprises: Enterprises meeting at least two of the three criteria on total assets, revenue and number of employees according to regulations (the specific criteria change according to the regulations of each period).
• Organisations receiving capital or aid from the state budget or abroad: Funds, non-governmental organisations and projects using ODA capital.

The objectives of financial-statement audit

The main objective of financial-statement audit is to give an independent, objective opinion on the level of truthfulness and reasonableness of the financial statements. More specifically:

• Ensuring truthfulness: This factor helps confirm that the information in the financial statements correctly reflects the actual financial situation and business results of the enterprise.
• Ensuring compliance: You need to check whether the financial statements are prepared according to the correct accounting standards, current accounting regime and related legal regulations.
• Detecting material errors: This objective requires finding important errors, whether due to mistakes or fraud, that affect the decisions of financial-statement users.
• Strengthening trust: You need to provide reasonable assurance to related parties (investors, creditors, management agencies, partners) that the financial information is reliable.
• Improving governance: Through the audit process, auditors often detect weaknesses in the internal-control system and give recommendations to help the enterprise improve.

The content of financial-statement audit

Financial-statement audit includes many detailed contents, covering all aspects of the enterprise’s financial activity:

• Asset audit: Examining the existence, ownership and value of asset types such as cash, bank deposits, inventory, receivables, and so on.
• Liability audit: Confirming the completeness and accuracy of short-term and long-term debts such as bank loans, payables to sellers, taxes payable, and so on.
• Owner’s equity audit: Examining charter capital, capital surplus, undistributed profit, the development-investment fund and other capital items.
• Revenue and income audit: Evaluating the reasonableness of sales revenue, service provision, financial income and other income. At the same time, you need to check the revenue-recognition principle and reconcile it with contracts, invoices and payment vouchers.
• Expense audit: Considering the reasonableness, validity and completeness of production-business expenses, management expenses and financial expenses. In addition, you also need to check vouchers and evaluate expense allocation.
• Tax audit: Checking whether the calculation, declaration and payment of taxes (VAT, CIT, PIT, resource tax, etc.) comply with the regulations.
• Audit of the note information: Evaluating the completeness and clarity of the notes on accounting policies, financial risks, related transactions, commitments, and so on.

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The role of financial-statement audit

Financial-statement audit plays an important, multidimensional role in the economy. Clearly understanding this field’s role will help enterprises enhance transparency and ensure reliability in the market.

• Protecting the interests of related parties: Financial-statement audit helps protect the interests of related parties through ensuring the transparency, truthfulness and reliability of financial information.
• Enhancing the quality of financial information: The pressure to audit drives enterprises to enhance the quality of accounting work, build a better internal-control system and minimise errors and fraud.
• Strengthening transparency and corporate governance: Independent audit is one of the important supervision mechanisms. This helps make management accountable to shareholders and related parties.
• Supporting state management agencies: Tax authorities and inspection-supervision agencies rely on audited financial statements to perform management functions and check legal compliance.
• Preventing fraud and violations: The presence of independent audit has a deterrent effect, preventing acts of deliberately distorting reports, accounting fraud and illegal profiteering. Many major fraud cases have been detected thanks to auditing.
• Creating trust for the market: On the stock market, listed companies must audit their financial statements, creating a reliable information foundation for investors, helping the market operate efficiently and healthily.

Common financial-statement audit methods

Clearly understanding common financial-statement audit methods will help enterprises and auditors choose a suitable approach. This helps ensure the accuracy and reliability of financial information.

• Voucher and document examination method: Directly examining accounting vouchers, contracts, invoices and books to verify the validity and accuracy of economic operations.
• Observation method: The auditor directly observes the operation process and internal-control procedures, or takes part in asset stocktaking to evaluate effectiveness and detect weaknesses.
• Third-party confirmation method: Sending confirmation letters to banks (deposit balances, loans), customers (receivables) and suppliers (payables) for independent reconciliation, reducing fraud risk.
• Analytical method: Using financial-analysis techniques such as ratio analysis, trend analysis, comparison with previous-period data and with the industry to detect abnormalities that need deeper investigation.
• Recalculation method: The auditor recalculates indicators such as depreciation, provisions, loan interest and taxes to verify the accuracy of the figures provided by the enterprise.
• Interview and exchange method: Interviewing the board of directors, chief accountant and staff to clearly understand the activity, policies and special issues and evaluate the control environment.
• Audit sampling method: Since it is impossible to examine 100% of operations, the auditor uses statistical or non-statistical sampling techniques to select a representative sample. From there they conclude about the whole population. This method helps detect important errors at a basic level in the data.

