BDO (an

acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...

for Binder Dijker Otte) is an international

professional services Professional services are occupations in the service sector requiring special training in liberal arts and pure sciences education or professional development education. Some professional services, such as architects, accountants, engineers, d ...

network of public

accounting Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the process of recording and processing information about economic entity, economic entities, such as businesses and corporations. Accounting measures the results of an organization's economic activit ...

, tax, consulting and business advisory firms headquartered in

Zaventem Zaventem () is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is located in the Dijleland area, one of the three large recreational areas which together form the '' Groene Gordel'' ("Green Belt") around th ...

, Belgium. The network is coordinated by BDO Global Coordination B.V., a limited liability company incorporated in Belgium, while each BDO member firm is part of BDO International Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee. BDO is the fifth-largest

accounting network An accounting network or accounting association is a professional services network whose principal purpose is to provide members resources to assist the clients around the world and hence reduce the uncertainty by bringing together a greater numbe ...

in the world, with global income of its member firms totalling US$ 15 billion in 2024. Each BDO member firm is an independent legal entity in its own country. The network was founded in 1963 as Binder Seidman International Group by firms from Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and the US. In 1973, the organisation adopted the name BDO, made up from the initials of the three founding firms: Binder (UK), Dijker (Netherlands) and Otte (Germany).

Operations by country

Australia

Established in 1975, BDO Australia has offices in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...

Sunshine Coast Sunshine Coast may refer to: * Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia **Sunshine Coast Region, a local government area of Queensland named after the region **Sunshine Coast Stadium * Sunshine Coast (British Columbia), geographic subregion of the Br ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

and Darwin. It offers financial services and business advisory services. While starting as an association of independently owned accounting firms, BDO Australia has since undergone several significant mergers that include: *1988 – BDO Nelson Parkhill and Parkhill Stirling merge to create BDO Nelson Wheeler. Local offices are established in each state. *2006 – BDO and Horwath networks merge in Australia. *2012 – BDO and PKF East Coast Practice (ECP) merge in Australia. *2020 – As the first phase of integrating into one Australian firm, BDO in Brisbane (including both Brisbane and Sunshine Coast offices), and ECP (Sydney and Melbourne) merge. In mid 2024, BDO established an office in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

, the capital of Australia, for its federal government advisory sector.

Canada

BDO Canada is one of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

's largest

services firms. Founded by

James M. Dunwoody James may refer to: People * James (given name) * James (surname) * James (musician), aka Faruq Mahfuz Anam James, (born 1964), Bollywood musician * James, brother of Jesus * King James (disambiguation), various kings named James * Prince Jame ...

(affectionately known as "The Colonel" by BDO's employees) it opened its first location in the 1920s in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

. By the early 2000s, Dunwoody and

BDO Ward Mallette BDO may refer to: * Ballon d'Or, an annual football award * Banco de Oro, one of the largest banks in the Philippines * Barton, Durstine & Osborn, the former name of advertising agency BBDO * BDO Global, the world's fifth-largest accountancy networ ...

, a firm based out of Toronto, had merged. The union also consolidated the firm's affiliation with BDO International, a global network of national accounting firms. In 2007, BDO had 95 offices across Canada, with 1,200 professionals and over 300 partners. BDO's services run from assurance, accounting and

tax A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to regulate and reduce negative externalities. Tax co ...

ation services to

financial advisory Corporate services or business services are activities which combine or consolidate certain enterprise-wide needed support services, provided based on specialized knowledge, best practices, and technology to serve internal (and sometimes external) ...

and

corporate recovery A corporate recovery (also referred to as corporate turnaround, restructuring, retrenchment, or downsizing) is a rescue undertaken by professional accountants or financiers who are trained to assist the management of a company in financial and othe ...

. The company has merged a number of times, including a merger announced in October 2009 with the accounting firm of

Hudson LLP Hudson may refer to: People * Hudson (given name) * Hudson (surname) * Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back * Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudson Rodrigues dos Santos, Brazilian fo ...

