The Influence of Regulations of the Ministry of Finance, Requirements from Related Parties, and the Application of IFRS in Teaching on the Quality of Accounting and Auditing Teaching Staff in Vietnam

This study was conducted to verify the direct influential relationship of the factors of the regulations of the Ministry of Finance, the requirements from the related parties, and the application of international financial reporting standards (IFRS) in teaching at universities and colleges with training in accounting and auditing in Vietnam, and the impact of those factors on the quality of accounting and auditing lecturers. The authors conducted a case study at 30 universities and colleges with training in accounting and auditing, and 208 lecturers who are engaged in teaching accounting and auditing in Vietnam. Next, the study employed the structural model analysis method by PLS_SEM software to process and analyze the collected data. Research results show that there is a relationship between regulations of the Ministry of Finance, requirements from related parties, and the application of IFRS in teaching to the quality of lecturers of accounting and auditing at the universities and colleges, with the order of influence from high to low, respectively, (i) Applying IFRS to the training of accounting and auditing majors, (ii) Regulations of Ministry of Finance on the application of IFRS and (iii) Requirements from related parties.


Introduction
In response to the trend of integration and convergence with international accounting, the Ministry of Finance of Vietnam has issued a roadmap to apply IFRS to enterprises in Vietnam (Ministry of Finance, 2020). Accordingly, as a training place for accounting and auditing human resources for enterprises, the universities and colleges with training in accounting and auditing in Vietnam need to make changes to meet the roadmap of applying IFRS of the Ministry of Finance, in line with the country's international accounting harmonization process in attracting investment and meeting the requirements of related parties. However, currently in Vietnam, the accounting and auditing training process is still governed by the Law on Accounting, Accounting Standards, and the Enterprise Accounting System of Vietnam. Therefore, when switching to applying IFRS in teaching, it is required that lecturers teaching accounting and auditing professions need to be trained and fostered with knowledge of IFRS, and at the same time, the lecturers themselves are supposed to be eager for learning to develop expertise, understand and apply IFRS principles to teaching to ensure that the process of imparting IFRS knowledge is to the point, with enough principles of applying IFRS and suitable for each target audience.
In addition, to apply IFRS to teaching accounting and auditing professions at universities and colleges in Vietnam, in addition to the difficulties in rebuilding training programs and compiling training materials, investing in facilities and information technology infrastructure related to IFRS, etc, and improving the quality of accounting and auditing teaching staff of the universities and colleges in Vietnam in the current context is really necessary. This is because teachers are considered the most important and valuable learning resources for students; teachers need to have complete knowledge and understanding of the subject they are teaching, to have the necessary skills and teaching experience to effectively convey and exchange such knowledge and understanding to students in the teaching environment and teaching process.
In this study, to evaluate and measure the quality of the teaching staff, the authors used a set of standards on the competency standards of Profession-Oriented Higher Education (POHE2) issued by Vietnam's Ministry of Education and Training (Ministry of Education and Training, 2014). The structure of this research paper consists of five parts, the next part is the literature review, the third part is the research methodology, the fourth part is the research findings, the fifth part is the discussion of the research results, and the sixth part is the conclusion.

