BDO USA Reviews

Pros

Good experience, various industries, public and private clients. Name recognition, opportunities to work on special projects. Small office, ability to receive decent training.

Cons

The company is stagnant. There is disconnect between the upper management and the staff/seniors. Cutthroat environment permeates the company culture. Lots of work, few benefits.

Pros

a good firm to start your career

Cons

with limitation in terms of professional growth and development

Advice to Senior Management

reinvent its image as a national firm

Pros

The clients generally lack sophistication, which provides lots of opportunities to learn while you are servicing the clients

Cons

General lack of direction for the firm. Clearly the firm wants to compete with the Big 4, however; they lack the knowledge and resources to do this effectively. As a result the firm is in limbo as the Big 4 continue to gain market share

Advice to Senior Management

Stop wasting money an ineffective advertising (TV commercials). The money would be better spent acquiring high level partner talent or exploring a merger with similar mid market firms. In order to compete with the Big 4 the firm needs recognized industry experts on their team. Emphasizing a cheaper fee is not always the best strategy. Differentiation on skills and services is key.

Pros

- Focus on middle market clients so exposure to client senior management could be more and out-of-town traveling could be less
- Decent quality of in-house training
- Good financial assistance provided for training and professional exams/ memberships
- Decent medical and other employee benefit packages

Cons

- Brand awareness is not as high as firms in similar ranking
- Middle market sector especially for public companies is competitive given the number of players in the market and this often leads to fee pressure

Advice to Senior Management

- HR does a pretty good job explaining the standard job performance metrics. Communications from those who make the final decision on the indivduals' performance evaluation could be enhanced.

- Need an alumni network

Pros

i like the work-life balance

Cons

i do not like the sometimes long hours

Advice to Senior Management

maybe try to be a little more professional

Pros

As with any other workplace, the best reason to work at BDO are certain people in the firm, those who care about you as a person rather than a body to complete jobs.

Cons

Overall the firm is good, just as any of the Big Four. However, like the others, the experience depends on the business segment in which one works. Also, advancement within specialty groups is quite limited as these groups need fewer high level individuals (managers, senior managers, directors, etc.). Avoid the New York expatriate tax practice.

Advice to Senior Management

The Human Capital department (previously 'HR') needs to recognize that within an accounting/auditing/consulting firm, its role is to assist management while also watching out for the best interest of the client service professionals. The client service professionals should not be taken for granted.

Pros

My office is small enough to know everyone, but large enough to handle middle market public companies. I really enjoy the people I work with/for.

Cons

The middle market is a tough place to be with the fee presure from clients in this economy.
Training could be better.

Advice to Senior Management

Communicate more frequently with staff-managers about office performance metrics
Develop a better local office training program to help staff with technical accounting skills

Pros

BDO Seidman is an Good place to work if you want to get solid experience in accounting. The amount of time spent at work really depends on the type of clients you are on. Some people get put on "easy" clients and work 50 hours per week, while others get put on difficult clients and work anywhere from 60 - 70 hours per week.

There are opportunities to learn a lot more things faster vs. the Big 4. This is because the clients are small to medium sized, and you will get your hands most parts of the financial statements vs. just focusing on one part for 3 months at the Big 4.

Cons

Not as much name recognition as the Big 4. However, as long as you learn and get good experience, that's all that matters.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep up the good work. I used to work at BDO and know the partners to be good people. Treat people and they will do good work for you.

Pros

Bdo offer great benefits, great group of professional

Cons

long hours, very low employee consideration

Advice to Senior Management

have more events to involve employees

Pros

Open door policy, access to all levels of management, including partners. Excellent client base, allowing employees to work on many different accounts throughout the year.

Cons

Early stage employees are promoted typically as a group, instead of solely individual merit. Encouragement and criticism during review process needs to be improved.

Advice to Senior Management

Clearer review feedback after each job, as opposed to once a year for all jobs. Clear career path advice and choices should be stressed further.