In addition to business operations, every enterprise has a range of governance and compliance obligations: maintaining legal records, organizing meetings, issuing resolutions, updating registrations, and monitoring license expiration dates. Neglecting these obligations can lead to unfortunate legal risks.
Corporate secretarial and administrative services help businesses, especially FDI companies, manage these tasks systematically. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the service scope, from document management and registration changes to compliance and meeting secretarial work.
Overview of corporate secretarial services
Company secretarial and business administration services help businesses manage administrative tasks and maintain legal compliance. In many countries, company secretaries play an important corporate role. In Vietnam, outsourced services are becoming increasingly popular, especially among FDI companies.
This service helps businesses avoid missing obligations, maintain systematic records, and be ready to provide evidence to regulatory bodies or investors when needed. It is part of a professional corporate governance system.
With 15 years of experience, Vinasc supports FDI enterprises in managing legal documents, monitoring reporting obligations, and implementing registration changes in a timely and compliant manner.
In reality, many businesses focus solely on accounting and taxation, neglecting governance and legal compliance. The consequence is inconsistent internal records, improperly archived resolutions, or missed deadlines for important permits. Businesses only realize these shortcomings when they need to provide proof to regulatory agencies, banks, or partners. Corporate secretarial services were created to fill this gap, helping businesses operate professionally and minimize potential legal risks.
1. Company secretary hired externally.
Outsourcing corporate secretarial services allows businesses to obtain professional support without having to hire additional permanent staff.
What is an outsourced company secretary?
This is a service where an external entity undertakes administrative, compliance, and legal record management tasks for a business under contract, instead of assigning internal personnel.
The job of a secretary in an outsourced company.
This includes: managing legal records, monitoring license expiration dates and reporting obligations, assisting with meeting organization, drafting resolutions, and updating registration changes.
Which businesses should hire a company secretary?
Suitable for FDI businesses, businesses with many compliance procedures, or those without a dedicated legal and administrative department.
Company secretarial service costs
Costs are typically calculated as a package based on the scope of work and business size, which is more economical than maintaining a fixed staff for the same workload.
🔗 See the in-depth article: Outsourced company secretaries.
2. Company secretary for FDI enterprises
For FDI businesses, the company secretary acts as a bridge, helping foreign investors manage compliance in Vietnam.
The role of a company secretary in FDI enterprises.
Company secretaries assist FDI businesses in monitoring legal obligations, managing records, and supporting investors in understanding compliance status in a transparent manner.
Managing legal documents for FDI companies.
This includes systematically managing investment registration certificates, business registrations, subsidiary licenses, meeting minutes, and resolutions in an easily searchable manner.
Monitoring the reporting obligations of FDI enterprises.
FDI enterprises have many reporting obligations (investment, statistics, foreign exchange, etc.). The company secretary helps monitor deadlines and ensure reports are submitted on time.
How do company secretaries assist foreign investors?
With its multilingual team, Vinasc assists foreign investors in understanding their obligations, preparing necessary documents, and communicating more effectively with regulatory agencies.
🔗 See in-depth article: Company secretary for FDI enterprises.
3. Business Management Services
Proper corporate governance helps businesses operate transparently and control internal risks.
What does business management involve?
This includes managing the organizational structure, issuing and archiving resolutions, managing shareholder/member information, and establishing a schedule for compliance with recurring obligations.
Managing corporate resolutions and decisions.
Resolutions and decisions must be drafted, adopted, and archived in accordance with regulations to have legal validity and serve as evidence when needed.
Managing shareholder and capital contributor information.
Businesses need to maintain a register of members/shareholders and update it whenever there are changes in capital contributions or transfers to ensure transparency.
Develop a business compliance schedule.
A compliance calendar lists recurring obligations and deadlines, helping businesses stay proactive and avoid missing any obligations.
🔗 See in-depth article: Business management services.
4. Managing corporate legal records
Legal documents are a valuable asset; good management helps businesses be proactive and reduce risk.
