Assessment of threats to business continuity: accounting aspect
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35774/visnyk2025.03.164Keywords:
principles of financial reporting, business continuity, accountant’s professional judgment, business conditions, risk and threat assessment, business continuity managementAbstract
Introduction. When preparing financial statements, an accountant is required to assess an enterprise’s ability to continue its activities on a going concern basis. The war significantly deteriorated the economic conditions for doing business in Ukraine, and as a result, the number of external risks increased, which the accountant must identify in a timely manner and assess their impact on the enterprise’s activities.
Purpose. The article aims to investigate how an accountant identifies and assesses threats to business continuity in Ukraine’s martial law conditions based on his professional judgment.
Methods. Data for analysis were collected by surveying 40 accountants of agricultural enterprises and by content analysis of publications by Ukrainian researchers for 2022-2025, dedicated to assessing the conditions for doing business in Ukraine in wartime. The research used the methods of analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, generalization, and comparative analysis. The questionnaire data were processed in MS Excel using economic and statistical methods (impact coefficient, concordance coefficient, and grouping).
Results. At the management reporting level, the accountant carries out the initial assessment of threats to the continuity of the enterprise’s activities. His assessment, which is based on the provisions of accounting standards and his professional judgment, is supplemented by the contribution of other management personnel and internal controllers, resulting in the accounting and analytical support for business continuity management. The results of the study show that in wartime, three factors have a critical impact on the continuity of the activities of agricultural enterprises: military operations, a shortage of qualified personnel due to the mobilization of workers, and an excessive share of loan sources of financing. Their specific weight in the structure of all factors is 44%. At the same time, these factors are usually not a threat in peacetime. Factors that are directly related to the operational activities of the enterprise and characterize the circulation of fixed and working capital strongly impact the continuity of the enterprise’s activities. In contrast, factors that are permanent for the economy of many countries (devaluation of the national currency, reduction in the population’s purchasing power, inflation) are not significant threats to the continuity of the enterprise’s activities.
Prospects. The results of the accountants’ assessment of threats to the continuity of the enterprise’s activities, presented in this study, will help the business develop a survival strategy in conditions of uncertainty by substantiating mechanisms for counteracting negative factors. Developing such strategies can be the object of further research.
References
Bielkin, I. (2024). Ahrarnyi sektor Ukrainy v umovakh viiny: problemy ta perspektyvy rozvytku [Agricultural sector of Ukraine in the conditions of war: problems and prospects of development]. Naukovi perspektyvy – Scientific Perspectives, 4(46), 484-498. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.52058/2708-7530-2024-4(46)-484-498. [in Ukrainian].
Danyliak, A., Zvierieva, K., & Bielkina, M. (2023). Dumky ukrainskykh ahrariiv pro yikh potreby ta pereshkody dlia vprovadzhennia ekopraktyk ta yevrointehratsii [Opinions of Ukrainian farmers about their needs and obstacles to the implementation of eco-practices and European integration]. Kyiv: Tsentr ekolohichnykh initsiatyv «Ekodiia». Retrieved from https://ecoaction.org.ua/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/ dumky-fermeriv-pro-eko-es.pdf. [in Ukrainian].
Makaliuk, I., Kashpurenko, T., & Barannikov, M. (2023). Stanovyshche pidpryiemstv ahrarnoho sektoru Ukrainy v umovakh viiny: finansovo-investytsiini aspekty [Position of enterprises from the agricultural sector of Ukraine in the conditions of war: financial and investment aspects]. Ekonomika ta suspilstvo – Economy and Society, 49. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.32782/2524-0072/2023-49-7. [in Ukrainian].
Rohozhuk, N. (2023). Perspektyvy rozvytku ahrarnoho biznesu v Ukraini v umovakh viiny [Prospects for the development of agricultural business in Ukraine during war]. Ekonomika ta suspilstvo – Economy and Society, 54. Retrieved from https://doi. org/10.32782/2524-0072/2023-54-14. [in Ukrainian].
Solonenko, Yu., & Panasiuk, P. (2023). Derzhavna pidtrymka ta stymuliuvannia biznesu Ukrainy v umovakh viiny [State support and business stimulation Ukraine in the conditions of war]. Halytskyi ekonomichnyi visnyk – Galician economic journal, 82(3), 190-200. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.33108/galicianvisnyk_ tntu2023.03.190. [in Ukrainian].
Panchenko, V. A. (2023). Upravlinnia zhyttiezdatnistiu subiektiv ahrarnoho biznesu v umovakh viiny ta sotsialno-ekonomichnoi nestabilnosti [Management of viability of agricultural business subjects in the conditions of war and socio-economic instability]. Naukovi zapysky Lvivskoho universytetu biznesu ta prava. Seriia ekonomichna. Seriia yurydychna – Scientific Notes of Lviv University of Business and Law, 36, 77-83. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7656740. [in Ukrainian].
