BDO AS
Transparency Report 2020
Contents 3
About the Transparency Report
4
A word from the Managing Partner
6
Head of Audit and Assurance
8
Head of Quality and Risk Management
10
About BDO 10 The BDO network 12 Participants in the BDO network in the EU/EEA 14 BDO in Norway 16 Management structure 19 Financial information
20 Quality at BDO 20 Responsibility of the board of directors and management for quality 21 Ethical requirements and independence 21 Acceptance of clients and engagements 21 Information security and privacy protection 21 Audit methodology 22 Annual internal quality check for auditing 22 Quality control by BDO Global 23 Review by the Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway 24 Statement from the Board of Directors regarding the quality control system 26 Sustainability 26 Our role as auditor 28
Skills development 28 BDO - For the future 28 Employee satisfaction and commitment 30 The skills model at BDO 19 Skills development 31 Continuing education 31 Inclusion and diversity
32 Partner compensation 33 Active partners 34 Our offices 35 Public-interest entities audited by BDO
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About the Transparency Report As auditors, we have an important social responsibility. Auditors are society’s trustees, and to fulfill this role, we rely on trust. Society needs to know that we have the qualities necessary to meet this responsibility in the form of integrity, objectivity, attitude and expertise. Trust in BDO has been demonstrated by the fact that more than 40,000 enterprises have chosen to become clients of BDO, including many public-interest entities. Under the Norwegian Auditors Act, we are required to submit an annual transparency report. This report must show how we ensure independence and quality in the audit process. The purpose is to ensure transparency and insight into how we meet our societal duties. BDO AS is a part of BDO International Limited. When we write “BDO” or “BDO AS” in this report, we are referring to BDO AS with the organisation number 993 606 650. When we refer to our international network, we use the term BDO Global or BDO International Limited.
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MARTIN AASEN
Managing Partner at BDO AS
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A word from the Managing Partner We live in a country where we have a high level of trust in each other. In institutions, organisations and enterprises. It is a valuable characteristic of our society. Valuable because a high level of trust provides favourable conditions for efficiency, value creation and functioning markets. Trust is founded on transparency and quality ”Open” is one of BDO’s fundamental values, and quality is a prerequisite in all we do. We treat our task as trustees on behalf of society with the utmost seriousness. More than 40,000 Norwegian enterprises have chosen to be clients of BDO. They represent a cross section of Norwegian enterprises and have different challenges and opportunities. It is therefore essential to be open to new challenges, new ideas and new solutions. In our profession, it is not good enough to go back to the beginning and start all over again. In our profession, it is continuous improvement that matters.
The Covid-19 pandemic came as a shock. We directed our attention to how we could help our clients safely get through the pandemic. We have used and are using our expertise to determine clients’ needs and help them to take the next steps.
Society and businesses develop at a fast pace. Our public authorities also treat our role as trustees on behalf of society with the utmost seriousness. The requirements for us as auditors have increased to ensure quality and trust. We collaborate with regulators, develop ourselves, and ensure that BDO delivers a high level of quality. This requires us to see how trends affect day-to-day operations. It requires us to update the way we work and the skills we possess. In this way, we will not only meet today’s needs, but tomorrow’s as well.
Good health and quality of life are essential for creating wellfunctioning communities where people thrive. It goes without saying that gender equality is essential for making the best decisions. Decent jobs and economic growth form the basis for the welfare state and are crucial for mutual trust. In addition, we must bring a halt to climate changes to ensure that future generations can live a good life on this planet.
Technology presents new opportunities, but also new challenges. We capitalise on the opportunities and stay up to date on the challenges. In this manner, we can improve to ensure our own delivery of services and strengthen our clients’ business operations.
The focus on sustainable development is a unique opportunity to handle our era’s greatest challenges. We want to help all our clients decide how they will contribute to a more sustainable world. We also accept our share of the responsibility. We have selected four sustainability goals that we at BDO will work on in particular.
Together we will solve the challenges of today and tomorrow. Our contribution is the delivery of high-quality services and a genuine commitment to people, business and society. Happy reading!
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Head of Audit and Assurance
Erik Lie Partner/Head of Audit and Assurance
AUDITING IS ABOUT BUILDING TRUST Trust is the foundation for the entire audit profession, and as auditors, we want to contribute to increased trust. The last decade has resulted in major changes for the audit profession, but our role as society’s trustee has not changed. Instead, we see that the work auditors do has become ever more strongly embedded in society. We treat the trust we have gained with the utmost seriousness, and we are obliged at all times to deliver services of the highest possible quality in order to preserve this trust. As for the rest of society, the Covid-19 pandemic has affected the audit profession and the way we work. At BDO, we have come up with new ideas and have used the opportunity to utilise new solutions to meet the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. This has enabled us to respond quickly and effectively to changes in our surroundings. At a time when the demand for auditing is strong, we have continued to deliver high quality. We take pride in this. THE DIGITAL BDO The pace of technological change in the society has accelerated as a result of the pandemic. Some may view digitalisation and automation of processes as threats to our profession, but for us at BDO, they are opportunities to become even better than before. It also allows us to ensure higher quality of services. Each day, we strive to become better, which is why we are pleased with the progress we have made in recent years with respect to innovation and digitalisation in auditing. The development of our data and analysis platform, Heartbeat, has contributed to improvements in efficiency and automation in audit processes. The implementation and further development of our own client portal has ensured more efficient and secure interaction with our clients.
