Accountants ' revenues boosted by resilience of mid-market firms
BDO has posted an 11 per cent increase in revenues to £809m for the financial year 2021/22, with growth across all three of its service lines of audit, tax and advisory.
Announcing its results, BDO cited the reasons for growth as being the resilience of its core market of entrepreneurial, high-growth and mid-sized businesses in the face of difficult economic circumstances and the hard work of its people.
The firm has made significant investments in the business after BDO partners made the strategic choice, at the start of the year, to raise levels of investment.
In the Midlands, this includes moving to a prominent office building in the centre of Nottingham, cementing its commitment to the East Midlands market, a focus on improving audit quality, recruiting an additional 111 experienced people, promoting over 100 employees, committing to the recruitment of 48 trainees to start in the 2022/23 financial year, increasing salaries and investing in quality, new technology and digital applications.
Overall, an additional £70m was invested in people, quality and technology across the entire firm.
The decision to invest in additional people was designed not only to deal with the increased demand for services but to also promote a healthier work-life balance by spreading workloads across more people.
As a result of the investments and the return to pre-COVID levels of costs, profit before tax was down 8 per cent to £187m. While these high levels of investment mean a planned reduction in FY21/22 profit and partner pay, BDO believes that the focus on longer-term sustainable growth is the right decision.
Kyla Bellingall (pictured), Midlands Regional Managing Partner at BDO LLP, said: “Our strong growth this year is down to the resilience of our core market of high-growth, entrepreneurial businesses, combined with the hard work and ability of our people.
“During such uncertain economic times, businesses like ours need to invest in skills to stimulate growth and, ultimately, the economy. We 're using the proceeds of growth to invest in our people, for the long-term, with an additional emphasis on wellbeing, work-life balance, quality and innovation.
“This is particularly so in the Midlands, where we have created a truly unique and inclusive space in our newly opened Nottingham hub in the heart of the city.
All three areas of the overall business - audit, tax and advisory - performed as expected in the 2021/22 financial year.
The national audit business posted revenues of £324m, up 17 per cent on the previous year; with the firm-wide tax practice generating revenues of £199m - an increase of 3 per cent; while BDO 's national advisory revenues grew by 10 per cent to £286m.