Transformation

As a company with a purpose grounded in helping people, we embrace diversity and transformation both within our industry, as well as within the South African business environment. BDO is committed to sustainable empowerment that is forward looking, upskilling and which realises the true advantage and benefits of a diversified work force at all levels.

At a current B-BBEE level 1 with black ownership at 48% we are striving to attain at least 51% black ownership and 30% Black Women ownership within the short to medium term.

We are clear about the fact that we need to do better and be better as a profession. We are committed to leading this charge, especially at a time when South Africa is increasingly facing uncertainty and there is a lack of trust in corporate communities. Our efforts are led by the BDO Transformation Committee which oversees and drives the steps needed to ensure that all staff have access to equal opportunities. The Committee’s key focus areas are the increased recruitment of African, Coloured and female staff; and succession planning to redress the employment profile at senior levels within the organisation. The CEO, CFO and COO are members of the Transformation Committee and it is supported by an Employment Equity Committee, CSR Committee, our Balance for Better gender initiative, a Social Justice Committee and an Approvals Committee (whose sole mandate is to ensure that we are following employment equity legislation).

Through the efforts of these structures, we are proud that for the 2021 trainee intake we have 70% ACI candidates at a national level. The African and Coloured 1st year intake represents 80% of the 71% total ACI intake.

These committees work-hard to help us be clear in our societal commitments:

• We grow our future leaders from within the business, but we also understand that growth requires investment and time, which is why we have the BDO High-Performance Programme. This programme aims to accelerate these future leaders in their learning and development through advanced courses, run both internally and externally.
• We assist the Thuthuka Bursary Fund, which sponsors previously disadvantaged students at selected SAICA-accredited universities. This initiative has proven to be fruitful for the firm and we are committed to investing in this programme.
• From a CSI perspective we have worked for 63 pro bono clients nationally with a value exceeding R10 million.
• The firm has strict supplier development procedures and policies to ensure the use of B-BBEE suppliers, with a specific focus on Qualifying Small Enterprises (QSE), Exempted Micro Enterprises (EME) and entities that are predominantly black female owned
• In 2020, the ownership body of BDO Incorporated approved the increase of economic interest and voting rights of ACI partners, at no additional cost to them. While this will not fix the past, we hope it will provide surety to our staff that they have our commitment to changing the future.

As a company with a purpose grounded in helping people, we embrace diversity and transformation both within our industry, as well as within the South African business environment. BDO is committed to sustainable empowerment that is forward-looking, upskilling and realising the true advantage and benefits of a diversified workforce at all levels.

At a current B-BBEE level 1 with black ownership at 55.5%, we have maintained a 51% or more black ownership status over four consecutive years.  We continue to pursue our target of being a 30% Black Women owned firm within the short to medium term.

We are clear about the fact that we need to do better and be better as an industry. We are committed to leading this charge, especially at a time when the broader South African society is increasingly facing uncertainty and a lack of trust in the corporate communities.

Our efforts are led by the BDO Transformation Committee which oversees and drives the steps needed to ensure that all staff have access to equal opportunities. The Committee’s key focus areas are the increased recruitment of staff from the underrepresented race groups taken from BDO’s Employment Equity Plan; and a focus on succession planning to redress the employment profile at senior levels within the organisation. The CEO and CPO are members of the Transformation Committee, and it is supported by an Employment Equity Committee, and an Approvals Committee (whose sole mandate is to ensure that we are following employment equity legislation).

Through the efforts of our committees, we are proud that for the 2025 Audit trainee intake we have 87.5% African Coloured and Indian candidates at a national level. Notably, African and Coloured 1st-year intake represent 79% of the total ACI intake.

These committees work-hard to help us be clear in our societal commitments:

• We grow our future leaders from within the business, but we also understand that growth requires investment and time, which is why we have the BDO High-Performance Program. This program aims to accelerate these future leaders in their learning and development through advanced courses, run both internally and externally.
• From a CSI perspective, we have done work for 17 pro bono clients in the 2025 financial year end nationally with a value exceeding R3.2 million. 
• From a supplier development perspective, the firm has strict procedures and policies to ensure the use of B-BBEE suppliers, with a specific focus on Qualifying Small Enterprises (QSE), Exempted Micro Enterprises (EME) and entities that are predominantly Black owned and Black female-owned.  Notably, 44% of BDO’s expenditure was made with EME suppliers, and 36% of BDO’s expenditure supported 51% Black Owned suppliers in the 2025 financial year.
• As part of our Enterprise and Supplier Development strategy, we also provided interest-free loans to various small black-owned companies totaling R2.4 million.  BDO also provided grants to other small black-owned companies totaling R760k.
• During 2024, we appointed 35 Youth registered with the Y.E.S program. The initiative comes with an annual cost totaling more than R2.1 million.
• We also recruited 52 disabled learners in 2025. All these learners are from previously disadvantaged communities. BDO spent more than R3.4 million in the 2025 financial year in support of learners with disabilities.
• In 2020, the ownership body of BDO Incorporated approved the increase of economic interest and voting rights of ACI partners, at no additional cost to them. This initiative is part of our broader attraction and retention strategy which is proving to be very beneficial to the firm.