Positioning the Development Level of Management Accounting and Recommendations for Vietnamese Enterprises

Abstract

This paper aims to assess the level of management accounting (MAC) development in Vietnamese enterprises based on a comparison with international models, and to identify the barriers influencing the current level of MAC adoption. The study uses a systematic synthesis of MAC development models (IFAC, Nishimura, Waweru) and synthesizes empirical evidence by sector and enterprise size. The analysis results show that most Vietnamese enterprises are still in the early stages, mainly applying traditional techniques such as budgeting, costing, and costvolume-profit analysis; while the application of modern techniques is limited. The main barriersb include an incomplete legal framework, insufficient management awareness, low technological readiness, and a lack of professional capacity among MAC staff. The novelty of the research lies in building an integrated benchmarking framework for three stages and proposing a roadmap for perfecting international accounting towards modernization, linked to institutional improvement, investment in digital transformation, and human resource development.