URGENT ISSUES OF ORGANIZATION OF AUDIT ACTIVITY IN UKRAINE AND DIRECTIONS FOR THEIR SOLUTIONS

In conditions of economic uncertainty and competition, the importance of objective economic control increases both from owners and supervisors. Reliable financial reporting provides the possibility of making conscious economic decisions, warns of operations associated with increased risk. The opinion of the auditor increases the trust in the financial activity of the company and the general loyalty to business by the stakeholders – owners, investors, potential customers, suppliers, authorities. Therefore, the issue of the exclusion of the corruption component between the audit firm and the client company during the organization and conduct of the audit is a topical issue in many countries of the world, including Ukraine. The purpose of the paper is to substantiate the theoretical principles and practical recommendations for the organization of audit activity and overcoming corruption in the economic sphere in Ukraine. Methodology. The methodological basis of research is general scientific and special methods of knowledge. To determine the current state of audit in Ukraine, quantitative changes in the dynamics of audit firms and certified auditors, applied methods of synthesis, comparison, grouping. For isolating problems that arise in the market of audit services, methods of specificity and abstraction are used. The method of analysis was the basis for determining the main factors of corruption in the audit sector and its impact on the dynamics of Ukraine’s economic development. The dialectical method, synthesis, and abstraction have been used to formulate proposals for improving the order, in which services are provided in the audit field. A tabular method was used to reflect the systematic results of the consolidation and grouping of indexes of corruption perception index in Ukraine in 2013–2017. The graphical method was used to visually reproduce the dynamics of the change in the perceptions of corruption in Ukraine, the USA and Poland in 2013–2017, and the changes in the number of audit firms and certified auditors in Ukraine in 2012–2016. Results. The results of the study substantiated the need to improve the legislative and regulatory framework that regulates audit activity. The main factors that negatively influence the audit activity and contribute to the development of corruption in Ukraine are identified. The proposals on improvement of the situation in the market of audit services, as well as increase of efficiency of auditors’ activity are given. Practical implications. The pragmatic value of the research results is the possibility of their use for developing strategic measures to improve the audit activity in Ukraine, bringing the quality of domestic audit closer to the level of audit in EU countries. Value/originality. It is proposed to implement a set of legislative and regulatory changes to improve the organization and implementation of audit practices in Ukraine to minimize the corruption component in order to ensure the transparency of the audit process