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TRANSPARENCY IS THE KEY As auditors, we want to be transparent to the users of our services. Transparency is critical in building and maintaining trust between us as auditors and the rest of society. This Transparency Report highlights how we at BDO make a difference to society, and how we work to develop our audit processes and our skills, methodology and the tools that contribute to ensuring quality in the services we provide. Transparency also involves being transparent in areas where we see a potential for improvement. This is why we present important and essential observations from our own and external quality inspections. We do not merely report on where we will become better, but also how we will become better. We hope, therefore, that this report provides a good understanding of how we work on quality every single day and our constant obligation to improve and maintain the trust you have given us as society’s trustee. This is a challenging time, but it is under such circumstances that the most impressive accomplishments and contributions emerge. We are confident that the auditing profession will continue to be an important contributor to Norwegian business and society and that together we will continue to find new and better ways of solving tomorrow’s challenges.
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Head of Quality and Risk Management
Steinar Andersen Partner/QRM Manager
QUALITY AND RISK MANAGEMENT (QRM) As an audit firm, we are completely dependent on the trust of the outside world. Trust in the reliability of our audit reports and other opinions, and that the advice we provide to our clients is sound. We have several elements in our internal structure that are intended to contribute to this. Quality assurance is an important part of our work, and all work delivered by BDO is checked for quality by at least one person other than the one who performed the work. QRM is responsible for overarching quality control work, risk management and compliance at BDO, but quality assurance is primarily carried out by the client teams, as a part of our ongoing client work. Although we do our utmost to check the quality of our work, mistakes can happen. We have established procedures to uncover mistakes made and to ensure that we do not make similar mistakes again. Our internal quality control and our training and continuing education programme are important elements in this part of the work. QRM PARTNER Partner Steinar Andersen is a state authorized public accountant and the QRM Partner at BDO. He leads our work on Quality and Risk Management. In his role as QRM Partner, he is administratively subordinate to the Managing Partner, but he reports directly to the Board of Directors in matters of importance to the Board. QRM COMMITTEE At BDO, we have a QRM Committee that deals with matters that, on an overarching basis, are relevant for the risk to which BDO is exposed. The Managing Partner, the leaders of each of our service areas and the QRM Partner are permanent members of our QRM committee. Internal experts may also attend, based on the matters to be considered. The QRM Committee meets monthly.
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COMBATING MONEY LAUNDERING The media and public authorities have in recent years focused on deficiencies in the anti-money laundering work at enterprises subject to the Norwegian Anti-Money Laundering Act. The Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway has recently directed a great deal of attention towards our industry in this area, and it refers to this in Reports from the Supervised Areas Money Laundering and Terror Financing, published on the 17th of January of this year. We at BDO are committed to combating money laundering and financing of terror, and we continuously work to improve ourselves. By finding smart ways to uncover possible violations of the Norwegian Anti-Money Laundering Act – whether among our clients or our clients’ business partners. As discussed later in this report, the Financial Supervisory Authority has raised some issues where they believe BDO may not have complied with the requirements of the Norwegian Anti-Money Laundering Act. In 2020, we have implemented new tools and revised our procedures in this area, in order to rectify the issues raised by the Financial Supervisory Authority. PRIVACY We are committed to handling personal data in a manner that ensures that it cannot be misused. With respect to the auditing activity, we retain personal data almost exclusively because of statutory or auditing requirements for documentation and retention. It is necessary for us to obtain personal data about employees and owners of audit clients as part of our auditing work. Personal data is stored together with other audit documentation in our CRM system or in another electronic archive. This data is all stored in a secure manner to ensure that we comply with both our duty of confidentiality and the provisions in the Norwegian Personal Data Act.
