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2026/08/20
Effective January 1, 2025, Circular No. 71/2024/TT-BTC officially came into force, replacing Circular No. 24/2017/TT-BTC on the accounting regime for cooperatives and cooperative unions. This marks the most significant change to the accounting regulations for cooperatives in nearly a decade.
In practice, many agricultural cooperatives are facing a concerning paradox: although they operate normally and achieve positive production results, their accounting records fail to pass inspections. The issue is not a lack of accounting expertise—it is that Circular No. 71 introduces accounting requirements specifically designed for the cooperative model, which conventional accounting software and traditional accounting procedures are often unable to accommodate.
Cooperatives that incorrectly or incompletely apply Circular No. 71/2024/TT-BTC may be required by the tax authorities to revise their accounting records, pay additional taxes, or face administrative penalties for accounting violations. This is particularly important for cooperatives seeking bank loans or participating in government-funded programs, as compliant accounting records are often a prerequisite for approval.
This article has been prepared by Sorimachi Vietnam, which has supported more than 350 agricultural cooperatives nationwide, to address these challenges. It explains the key changes introduced by Circular No. 71, outlines the practical actions cooperatives need to take, and shows how to achieve compliance from the outset without spending unnecessary time on trial and error.
Circular No. 71/2024/TT-BTC, issued by the Ministry of Finance on October 31, 2024, establishes the accounting regime for cooperatives and cooperative unions. The Circular is developed based on the 2023 Law on Cooperatives and other applicable legal regulations.
|
Item |
Circular No. 24/2017 (Previous) |
Circular No. 71/2024 (Current) |
|
Chart of Accounts |
Chart of accounts designed for the previous cooperative accounting framework |
Updated and expanded chart of accounts in line with the 2023 Law on Cooperatives and the latest accounting standards |
|
Members’ Capital Contributions |
General guidance |
Detailed regulations on the recognition and tracking of each member’s capital contribution commitments |
|
Surplus Distribution |
No specific guidance |
Clear regulations on surplus allocation ratios for cooperative funds and distributions to members |
|
Cooperative Funds |
Production Development Fund and Reserve Fund |
Introduces the Business Development Fund and clearly defines the purpose of each fund |
|
Financial Reporting Forms |
Reporting templates under Circular No. 24 |
All reporting templates updated in accordance with the appendices of Circular No. 71 |
|
Tax Reporting |
Separate tax filing guidance |
Integrated guidance for preparing tax declarations using the latest tax authority forms |
If your cooperative is still using accounting software that has not been updated to comply with Circular No. 71/2024/TT-BTC, or is still using the chart of accounts under Circular No. 24/2017/TT-BTC, all financial statements prepared from January 1, 2025 onward should be reviewed and adjusted accordingly. This should be treated as a top priority.
Circular No. 71/2024/TT-BTC establishes a chart of accounts specifically designed for cooperatives and cooperative unions. It differs in several respects from the chart of accounts used by ordinary business enterprises. Below are the specialized accounts that agricultural cooperative accountants should be familiar with.
|
411 |
Owners’ equity (members’ capital contributions) |
|
412 |
Asset revaluation surplus |
|
414 |
Development investment fund |
|
415 |
Financial reserve fund |
|
416 |
Business development fund (new) |
|
421 |
Undistributed profit after tax (undistributed surplus) |
|
338 |
Other payables (including surplus payable to members) |
|
352 |
Provisions for liabilities (including internal member loans) |
Account 416 – Business Development Fund is a completely new account introduced under Circular No. 71/2024/TT-BTC and did not exist under Circular No. 24/2017/TT-BTC. Cooperatives are required to maintain this fund separately and record its use in accordance with the provisions of the 2023 Law on Cooperatives.
Circular No. 71 specifies the mandatory accounting documents that cooperatives must prepare and retain. These documents form the foundation of the entire accounting process. Even if the accounting figures are accurate, failure to use the prescribed documentation may result in non-compliance from a legal perspective.
Review the following items as soon as possible:
Members’ capital contributions are one of the most distinctive accounting transactions in a cooperative and have no direct equivalent in ordinary business enterprises. Circular No. 71 provides clearer guidance on how to recognize, monitor, and account for members’ capital contributions, including special situations such as capital refunds when a member withdraws from the cooperative.
