Student Careers

Advisory

Not a single business line but a whole set of teams providing advice on a wide range of transactions or events. Our national Advisory teams deliver more than 15 distinct services between them, across a broad range of clients and markets.

As businesses grow, so do the challenges they face. BDO’s Advisory services help our clients to meet these challenges across the lifecycle of their business. Such key events may include expanding through acquiring a new business in order to extract profits as reward for their investment. A business might run into financial difficulties – we help there too, stepping in to stabilise and restructure the organisation. We have advisers who assist in resolving legal disputes with a financial dimension or in fighting fraud. A company may wish to expand internationally, float on a stock exchange, manage its risk or achieve specific long-term objectives – our Advisory teams provide expert support in all these areas and more.

While retaining their own unique identities, our Advisory teams work together to make the most of everyone’s talents and maximise the available opportunities. Our Advisory teams include Business Restructuring, Corporate Finance, Cyber Security, Forensic Services, IFRS Advisory, People Advisory, Risk Advisory Services and Technology Advisory.

With the fast-growing appetite among our clients for the Advisory services we offer, this is an area of real opportunity for distinguished Graduates to begin their career.

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Scott McMurdo, Assistant Manager – Business Restructuring

“I started off in the Business Restructuring team as a Graduate in 2019. Since joining the team, they have provided me a diverse range of work and each day can be different.

Our team provides restructuring solutions to companies in distress through various types of insolvency appointments and informal advisory engagements.

My day-to-day tasks really do vary. Some days I may be liaising with the various stakeholders in a liquidation, managing various aspects of a trading business in a receivership or voluntary administration. Other days can involve analysing and reporting a company’s financial position and providing advice to company officers and lenders.

My team is able to provide a wide range of solutions to companies in distress, which is an integral aspect of the advisory space and can assist both new and existing clients.”

Audit & Assurance

As a part of the BDO Audit team you will become an indispensable adviser to our clients whether they are listed on ASX200, a national not-for-profit organisation or a fast growing privately-owned business with overseas operations.

Working in Audit means building strong relationships with key individuals to better understand the company’s story before diving into analysing numbers, obtaining supporting evidence and reviewing their financial performance. Auditors must be able to understand the client’s business from all aspects, identifying potential risks and analyse information to provide the client and their investors  a level of assurance on the financial statements.

Each day will be different, working with a variety of clients with much of your time spent at the client’s premises talking to the different functions to understand the business being audited.

Upon completion of your professional study, you may be given the opportunity to be involved in overseas secondments in our network of over 1,800 offices across our international network of 167 countries.

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Cassandra Stefan, Senior Auditor

“In Audit, we work directly with clients to review accounting records and express an opinion as to whether financial statements are presented fairly in accordance with the applicable accounting standards.

As a Graduate within Audit, you are given the opportunity to work with clients of all sizes across a variety of industries from day one. Working in Audit gives you the ability to look into all facets of a business, from payroll to sales to accruals – gaining an understanding on how each business is run, working closely with client finance teams. Audit gives you face-to-face client exposure on a daily basis which is vital in building relationships.

In Audit, no two weeks are the same as you are constantly out of the office working at the clients’ premises. Every day you are faced with new challenges that allow you to think critically and learn quickly. You learn skills from different managers and colleagues, and work on jobs that interest you. Audit is a division that gives you a great insight into each aspect of accounting, allowing you to work and understand all areas of the P&L and Balance Sheet.”

William Bourke, Assistant Manager

“Within the first few weeks of joining the Audit team, I was hitting the ground running at client sites working within a team. Each week – fortnight, you get to experience a new client and industry, take on new challenges and meet new people.

From large ASX listed clients to small non-profits, the constant exposure to different business environments and the constant learning that follows is unrivalled. There aren’t many jobs where, within a few weeks of starting, you’re sitting in a meeting with a CFO who is listening to you. The learning opportunities with the BDO Audit team are endless!”

Business Services

Our Business Services professionals help clients navigate even the most challenging circumstances. The advice we provide is based on a deep understanding of all stages of the business lifecycle and is underpinned by rich experience across all industry sectors.

The success of every business depends on its ability to grow sustainably and consistently over time. Whether a company is looking to outsource a finance function or looking to understand how they can succeed in their chosen markets, our Business Services team provide a comprehensive range of services to support businesses with their respective needs. This may involve standard accounting functions such as bookkeeping, payroll or management reporting services; tax functions such income tax or fringe benefit tax preparation as well as advisory functions including cash flow analysis, budget setting and holistic business reviews.

Our Business Services team work in true partnership with each different engagement- whether it be in family business, international property management, wealth management or strategic planning- each individual stakeholder is in our heart of what we do.

What sets us apart is our appreciation of the needs of each individual within that business- resulting in the formation of meaningful and longstanding relationships built on trust.
 

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Andrew Smirniotis, Assistant Manager – Business Services

“As a Graduate in Business Services, you get the opportunity to work with clients from both around the country and around the world. We interact with clients based in Europe, North America, and Asia, to ensure the timely preparation and delivery of Income Tax Returns, Business Activity Statements, and Financial Statements.

We also work with our international clients in setting up subsidiaries in Australia and advising them on necessary information required to operate in Australia.

Business Services also serve as the outsourced finance function for many of our clients. This includes preparing payroll, AP and Management Accounts.”

Tax

BDO Tax teams advise a range of clients, including companies and high-net-worth individuals, on a variety of tax-related issues.  On a daily basis our tax advisers are tasked with finding solutions to meet clients’ tax needs.  This often involves guiding clients through the complex, ever-changing landscape of tax legislation.

Our tax professionals offer a full range of tax services and specialisations. This includes day-to-day compliance with the tax authorities, advice on employment taxation and international tax, transaction support for deals such as mergers and acquisitions, indirect tax services, expatriate tax advice and research, transfer pricing and research and development tax concessions.

Such a wide offering means we need a number of specific teams with diverse backgrounds and skill sets. We recruit specialists who can handle technically challenging and sector-specific issues, while balancing exceptional client relationships.

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Adam McLean – Tax, Corporate Tax

“The Corporate and International Tax team works closely with clients to help them understand Australian Tax Law and the impact it has on their business.

As we have clients from all around the world, each day tends to be different and our work can be categorised as either compliance or advisory.  Generally, our compliance work involves preparing complex Income Tax Returns, Business Activity Statements and assisting our clients with the tax disclosures in their financial statements.  The advisory part of our work tends to be the most varied and can range from advising on the tax implications of a complex transaction, to the most tax effective way to finance a company’s Australian operations.

Due to the nature of our work, we often collaborate with other service lines, which allows us to benefit from the diverse range of people and industries that form part of the BDO network.””