What is the enterprise’s headquarters? Are accounting books and accounting documents required to be kept at the head office of the enterprise?

What is the headquarters of an enterprise?

The headquarters of an enterprise is specified in Article 42 of the Law on Enterprises 2020 as follows:

Headquarters of an enterprise enterprise

The enterprise’s headquarters is located in the territory of Vietnam, is the contact address of the enterprise and is determined according to the administrative unit boundaries; with phone number, fax number and email (if any).

Accordingly, the head office of the enterprise is located in the territory of Vietnam, is the contact address of the enterprise and is determined according to the administrative unit boundaries.

The enterprise’s headquarters has a phone number, fax number and email (if any).

Are accounting books and accounting documents required to be kept at the enterprise’s headquarters?

The retention of accounting books and accounting documents at the enterprise’s headquarters is prescribed in Clause 2, Article 11 of the Law on Enterprises 2020 as follows:

Enterprise document retention regime career

1. Depending on the type, businesses must keep the following documents:

a) Company charter; the company’s internal management regulations; member registration book or shareholder registration book;

b) Certificate of industrial property rights protection; Certificate of registration of product, goods and service quality; licenses and other certificates;

c) Documents and papers confirming ownership of the company’s assets;

d) Voting slips, vote counting minutes, minutes of meetings of the Board of Members, General Meeting of Shareholders, Board of Directors; decisions of enterprises;

dd) Prospectus for offering or listing securities;

e) Report of the Supervisory Board, conclusions of inspection agencies, conclusions of auditing organizations;

g) Accounting books, accounting documents, annual financial reports.

2. Enterprises must keep the documents specified in Clause 1 of this Article at the headquarters or other locations specified in the company charter; The retention period shall comply with the provisions of law.

According to the above regulations, enterprises must keep accounting books and accounting documents at the headquarters or other locations specified in the company charter.

Thus, accounting books and accounting documents do not necessarily have to be kept at the enterprise’s headquarters but can be kept at a location specified by the company’s charter.

How do I need to prepare documents when an enterprise moves its head office address?

In case an enterprise moves its head office address as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 47 Decree 01/2021/ND-CP as follows:

Registering to change the head office address of the enterprise career

1. Before registering to change the head office address to a district, province, or centrally run city other than where the head office is located, leading to a change in the management tax authority, the enterprise must carry out procedures with the tax authority related to the relocation according to the provisions of tax law.

2. In case of moving the head office address, the enterprise sends the registration dossier to change the business registration content to the Business Registration Office where the new head office is located. The dossier includes the following documents:

a) Notice of change in business registration content signed by the legal representative of the enterprise;

b) Resolution and decision of the company owner for a one-member limited liability company; resolutions, decisions and copies of meeting minutes of the Board of Members for limited liability companies with two or more members, partnerships, and of the General Meeting of Shareholders for joint stock companies on the transfer of the enterprise’s headquarters address.

3. After receiving the business registration dossier, the Business Registration Office issues a Receipt, checks the validity of the dossier and issues a Business Registration Certificate to the enterprise according to regulations.

4. When changing the head office address of an enterprise, the rights and obligations of the enterprise do not change.

Thus, according to regulations, in case of moving the head office address, the enterprise sends the registration dossier to change the business registration content to the Business Registration Office where the new head office is located.

Dossier includes the following documents:

(1) Notice of change in business registration content signed by the legal representative of the enterprise;

(2) Resolutions and decisions of the company owner for one-member limited liability companies; Resolutions, decisions and copies of meeting minutes of the Board of Members for limited liability companies with two or more members, partnerships, and of the General Meeting of Shareholders for joint stock companies on the transfer of the enterprise’s headquarters address.

After receiving the business registration dossier, the Business Registration Office issues a Receipt, checks the validity of the dossier and issues a Business Registration Certificate to the enterprise according to regulations.