BDO
BDO Employee Reviews
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Great place to work
Administrative Assistant (Current Employee) – Toronto, ON – 5 November 2018
The work environment is great. People are very helpful when you have questions and very friendly. The work pace is great, is extremely busy at time then you have the lull's where you are able to catch your breath. The benefits are great and 3wks vacation to start.
Pros
Can be boring at times
Cons
Benefits are amazing
Not a good place to work
Accounting Clerk (Former Employee) – Okanagan, BC – 12 February 2019
Overall: only 1 thing is important in this company and that's: PROFIT
Work/Life balance: non existent, work long days but don't expect to get appreciation for that.
Salary: average to low.
Job security: only for people with friends in the right places.
Management: no leadership skills whatsoever, people get promoted for the wrong reasons ("friends hiring friends")
Culture: somebody should look up the meaning of the word TEAM, putting a bunch of people together in one space doesn't make them a team, everybody works individually. There is no social interaction, people come in at 8am, sit and work at their desk all day and leave the office at 4:30. You are not allowed to chat for more than one minute because all the time you are in the office has to be charged to a client.
Work/Life balance: non existent, work long days but don't expect to get appreciation for that.
Salary: average to low.
Job security: only for people with friends in the right places.
Management: no leadership skills whatsoever, people get promoted for the wrong reasons ("friends hiring friends")
Culture: somebody should look up the meaning of the word TEAM, putting a bunch of people together in one space doesn't make them a team, everybody works individually. There is no social interaction, people come in at 8am, sit and work at their desk all day and leave the office at 4:30. You are not allowed to chat for more than one minute because all the time you are in the office has to be charged to a client.
Good culture
Staff Accountant (Former Employee) – Alberta – 13 October 2018
- Good culture
- Gain experience on a variety of different industries
- Opportunities to move up relatively quickly
- Work/life balance is comparable to other midsized firms
- No compensation for working overtime
- Mentorship has room for improvement
- Gain experience on a variety of different industries
- Opportunities to move up relatively quickly
- Work/life balance is comparable to other midsized firms
- No compensation for working overtime
- Mentorship has room for improvement
Good learning opportunity, unprofessional management
Accounting Technician (Current Employee) – Muskoka, ON – 18 October 2018
If you are starting out this is a good place to learn the ins-and-outs of all aspects of public accounting; you’ll get to try everything fairly quickly. Very high standards for end results of work product (you’ll learn quality).
Salaries are WELL BELOW industry standard.
Found management to be unprofessional; might be because it was a small office location but I felt management participated in and encouraged negative and destructive gossip which was a major factor in my decision to leave. Privacy when speaking with managers is not respected.
Payroll made several LARGE errors that took considerable time and energy on my part to correct.
Salaries are WELL BELOW industry standard.
Found management to be unprofessional; might be because it was a small office location but I felt management participated in and encouraged negative and destructive gossip which was a major factor in my decision to leave. Privacy when speaking with managers is not respected.
Payroll made several LARGE errors that took considerable time and energy on my part to correct.
Pros
Good benefits / vacation time
Cons
Low pay, unprofessional office culture
Nice people and opportunities to learn
Information Systems Auditor (Former Employee) – Calgary, AB – 27 August 2018
BDO is an extraordinary company with open culture and good benefits.
BDO provides opportunities for new graduates for having experience with several industries and environments.
BDO provides opportunities for new graduates for having experience with several industries and environments.
Pros
Life balance
Cons
small clients
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
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
Management is very poor
Administrative assistant (Former Employee) – Red Deer, AB – 26 August 2018
Only busy during tax season. the rest of the year everyone just wonders around and pry in each others personal lives. admin group are rude and bullies. make everyone quit or make them fired! worst place to work at.
manager just thinks about her personal life and talks about it 24/7. so if you want to work somewhere to listen to people talk about their personal lives it will be a great pleace for you.
manager just thinks about her personal life and talks about it 24/7. so if you want to work somewhere to listen to people talk about their personal lives it will be a great pleace for you.
Pros
Over time for 2 months during tax season
Cons
management
Stay away from this training office
audit staff (Former Employee) – Penticton, BC – 16 October 2018
Management at this organization is just horrible. Slave labor driver, no respect for its staff, does not even cover my professional education costs, stay away from this organization.
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
Flexibility
Manager, National Human Resources (Current Employee) – Toronto, ON – 17 September 2018
BDO does offer more flexibility than other Accounting Firms. There could be better Total Rewards in their package but they are working towards it.
The culture of the employees work well together. Friendly and family oriented.
Office space is nice and pretty modern which makes it great to come into work.
The culture of the employees work well together. Friendly and family oriented.
Office space is nice and pretty modern which makes it great to come into work.
Pros
Flexibility
Cons
Total Rewards
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
Productive workplace
Administrative Assistant/Accountant (Former Employee) – Halifax, NS – 19 October 2018
A very professional workplace. Friendly staff who are committed to providing the best customer service experience to every client. A very wonderful close nit atmosphere.
good
Intermediate Us and Canadian Tax Specialist (Former Employee) – Edmonton, AB – 9 October 2018
• Was involved in the provision of U.S. tax services to clients;
• Provided professional advice on U.S. federal, state and local taxes for Corporates and/or individuals including tax compliance and planning services for:
1. Canadian enterprises (and their affiliates) conducting business in the U.S.
2. U.S. citizens residing in Canada
3. Nonresidents of the U.S. who are employed or conduct business in the U.S. or who invest in U.S. assets.
• Provided professional advice on U.S. federal, state and local taxes for Corporates and/or individuals including tax compliance and planning services for:
1. Canadian enterprises (and their affiliates) conducting business in the U.S.
2. U.S. citizens residing in Canada
3. Nonresidents of the U.S. who are employed or conduct business in the U.S. or who invest in U.S. assets.
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
Welcoming and relatively stress free
Administrative Assistant (Former Employee) – London, ON – 10 September 2018
Arrive at 8 am, check work emails, look out for someone in need of assistance, collate & assemble taxes, file client documents, eat lunch, continue with work, leaving at 5pm.
Pros
Casual Fridays, festive energy, accepting, open minded
Cons
Constantly seated, Harsh lights
Fun WorkPlace
Support Specialist Messaging Systems (Former Employee) – Toronto, ON – 29 August 2018
Typical work day depending on title will involve colabartive meetings with coworkers. Typical day is spread with 20% meeting 40% operational 25% project work and 15 % escalations .
Pros
Work from home
Cons
None that stick out
Great Place to Work
Senior Accountant, US Tax (Current Employee) – Waterloo, ON – 14 September 2017
The people are wonderful. The training is lacking, but those around you are always willing to step in and show you the ropes if required. There is a team environment for sure. You will not feel left on your own, there is always someone willing to help you. The work/life balance is great for a big firm, but the salary and benefits are not competitive enough in comparison to other firms.
Pros
Great enviroment
Cons
Long hours