The voucher should clearly state: Member’s name, member ID,contribution amount, contribution date, type of capital (charter capital or regular capital). The document must be signed by the contributor, the cashier, and the accountant.
Debit: Account 111 (Cash) or Debit: Account 112 (Bank Deposits)
Credit: Account 411 – Owners’ Equity (Member Capital Contributions), with detailed records maintained for each individual member.
The subsidiary ledger for Account 411 should record, for each member: Opening balance, increases during the period, decreases during the period, closing balance. This register is a mandatory document for Members’ General Meetings and for inspections conducted by regulatory authorities.
The cooperative is responsible for issuing a capital contribution certificate to each member. The certificate must be consistent with the accounting records.
This is a more complex transaction because the contributed asset must be appraised before it can be recorded.
Under Circular No. 71, the cooperative must prepare an Asset Valuation Report, signed by at least three members of the Supervisory Board or the Board of Directors.
Debit: Relevant Asset Account (e.g., Account 211 – Tangible Fixed Assets)
Credit: Account 411 – based on the appraised value stated in the valuation report.
Many cooperative accountants record in-kind capital contributions based solely on the value declared by the member without preparing an asset valuation report. This is a direct violation of Circular No. 71/2024/TT-BTC and may result in accounting adjustments being required by the tax authorities during an inspection or audit.
Surplus distribution is one of the most fundamental differences between cooperative accounting and corporate accounting. While companies distribute profits based primarily on shareholders’ capital contributions, cooperatives distribute surplus according to cooperative principles, including allocations based on each member’s level of use of the cooperative’s services.
According to Circular No. 71/2024/TT-BTC, a cooperative’s surplus, after year-end settlement, must be distributed in the following order of priority:
|
Priority |
Distribution Item |
Minimum Allocation |
Remarks |
|
1 |
Offset accumulated losses from previous years (if any) |
Based on the actual loss amount |
Highest priority |
|
2 |
Corporate income tax (if applicable) |
In accordance with tax regulations |
|
|
3 |
Allocate to the Development Investment Fund (Account 414) |
At least 20% |
Mandatory under the 2023 Law on Cooperatives |
|
4 |
Allocate to the Business Development Fund (Account 416) |
Determined by the Members’ General Meeting |
New account introduced under Circular No. 71 |
|
5 |
Allocate to the Financial Reserve Fund (Account 415) |
At least 5% |
|
|
6 |
Distribute surplus to members based on their use of cooperative services |
Remaining surplus (allocation ratio determined by the Members’ General Meeting) |
A distinctive feature of cooperatives that differs from business enterprises |
|
7 |
Distribute surplus based on members’ capital contributions |
Remaining surplus after Step 6 |
Step 1 – Transfer the Current Year’s Surplus to Account 421
Debit: Account 911 – Determination of Business Results
Credit: Account 421 – Undistributed Profit After Tax
Step 2 – Allocate the Cooperative Funds
(Based on the Resolution of the Members’ General Meeting)
Debit: Account 421
Credit: Account 414 – Development Investment Fund
Debit: Account 421
Credit: Account 415 – Financial Reserve Fund
Debit: Account 421
Credit: Account 416 – Business Development Fund
Step 3 – Recognize the Surplus Payable to Members
Debit: Account 421
Credit: Account 338 – Other Payables (maintained separately for each eligible member)
Step 4 – Pay the Surplus to Members
Debit: Account 338
Credit: Account 111 – Cash
or Credit: Account 112 – Bank Deposits
“Before using WACA, year-end surplus distribution meant spending an entire week calculating figures manually and reconciling records. One mistake meant starting all over again. Now the system automatically calculates everything based on the Members’ General Meeting resolution—we only enter the input data, and the software handles the rest.”
— An accountant from an agricultural cooperative in Dong Thap (Customer of WACA)
Circular No. 71 requires cooperatives to prepare a complete set of four mandatory financial statements. Each report has its own prescribed template provided in the Appendix to the Circular and must not use the reporting formats designed for business enterprises.