Moskal, N. (2024). Kompleksnyi pidkhid do otsinky bezperervnosti diialnosti pidpryiemstva: oblikovo-analitychni aspekty [A comprehensive approach to assessing the continuity of business operations: accounting and analytical aspects]. Ekonomika ta suspilstvo – Economy and Society, 65. Retrieved from https://doi. org/10.32782/2524-0072/2024-65-39. [in Ukrainian].
Bierstaker, J. L., & DeZoort, F. T. (2019). The effects of problem severity and recovery strategy on managers going concern judgments and decisions. Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, 38(5), 106682. Retrieved from https://doi. org/10.1016/j.jaccpubpol.2019.106682. [in English].
Hrynchyshyn, Ya. M. (2020). Audyt pryntsypu bezperervnosti diialnosti ta yoho vplyv na antykryzovyi finansovyi menedzhment pidpryiemstv [Audit of the going concern principle and its impact on anti-crisis financial management of enterprises]. Prychornomorski ekonomichni studii – Black sea economic studies, 57, 127-132. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.32843/bses.57-23 [in Ukrainian].
Evdokimov, E., & Yusoff, I. (2024). CEO succession and auditor going concern decisions: An analysis of outsider CEOs and generalist skills. Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, 43, 107159. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j. jaccpubpol.2023.107159. [in English].
Rudnytskyi, V., & Yurchenko, O. (2024). Analitychne zabezpechennia upravlinnia bezperervnistiu diialnosti pidpryiemstv v umovakh nevyznachenosti [Analytical Support for the Continuity Management of Enterprises under Conditions of Uncertainty]. Oblik i finansi –, Accounting and finance 1(103), 84-92. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.33146/2307-9878-2024-1(103)-84-92. [in Ukrainian].
Tarasova, T. O., Cherchata, A. O., & Staverska, T. O. (2019). Oblikovo-analitychne zabezpechennia ryzyk-menedzhmentu v umovakh staloho rozvytku pidpryiemstva [Accounting-Analytical Provision of Risk-Management in the Sustainable Development of Companies]. Naukovyi visnyk Ivano-Frankivskoho natsionalnoho tekhnichnoho universytetu nafty i hazu. Seriia «Ekonomika ta upravlinnia v naftovii i hazovii promyslovosti» – Scientific Bulletin of the Ivano-Frankivsk National Technical University of Oil and Gas. Series: Economics and Management in the Oil and Gas Industry, 2(20), 142–153. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.31471/2409- 0948-2019-2(20)-142-153. [in Ukrainian].
Kravchyk, Yu., Shpylova, V., & Dobrozorova, O. (2024). Zberezhennia potentsialu stiikosti i konkurentospromozhnosti vitchyznianykh ahrarnykh pidpryiemstv v umovakh viiny [Preservation of the potential for sustainability and competitiveness of domestic agricultural enterprises in the conditions of war]. Modeling the Development of the Economic Systems – Modeling the development of the economic systems, 3, 257–263. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.31891/mdes/2024-13-36. [in Ukrainian].
International Accounting Standards Board (2001). IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements. Retrieved from https://mof.gov.ua/storage/files/IAS-01_ukr19.pdf. [in Ukrainian].
International Accounting Standards Board. (2010). Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting, revised in March 2018. Retrieved from https://mof.gov.ua/ storage/files/2019_RB_ConceptualFramework_ukr_AH.pdf. [in Ukrainian].
Kryvoruchko, M. Yu. (2023). Realizatsiia profesiinoho sudzhennia bukhhaltera v umovakh vplyvu dysfunktsii sotsialno-ekonomichnoho rozvytku na sferu ahrarnoho biznesu [Implementation of the Professional Judgment of Accountant in the Context of the Impact of Dysfunction of Socioeconomic Development on the Sphere of Agrarian Business]. Problemy ekonomiky – Economic problems, 3(57), 306-314. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.32983/2222-0712-2023-3-306-314. [in Ukrainian].
Hrinko, I. (2021). Konkordatsiia ekspertiv – zaporuka uspikhu v rozrobtsi stratehii rozvytku krain v industrii 4.0 [Concordion of exsperts is a guarantee of success in developing of country’s development strategies in industry 4.0]. Ekonomika ta suspilstvo – Economy and Society, 28. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.32782/2524- 0072/2021-28-28. [in Ukrainian].
Fidiana, F., Yani, P., & Suryaningrum, D. H. (2023). Corporate going-concern report in early pandemic situation: Evidence from Indonesia. Heliyon, 9(4). Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e15138. [in English].
Buzzao, G., & Rizzi, F. (2023). The role of dynamic capabilities for resilience in pursuing business continuity: an empirical study. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 34(11-12), 1353-1385. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1080/14783363.2023.2174427. [in English].
Ali, Q. S. A., Hanafiah, M. H., & Mogindol, S. H. (2023). Systematic literature review of Business Continuity Management (BCM) practices: Integrating organisational resilience and performance in Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) BCM framework. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 104135. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2023.104135. [in English].