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About BDO BDO NETWORK
The BDO network is an international network of independent companies in the areas of auditing, tax, accounting and consultancy who are members of BDO International Limited and provide professional services under the brand name BDO. Legal and organisational structure of the network Each BDO Member Firm is a member of BDO International Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, either as a voting member (one company per country) or non-voting member. BDO International Limited is the umbrella company in the
BDO network and sets the terms for membership in its articles of association. The BDO network is governed by the BDO International Limited Council, the Global Board and the Global Leadership Team. The BDO International Limited Council consists of one representative for each voting member and represents the member firms of BDO International Limited in company meetings. The Council approves the network’s central budget, appoints the members of the Global Board and approves any amendments to BDO International Limited’s articles of association. The Global Board, which is the board of directors for BDO International Limited, consists of one representative for the
BDO NETWORK
1,658
91,054
167
US$ 10.3 BILLION
OFFICES
COUNTRIES
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EMPLOYEES WORLDWIDE
IN TOTAL TURNOVER
BDO network’s seven largest member firms, and are appointed for a three-year term and approved by the Council. The Global Board sets priorities for the BDO network and supervises the work performed by the Global Leadership Team. The Global Board meets at least four times a year. The Global Leadership Team is responsible for coordinating the activities of the BDO network. The team is led by the Managing Partner and consists of the leaders of Audit & Accounting, Tax, HR & Development, Business Development & Marketing, IT, Managing Partner for EMEA, Managing Partner for the Americas, Managing Partner for Asia Pacific and the International Secretary. The Global Leadership Team is supported by the Global Office through Brussels Worldwide Services BVBA. Brussels Worldwide
Services BVBA, a Belgian limited company, provides services in connection with the coordination of the BDO network. BDO International Limited and Brussels Worldwide Services BVBA provide no professional services to clients. Only the member firms, including BDO AS, provide such services. BDO International Limited, Brussels Worldwide Services BVBA and the member firms of the BDO network are all separate legal entities and have no liability for another such entity’s acts or omissions. Nothing in the arrangements or rules of the BDO network shall constitute or imply an agency relationship or a partnership between BDO International Limited, Brussels Worldwide Services BVBA and/or the member firms of the BDO network.
BDO IN NORWAY
MORE THAN 1,700 EMPLOYEES IN NORWAY
NOK 2.3 BILLION IN TOTAL TURNOVER
74
OFFICES
145
PARTNERS
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PARTICIPANTS IN THE BDO NETWORK IN THE EU/EØS TOTAL TURNOVER FOR AUDIT SERVICES PERFORMED BY BDO IN THE EU/EEA: € 784,884,996
COUNTRIES
AREA
NAME OF BDO COMPANY IN THE AREA
AUSTRIA
Austria
BDO Austria GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungs- und Steuerberatungsgesellschaft
Austria
BDO Steiermark GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungs- und Steuerberatungsgesellschaft
Austria
BDO Salzburg GmbH Wirstschaftsprufungsgesellschaft
Austria
BDO Oberösterreich GmbH Wirtschaftsprüfungs - und Steuerberatungsgesellschaft
BELGIUM
Belgium
BDO Bedrijfsrevisoren - Réviseurs d'Entreprises CVBA
BULGARIA
Bulgaria
BDO Bulgaria OOD
CROATIA
Croatia
BDO Croatia D.O.O.
CYPRUS
Cyprus
BDO Limited
CZECH REPUBLIC
Czech Republic
BDO Audit s.r.o
Czech Republic
BDO CA s.r.o.
Czech Republic
BDO CB s.r.o.
Czech Republic
BDO Plzen s.r.o.
Denmark
BDO Statsautoriseret revisionsaktieselskab
DENMARK
Denmark
BDO Holding V, Statsautoriseret Revisionsaktieselskab
ESTONIA
Estonia
BDO Eesti AS
FINLAND
Finland
BDO Oy
Finland
BDO Audiator Oy
Finland
Finnpartners BDO Oy
France
BDO France
France
BDO France Léger & Associés
France
BDO IDF
France
BDO PACA
France
BDO RHONE-ALPES
France
BDO 2AS
France
BDO LES HERBIERS
France
BDO FONTENAY LE COMTE
France
BDO ST GILLES CROIX DE VIE
France
BDO NANTES
France
BDO ARRAOU
France
VINCENT RUSE CONSEIL
France
BDO LES ULIS
France
FIDENT AUDIT
France
3APEXCO
France
3A CORPORATE
Germany
BDO AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft
Germany
BDO Arbicon GmbH & Co. KG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft
FRANCE
GERMANY
Germany
BDO DPI AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft
GIBRALTAR
Gibraltar
BDO Limited
GREECE
Greece
BDO CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS S.A.
HUNGARY
Hungary
BDO Hungary Audit Ltd
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COUNTRIES
AREA
NAME OF BDO COMPANY IN THE AREA
ICELAND
Iceland
BDO ehf.
IRELAND
Ireland
BDO
ITALY
Italy
BDO Italia S.p.A.
LATVIA
Latvia
SIA BDO ASSURANCE
LIECHTENSTEIN
Liechtenstein
BDO (Liechtenstein) AG
LITHUANIA
Lithuania
BDO Auditas ir Apskaita, UAB
LUXEMBOURG
Luxembourg
BDO Audit
MALTA
Malta
BDO Malta CPAs
NETHERLANDS
Netherlands
BDO Audit & Assurance B.V.
NORWAY
Norway
BDO AS
POLAND
Poland
BDO Spółka z ograniczoną odpowiedzialnością Sp. K.
Poland
BDO Legal Latala is Wspólnicy Sp.K.
PORTUGAL
Portugal
BDO & Associados, SROC, Lda
ROMANIA
Romania
BDO Audit SRL
Romania
BDO Auditors & Accountants SRL
Romania
BDO Auditors and Business Advisors SRL
SLOVAK REPUBLIC
Slovak Republic
BDO Audit, spol. s r.o.
