Outsourcing services in the field of accounting: risks and competencies of specialists

The volumes of outsourcing services in the fi of accounting are increasing annually, which is confirmed by domestic statistical data and their analysis. In parallel with the growth in the volume of these services, the issue of ensuring information confidentiality and reliability of data reflected in the accounting (financial) statements generated by outsourcing companies for their clients becomes more relevant, since there are risks not only for the customers of these services, but also for those companies that provide them. However, these risks can be significantly reduced if the personnel of outsourcing companies will have appropriate competencies in internal control as a direct tool to neutralize financial risks. Information about the competencies required by outsourcing companies’ specialists is presented in the description of vacancies posted by employers on various recruiting platforms. Content analysis of these requests allowed us to find out the need for applicants to have professional competencies of not only hard but also soft skills level, and to conclude that traditional knowledge and competencies formed by universities are not enough. This demand of employers should be reflected in the curricula of university training of economic specialists, which is especially important in the conditions of quantitative decrease in their output in recent years.