Financial Monitoring of the Accounting Services Sector According to International Standards: A New Challenge for the Accountant

The growing risks of financing terrorism in the conditions of martial law necessitates the strengthening of financial monitoring. Accountants, business entities providing accounting services, and their related entities of audit activities are among the specially defined subjects of primary financial monitoring. Determining the level of riskiness of financial transactions is an essential function of an accountant. It, therefore, requires measures to increase the general and special competence of accounting specialists in financial monitoring. The article aims to determine the approaches and directions of regulatory and methodical support of financial monitoring of accountants as specially defined subjects following international standards. The requirements of FATF international standards and the national regulation system of specially defined professions regarding the fulfillment of financial monitoring requirements were analyzed. Special attention is paid to studying the risk-oriented approach in the financial monitoring system. A comparison was made of the results of sectoral risk assessments regarding the use by subjects of primary financial monitoring for money laundering according to the National risk assessments. The dynamics of the number of individual entrepreneurs who provide accounting services and are registered with the State Financial Monitoring Service of Ukraine were evaluated. With the help of the Google Trends search tool, the results of national risk assessments and the level of interest in financial monitoring carried out by accountants in different countries were evaluated. An example of a risk matrix of client-accounting service combinations was presented, which can be developed based on a risk analysis of the experience and activities of an individual accountant. It was noted that the dilemma of the choice of accountants between the interests of the client and the requirements of financial monitoring is related to the professional judgment of accounting specialists and their increased functional responsibility within the limits of current legislation and international standards.