SLOVENIA
Slovenia
BDO Revizija d.o.o.
SPAIN
Spain
BDO Auditores, S.L.P.
Spain
BDO Audiberia Abogados y Asesores Tributarios, S.L.P.
Sweden
BDO AB
Sweden
BDO Göteborg AB
Sweden
BDO Göteborg Intressenter AB
Sweden
BDO Göteborg KB
Sweden
BDO Linköping AB
Sweden
BDO Mälardalen AB
Sweden
BDO Mälardalen Intressenter AB
Sweden
BDO Norr AB
Sweden
BDO Norr Intressenter AB
Sweden
BDO Stockholm AB
Sweden
BDO Sweden AB
Sweden
BDO Syd AB
Sweden
BDO Syd Intressenter AB
Sweden
BDO Syd KB
Sweden
GO Bolagssupport AB
Sweden
Wahlberg & Co AB
Sweden
BDO Tullsupport AB /Johan
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
BDO LLP
Northern Ireland
BDO Northern Ireland
Switzerland
BDO Ltd/AG/SA
SWEDEN
UNITED KINGDOM
SWITZERLAND
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All across Norway, thousands of businesses and organisations work hard to create value. And all across Norway, BDO is there to help them. We are an international advisory and audit firm with deep roots in Norwegian society and the business community. We know the challenges, see the opportunities and make strong commitments to help our clients reach their goals.
We have more than 1700 employees in Norway and more than 74 offices across the entire country.
BDO IN NORWAY BDO is organised as a limited company and is an audit firm authorised pursuant to the Norwegian Auditors Act. BDO is also an accounting firm authorised under the Norwegian Authorisation of Accountants Act. BDO in Norway consists of the companies BDO AS (org. no. 993 606 650) and BDO Advokater AS (org. no. 996 798 577). BDO AS is the principal in the limited partnership ”BDO Indre selskap”, in which all the shareholders in BDO AS participate as individual, silent partners. The company model is based on practical reasons. BDO AS cannot conduct any business other than what is conducted for the limited partnership ”BDO indre selskap”. BDO AS is the only member of the company meeting, but all the participants are entitled to be present. Prior to each
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company meeting, a partner meeting is held which takes a position with binding effect for the principal on the matters to be dealt with by the company meeting. BDO’s operations in Norway are owned in their entirety by equity partners. As at 31 December 2020, there were 145 owners of BDO AS, of which 110 were audit partners, 13 were legal partners and 8 were accounting partners, in addition to 3 partners who work on national management. All partners in BDO AS have an equal ownership share. All active partners are listed in the last part of this report. All partners are individual, silent partners in the limited partnership ”BDO indre selskap”, with the addition of 16 partners without project responsibilities (ambassadors); Olav Mjånes, Trond-Morten Lindberg, Tore Samuelsen, Thor A. Johansson, Roar Winge, Tor Eriksen, Erik Ramsberg, Ove
Our clients are everything from large, worldwide companies to small and medium enterprises. We have clients from most industries in both the private and public sectors. When necessary, we collaborate with large parts of the BDO network on both international and Norwegian clients.
Our values reflect our internal company culture. We will work closely with each other, and we will be right behind our clients with the right expertise. Transparency will contribute to improvement. Our clients will view us as open and attentive. We will have a high level of integrity as auditors and advisers – extending beyond what our profession requires. This means that we must have the courage to challenge our clients, the market and ourselves.
Magne Dufseth, Bente Sletten, Ove G. Bøhn, Ole Herman Nordby, Håkon Andersen-Gott, Vidar Øyslebø, Steinar Skjetne, Tor Hustad and Svein H. Wiik. BDO increased its activity in 2020 by taking over the business activities of: • NK Business Services AS (org. no. 991 800 670) • Nordmøre Revisjon AS (org. no. 961 225 930)
Cooperating companies and units in Norway BDO has at 31/12/2020 the following wholly-owned subsidiaries: • Evolver by BDO AS (org. no. 923 134 875) • Noraudit AS (org. no. 968 008 358) • Inter Revisjon Norge AS (org. no. 915 915 167)
BDO also has a cooperating agreement with: • BDO Advokater AS (org. no. 996 798 577) Company sports teams affiliated with BDO: • BDO BIL Innlandet (org. no. 911 668 653) • BDO Romerike BIL (org. no. 911 985 489) These are employees of BDO’s local associations and sports teams. BDO AS also has ownership shares in the following companies: • Ørje Næringspark AS (org. no. 989 686 984) • Økonomiklyngen AS (org. no. 917 592 950) • Godt Sagt AS (org. no. 987 917 091)
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MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE
GENERAL MEETING The general meeting of BDO AS functions according to the Norwegian Limited Liability Companies Act and the company’s articles of association and shareholder agreement, and it elects the Board of Directors of BDO AS. The board of directors of the limited partnership ”BDO Indre selskap” will consist of the same members who are elected at any time as the chair and members of the Board of Directors of BDO AS. The company board of directors is responsible for BDO’s operations.