Literature review
In the field of higher education, the application of IFRS in teaching has been examined in a number of studies, each research depends on different perspectives to make assessments, raise opinions as well as to make various recommendations, typically: Dow and Feldman (1997) argue that to teach IFRS effectively, it is necessary to teach in small numbers, teach in a case method and focus on specific case handling related to IFRS. Furthermore, it takes time to develop teaching content. Similarly, Hilton and Johnstone (2013) also point to the fact that time constraints prevent them from adding content and real-life situations to their curricula when teaching IFRS. Munter and Reckers (2009) state that developing IFRS-related teaching materials is very difficult, and 72% of the faculty surveyed for the study said that teaching IFRS in the curriculum is very difficult, involving many obstacles. Zhu et al. (2011) show that IFRS standards need to be mentioned more in the curriculum because teachers are increasingly appreciating the convergence between IFRS and US GAAP. Research results show the difficulty that the lecturers have to face when applying IFRS in teaching comes from the fact that IFRS documents are still very limited.
Research by Hodgdon et al. (2011) asserts that when teaching IFRS in the classroom, accounting teachers need to ensure that their students understand the real problem of IFRS, identify IFRS principles and related requirements, consider alternative accounting methods, reach consensus on principles, explain the application of IFRS in practice, etc. This process has promoted the change of teaching methods of the lecturers and enhanced the initiative and activeness of students in the process of approaching IFRS. At the same time, research by Jackling et al. (2013) on the impact of the transition to IFRS in Australia shows that the application of IFRS in teaching has led to changes in curriculum and teaching methods, quality expertise of lecturers at universities. Sharing the same view, Garnett (2011) asserted that when teaching IFRS in the classroom, accounting teachers need to ensure that their students understand the nature of IFRS, identify the principles and requirements IFRS which are relevant, consider alternative accounting methods when recording accounting data to reach consensus on the principles of recording and explaining the application of IFRS in practice. This process has helped to change the teaching methods of lecturers and improve students' initiative and activeness in the process of approaching reality.
Research by Coetzee and Schmulian (2012) suggests that accounting teachers need to change their pedagogical methods in teaching, need to be more creative to be able to convey the contents of IFRS. Accordingly, the study recommends IFRS teaching methods that can include case method, simulation method, case analysis, and group or individual presentation. At the same time, the study also suggests that students need to take more responsibility in the learning process and deal with real-life situations related to IFRS contents. In the same vein, Kalifeh (2017), which looks at changes in accounting curricula for college students in the United States when teaching IFRS, shows that progress has not been spread evenly across different regions in the United States. Kalifeh (2017) also proposes solutions to help improve the quality of accounting training to meet the requirements of international accounting integration. In the same research direction, Nanyan et al. (2019) show that schools applying IFRS in teaching will help students better adapt, increase their learning efficiency in ACCA's global exams at both basic and professional levels.
Besides the advantages, studies around the world have also noted that there are barriers to the teaching of IFRS such as the shortage of appropriately qualified teaching staff (Munter & Reckers, 2009;Zhu et al., 2011); there is no opportunity or means to retrain teaching staff so that they can teach a combination of IFRS and national accounting standards (Glover & Werner, 2015).
In Vietnam, Le (2017) states that to improve the quality of human resource training in the accounting profession at training institutions in the current context of deep integration, one of the most important measures is to foster and train IFRS knowledge for lecturers to fully and professionally teach so that they can approach and pass it on to students. Sharing the same view, Trinh (2019) also believes that the training and skills for accountants at universities need to change; the skills of bookkeeping and tax declaration only play a secondary role, serving the main purpose of accounting tasks. Or research by Phan (2020) shows that universities in Vietnam currently do not have a systematic curriculum on IFRS, and lecturers do not have full access to IFRS knowledge. Therefore, to apply IFRS in teaching, it is urgent to foster IFRS knowledge for lecturers through international professional associations in accounting and auditing.
From the review of the above domestic and foreign studies, the authors believe that: (i) When applying IFRS, all countries have established a roadmap, focusing on bringing IFRS into teaching to meet the needs of supplying human resources for related parties, such as enterprises, employers, etc.; (ii) The application of IFRS and the extent of application of IFRS to teaching in different countries are not uniform. Most of the studies have noted that there are positive effects when applying IFRS in teaching from different angles, including the curriculum, teaching methods, students, lecturers, teaching conditions, etc.; (iii) There are many factors that affect the introduction of IFRS into teaching at universities and colleges in different countries, with both internal and external factors of the universities and colleges; (iv) The quality of the teaching staff plays a key and important role in the process of bringing IFRS into effective teaching at the universities and colleges.

