BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY AND ITS IMPACT ON FINANCIAL REPORTING IN THE DIGITAL ACCOUNTING ERA

The study is relevant, as blockchain technologies transform financial reporting, increasing its transparency, reliability, and data processing speed, reducing costs and minimizing risks, which requires further analysis. However, despite numerous studies on blockchain applications, a knowledge gap exists in understanding its comprehensive impact on financial reporting processes and the development of integration models with other digital technologies. The aim of the study is to determine the impact of blockchain technologies on the processes of preparing and submitting financial statements, as well as determining the prospects for using this technology in accounting in the digital age. The research employed the following methods: content analysis of modern blockchain systems, comparative analysis of financial indicators of companies that use blockchain, as well as economic and statistical modelling. The impact of blockchain technologies was assessed through quantitative analysis, including descriptive statistics, analysis of variance (ANOVA), correlation analysis (Pearson and Spearman coefficients), regression analysis, cluster analysis and hypothesis testing (t-test, Mann-Whitney U-test). The calculations were performed using SPSS, Stata, and Python software (Pandas, Statsmodels, Scikit-learn). The results confirm that the implementation of blockchain technologies increases the efficiency of financial reporting, reducing operating costs by 15–20% and reducing audit costs by 25–30%. Smart contracts minimize errors by 18%, and the average processing time for financial transactions decreased from 48 to 5 hours. In the financial sector, costs were reduced by 30%, and transaction processing time by 85%. The academic novelty of the study lies in the comprehensive analysis of the application of blockchain technologies to increase the transparency and reliability of financial reporting in a global context, as well as the creation of new knowledge through statistical analysis and practical assessment of blockchain's effectiveness. The prospects for further research include the development of models for integrating blockchain with other digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and Big Data, as well as assessing the long-term economic consequences of using blockchain in the financial sector.