Nomination committee The nomination committee is elected by the general meeting of BDO AS and will propose members for the board of directors. The nomination committee will consist of three members and one deputy member. The composition of the nomination committee will reflect the varying sizes of the departments. No profit centre may have more than one member on the nomination committee.
Board of directors The representation on the board of directors will be distributed with respect to both the size and geographic location of the individual departments. A profit centre should not have more than one representative on the board of directors. The board of directors must at all times encompass a combined expertise that serves the partners. Employees are entitled to representation on the board of directors pursuant to Section 6-4 of the Norwegian Limited Liability Companies Act.
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The board of directors consists of 10 members, of which 3 represent the employees. The members of the board of directors are elected for a period of up to 2 years. The chair of the board of directors is elected by the general meeting. The board of directors itself elects the deputy chair. The articles of association for BDO AS also state that the board of directors must have a composition that meets the prevailing requirements of the Norwegian Auditors Act. Among other things, this means that the majority of both the members and the deputy members of the board of directors are state authorised public accountants. The Board of Directors consists of the following participants: • Board of Directors Chair Ingjer Ofstad, Partner, BDO Advokater • Deputy Chair Henrik Dagestad, Partner, BDO Advokater • Anne Merete Vorpenes, Partner, Business Service • Arne Inge Almklov, Partner, Audit and Assurance • Kåre Rødssæteren, Partner, Audit and Assurance • Cathrine Sæther Karlsen, Partner, Audit and Assurance • Yngve Gjethammer, Partner, Audit and Assurance Employee representatives: • Svein Zwygart, Manager, Business Service • Terje Eggum Adolfsen, Senior Manager, Audit and Assurance • Håvard Tysdal, Senior Manager, Internal Finance Department
Business organisation BDO AS is required to have a managing partner who is appointed by the Board of Directors of BDO AS. The managing partner at BDO AS must also be the managing partner at the limited partnership ”BDO Indre selskap”.
Profit centre managers and office managers BDO has 74 offices in Norway. The offices are arranged in 11 profit centres. The managers at the respective profit centres are directly responsible for the results at their offices and coorporate with the managers for the service areas. Each profit centre is to be operated according to guidelines approved by the company board of directors.
Managing Partner and management group The Managing Partner’s role and responsibilities are laid down by the company board of directors in instructions for the Managing Partner. The Managing Partner reports directly to the board of directors and submits a summary of the business development and the most important goals going forward. The Managing Partner keeps employees continuously informed through vlogs, joint information meetings, office visits and presentations at internal events. This provides information about BDO’s strategy and operations and gives individuals an opportunity to raise issues directly with the Managing Partner.
The Managing Partner prepares BDO’s business strategy in concert with the national management group and ensures its implementation after adoption by the BDO board of directors. Management holds monthly meetings. The national management group consists of: • Martin Aasen, Managing Partner • Knut Evensen, Partner/Head of Region Østfold/Follo • Roger Telle-Hansen, Partner/Head of Region Metropolitan Oslo • Stein Rhoar Juul, Partner/Head of Region SørVest • Tom Aleksandersen, Partner/Head of Region MidtNord • Marianne Rygvold Karlsen, Partner/Head of Strategy and Transformation • Steinar Andersen, Partner/Head of QRM • Maria Fronth-Sagen, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer • Kristina Bors, Chief HR Officer • Jørgen Brodtkorb, Chief Information Officer • Eirik Meling Veien, Chief Financial Officer • Marte Bjelland, Senior Associate Advisory and Project Manager for BDO’s sustainability Strategy In addition, national service leaders play a key role in the company’s management. National service leaders at BDO are: • Hanne Fritzsønn, Partner/Head of Tax and Legal • Erik H. Lie, Partner/Head of Audit and Assurance • Martin Aasen, Managing Partner /Head of Advisory • Andreas Ystgaard Tjemsland, Partner/Head of Business Service
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Board of Directors
Managing Partner
National management group
Technical support functions
Discipline
Administrative support functions
QRM
Strategy and business development
Molde
SørVest
Buskerud
NordVest
Stor-Oslo
Telemark
HR
IT
Finance
Marketing and communications
Førde og Årdal
MidtNord
Vestfold
Østfold
Innlandet
NATIONAL MANAGEMENT GROUP
Martin Aasen Managing Partner
Knut Evensen Partner/Head of Region Østfold/Follo
Roger Telle-Hansen Partner/Head of Region Metropolitan Oslo
Stein Rhoar Juul Partner/Head of Region SørVest
Tom Aleksandersen Partner/Head of Region MidtNord
Steinar Andersen Partner/Head of QRM
Kristina Bors Chief HR Officer
Jørgen Brodtkorb Chief Information Officer
Maria Fronth-Sagen Chief Marketing & Communications Officer
Marianne Rygvold Karlsen Partner/Head of Strategy and Transformation
Eirik Meling Veien Chief Financial Officer
Marte Bjelland Senior Associate Advisory and Project Manager for BDO’s sustainability Strategy
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FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Tax and legal 6% Advisory 9%
Business Service 26% Audit and assurance 59%
Turnover per business area (financial figures as at 31/12/2020, in thousands) 2020 Audit and assurance Business service Advisory Tax and legal
1 352 000 581 000 212 000 129 000
Total
2 274 000
Advisory 3%
Tax and legal 3%
Assistance 15% Statutory audit of public-interest entities 1% Audit and assurance 78%
