BDO was established through the collaboration of five different independent firms from the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, the US, and Canada. Formed from the names of the three main partners integral to that collaboration, Binder, Dijker and Otte, the company has since grown into an $11 billion business.
BDO South Africa has seven offices and 2,000 employees that form part of the 800 offices of BDO Worldwide. Being part of a global company gives BDO South Africa access to international insight and support in over 60 countries.
“The services we provide are auditing and assurance, advisory, tax and business services outsourcing,” says Associate Director Wynand Botha. “We deliver this through our industry sectors such as Real Estate & Construction, Financial Services, Natural Resources, Consumer Business, Public Sector, Technology, Media & Telecommunications, where we have deep knowledge and expertise across the organisation.”
A clear imperative across the BDO network is our focus on embedding quality systemically across our service lines and industry sectors.
In South Africa, BDO is regulated by the Independent Regulatory Board for Auditors (IRBA), which ensures all regulations and quality requirements are met by audit and advisory firms. The profession has seen unfortunate practices in previous years, which has damaged public trust. This places even greater pressure on BDO to be transparent and adhere to the rules and guidelines.
Botha says. “What is important to us is transparency. We have been through this process, we know what to expect, and being transparent and building that client professional relationship gives us the ability to ensure quality.”
“In South Africa, we have a big portfolio of clients, 40 of which are listed on the JSE. Beyond that we have globally 150 listed clients,” Botha explains.
A Time for Transformation
With a demanding client base to serve and standards at an all-time high, this is a time to intensify the transformation agenda at BDO South Africa.
Botha Continues:
We recently launched the BDO Global 2023 Construction Survey Report, which looks at repositioning the construction industry as an employer of choice for Gen Z. At BDO, we recognise the importance of having workforce planning in place to attract and retain staff for the future. To understand the challenges our clients, face in the construction sector in relation to talent shortage and scarcity, BDO’s Global Real Estate & Construction team undertook a global research project to examine the opinions and attitudes of university students towards considering a career in the industry, as well as the views and expectations of construction companies regarding their future workforce.
BDO’s global survey shares insight from countries across 5 continents on how attractive the construction sector is for the new generation and how their values and beliefs shape their perspective. It also gathers input from professionals currently working in the sector.
With more than 700 respondents and both global and regional analysis, this global research project witnessed the participation of several BDO firms – each covering their respective markets: Australia, U.S., South Africa, Canada, Netherlands, New Zealand, Belgium, Norway, and Brazil plus 7 other countries in the LATAM region.
Rebuilding the Real Estate & Construction Market
Key sector expertise at BDO is across the real estate and construction industries, and both sectors have faced a lot of challenges in the years following the Covid pandemic.
“The biggest impact on the profit line is that in the construction industry, you sign a contract which defines your delivery date,” Botha explains. “If you do not deliver on time, it results in penalties, so in South Africa and globally the hard lockdown made the biggest impact. At the same time, the consumer basket is becoming smaller as everything becomes more expensive. We are looking at inflation and interest rates rising simultaneously, so a company that was wealthy in cash flow but now needs to borrow will take a double hit.”
At the same time, BDO is operating in a marketplace that is fiercely competitive and evolving.
“We all want a diverse portfolio and to increase our order books,” Botha says. “Delivering that service comes with a cost and you do not want to sacrifice quality. At the same time, we are moving into a position where we are more dependent on information technology which is why we are investing in technology to digitalise.”
Doing business in that kind of volatile environment requires careful management. “At the end of the day you have to have a budgeting process in place,” says Botha. Budgets are smaller and costs are higher. BDO has made a commitment not to compromise on quality.
It is a challenging situation to be in, but Botha’s outlook is a positive one. “There are a lot of negativities regarding costs, but there is also a lot of opportunity. Government spending is on the rise, particularly in the construction sector. Eskom has been implementing load shedding, resulting in power cuts for tremendous amounts of hours, so there is government spending to improve the grid and grow the renewables industry, which is where the construction industry is going to be flying. At the same time, there is an expectation for industries to stabilise by 2027 for inflation to recover and interest rates to decrease.”
However, costs are only one side of the equation BDO must solve. The industry is also navigating a shortage of talent. When BDO ran a survey asking about the problem areas and opportunities in the construction industry, the number one issue people raised was “Talent.” This is an issue BDO South Africa is positioned to tackle.
“Our purpose is helping people achieve their dreams. What we need to do is bring them to work and give them the opportunity to thrive,” Botha says. “We have a wealth of in-house knowledge and experience, and we are investing in a diversified workforce at all levels.”
Looking forward, Botha has a great deal of faith in the ability of the industry, and BDO itself, to rise to new challenges, but he never forgets what is important. “We must continuously evolve, not just as a business but alongside our client base, creating a place where people can thrive. Yes, we are striving to be leaders in our different industry segments by being known and understood as industry sector experts, always with quality as a strategic imperative.”
