Accounting heavyweight BDO has named Pat Kramer, the long-time head of its Canadian business, as global CEO.

BDO is the fifth largest provider of accounting services in the world behind the industry’s Big Four group of firms. It has more than 97,000 employees who generated north of $10 billion in revenue worldwide in 2021.

Like its Big Four competitors, BDO is not a company in the usual sense but rather a network of largely independent firms that operate under the same brand name. Those firms are spread across more than 1,700 offices worldwide.

Pat Kramer is taking up the CEO role at BDO as part of a succession plan that was announced in May. He is replacing Keith Farlinger, who held the top post for five years.

BDO experienced significant growth under Farlinger. In the 12 months through September 31, the company grew revenues 10.8% year-over-year to $11.8 billion.

Farlinger also put BDO on a more IT-focused trajectory as part of his strategy for driving revenue growth.

BDO’s core focus is auditing publicly traded corporations’ financial reports to ensure they are accurate. Under Farlinger’s leadership, the firm added services focused on areas such as AI, cloud computing and big data analytics.

Technology will most likely continue to remain a major focus for the firm under Pat Kramer. 

Kramer is taking over the top post following a 32-year career at BDO that most recently saw him head the firm’s Canadian business unit. His tenure at the helm of the Canadian business was characterized by a focus on “culture and digital transformation,” according to BDO.

Digital transformation is the term for using software to make a large, well-established company more efficient.

Besides technology, Kramer is also expected to prioritize employee acquisition and retention. “We will be leveraging the great work of our member firms and continue to invest, with a global mindset, in global talent initiatives to create a learning and development culture,” the executive stated. 

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