Audit client turnover (project figures as at 31/12/2020, in NOK thousands) 2020 Audit and assurance Statutory audit of public-interest entities Assistance Advisory Tax and legal
1 091 000 19 000 204 000 45 000 34 000
Total
1 392 000
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Quality at BDO RESPONSIBILITY OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND THE MANAGEMENT FOR QUALITY The board of directors has the overall responsibility for quality at BDO and ensures that the Managing Partner attends to his operational responsibilities through satisfactory systems for quality control, risk management and internal controls in the operation. The Manager for Quality and Risk Management (QRM) at BDO is responsible for designing and implementing the company’s quality and risk management system. QRM has dedicated teams at its disposal that are part of the company’s internal staff, and it works strategically and operationally throughout the organisation to provide the board of directors with confidence that BDO is operating within the requirements and expectations imposed on the company as a supplier of auditing, accounting and consultancy services. The work takes place in parallel along three dimensions: • Preventive activities - Continuous developement of procedures and guidelines - Learning through courses and training activities - Focus on quality-oriented company culture • Ongoing assistance and advice in individual matters - Consultation for partners and employees - Handling complaints and insurance matters - Dialogue with external supervisory bodies - Reporting suspicious transactions to the Norwegian National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime • Checking and monitoring compliance - Coordinating and conducting internal quality control - Checking compliance with external and internal guidelines and requirements - through data analysis, visits to the office locations, cleansing official registries with information in our own systems and other control activities - Ongoing dialog between the managers for QRM and the Managing Partner and the board of directors about important matters. ETHICAL REQUIREMENTS AND INDEPENDENCE BDO has ethical guidelines set by the company’s board of directors. We impose absolute requirements for the integrity and independence of employees and partners. We must be independent, and be viewed as such by our clients. This means that we cannot provide services to or enter into business relationships with our clients that may affect our independence and/ or imply any conflict of interest.
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All employees confirm, when hired, and thereafter at least annually, that they know and follow our ethical guidelines and simultaneously confirm their independence from our clients. This is supplemented with training activities for employees of the company regarding our ethical guidelines and ongoing monitoring of compliance with independence rules. In addition, all employees and partners with tasks on an individual audit team confirm their independence on the particular audit engagement at least once a year. Our rules for independence are summarised as follows: Employees of BDO • Employees or spouses/co-habitants/partners of employees may not have substantial investments in companies that are audited by BDO. • Employees must inform their employer of investments the employee or the employee’s spouse/co-habitant/registered partner has in companies for which BDO is an auditor. • As a general rule, employees may not be members of boards of directors. The same applies to similar positions, such as members of audit committees, shareholder committees and similar. Exceptions to the general rule may be approved by QRM or the BDO board of directors. • Employees may not under any circumstance hold a position on the board of directors of an audit client. • Employees must always inform their employer about any other offices and part-time positions. Partners in BDO • Partners or spouses/co-habitants/partners of partners may not have investments in companies for which BDO is an auditor. For services other than auditing, it must always be assessed whether ownership may have significance for the work to be performed. • Partners or spouses/co-habitants/partners of partners may not make investments with audit clients. Investments with other business connections must be assessed with respect to integrity and impartiality. • As a general rule, partners may not be members of boards of directors. The same applies to similar positions, such as members of audit committees, shareholder committees and the like. Exceptions to the general rule may be approved by QRM or the BDO board of directors. • Partners may not under any circumstance hold a position on the board of directors of an audit client. • Spouses/co-habitants/partners may not be members of the board of directors at companies for which BDO is an auditor.
• An individual partner or the partner’s spouse/co-habitant may freely invest in stock exchange-listed companies, equity funds and equity certificates. This excludes investments in such companies that are audited by BDO. If BDO is chosen as an auditor or obtains other engagements where share ownership is not accepted, the partner or spouse/co-habitant will be required to sell his or her shares. The Norwegian Auditors Act and the EU Statutory Audit Regulation require a change in engagement partner and other key audit personnel every seven years for public-interest entities. A change in audit firm is also required after a maximum of 20 years. To ensure compliance with this, BDO has rotation plans for changing engagement partners and Engagement Quality Review Partners, and the rotation plan is monitored by QRM. Audit clients are responsible for selecting and appointing auditors, including the related tender processes.
By passing DEKRA’s external audit, we can be certain that our services are in accordance with the internationally approved ISO 27001 standard for information security.
CLIENT AND ENGAGEMENT ACCEPTANCE BDO has procedures for accepting new clients and engagements, and we conduct ongoing checks to ensure that these procedures are observed.