Research Design
To carry out this study, the authors followed research steps illustrated through the following diagram:

Regulations of Ministry of Finance on the application of IFRS (X_2)
Regulations are promulgated by the State to harmonize the rights and responsibilities of each citizen and every organization in the social order, towards the harmonization of the community's interests; these are the principles that define social relationships, shape the behavior of members of society and regulate the functioning of society. Accordingly, Trinh (2019) believes that when the Ministry of Finance promulgates regulations on the application of IFRS, it will be a legal basis for training institutions to transform training programs of accounting and auditing for complying with the regulations; accordingly, lecturers must foster and update their knowledge of IFRS to meet teaching requirements, thereby contributing to improving the quality of accounting and auditing teaching staff. Similarly, there are studies by Tran et al. (2019), Pham (2019).

Applying IFRS to the training of accounting and auditing (Y)
When the universities and colleges apply IFRS to teaching accounting and auditing professions, lecturers of accounting and auditing are motivated to research, study, and update their knowledge about IFRS by themselves, contributing to improving research capacity and teaching quality. Studies by Trinh (2019), Pham (2019), and Phan (2020) all suggest that when the universities and colleges apply IFRS in teaching, the quality of the teaching staff will be improved through understanding and imparting knowledge about IFRS. Hypothesis H2: Applying IFRS to the training accounting and auditing influences the quality of accounting and auditing lecturers.

Requirements from related parties (X_9)
Parties are considered to be related if one party can control or exercise significant influence over the other party in making financial and operational decisions. Studies by Freeman (1984), Thomas and Lee (1995), Mitchell et al. (1997), Bourne and Walker (2005), Bruce et al. (2008), Ackermann and Eden (2011) all point out that related parties have the right to propose and request legal and urgent requirements for suppliers of products, goods and service in general and other related issues. Hypothesis H3: Requirements from related parties influence the quality of accounting and auditing teaching staff.

Research Model
Based on research hypotheses, the authors proposed a research model that is a multivariable regression model with the dependent variable of the quality of accounting and auditing teaching staff and the three independent variables mentioned in each hypothesis of the study, as follows: Figure 2: Overview of the research model From the above-proposed model, the authors put forward the expected research equation as: Z = α + β1*X_2 + β2*Y + β3*X_9 + ε Where: α, β1, β2 and β3 are coefficients ε: is error

Variables of the Research Model
To serve the process of compiling questionnaires and collecting the data, the authors use the Likert scale (5 options), the rating levels according to this scale are as follows: 1 -Strongly disagree; 2 -Disagree; 3 -Neutral; 4 -Agree; 5 -Strongly agree. The variables and scales of the research model are determined as follows: The application of IFRS in teaching affects the teaching capacity of lecturers Z_2 The application of IFRS in teaching affects the capacity of teachers to develop and guide the use of training programs.

Z_3
The application of IFRS in teaching affects the capacity of lecturers to relate to the professional world and professional development capacity.

Z_4
The application of IFRS in teaching affects the lecturers' capacity of doing scientific research. The comments/feedback of the alumni/student network influence the application of IFRS-related knowledge in teaching X_93 Legislative requirements that affect the application of IFRS into teaching X_94

Sample and Data Collection
To collect data for the study, the authors used a pre-designed survey form based on the variables and scales identified. The final survey form was built based on 3 stages.
Stage 1, Developing a draft survey questionnaire: the authors conducted an overview of domestic and foreign studies related to the research problem to identify research gaps. Next, the research team delivered a drafted survey questionnaire with survey questions consisting of two parts, specifically: (i) general information about respondents, (ii) survey information.
Stage 2, Expert consultation and experimental investigation to complete the scales, observed variables, etc. to be surveyed: in this stage, the authors conducted direct interviews with experts who are administrators, lecturers at universities and colleges, and experts working in professional organizations with the interviews and consultations of 25 people. At this stage, the research team carried out direct interviews about the survey questionnaires designed in Stage 1 and discussed research ideas with experts and lecturers to consider whether the survey questionnaire is appropriate or not, whether it is necessary to supplement or adjust the observed scales and variables accordingly.
Stage 3, Design of the official survey questionnaire: based on the interview results in Stage 2, the authors synthesized and produced a complete survey questionnaire. To increase the effectiveness, accuracy, and feasibility of the survey questionnaire, the authors conducted a discussion with the experts to continue to record more opinions of the experts to perfect the final survey questionnaire at its best.
At the same time, the process of surveying 30 universities and colleges and 208 accounting lecturers at the institutions was conducted through interviews, direct surveys, and surveys through Google Form.