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HUFLIT – Building a solid foundation in financial governance and control

At HUFLIT, Auditing students are equipped with a solid professional foundation through a training programme tied to career practice. The University links with the Vietnam Association of Certified Public Accountants (VACPA) in the Practical Auditing course unit, helping students have the opportunity to approach professional standards and receive professional certificates valuable in the industry right from their time at school.

The training programme is designed along an application orientation, closely following the real needs of enterprises. More than 60% of the specialised course units are taught in English, which helps students easily approach international accounting-auditing standards such as IFRS and enhance their ability to work in a global environment.

During their studies, students experience many simulated audit-operation situations, practise analysing real financial statements, process enterprise data and take part in internships at audit-finance companies from the 3rd year. Thanks to that, learners not only master the theory but also develop analytical thinking and problem-handling skills in a real career context.

Accompanying students is a team of lecturers rich in practical experience, including audit experts, chief accountants and financial controllers. The lecturers always update the latest professional standards and share real-world experience in each in-depth course unit.

Besides professional knowledge, HUFLIT also brings a modern learning environment, where students approach and practise with AI tools and data-analysis technology. The University especially focuses on developing the important skills in the digital economy such as: big-data analysis, data visualisation, critical thinking, audit practice on a sample file set and accounting-auditing professional ethics.

Frequently asked questions about financial-statement audit

Below are the frequently asked questions about financial-statement audit. This information helps you better understand the process, objectives and meaning of this activity for enterprises.

How long is the financial-statement audit deadline?

The deadline for auditing and submitting audited financial statements depends on the type of enterprise. Public companies and listed enterprises must submit and disclose their reports within 90 days from the end of the financial year to the State Securities Commission.

State enterprises usually have a deadline of 90–120 days, depending on the regulations of the governing agency. For FDI enterprises, the audited financial statements must be submitted to the tax authority no later than 31/12 of the following year.

What are the financial-statement audit principles?

Clearly understanding the financial-statement audit principles will help ensure the audit process takes place transparently, objectively and in compliance with professional standards.

• Independence principle: The auditor must be independent in form and substance, having no interest relationship with the audit client and not being influenced by pressure from any party.
• Truthfulness and objectivity principle: Giving an opinion based on audit evidence, without bias and without distorting the truth.
• Professional prudence principle: Carrying out the work with care and thoroughness, reasonable professional scepticism and no subjectivity.
• Confidentiality principle: Keeping the client’s information confidential and not disclosing it to third parties unless required by law.
• Professional competence principle: The auditor must have the appropriate level, skills and experience and continuously update their knowledge.
• Standard-compliance principle: Carrying out the audit according to Vietnamese and international auditing standards, ensuring quality and professionalism.

How much is the financial-statement audit fee today?

The audit fee is not fixed but depends on many factors. Estimated, the financial-statement audit fee for small and medium enterprises ranges from 30-100 million VND/year. Large enterprises can be up to 200-500 million VND or more. For listed corporations, the fee can be up to several billion VND.

The time of financial-statement audit

The financial-statement audit time usually begins in January–February of the following year after the enterprise closes its books and prepares preliminary financial statements. Many units proactively carry out an interim audit in October–November to reduce year-end pressure. Depending on the scale, the audit time can last from 2–3 weeks for small enterprises to 6–8 weeks or more for large enterprises.

Financial-statement audit is not only a legal requirement but also an important tool that helps enterprises enhance the quality of financial information. Clearly understanding auditing will help enterprises prepare better, optimise costs and gain real value from this activity. If you still have any questions, contact HUFLIT right away for answers!

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