AUDIT METHODOLOGY BDO’s audit methodology has been developed globally and is based on the International Standards on Auditing (ISAs) issued by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB). The methodology is divided into the following phases: • Scoping • Identify and assess risk • Design audit response • Obtain audit evidence • Form opinion • Report
Our procedures include: • Conflict checks to uncover possible conflicts of interest with other clients and engagements. • Independence checks to ensure independence between our clients and our management employees. • Engagement assessment to uncover other risk factors, including requirements for special expertise on the team performing the engagement, and requirements related to the Norwegian Anti-Money Laundering Act. • Enquiry to previous auditor • Annual confirmation from all employees that procedure for client acceptance is known and that training activities related to client and engagement acceptance have been carried out. • Barrier that prevents a client from being established in internal systems before completion of procedure for client acceptance has been documented. For clients with international connections, we also perform conflict and independent checks in our international network. INFORMATION SECURITY AND PRIVACY Many of our systems are supplied by BDO Global IT. BDO Global IT is ISO 27001 certified by the auditing body DEKRA.
We use an external service for continuous monitoring of the traffic in our own network as well as penetration testing of our own infrastructure. In addition, the external service has conducted an external penetration test. In order for us to fulfil our obligations under the privacy regulations and process data in an efficient manner, we follow the “BDO Global Privacy Programme”. An important part of the Programme is BDO’s global privacy protection policy (“BDO’s Binding Corporate Rules for Controllers and Processors”), in addition to other training material, guidelines and templates. The Policy has been designed in keeping with the provisions in the GDPR. Compliance with BDO’s global privacy protection policy is a requirement for all members of the BDO network.
The audit methodology ensures that we comply with the audit standards and that the greatest effort in the audit is directed at the areas with the highest risk. The methodology is used by all auditors at BDO globally, so that consistent quality is ensured worldwide.
Tools and technology Audit Process Tool (APT) is BDO’s global audit tool and is used by auditors for planning, performing, and documenting an audit. A new main release of this tool was launched globally in 2018, and it is the largest stand alone global project at BDO. The audit tool enhances the quality of our audit and ensures compliance with the ISAs by being scalable and adaptable according to client, complexity and industry. It also provides opportunities for the audit teams to make adaptations for an individual client.
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The flexible technology platform on which the audit tool is based has been developed in collaboration with Microsoft, and can enable the audit teams to collaborate efficiently on both large and small engagements, including audit engagements with cooperations across national boundaries. The tool is also designed for seamless integration with other support systems used in daily operations. Another essential tool in our portfolio is Heartbeat, which is a data and analysis platform developed by and for BDO in Norway. Heartbeat is directly integrated with our clients’ accounting systems so that BDO interacts with the client’s digital environment. This simplifies the work of obtaining updated accounting data for our clients and BDO. Our clients constantly want more insight in their own operations and the markets in which they operate. We therefore work continuously on identifying and integrating new data sources. Our client portal is a seamless and secure workplace for information sharing and interaction between BDO and our clients. The portal provides advantages for all clients in all service areas and contributes to secure and effective communication in connection with engagement monitoring and document sharing. At BDO, we regard data as a valuable asset, and our clients must be confident that we administer their data in a good way. All client data is therefore processed according to laws and rules, in addition to BDO’s own policies for use of client data and information security.
Consultations The audit teams consult qualified persons who are independent of the audit team, or the Technical Support Department, if difficult or disputed questions with the performance of the audit.
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BDO has its own guidelines for engagements and issues that require involvement of our specialist groups.
Engagement review BDO designates Engagement Quality Review Partners (“second partners”) at all public-interest companies, at selected major clients and at other clients defined as risk engagements. Second partners are designated on the basis of expertise. The purpose of a second partner is to ensure an objective evaluation of the significant assessments the audit team has made, and the conclusions they have arrived at in the audit. The second partner must therefore not be a part of the audit team at the client in question. ANNUAL INTERNAL INSPECTION PROGRAM FOR AUDITING BDO has a system for inspections based on global guidelines. The purpose of the internal quality inspections is to ensure high quality in all services provided, as well as compliance with professional standards and internal guidelines. Such internal quality inspections has been established for all business areas, but this transparency report only discusses what applies to auditing. All auditors responsible for engagements at BDO must have at least one inspection in the course of a three-year period. New audit partners responsible for engagements are subject to internal quality inspections in the first year they sign audit reports. The engagements to be inspected are chosen on the basis of several criteria, but with a focus on risk engagements. The inspections are performed by a team consisting of two experienced auditors, of which one must previously have been a reviewer. All quality reviewers complete annual training for reviewers. The reviewers are required to be independent of the engagements to be inspected. This means that the reviewer cannot inspect engagements in his or her own department or office.
