The Digital Technology Services (DTS) department of BDO Holding B.V. has been officially ISO27001 certified since January 2015. At the beginning of 2023, the BDO Cyber Security processes of the Line of Service BDO Advisory B.V. added to the scope of the certification. The processes of the DTS department and BDO Cyber Security therefore comply with the international standard for information security. The scope of the certificate is: “Developing, maintaining and supporting customer portals and digital files as well as managing ICT infrastructures and the cybersecurity services provided, divided into the categories Assess & Assure, Consult & Implement and Security & Compliance.”
Information security is crucial for guaranteeing our services. We ensure that we minimize the risks in this area with strict measures.
Our mission is: adding security to organizations, entrepreneurs and society by delivering top quality always and everywhere. We have detailed how we want to achieve that mission in the BDO Strategy 2021-2025. We see the pursuit of top quality as the 'license to operate' for BDO. The confidence that society and our customers have in our services largely determines BDO's success. Quality is a decisive factor for BDO in carrying out work for existing customers and attracting new customers.
The reputation of the BDO brand is inextricably linked to the trust in and position of BDO's accountants and advisors. We feel partly responsible for the quality and reputation of those professions in general. BDO wants to be an organization with professionals who are confidants for their environment and who intrinsically want to 'do good' for customers, society and other stakeholders.
Top quality anchored in our DNA
The extent to which we can realize our ambition of 'delivering top quality always and everywhere' depends on the people we can retain, their level of education and their passion and drive to do the right things in the right way. Every day, in order to add security in this way, for the customer, for society and also for the survival of their profession and the continuity of the organization in which they work. A healthy organizational culture is essential for this; this is a basic condition for quality.
Culture and behavior influence the way in which quality policy is implemented and the extent to which quality structures work. Continuous quality improvement must be anchored, not only in the systems but also in our working methods and in our culture. We are taking major steps in this regard by continuously emphasizing that we are a learning organization in which a movement forward must be continuously visible. What is certain is that everything is focused on quality and on our people who deliver top quality every day; this realization is anchored in our DNA.
More information
You can read more about it in our transparency report. Here we provide insight into how we are actively working to realize our ambition of 'delivering top quality always and everywhere'.
BDO strives for an environment in which employees can deliver top quality always and everywhere. This concerns quality in the broadest sense; of our services, as well as our organization, our people, our processes and our behavior. That is why the BDO Horizon quality program was created, the aim of which is to improve ourselves cyclically. BDO Horizon challenges employees and encourages them to get the best out of themselves and realize ambitions, which in turn contributes to delivering top quality.
Increasing the learning capacity of the organization is used within the approach as a means to achieve the goals we have formulated. By increasing learning capacity, we get more return from our new, improved and existing processes, tools and instruments that support our quality-oriented climate.
BDO wants to create a safe and ethical environment for our employees, suppliers, customers and partners. Nevertheless, behavior or events can occur that lead to misconduct. BDO's whistleblower arrangement explains how all aforementioned parties can safely report (suspected) abuses, both internally and externally. Reporting helps our organization to detect possible abuses, to follow up adequately and to prevent them in the future.
We encourage people who suspect wrongdoing to report this directly to our organization, substantiated with facts. However, a suspicion of misconduct may also be reported directly to a competent authority such as the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets, the Dutch Data Protection Authority and the House for Whistleblowers. In all cases, the reporter must explicitly state that his report must be regarded as a report within the meaning of the whistleblower scheme. If the steps described in these Regulations are followed and the report is qualified as a suspicion of wrongdoing, the position of the reporter will be protected by BDO.
It is not mandatory to use the arrangement. Everyone is free to make their suspicion known in another way, for example by contacting the Board of Directors. However, the (protection of the) whistleblower arrangement does not apply if suspicions of abuse are made known in this way.
The whistleblower arrangement does not apply to (individual) complaints about the professional conduct of professionals affiliated with BDO where the social interest is not at stake. The procedure that applies to this is described in BDO's complaints procedure.