The center has an organized accounting system and prepares financial reports as required by the Accounting Law. In March 2022, she was appointed by the Department to handle accounting responsibilities for a period of 12 months, with a responsibility allowance of 0.1.

After the 12-month period, she submitted an application for the appointment of a chief accountant to the Department, including her resume, a copy of her bachelor's degree in accounting, a copy of the chief accountant training certificate, and a certificate confirming over 5 years of practical experience in accounting at the unit where she worked, following the guidance in Circular No. 04/2018/TT-BNV dated March 27, 2018 of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

However, her application was not processed by the Department, citing the reason that the center only has one accountant, and therefore, there was no need to appoint a chief accountant.

To her knowledge, cases where accounting units are not subject to the provisions in Article 2, Article 20 of Decree No. 174/2016/NĐ-CP must appoint a chief accountant to oversee accounting in accordance with Article 1, Article 20 of Decree No. 174/2016/NĐ-CP: "1. Accounting units must appoint a chief accountant, except for units specified in Article 2 of this Decree. In cases where the unit cannot appoint a chief accountant immediately, they must assign someone to oversee the accounting or hire a service to perform the duties of a chief accountant as stipulated. The maximum term for appointing someone to oversee the accounting is 12 months; after this period, the accounting unit must appoint a chief accountant."

Mrs. Thanh requests that the relevant authorities review and respond to her case.

The Accounting and Auditing Supervisory Department of the Ministry of Finance responds to this issue as follows:

In Article 20 of Decree No. 174/2016/NĐ-CP dated December 30, 2016, which details certain provisions of the Accounting Law, it is specified:

"1. Accounting units must appoint a chief accountant, except for units specified in Article 2 of this Decree. In cases where the unit cannot appoint a chief accountant immediately, they must assign someone to oversee the accounting or hire a service to perform the duties of a chief accountant as stipulated. The maximum term for appointing someone to oversee the accounting is 12 months; after this period, the accounting unit must appoint a chief accountant.

2. Accounting oversight:

a) State accounting units, including units with only one accountant or one accountant in a dual role; budget and financial accounting units at the commune, ward, and township levels do not appoint a chief accountant but only designate someone to oversee the accounting."

According to the above regulation, if the accounting unit has only one accountant, it should follow the provisions in point a, Article 2, Article 20 of Decree No. 174/2016/NĐ-CP.

Therefore, if the center (which is a public sector entity and an accounting unit) has only one accountant, there is no need to appoint a chief accountant, and they should designate someone to oversee the accounting instead.

Mrs. Thanh is advised to study and implement this accordingly.

According to Chinhphu.vn (Government News).