Analyzing of Data
From the validly collected survey questionnaires, the authors transferred the data to Excel, coding for variables according to each part of the survey questionnaire. Then, all the data was put into PLS-SEM software. In the process of data processing and analysis, the authors employed a number of analytical and testing tools as follows: First, the authors evaluated the internal consistency reliability through Composite Reliability (CR) and Cronbach's Alpha coefficient (CA). According to Henseler & Sarstedt (2013), the CR index should reach the threshold of 0.7 or higher, which is suitable for confirmatory research. Many other researchers also agree that a CR index of 0.7 or higher is an appropriate threshold for studies (Hair et al., 2017;Bagozzi et al., 1998). According to Hair et al. (2017), the condition to be accepted for the CA coefficient is that it is supposed to be greater than 0.7. At the same time, according to Devellis (2012), the CA coefficient needs to be 0.7 or more to be acceptable. Therefore, in this study, it is appropriate for the authors to choose a threshold for both coefficients to be 0.7 or more.
Second, the authors evaluated the convergence value through the average variance extracted (AVE). This is to ensure AVE is greater than 0.5. (Chin, 2010;Hair et al., 2014Hair et al., , 2017Hair et al., , 2019. Third, the authors conducted the discriminant value evaluation. The purpose of this analysis step is to show the distinctiveness of a structure from other structures in the model. The Fornell-Larcker criteria are the first way to assess discriminant value; next is to consider cross-loadings. In this way, discriminability is ensured when the square root of the AVE of each variable must be greater than its correlation coefficient with other variables (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). Recently, Henseler et al. (2015) proposes to evaluate the discriminant value through the HTMT index (Heterotrait-Monotrait ratio). Accordingly, this HTMT index value must be less than 0.9 to ensure the discrimination between the two research variables (Hair et al., 2019).
Fourth, the author tested the research hypotheses: Testing the hypotheses about the direct relationship through the path coefficient β and the p-value of the t-test (student test). Specifically: After PLS-SEM is run, the path coefficient (β) represents the hypothetical relationship between the variables. The path coefficient has an approximate normalized value between -1 and +1. The path coefficient approaching +1 represents a strong positive relationship, and vice versa; the closer to zero the relationship between the two research variables is, the weaker the relationship is. (Hair et al., 2017).
Fifth, the authors employed the Bootstrap 1000 technique. This is to evaluate the significance of the path coefficients. At the 5% level of significance, if the p-value is less than 0.05, it indicates that the effects in the model are all significant and vice versa.

Evaluation of the reliability and convergence value of the scale
The reliability of the scales for all research variables is presented in Table 2. The results show that the Composite Reliability (CR) of the research variables ranges from 0.874 to 0.941 and is higher than the minimum threshold of 0.70. The coefficients of Cronbach's Alpha (CA) of the research variables are also greater than the minimum threshold of 0.70 (ranging from 0.809 to 0.928), proving that the scales have high reliability. In addition, the Average Variance Extracted (AVE) values are all 0.635 or higher, which is higher than the minimum threshold of 0.50. Therefore, it can be concluded that the scales for the research variables are fully convergent.

Evaluation of the scale discriminant value
The authors evaluated the discriminant value of the scales through the criteria of the Fornell-Larcker coefficient and the HTMT coefficient. The results obtained are as follows: First, about the Fornell-Larcker coefficient Second, about the cross-loading Table 4 shows that the cross-load coefficient of one observed variable is always greater than all its loading coefficients on the remaining observed variables. Therefore, the measurement model achieves discriminant validity.

