Our history

A global beginning

BDO was founded in 1963 with five original member firms in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, the US and Canada. These firms formed the Binder Seidman International Group. In 1973, the British, German and Dutch member firms adopted a common name whose acronym has endured for the entire global network.

That name was: Binder Hamlyn (UK) Dijker & Co (Holland) Otte & Co (Germany). Literally, BDO stands for Binder Dijker Otte.

BDO now has over 44,000 staff, who currently work in 1095 offices and in 110 countries around the world. In 2008, BDO global fees were US$5.14 billion.

BDO International is a worldwide network of public accounting firms, called  BDO Member Firms.  Each BDO Member Firm is an independent legal entity in its own country.  The network is coordinated by BDO Global Coordination B.V., incorporated in The Netherlands, with its statutory seat in Eindhoven (trade register registration number 33205251) and with an office at  Boulevard de la Woluwe 60, 1200 Brussels, Belgium, where the International Executive Office is located.

BDO Kendalls in Australia

In Australia, BDO Kendalls was established as an association of firms in 1975. Today we are one of Australia's largest associations of independently owned accounting practices with offices in Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Canberra, Darwin, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.

In Australia, BDO Kendalls can offer the expertise of more than 140 partners and directors supported by over 1200 staff.

Our service lines include: Audit & Assurance, Business Recovery & Insolvency, Consulting, Corporate Finance, Forensic Services, Corporate & International Tax, Private & Entrepreneurial Client Services. Our services also include a range of specialisations, in particular, Financial Planning and Wealth Management, Accredited Family Business advisory, Motor dealer services and Accredited Growth Services.

Our services are provided to a range of clients from large corporate organisations to private businesses, entrepreneurs and individuals representing a wide range of industry sectors.