Annual Financial Statement Submission Deadlines
|
Report |
Submission To |
Deadline |
|
Annual Financial Statements |
Directly supervising tax authority |
No later than March 30 of the following year |
|
Annual Financial Statements |
Cooperative Alliance (supervising organization) |
No later than March 30 of the following year |
|
Annual Financial Statements |
Business Registration Authority |
No later than April 30 of the following year |
|
Annual Financial Settlement Report |
Members’ General Meeting (Annual Meeting) |
Before the Annual Members’ General Meeting is held |
Based on our experience supporting more than 300 agricultural cooperatives in implementing WACA, the experts at Sorimachi Vietnam have identified the five most common accounting mistakes that cooperatives make when transitioning to Circular No. 71/2024/TT-BTC.
This is the most common mistake. Outdated accounting software has not been updated, and accountants continue to record transactions using the old chart of accounts, resulting in financial reports that do not match the reporting formats required under Circular No. 71.
→ Recommendation: Update the chart of accounts at the beginning of the 2025 fiscal year.
Many cooperatives continue the old practice of combining this fund with Account 414. However, Account 416 is a completely new account introduced under Circular No. 71, with its own purpose and accounting requirements.
→ Recommendation: Create Account 416 and transfer the relevant balances to the correct account.
Some accountants calculate and record surplus distribution without an official resolution from the Members’ General Meeting. During tax inspections, the authorities may require this resolution as supporting documentation.
→ Recommendation: Retain the annual Members’ General Meeting resolution on surplus distribution.
The balances recorded in Account 411 do not match the capital contribution certificates issued to members. This often results from recording transactions at different times or failing to update changes promptly.
→ Recommendation: Reconcile the records at least once every three months.
Some cooperatives use enterprise accounting software and generate financial statements based on Circular No. 200, instead of the templates prescribed in the appendices to Circular No. 71. Such reports are not accepted by the tax authorities or the business registration authority.
→ Recommendation: Use accounting software specifically designed for cooperatives .
Understanding the requirements of Circular No. 71/2024/TT-BTC is only the first step. In practice, cooperative accountants often handle multiple responsibilities at the same time—maintaining accounting records, preparing tax reports, reconciling accounts, and processing accounting documents. It is not always easy to remember every accounting entry required for each specialized cooperative transaction.
That is why Sorimachi Vietnam developed WACA. Rather than adapting a general-purpose accounting system with an additional cooperative module, WACA was designed from the ground up specifically for Vietnamese cooperatives.
How WACA Meets the Needs of Cooperative Accountants
|
Accounting Task |
Manual / Excel |
Using WACA |
|
Chart of Accounts under Circular No. 71 |
✗ Must be updated manually |
✓ Built-in and automatically updated |
|
Tracking Each Member’s Capital Contributions |
✗ Managed manually in Excel, prone to errors |
✓ Dedicated module with automatic updates |
|
Calculating Surplus Distribution |
✗ Manual calculations for each allocation ratio, with a high risk of errors |
✓ Enter the Members’ General Meeting resolution and the system performs the calculations automatically |
|
Financial Statement Templates under Circular No. 71 |
✗ Must be prepared manually based on the Circular’s appendices |
✓ Print directly using the official templates prescribed in the appendices to Circular No. 71 |
|
Tax Declarations |
✗ Data must be entered separately into tax filing software |
✓ Export tax declarations in the format required by the tax authority |
|
Management of Cooperative Funds (Accounts 414, 415, and 416) |
✗ Easy to combine funds incorrectly and difficult to manage separately |
✓ Each fund is managed independently with clear records |
|
Financial Reports for the Members’ General Meeting |
Approximately 3–5 days of manual preparation |
✓ Generate compliant reports within a few hours |
WACA, developed by Sorimachi Vietnam, is an accounting software solution purpose-built for cooperatives. It fully integrates the chart of accounts and financial reporting templates required under Circular No. 71/2024/TT-BTC, while also supporting cooperative-specific accounting operations such as member capital contribution management, surplus distribution, and cooperative fund management.
Together with FaceFarm and the Hanbai sales management software, WACA forms a comprehensive management ecosystem for cooperatives.
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