. From 1 January 2010 'Dunwoody' was dropped from the company name to coincide with a global

rebrand Rebranding is a marketing strategy in which a new name, term, symbol, design, concept or combination thereof is created for an established brand with the intention of developing a new, differentiated identity in the minds of consumers, investors ...

which saw all of the BDO member firms change their names to BDO. The rebrand, which included design, messaging, all of the separate global websites, marketing collateral and trickle-down implementation across the 110 country network took just over five months.Communicate magazine
Brand:Rebrand - Rapid Refreshment, Communicate magazine, December 2009 The intention was to create a global consistency, so that the BDO network could be presented as a single entity.

Chile

BDO Auditores & Consultores Ltda. is a Chilean member of the global network of BDO International. It has 3 offices in Santiago,

Viña del Mar Viña del Mar (; meaning "Vineyard of the Sea") is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune on Zona Central, Chile, central Chile's Pacific coast. Often referred to as ("The Garden City"), Viña del Mar is located withi ...

and

Temuco Temuco () is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune, capital (political), capital of the Cautín Province and of the Araucanía Region in southern Chile. The city is located south of Santiago de Chile, Santiago. The cit ...

, and more than 300 partners and staff. Among others, they provide services such as Audit, IFRS, BSO (Outsourcing), Tax & Legal, and Advisory.

China

BDO China

Shu Lun Pan Shu may refer to: China * Sichuan, China, officially abbreviated as Shu (蜀) * Shu (kingdom) (conquered by Qin in 316 BC), an ancient kingdom in modern Sichuan * Shu Han (221–263) during the Three Kingdoms period * Cheng-Han (成汉/成漢), ...

CPAs ("Shu Lun Pan CPAs") was founded by ShuLun Pan in Shanghai in 1927. It was one of the earliest accounting firms in China. Lixin Certified Tax Agents Co., Ltd. ("Lixin"), is a member firm of BDO International, with head office located in Shanghai. It is a professional tax agents company under the "LIXIN" brand. Approved by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce of the People's Republic of China (SAIC) and Shanghai Certified Tax Agents Association, BDO Lixin Tax was established by six leading A-level tax agent corporations from across China. The name of the enterprise's legal representative is Zilin Zou and the registered capital of enterprise is 50 million RMB. BDO Lixin Tax has obtained AAAAA level, which is the highest standard, from the China Certified Tax Agents Association. In Hong Kong, BDO McCabe Lo was merged with K.L. Lee & Partners in 2005 and Shu Lun Pan Horwath Hong Kong in 2009. In 2010, the businesses of BDO Limited and Grant Thornton Hong Kong were also merged.

Ireland

BDO Simpson Xavier is a partnership of chartered accountants in the Republic of Ireland that was formed by Anthuan Xavier and Dave Simpson in 1982. It is the Irish member firm of BDO International. The firm adopting the worldwide branding of BDO in 2009. The rebrand took just over five months. The intention was to create a global consistency, so that the BDO network could be presented as a single entity. With offices throughout Ireland, the firm offers auditing, consultancy and tax services to organisations in the private and public sectors and is the 5th largest accountancy firm in Ireland. Revenues were €62 million for the year ending 28 February 2006, with average revenue per partner of €1.5 million.

India

BDO in India is among the largest accounting firms in India and a key member of the global BDO organisation. Headquartered in Mumbai, the firm offers services to domestic and international clients in Assurance, Tax, Advisory, Managed Services & Outsourcing, Technology Products & Solutions, and Digital Transformation. Currently, BDO in India has a workforce of more than 11,000 employees, including BDO EDGE and BDO RISE, led by more than 350 partners and directors operating out of 19 offices, across 14 key cities.

