Pros
- They pay for your ACA and you get study time off and college for some exams - Overtime (but this is paid in TOIL and have to give first hour per day of overtime for free in order to claim) - Free barista-style coffee in the canteen - Fairly flexible working depending on which department you're in - Get your ACA and get out
Cons
- You are regularly guilted into working long hours and sometimes asked not to claim overtime due to project recovery, they sometimes act like they're a charity - Pay is much less than industry, I believe grads start on around £29k, £750 pay rise after 1 year, £3k pay rise after 2 years, then pay rise on qualification of ACA and 3 years which takes pay to around £47k, the jump to assistant manager is about £1.5k pay rise (for a lot more work), I think new managers get around £55k+small bonus. Baring in mind partners get paid around £700k average and in industry new qualified pay is around £55-60k+bonus. No bonuses regularly paid at BDO, apart from qualification bonus on passing ACA (£3.5k you pass all first time, £3k if just passing), other bonuses sometime paid are usually around £100 pre-tax. - Grads are put onto an apprenticeship scheme (usually without being told), means BDO pays less tax and you have to do lots of extra work like essays etc, means you don't have to pay for retakes and can leave the firm within 1 year of qualifying w/o paying back fees - They've hire lots of people who work remotely from abroad so the social aspect isn't as good anymore, they've gotten rid of the big audit Christmas party and many other perks and socials have gone since COVID. - Work-life balance is pretty rubbish, usually have to work evenings and weekends and busy season basically lasts all year now - Laptops are terrible and usually crash, poor spec - Mental health is a big issue at BDO, many people struggle due to the hard working environment - High turnover, lack of practical training, many incompetent staff, lots of last minute struggles on audits due to incompetence - They've taken on too many clients and don't have the staff or competence to deal with it so all the remaining competent people are having to do everything and are quickly leaving BDO - Emails and messages are regularly ignored by managers and partners - BDO are getting terrible ratings in audit reviews, I think we came joint bottom last time