Unethical, profit before people - Senior Accountant BDO Employee Review

1.0
Jun 23, 2020
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Get to experience a wide variety of clients, and complete files from start to finish, helping increase exposure compared to a Big 4 firm.

Cons

Anything related to HR policy is intentionally vague. The company will make several promises prior to tax season to incentivize unpaid overtime, then redact these promises once the work is complete. During my first tax season I was promised banked hours and put in 250 hours of unpaid time. Once tax season finished, the HR policy was changed to replace over time with a bonus at the end of the year. This erased all of my banked hours, which I was not compensated for. The "performance bonus" equated to $8/hour when considering the overtime I had worked. Any staff below management level are blatantly ignored during meetings and told to be quiet when offering solutions. None of the managers are provided training on how to manage staff, and it was extremely common that if you went to your manager with an issue, personal or work related, the entire office would know about it by the end of the day. The only people that get rewarded/recognized are those that are willing to forego work/life balance, and work 70+ hours per week with no additional compensation. Competence does not factor into raises, only time spent in the office. Managers use guilt, shame, fear, and lies to motivate people.

Explore other reviews about BDO

5.0
Jun 8, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

It was a good place to work

Cons

Can be busy at times

2.0
Jun 5, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

There actually are great people, but you play manager roulette.

Cons

BDO is notorious for promoting people who just never leave. The middle of the road, not great, not awful, people get promoted over and over again. There have been changes every 3 seconds since the ESOP. Terrible communication around change (non-existent). My manager's favorite term was "We are building the plane as we fly it". After 4 years, I was hoping to have more plane built. It was never built.

2
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