Italy

BDO Italia SpA is an audit firm in Italy and it is the Italian member firm of BDO International. In 2024, BDO had 14 offices across Italy, with 1,200 professionals and over 80 partners. The firm offers auditing, ESG consultancy, M&A advisor, tax and law services to organisations in the private and public sectors and is the 5th largest audit firm in Italy. Revenues were €142 million for the year ending 30 June 2024.

Mauritius

BDO Mauritius originates from DCDM, a firm founded in Mauritius in 1952. It is a firm of Chartered Accountants, registered with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. DCDM joined the BDO network in 2007 as BDO DCDM and as of 2010, became known as BDO Mauritius.

New Zealand

BDO is one of the top five Chartered Accounting and Business Advisory firms in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Puerto Rico

On July 10, 2019, former BDO Puerto Rico president Fernando Scherrer was indicted on federal charges related to the redirection of over $15 million in federal education funds, alongside former Puerto Rico Secretary of Education Julia Keleher and others. BDO Puerto Rico was also retained by Puerto Rico's federal oversight board Junta de Control Fiscal to provide financial and consulting services to PREPA.

United Kingdom

BDO LLP is a

partnership A partnership is an agreement where parties agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments or combinations. Organizations ...

of chartered accountants in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. In November 2018, BDO and Moore Stephens announced plans to merge their UK businesses, putting BDO ahead of

Grant Thornton Grant Thornton is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the seventh-largest in the world by revenue and the sixth-largest by number of employees. The network consists of independent accounting an ...

as the fifth-largest accountancy firm in the UK. The deal was completed in February 2019.

History

The firm was founded in 1903 as Stoy and Co by Fred Stoy. In 1919, Jack Hayward joined the firm and it became Stoy Hayward and Co. A series of mergers with Finnie and Co in 1992 and the BDO Binder Hamlyn offices that did not join

Arthur Andersen Arthur Andersen LLP was an American accounting firm based in Chicago that provided auditing, tax advising, consulting and other professional services to large corporations. By 2001, it had become one of the world's largest multinational corpo ...

Deloitte & Touche Deloitte is a Multinational corporation, multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest professional services network in the world by revenue and number of employees, and is one of the Big Four a ...

in 1994 created BDO Stoy Hayward, which became the UK member of BDO International. The firm became a

limited liability partnership A limited liability partnership (LLP) is a partnership in which some or all partners (depending on the jurisdiction) have limited liabilities. It therefore can exhibit aspects of both partnerships and corporations. In an LLP, each partner is n ...

in 2004. The names 'Stoy Hayward' were dropped in October 2009, adopting the worldwide branding of BDO.

Criticism

BDO Stoy Hayward was criticised in their role as administrators for the collapsed Christmas hamper savings company

Farepak European Home Retail plc (EHR) was a listed UK company, operating in home retail. Though registered in Swindon, Wiltshire, its head office was based in Warmley, Bristol. On 13 October 2006, it was announced EHR and its subsidiary Farepak had gone ...

. BDO Stoy Hayward used an 0870 premium rate phone service to provide information for victims of Farepak's collapse in 2006. They were initially also accused by ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'' of taking a share of the call revenue to pay for the administration; this accusation was later withdrawn.

Northern Rock

In September 2008, Andrew Caldwell, valuations partner at BDO Stoy Hayward, was appointed independent valuer for the stricken mortgage bank,

Northern Rock Northern Rock, formerly the Northern Rock Building Society, was a British bank. Based at Regent Centre in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom, Northern Rock was originally a building society. It demutualised and became Northern Rock bank in ...

plc. The UK government nationalised Northern Rock in February 2008, and the legislation effecting the nationalisation required an independent valuer to ascertain the value of the business at the point of nationalisation. The role is a controversial one, as the legislation specifies in some detail the basis of valuation, and shareholder action groups claim that the valuation basis has been designed to minimise the compensation due.

United States

References

{{Authority control Business services companies established in 1964 Financial services companies established in 1964 Accounting firms of Belgium