Poor working culture - Audit Senior Associate BDO Employee Review

1.0
Mar 28, 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Stepping stone to a Big 4

Cons

-18 months bond (3 months pay-back if broken). It is very common for staff to leave after their bond period. -Lousy remuneration and benefits -Management (Partners and Managers) show favouritism, which affect jobs assigned and exposure given, ultimately affecting career progression -No work life balance. During off-peak periods in audit, staff may be assigned to different departments which is having their peak period, hence staff will be experiencing 'peak period' all year round -Attractive exposure opportunities communicated during the interview was different from actual job assigned (i.e. IPO/listed jobs opportunities) -A lot of small SMES clients with messy accounts -Staff may encounter manager with foul temper, which is the one of the reasons staff breaks bond -Do not provide laptops to staff for work purpose, staff needs to buy from the company including the Microsoft software. Laptop depreciate over 3 years, that is, if staff will to leave the company before 3 years, they have to pay for the remaining useful life. The price 'sold' to the staff is often marked-up as compared to the same model sold in the market.

Explore other reviews about BDO

5.0
Jun 8, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

It was a good place to work

Cons

Can be busy at times

2.0
Jun 5, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

There actually are great people, but you play manager roulette.

Cons

BDO is notorious for promoting people who just never leave. The middle of the road, not great, not awful, people get promoted over and over again. There have been changes every 3 seconds since the ESOP. Terrible communication around change (non-existent). My manager's favorite term was "We are building the plane as we fly it". After 4 years, I was hoping to have more plane built. It was never built.

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