BDO continues its steady growth

The Financial Services division recorded the fastest growth in 2013, with revenues rising by 18.3 per cent to CHF 12.3 million. This reflects the strong demand for consulting services from the heavily regulated financial services industry in particular. However, classic auditing services were also able to grow revenues by 2.6 per cent to CHF 59.9 million last year. A total of 5,600 clients have placed their trust in BDO's professional services, which makes the accounting, auditing and consultancy company the second-largest provider on the Swiss market by mandates. Revenues in the Tax division grew marginally by 0.5 per cent year-on-year to CHF 19.5 million, while the Accounting Services division suffered a slight decline in revenues of 1.2 per cent to CHF 55.6 million. Rounding off the results, the smaller divisions of Corporate Finance, Abacus and Real Estate also recorded growth in 2013. Werner Schiesser, CEO of BDO encapsulates the business model underlying this success: "We provide a clearly defined range of services to equally clearly defined groups of clients. We stick geographically close to our clients and stay in close personal contact with them."

Steady growth and being close to the client

2013 was a year of further growth for the company, continuing the trend of recent years. BDO was able to expand its service range in a number of regions in Switzerland with a series of acquisitions, for example in the Basel and Geneva areas. Thanks to its takeover of the payroll services of PFS Pension Fund Services AG, Glattbrugg, BDO is now also able to offer payroll processing for large companies. With the opening of its 32nd branch in Chur BDO was able to establish a firm foothold in the canton of Grisons, after numerous clients from this region had already utilized BDO's services in the past.

This steady growth is expected to continue. The rising demands of regulation, rapidly changing legislation, ongoing digitalization and the ever-faster pace of the economy, society and politics are placing increasing demands on BDO and its clients. These challenges can only be met with expert and committed staff. As a result BDO invests heavily in training the next generation. With over 70 apprentices BDO is training an above-average number of new recruits for the sector. At the end of 2013 BDO employed a total of 856 staff (full-time equivalents).

Ever-tighter global network

At the end of 2013 the BDO network covered 144 countries and employed some 56,000 staff. Global revenues rose 7.3 per cent to around USD 6.5 billion. BDO was therefore also able to further strengthen its position globally.