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    BDO Reviews

    Updated 19 February 2019
    1,051 reviews

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    3.3
    StarStarStarStarStar
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    Recommend to a friend
    Approve of CEO
    BDO Global CEO Martin Van Roekel
    Martin Van Roekel
    81 Ratings

    Employee Reviews

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    Pros

    • "Work life balance is reasonable" (in 100 reviews)

    • "Very good working environment and friendly team" (in 63 reviews)

    Cons
    More Pros and Cons

    1. "Great Company"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Tax Associate in London, England
      Current Employee - Tax Associate in London, England
      Recommends
      Neutral Outlook

      I have been working at BDO full-time (Less than a year)

      Pros

      The culture is sublime and the people are great.

      Cons

      No cons, great company with happy employees

    2. "Project Analyst"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee

      I worked at BDO full-time

      Pros

      Many opportunities for people to discover

      Cons

      too many night work and lowe salary

      3. Join the BDO team
      See Our Latest Jobs

    3. "Audit"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee

      I have been working at BDO full-time

      Pros

      Good start to work life on Grad intake

      Cons

      Very Corporate feel- face time key over actual work performed

    4. "Ok but not as good as Big 4"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Audit Senior in London, England
      Current Employee - Audit Senior in London, England
      Doesn't Recommend
      Positive Outlook

      I have been working at BDO full-time (Less than a year)

      Pros

      Private pension plan contribution
      Can claim overtime (if pre approved by manager)
      Work-life balance slightly better than Big 4

      Cons

      Small clients and small firm mentality even if they pretend to be big
      Overtime rarely gets approved
      Low salary vs work required

    5. "review"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee

      I have been working at BDO full-time

      Pros

      good pay and good atmosphere

      Cons

      long hours and extra study time expected

    6. "Poor quality work"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee

      I have been working at BDO full-time

      Pros

      Free breakfast, nice offices and good location

      Cons

      People aren’t that pleasant

    7. "Internal Audit Senior"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee

      I have been working at BDO full-time

      Pros

      Good pay once qualified and training provided for

      Cons

      Limited agency during grad scheme

    8. "Trying in the current market"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - IT Audit Manager
      Current Employee - IT Audit Manager
      Recommends

      I have been working at BDO full-time (Less than a year)

      Pros

      Very friendly staff culture, very decent offices, pay beats some top four firms, there is less conscription on corporate style, you can build your career here, embraces ethnic diversity, transparency

      Cons

      You need to work hard, travel can be onerous,and seniors cracking the whip

      Advice to Management

      Allow staff to help partners more

    9. "BDO London"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Assurance Director in London, England
      Current Employee - Assurance Director in London, England
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I have been working at BDO full-time (More than 3 years)

      Pros

      Great opportunities with growth in sector

      Cons

      Follow through on partner promises is patchy and no bonuses are paid which is out of step with other firms.

    10. "A Mixed Bag... An OK place to start or finish a career"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      Former Employee - Marketing in London, England
      Former Employee - Marketing in London, England

      Pros

      -Nice, modern office in prime London location

      -Marketing (incl BDMs and Digital) has lots of clever, interesting people all on the same wavelength with similar expectations. -

      -Everyone is astonishingly nice, and you really can be yourself.

      -Work life balance is second to none. Often rewarded with afternoons off, option to buy up to 10 days annual leave, working from home 1 day per week, always encouraged to spend annual leave and stay at home if ill.

      -No stigma for coming in on time and leaving on time. Doing a long day is seen as you not managing your time correctly and there being a problem.

      -Option to work from home 1-2 days per week.

      -Good brand with great reputation to have on your CV, especially at the start of a career.

      -Lots of support from team

      -Manageable pace where you can stop, think and actually focus on work quality.

      -Hotdesking (blessing in disguise as it allowed for more working from home - this was due to people being squashed together to make money for partners renting out office floors/space to other firms)

      -Nice roof terrace in summer.

      -Pension scheme is ok and staff discounts are good.

      -Very generous 10 days of voluntary leave per year, and a moving house day off per year.

      Cons

      Partners are treated like gods. There of hundreds of partners to please, which leads to the main, following cons:

      -Poor quality marketing. Marketing is not seen as important to the partners. Any creative flair is doused immediately as partners have to sign absolutely everything off. And despite being a qualified marketer, your opinion is basically invalid.

      -You’re not trusted to be a specialist in your area. You will feel undervalued quite a bit.

      -Lots of clock-watching and a lack of trust to

      -Lots of bureaucracy, politics and self marketing. Lots and lots of self promotion.

      -No bonus or share scheme. If there’s a bumper year for profit, you won’t hear or see anything about it. Partners take all.

      -Unless you’re a Partner you’re completely replaceable.

      -Business Dev Managers are not given commission so no tangible incentive to drive sales and focus on customer service.

      -No clear divide between marketing and sales, which is bizarre.

      -BDO doesn’t have a CRM system. Partners don’t want to invest in one as there is a short term cost, but cannot see long term gain of having one.

      -Everyone in the firm seems to do marketing (sales BDMs, Partners, PAs) which devalues your position and expertise within marketing team. Hence poor quality outcome.

      -Chronically high staff turnover due to low pay, poor progression and inability to do ones job.

      -Benefits are a bit minimal for a huge multinational.

      -Partners like to keep headcount down so lots of my colleagues seem to be put on temporary contracts which is very bad for morale.

      -Dated practices and slow to change. Old structures mean digital marketing team are separate, and clearly having an up hill struggle to bring BDO into digital age.

      -Departmental leadership appears quite uninformed and lacking in direction. It’s generally their way or the highway.

      -Desperately low morale within marketing and sales. Like a funeral.

      -Current system of objectives, performance ratings, reviews can come across a bit school-like and patronising.

      -Bit of disparity between regional BDO offices and London office which can highlight differences in best practice (ie quality of marketing, over-reliance on training)

      -Very corporate office is not conducive to creativity.

      -HR could do with more teeth, as disputes haven’t always been resolved as we expected.

      Advice to Management

      -Take on the above comments and let your staff be good at their jobs, and help you. Take a step back, and watch them transform your company for the better.

      -Do not compromise on quality of employees. Hire for long term gain.

      -Invest long term: get a CRM system, give meaningful pay rises (more than the annual 1%), do more to keep your staff jumping to competitors.