BDO in Ukraine in Conference: “Audit Profession Development: New Practices and Services”

April 22, 2023 is the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Law of Ukraine “On Auditing” that officially introduced the audit profession in Ukraine. This December, the Audit Chamber of Ukraine (ACU), that unites all auditors and audit entities, will celebrate the 30th anniversary of its foundation.

The ACU hosted the international online conference “Audit profession development: new practices and services” on this occasion. This conference covered the challenges and opportunities faced by the auditors, identified new directions for the development of the audit business, and addressed the responsibility and role of the profession in ensuring a sustainable economy of Ukraine.

The event was attended by national and international experts in services provision by the audit firms in consulting, corporate governance, assessment, and sustainability reporting. Totally, 37 speakers from 10 countries attended the conference. 

One of the interesting aspect of the conference was the focus on non-audit services that can be provided by the audit and consulting companies based on their audit experience. This general global trend was noted by many speakers as one that can help keep relationships with clients and meet their needs within a longer period of time than the standard audit service cycle.
 


The conference “Audit profession development: new practices and services” covered two key sessions:

The first session, — focused on the review of international practice of providing non-audit services by the audit firms, — highlighted global trends and innovations in audit. Along with the standing of audit, there is a positive trend in demand for various related services (forensics, corporate governance, Due Diligence, accounting services, tax consulting, war damage assessment, etc.).

The second session was focused on the experience and new challenges of implementing these services by the Ukrainian audit firms.

The main trends of the discussion concerned Ukraine's European integration as one of the factors of development of non-audit services markets: new regulations and access to the new markets are an important element of creating demand for professional consultants' services. Another topic of discussion was the rapid introduction of artificial intelligence in the activities of the auditors and consultants, although artificial intelligence was mainly considered not as a threat to the profession, but as a factor of development and a powerful tool for optimizing work.

BDO in Ukraine speaker on important non-audit services

The second session included a presentation by Andrii Borenkov, Partner and Head of Advisory at BDO in Ukraine. His topic was “What is Due Diligence and why it is an important part of a transaction”. Before taking up the position of Head of Advisory, Andrii had over 10 years of experience in corporate finance and handled M&A transactions.

Andrii pointed out in his presentation: “We would like to share our experience in conducting due diligence as an important non-audit service that extensively employs our team's audit experience. Notably, even during the war, we have received requests from foreign investors for due diligence of companies, and this is clearly a reason for optimism.

Another thing we would like to point out is that our due diligence service is quite flexible: while most requests are for due diligence of the acquisition object, consulting support for clients, who are themselves subject to due diligence, remains important. A properly structured process is the key to success, so a professional advisor's services are so valuable.

The interesting thing is that this message has actually fostered another discussion about Ukraine's recovery. We, as an international company, believe that our mission is not only to attract foreign resources and experience, but also to support our clients in Ukraine to successfully obtain such assistance, as many of them meet international donors and financial organizations for the first time and do not always have the experience to cooperate with them effectively. We believe that expanding the capabilities of the Ukrainian state and business in obtaining international assistance and investment is an important function of consulting companies during the war and after it ends”.

To sum up the non-stop 8-hour conference, it is clear that over the past 30 years, audit has evolved significantly, with new directions, responsibilities and the role of the audit profession in ensuring a sustainable economy. This proves that auditors are constantly striving to adapt and change and, as a result, improve their performance. 

If your company needs to perform an audit, our team would be pleased to help you complete this procedure efficiently and quickly, as we use the most advanced technologies in our work and apply them daily in practice to make it convenient for our clients. Contact us for advice if you have any questions.