What does a company’s legal documentation include?
This includes: business/investment registration certificate, articles of incorporation, meeting minutes, resolutions, member/shareholder register, contracts, and licenses.
How long must businesses retain legal records?
The retention period varies depending on the type of document; many important documents need to be retained for the entire duration of operation and for several years afterward as required by regulations.
How to build a legal documentation system.
Businesses should categorize records into groups, digitize them, and store them systematically, along with an update mechanism to facilitate retrieval and ensure data security.
Risks when businesses do not manage records adequately.
Missing documents can make it difficult for businesses to prove their legitimacy to regulatory authorities, delay procedures, and increase legal risks.
🔗 See in-depth article: Managing corporate legal records.
5. Changes to business registration
When there are changes in information, businesses must promptly carry out the registration amendment procedures.
Cases requiring changes to business registration.
This includes changes to name, address, business lines, charter capital, legal representative, members/shareholders, and other registration information.
Change of legal representative
Businesses must update the legal representative’s information when there is a change; this is crucial information affecting their signing authority.
Change of company registered address
Changing the company’s headquarters, especially to a different district/province, can involve tax procedures. The correct procedures must be followed to avoid operational disruptions.
Changes to the company’s registered capital.
Any increase or decrease in charter capital must be carried out according to proper procedures and updated in the registration, while also taking into account the impact on business license tax and capital contribution commitments.
🔗 See in-depth article: Changes to business registration.
6. Changes to the investment registration certificate
Foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprises need to amend their investment registration certificates when the project undergoes changes.
When is it necessary to amend the investment certificate?
When there are changes to investment capital, objectives, location, schedule, or investors, businesses must follow the prescribed adjustment procedures.
Changes to project investment capital
Any increase or decrease in investment capital must be updated on the investment registration certificate and be consistent with the financial capacity and project progress.
Change of project location
Relocating a project requires adjusting the certificate and ensuring the new location meets the conditions of the investment sector.
Change of project investor
When transferring capital or a project to another investor, the procedures for changing investors must be carried out in accordance with investment regulations.
🔗 See in-depth article: Changes to the investment registration certificate.
7. Business Compliance Services
Compliance services help businesses proactively manage their recurring obligations.
Periodic compliance obligations of businesses
This includes obligations related to taxes, financial reporting, investment reporting, labor, insurance, and other specialized reports on a regular basis.
How to build a compliance calendar
Businesses create a list of obligations by month/quarter/year, assigning deadlines and responsible persons, then monitor and remind them to ensure timely completion.
Control the validity period of business licenses.
Many licenses have a time limit; timely monitoring and renewal help businesses avoid operational disruptions and penalties.
Compliance report for the board of directors
Regular compliance reports help management understand the status of compliance and identify risks that need to be addressed.
🔗 See in-depth article: Business Compliance Services.
8. Business Meeting Secretary
Properly organizing meetings and taking minutes ensures that business decisions have legal validity.
Preparing for the board of members meeting.
It is necessary to prepare meeting invitations, documents, meeting agendas, and ensure that the conditions for conducting the meeting comply with the regulations and legal provisions.
Preparing for the shareholders’ general meeting.
The organization of a shareholders’ general meeting must comply with the procedures regarding convening, notification, documents, and conditions for conducting the meeting in order for resolutions to be valid.
Prepare minutes and resolutions of the meeting.
Minutes and resolutions must accurately reflect the content and results of the voting and be signed by authorized persons to have legal validity.
Managing post-business meeting records
Meeting records should be kept complete and systematically, serving as a basis for implementation and proof when needed.
🔗 See the in-depth article: Business Meeting Secretary.
