BDO
BDO Employee Reviews
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Very busy, not too much guidance
Administrator (Current Employee) – Ottawa, ON – 20 July 2018
Can be fun and exciting for new people in the field. However, after a few years with the company, becomes somewhat boring and stressful as not much learning or growth options, pay is not great, Corporate structure, very much profit oriented which seems to benefit more the higher levels and the admin is still below average considering the work volume.
Pros
Stability
Cons
Pay is not great
Avoid
Accountant (Former Employee) – Langley, BC – 8 August 2018
BDO westcoast (Vancouver, Langley and Whitehorse) is a must avoid place. It's an environment where someone is always after you to get you fired. While Vancouver office is slightly better , the Langley office is the worst. This office has very high turnover of employees. BDO Langley who tax department quit including the tax manager. Office partner is a lost soul and office is run by a small group of senior managers and they fire someone every couple of months. June to December period is almost fly killing time if you don't gang up with a senior manager. Too much politics and grouping.
Pros
Big 5 is only Pro
Cons
Non team environment, low salary, bad management
Not a bad place to work, not the best either
Junior Staff Accountant (Current Employee) – Dryden, ON – 10 June 2018
I learned a lot working at BDO. My first year was a whirlwind because I felt like everything I had to do was something new. It is a mentally stimulating place to work for sure.
Management basically leaves you to your own devices which is nice, but don't expect a "good job" for anything. They expect you to work hard and learn fast, and if you don't you'll be out the door.
Unpaid overtime kinda sucks, but it is par for the course in accounting. We are expected to work 150 - 200 overtime hours per year that we are not paid for, this makes the compensation seem meager at best.
They do pay for the CPA program which is nice, and provide lots of help and guidance for CPA students.
I would recommend BDO to others as long as you understand what you are getting yourself into. The job will likely take over your life and that's just not for everyone.
Management basically leaves you to your own devices which is nice, but don't expect a "good job" for anything. They expect you to work hard and learn fast, and if you don't you'll be out the door.
Unpaid overtime kinda sucks, but it is par for the course in accounting. We are expected to work 150 - 200 overtime hours per year that we are not paid for, this makes the compensation seem meager at best.
They do pay for the CPA program which is nice, and provide lots of help and guidance for CPA students.
I would recommend BDO to others as long as you understand what you are getting yourself into. The job will likely take over your life and that's just not for everyone.
Pros
Paid education
Cons
No work life balance
A place where you accounting career take off
Senior Staff Accountant (Former Employee) – Vancouver, BC – 7 June 2018
BDO was one of the top accounting firms in Canada. I have learned so much in this company. I have worked on prepare notice of reader, review engagement, audit and taxation. Everyone are working very hard and career driven. The hardest part of the job is long hours in busy season and high pressure on performance. The most enjoyable part of the job is how my accounting knowledge can help client.
Pros
great place to learn
Cons
long working hours
Work Experience
Work Experience Student (Former Employee) – County Dublin – 4 June 2018
BDO offered an insight in to the accounting world and the office experience as a whole. BDO has a fun and enjoyable working environment and was courteous to any inquiries I had.
Full of discrimination
Intermediate Accountant (Former Employee) – London, ON – 4 June 2018
After working in London Branch,I realised management does not bother about employees.THey only need number are invoices getting printed.I would not recommend this company who want a job in in multicultural company. People who work here do not even greet each other.
Was my home away from home for many years
Senior Executive Assistant (Former Employee) – Toronto, ON – 23 April 2018
I had a wonderful career with BDO for many years until a couple of years ago when new Management came in with a new vision and started changing personnel with new personnel.
Pros
Love my job
Cons
Long hours
Productive fast paced environment.
Administrative Assistant/Office Services (Current Employee) – Markham, ON – 9 April 2018
Honest communication: Heard a lot of complaints and gossip among peers, but nobody even dares to speak the truth because they're afraid of offending the superiors. The employee always sweet-talks / give feedback to superior with what superior would like to hear, which is totally not the facts. A lot of issues are swept under the carpet, everybody is avoiding honest communication just to survive their job and most of them think is useless as the management will not care.
Pros
A lot of employee parties
Result based company
Income Assistant Administrator (Current Employee) – Winnipeg, MB – 4 April 2018
Good place to work for, Directions are clear and concise. Long hours with optional flex time. Good direction from managers and directors. Good staff and good working atmosphere.
Pros
busy workplace
Cons
Contract work is unpredictable.
Relevant experience
Valuations Analyst (Former Employee) – Edmonton, AB – 11 March 2018
I was a co-op student here in the Valuations practice. It was a great learning experience while I was still attending school. I am still considering returning for full time employment after graduation.
Compared to the BIG 4 , I found more work life balance
Senior Accountant (Current Employee) – Mississauga – 11 March 2018
Compared to the BIG 4 , I found more work life balance. It was a good start for me, The people there are friendly and was able to easily adapt to the work environment
Great partners, but not enough pay for work
Accountant (Former Employee) – BC – 25 February 2018
The partners at the office were great. However, the pay was well below competitive (i.e. techs starting in low $30K range, CPAs in mid $40K range). When asked about raises, partners always explained how they had little control over salaries, as it was up to BDO national. This made it frustrating, as you could never get a straight answer about future raises or promotion. Overall, being a "National firm" was more frustrating then rewarding. In addition, BDO has been notorious for changing pay structures. Therefore, be aware that you may not ever see any benefit for overtime.
Pros
Great partners and coworkers
Cons
Terrible pay
Great workplace
Staff Accountant in Audit & Advisory (Former Employee) – Toronto, ON – 23 January 2018
As an intrermediate staff accountant in Audit & Advisory, I performed NTR, review, and audit engagements for private companies. I developed skills in analyzing financial statements and performing audit procedures to assess company operations and bookkeeping.
A good professional work environment
Consultant (Former Employee) – Toronto, ON – 9 December 2017
I was based at the British Energy Toronto office where I was responsible for the financial reporting to the UK. Worked in an environment with senior management who gave you the freedom to implement systems to make this office compliant with the UK office
Horrible work life balance
Senior Accounting Technician (Current Employee) – Markham, ON – 25 September 2017
High manager to staff ratio; all work is pushed on to staff. Managers would love you to work 24hrs a day if they could. Work environment is good but staff are just treated as work horses. Salary is not competitive, benefits are expensive. Very little sense of belonging, lacks company culture
Cons
Long hours, no job security