Accounting firms question the partnership model

BDO USA is ditching the profession’s traditional structure and becoming a corporation

Stephen Foley in New York and Michael O’Dwyer in London

Published Fri, Jun 30, 2023 · 05:00 PM

IT IS a coveted status. Just one in 50 people entering the accounting profession make partner, joining an elite and lucrative club whose members get to carve up their firm’s profits among themselves.

So why are the 860 partners of BDO USA giving it all up?

The firm, the sixth-largest in the US, is switching this weekend to a professional services corporation, a designation more akin to a typical company. Partners will instead become shareholders and employees.