Subject. This article deals with the issues of the current concept of internal control at enterprises and organizations.
Objectives. The article aims to derive a qualitatively new paradigm that meets the current challenges that companies have to deal with, by revealing the evolution of internal control models, as well as taking into account the accumulated world experience of risk orientation, and also determine the role assigned to such a structure as internal audit, based on the author-developed concept of the system-adaptive approach (SAA).
Methods. For the study, we used case-study and chronological analyses, historical approach, scientific abstraction, comparison, and generalization.
Results. The article identifies a qualitatively new nature of modern threats faced by companies, and presents a paradigm of the author-developed system-adaptive approach, which can help adapt to risks and carry out effective re-engineering of business processes.
Conclusions and Relevance. The concept of the system-adaptive approach, as a new approach as opposed to the risk-oriented one, is designed to adapt the activities of organizations to the challenges that they have to involuntarily accept through correctly placed accents. The results summarized in the article can be successfully implemented in the theory and practice of internal control, used in the construction of an integrated risk management system, be a reliable basis for improving the approaches practiced in internal audit, and also serve as a solid foundation for further scientific research.