Despite the Corona crisis, the auditing and consulting company BDO has for the first time achieved income above the 300 million euro mark.

Sales grew by 6.6 percent to EUR 304 million in the 2020/2021 financial year.

As the fifth largest market player in Germany, behind the four largest auditing groups PWC, KPMG, EY and Deloitte, BDO is pursuing an ambitious growth course and has sharpened its profile by winning the contract to audit the Dax company SAP.

Mark Fehr

Editor in Business.

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In a press conference on Tuesday, BDO boss Holger Otte confirmed that he also wanted to win another mandate from the leading index Dax.

Otte described BDO as an auditing and consulting firm with a strong focus on auditing and highlighted the importance of the international BDO network to which his company belongs.

According to Otte, almost half of BDO's clients are related to other countries, and without a global network like BDO's, international clients could not be served adequately.

Software as a competitive factor

Despite the Ukraine war and high inflation, Otte sees good conditions for BDO to continue growing in the new financial year.

The latest mandate gains in the form of the Dax value SAP, the food group Theo Müller or the German subsidiary of Wall Street Bank JP Morgan are not included in the currently reported figures because they only affect sales and profits later.

A competitive advantage of BDO is that the network has integrated digital audit software, which is otherwise only common in the industry with the four major auditors.

The tool enables BDO's auditors to communicate with their colleagues in foreign member companies and to access the audit documents of all international subsidiaries of a group to be audited.

BDO has also expanded services for family businesses, many of which have very complex and international structures, according to CEO Andrea Bruckner.

BDO's sales have grown in all business areas, including the auditing segment.

According to Bruckner, the increase in testing sales by 5 percent to 129 million euros primarily affects large family businesses and listed companies.

The need for auditing and advice on all aspects of corporate management based on sustainable criteria also contributed to growth.

Sales from the tax and legal advice division even increased by more than 9 percent to 128 million euros.

BDO board member Parwaz Rafiqpoor noted a significantly higher demand for tax advice from large family businesses and listed companies.

The growth in consulting services related to M&A transactions was less strong.

Here, given the restraint in the economy in the second Corona year, sales rose by only 3.6 percent to 46 million euros.

The global BDO network was also able to increase its total sales in the past financial year – by 10.8 percent to 11.8 billion dollars.