Transparent work processes at Vinasc
Thanks to the fact that most documents can now be processed online, coordination between Vinasc and its clients has become simpler and more convenient when both parties are in good faith. The entire process is carried out via email on a fixed monthly schedule.
| Time / Step | Content |
| 20th – 25th of each month | Vinasc sent an email reminding customers to prepare their documents. |
| Days 1-2 of the following month | Vinasc sends emails requesting customers to provide documents. |
| Receiving & Processing | Based on the received documents, Vinasc proceeds with the work; if anything is missing or needs clarification, further communication will be conducted via email. |
| Notification of completion | Once completed, Vinasc will send an email notification for customers to confirm. |
| Confirm & continue | If the client agrees, Vinasc proceeds with the next steps; if not, both parties continue discussions until an agreement is reached. |
Vinasc prioritizes communication and work processing via email — a method that helps to keep a clear and transparent record of all work. This allows clients to continuously monitor and control progress, even when internal accountants are on leave or there are personnel disruptions.
Why do FDI businesses choose Vinasc?
Beyond providing company secretarial and business administration services, Vinasc supports foreign investors through a transparent and reliable workflow. Moreover, our 15 years of experience provide clients with greater confidence in ongoing compliance.
- All communications are tracked via email, allowing businesses to retrieve them at any time.
- A single point of contact throughout the entire process, ensuring customers don’t have to explain things from scratch.
- Trusted and chosen by many foreign investors for long-term commitment.
- The quality remains consistent even during peak periods such as tax settlement.
- The workflow is clear, transparent, and easy to track via email.
In addition to its professional duties, Vinasc also supports businesses in building compliance habits: scheduling periodic obligations, identifying responsible contacts, and establishing proper record-keeping methods. These are simple tasks that are often overlooked, and are a major reason why many businesses encounter problems even without intending to violate regulations.
Service quality is a shared goal of both Vinasc and its clients. To achieve this, the provision of complete and timely documentation by businesses is crucial, ensuring accuracy and adherence to schedules.
In addition to its core services, Vinasc regularly updates its customers via email and the company’s Zalo OA about changes in policies and laws that may affect their businesses — this is a completely free service.
It is important to emphasize that compliance with the law is a mandatory obligation for all businesses, with the business owner, legal representative, and director bearing primary and ultimate legal responsibility.
An important note: Vinasc is a consulting firm that collects documents to process client files. However, according to the law, the responsibility for archiving records and documents remains with the business, unless the two parties have a separate contractual agreement regarding archiving.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Does Vinasc provide legal document management services for FDI companies? Yes. Vinasc systematically supports the management of legal documents, monitors reporting obligations, and handles registration changes for FDI enterprises.
Does the company secretarial service include business registration changes? Yes. Vinasc assists with procedures for changing business registration and adjusting investment registration certificates when necessary.
Who is responsible for storing the company’s legal records? By regulation, the responsibility for record storage rests with the company; Vinasc assists in managing, organizing, and monitoring these records, unless there is a separate agreement regarding storage.
Do small businesses need corporate secretarial services? Yes. Even small businesses have obligations related to paperwork, resolutions, and license deadlines. Corporate secretarial services help standardize and track these obligations without the need for additional permanent staff, which is especially useful when the business is small.
Conclude
In summary, company secretarial and business administration services help businesses maintain systematic and reliable compliance. Moreover, proper preparation can prevent administrative problems and reduce potential legal risks.
For FDI companies, Vinasc provides professional support based on 15 years of experience serving foreign investors. In addition, our clear and transparent workflow helps businesses manage compliance more effectively.
Therefore, let Vinasc be your trusted partner. We help make every compliance step smoother, safer, and more secure.
Contact us for consultation.
If your business needs support with corporate secretarial services, the Vinasc team is always ready to advise — quickly, legally, and with dedication. Let Vinasc be your partner in the growth of your business in Vietnam.
Contact — Vinasc Accounting and Tax Consulting Company Limited:
- Hotline: 0947 112 118 or 0971 112 118
- Email: Vinasc.hcm@gmail.com
- Website: https://vinasc.vn
- Zalo OA: https://zalo.me/1108220964917000230