PwC and Morison International were
among the winners of the International Accounting
Bulletin’s inagural industry awards.
The cocktail reception, which took part
in London on 8th March, was attended by more than
60 industry leaders and special guest Sir David Tweedie, who
received the lifetime achievement award.
International Accounting Bulletin
received more than 100 nominations from across the world
across 13 categories. The shortlists and winners were adjudicated
by a judging panel, which was comprised of former
BDO global chief executive Jeremy Newman, ACCA technical director
Sue Almond, London City lawyer Jane Howard and International
Accounting Bulletin editor Arvind Hickman.
Photographs of the event will be available shortly.
IAB Awards 2012 Winners
Network of the Year
- PwC
PwC capped off a strong year of 10% growth by reclaiming its
position as the largest global network from Deloitte. PwC is
also the top performing firm among rivals in audit and
advisory.
PwC has been heavily involved in CSR initiatives as well as
contributing meaningful thought leadership on issues such as
strengthening the role of audit committee reports.
The network has nearly doubled staff mobility in the past year,
making it a diverse workplace. And the network is recognised in
many countries as an employer of choice.
Rising Star Network
- Kreston International
Kreston has posted solid growth of 5% but what really impressed
judges is Kreston’s successful transition from an association to a
network. This involves rolling a common audit methodology, common
quality control and an audit firm inspection programme. It’s a
massive undertaking, and Kreston was recently welcomed to the Forum
of Firms for its efforts.
Association of the Year
- Morison International
Aside from a good financial performance, Morison International
displayed many examples of client and member firm satisfaction that
eclipsed its rivals.
Morison improved its strategic positions across several
geographies, adding MacIntyre Hudson in the UK, Marks Paneth &
Shron in the US and 2KAudit in Russia.
Morison also rolled out an association-wide technical support
service to all member firms.
Rising Star Association
- Morison International
Morison International has performed
particularly well in the past year with 44% growth. Importantly,
37% of Morison’s members have been recruited in the past two years,
which highlights consistent growth.
Audit Innovation of the
Year
- Mazars – Human Rights Audit
Mazars has taken a lead role in assessing audit clients against
the Mazars Indicators for Human Rights Compliance. These indicators
measure how well a company is complying with basic human rights.
They are assessed against local laws and consolidated at an
international level.
Judges felt the Mazars Human Rights Audit was pertinent, innovative
and could set a benchmark for global best practice.
Tax Adviser of the Year
- BDO International
BDO demonstrated how a co-ordinated,
cross-border approach to tax planning helped a major IT client in
60 countries identify and resolve tax risks and maximise its tax
position. The firm also advised on European VAT, Enterprise
Resource Planning systems, R&D credits and transfer pricing – a
full suite of tax services across the whole BDO network.
Consultancy of the Year
- Deloitte London 2012
Deloitte has advised on over 200 advisory
projects for the London Olympic Games in business management,
procurement, operational readiness and organisational design.
Deloitte’s LOGOC framework work on integrated strategic and
business planning is now an International Olympic Committee
template.
It is fair to say Deloitte has set a gold medal standard in service
provision to the global sports management industry.
Employer of the Year
- Plante Moran (United States)
Plante Moran has a staff turnover rate of less
than 13% in the past 10 years.
Most importantly, our judges warmed to Plante Moran’s focus on
staff just having fun, an often overlooked aspect of professional
life.
KPMG UK and Beierholm were highly commended in this
category.
Sustainable Firm of the
Year
- KPMG
Since 2007, KPMG has reduced its global carbon emissions by 29%.
KPMG is the only firm at a global level to participate in the
supply chain program of the Carbon Disclosure project.
The firm recently held a high profile business sustainability
summit in collaboration with the UN Global Compact, and in Europe,
KPMG staff volunteered 77,500 hours of time to the community.
PwC was highly commended in this category.
IT Vendor of the Year
- CaseWare International
In 2011, Caseware International released its
Audit International product, which helped firms across the world
conduct audits in a more efficient and intuitive manner. CaseWare
International also launched Collaborate which allows teams to
access all engagement data in real-time from a secure cloud-based
repository.
Young Accountant of the
Year
- Trond-Morten Lindberg (BDO Norway)
Trond-Morten is the managing partner of a firm
with turnover of €130m and 550 partners and staff. Trond-Morten
helped BDO Norway through a transition from a federation of firms
to a single national firm.
After helping conclude a merger with a former Praxity firm,
Trond-Morten led BDO Norway through a period of rapid growth – 50%
in the past two years – and BDO is now considered a serious
competitor to the Big Four in the Danish market.
International Accounting Bulletin
Personality of the Year
- Jeremy Newman
Our choice for this year’s award has been described as many
things by his peers and foes, but one of those is not ‘a shrinking
violet’. Love him or loathe him, there are not many in the
profession who do not respect his many achievements and his innate
ability to stand up for what he believes in, regardless of how it
conflicts with your own point of view.
Rarely one to shy from the media spotlight, and our readers will
attest to this, our personality of the year might not be in a
position to run for this award ever again – well that’s what he had
us believe, until a month ago.
International Accounting Bulletin
Lifetime Achievement Award
- Sir David Tweedie
As chairman of the International Accounting
Standards Board for 10 years David Tweedie has undoubtedly
been the driving force behind the global transition from
national accounting standards to international standards. Testament
to his hard work, passion and belief, IFRS is now the accepted set
of financial reporting standards in more than 100 countries, with
the US and Japan likely to follow suit – a feat that was not even
conceivable 10 years ago.