Three, about the HTMT coefficient
The authors continued to evaluate the discriminant value of the scale by using the HTMT coefficient. Table 5 shows that the values of HTMT coefficients range from 0.458 to 0.523, which is less than the threshold of 0.90. With the above analysis results, it is proved that the scale for the variables in the research model has the discriminant value. Thus, the scales for the research variables have reliability, ensure convergent value as well as discriminant value. Therefore, the collected data can be well adopted to test the research hypotheses.

The results of testing the hypotheses about the relationship of the research model
The results of testing the research model in Table 6 show that all three variables X_2, X_9 and Y have a positive influence on the variable Z (the corresponding p-values are all less than 5%). In which, variable Y has the strongest influence on Z (with β = 0.232, p-value = 0.021 < 0.05) followed by variable X_2 (with β = 0.224, p -value = 0.009 < 0.05) and lastly is the variable X_9 (with β = 0.199, p -value = 0.005 < 0.05).

Discussion
From the results of regression analysis, it is shown that the order of factors affecting the quality of accounting and auditing lecturers is (i) Applying IFRS to the training of accounting and auditing majors, (ii) Regulations of Ministry of Finance on the application of IFRS and (iii) Requirements from related parties. The results of this study are quite consistent with the reality at the universities and colleges with training in accounting and auditing in Vietnam, and these findings also have similarities with the research results by the researchers mentioned in the literature review and research hypotheses.
Therefore, according to the results of this study, the authors believe that, in order to apply IFRS to teaching at universities and colleges in Vietnam to meet the regulations on the application of IFRS by the Ministry of Finance and requirements from related parties in recruiting accounting and auditing workers, it is required that schools carry out the following activities: Firstly, colleges with training in accounting and auditing need to urgently deploy training and refresher courses on IFRS knowledge for lecturers participating in teaching IFRS-related modules, considering collaboration with professional organizations and associations such as ACCA to foster IFRS knowledge for lecturers participating in teaching.
Second, schools need to quickly innovate and update their IFRS knowledge to put into accounting and auditing training programs by integrating IFRS knowledge into accounting modules, such as the modules of principles of accounting, financial accounting, international accounting. In the teaching process, it is possible to integrate and teach parallelly between knowledge of IFRS and knowledge of accounting standards and national accounting regimes so that learners can see the difference between accounting regimes of the country with IFRS.
Third, to unify the content and knowledge related to IFRS when it is put into teaching in the knowledge blocks in the training programs of the schools with training in accounting and auditing nationwide, the Ministry of Education and Training needs to coordinate with the Ministry of Finance to issue the learning outcomes of the training program on IFRS-related knowledge so that the schools can easily identify and apply when updating their training programs. At the same time, the universities and colleges are also expected to invest in their facilities to support teaching, including learning materials, information technology infrastructure, etc. to facilitate the teaching and learning activities regarding IFRS.
Fourth, on the part of the teaching staff, the lecturers must change their views on the teaching method; the teaching method should be turned from the presentation into case handling, to simulate reality and apply the principles of IFRS to handle accounting work at enterprises. Active teaching methods should be favored to improve the effectiveness of IFRS teaching for learners.

Conclusion
The results of this study show that the factors of applying IFRS to the training of accounting and auditing majors, regulations of the Ministry of Finance on the application of IFRS, and requirements from related parties influence the quality of accounting and auditing teaching staff. In detail, the application of IFRS in teaching accounting and auditing has had a significant influence on the quality of accounting and auditing teaching staff at universities and colleges in Vietnam. Therefore, to meet the requirements of the Ministry of Finance, related parties, and learners' needs, it is required that the universities and colleges in Vietnam organize training and refresher courses on IFRS knowledge for lecturers, investing in teaching aids and quickly innovating and updating training programs on accounting and auditing so that the training products, i.e. the learners, can meet the requirements from related parties in recruitment such as enterprises, professional organizations in accounting, auditing, etc.