The paper dwells upon prospects, topicality and scholarly importance of research into formation and assessment of economic reliability in industrial enterprises as socioeconomic systems. The main notions and interconnection of the categories of "stability" and "reliability" of socioeconomic systems are presented, based on which the conclusion that these notions are not identical is made. From the standpoint of system-synergetic approach, economic reliability comprises reliability of management system, technical development, conservation activities, human resources management, financial and economic development, marketing activities, and production management. The paper presents main methodological principles of integral estimation of economic reliability of an enterprise in modern conditions. It is suggested to apply E. Harrington's desirability function in order to give a quantitative estimate of economic reliability. In conclusion it is pointed out that assessment of industrial enterprise's economic reliability can become an effective mechanism of assessing the efficiency of harnessing the manufacturer's potential and identifying the reserves and inefficient usage of enterprise resources.