Results from a quality inspection are considered by a quality control committee. The inspection may have the following outcomes: • Acceptable - the results of the inspection are regarded as satisfactory and provide no basis for further measures. • Accepted with need for improvement - an action plan is to be prepared describing how the auditor reviewed will improve weaknesses that have been uncovered. • Need for substantial improvement – action plan as above, and new inspection in the following year. • Not approved - report to the BDO board of directors which considers additional measures, but there is a minimum requirement for an action plan and a new inspection in the following year. The result of an individual inspection is communicated to the auditor reviewed and that person’s superior. The result of the combined inspections is reported to the management of BDO through the Managing Partner and the board of directors. In addition, the results from the inspections at an overall level are presented at information meetings for partners, and findings from the quality inspections are the basis for courses and other training activities in the following year. Non-compliance within quality is one of several elements that are considered in the individual partner’s compensation. QUALITY CONTROL BY BDO GLOBAL Our international network conducts quality inspections of BDO in Norway at least once every three years. These inspections include reviewing internal policies and procedures and checking a number of audit engagements. The last inspection from BDO Global was in November 2020. INSPECTION BY THE FINANCIAL SUPERVISORY AUTHORITY OF NORWAY Since BDO is an audit firm that audits public-interest entities, we are inspected at least every three years by the Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway, which is known as a company inspection. The company inspection entails a review of our organisation and procedures in key areas, as well as a random sample-based check of the completion of audits on individual audit engagements. The company inspection must also include an assessment of our internal quality control. The results of the quality inspection must be described in a written report. The Financial Supervisory Authority may also conduct other forms of reviews, either through visits to us or based on documentation we send upon request.
Company inspection The Financial Supervisory Authority’s company inspection is a part of the regular supervisory work of the largest audit firms. The most recent company inspection at BDO was in September 2019. The inspection involves the review of several audit engagements, as well as a review of Internal policies and procedures. The final report was received in May 2020. It is available on the Financial Supervisory Authority’s website. We have been criticised for some matters concerning our antimoney laundering work, information security, engagement checks and acceptance assessments during acquisitions. Several audit engagements were reviewed, of which 3 were public-interest engagements. We have been criticised for several matters related to one of these engagements. We have implemented measures to rectify these matters, both at the company level and the engagement level.
On-site inspection The Financial Supervisory Authority has conducted an on-site inspection for which a report from March 2020 is available on the Authority’s website. BDO has received criticism for the performance of an audit during one audit engagement, in addition to criticism for failure to withdraw/late withdrawal from another audit engagement. We have implemented measures to rectify these matters. DECLARATIONS
Statement on independence measures BDO confirms, pursuant to Article 13.2(g) of the EU Statutory Audit Regulation, that we have internal guidelines for compliance and review of independence on audit engagements and that BDO meets the requirements in laws, standards and internal guidelines. Independence is confirmed by each individual team member in addition to the auditor responsible for the audit confirming the team’s independence in the annual continuation assessment. Quality and Risk Management- conducts reviews for compliance with the independence regulations and BDO’s internal ethical guidelines.
Statement on continuing education BDO confirms, pursuant to Article 13.2(h) of the EU Statutory Audit Regulation, that we facilitate and verify that auditors responsible for audits have sufficient continuing education within the requirements stemming from the Norwegian Auditors Act.
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STATEMENT FROM THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS REGARDING THE QUALITY CONTROL SYSTEM The board of directors is responsible for BDO’s quality system. The system has been prepared and implemented to ensure satisfactory quality on the work carried out by employees and partners at all times. The board’s task is to ensure that the system functions satisfactorily, while the Managing Partner and Quality and Risk Management see to effective implementation, including ensuring that applicable guidelines and procedures for independence are observed at all times.
The board of directors at BDO believes that the quality system functions effectively. The board deals with matters concerning breaches of guidelines laid down for quality. BDO’s board of directors and management use the main conclusions from the quality control work to provide recommendations to practising employees and partners. In our opinion, BDO’s quality system has functioned satisfactorily during the period. The same applies to BDO’s guidelines for ensuring an auditor’s compliance with requirements for independence.
Ingjer Ofstad Board of Directors Chair Signature
Terje Eggum Adolfsen Member of the Board of Directors Signature
Henrik Dagestad Board of Directors Deputy Chair Signature
Kåre Rødssæteren Member of the Board of Directors Signature
Anne Merete Vorpenes Member of the Board of Directors Signature
Yngve Gjethammer Member of the Board of Directors Signature
Svein Zwygart Member of the Board of Directors Signature
Håvard Tysdal Member of the Board of Directors Signature
Arne Inge Almklov Member of the Board of Directors Signature
Cathrine Sæther Karlsen Member of the Board of Directors Signature
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Sustainability OUR ROLE AS AUDITOR We at BDO are committed to being close to the client. It is important for us to understand how our clients deal with sustainability and social responsibility in practice. In this manner, we can provide value-creating feedback on the client’s progress in the work on sustainability and whether the client has well-functioning systems for continuous reporting on planning and implementation of measures and actual qualitative and quantitative effects. Society expects ever greater transparency and information on how firms and organisations are contributing to sustainable development. Authorities and society have clearly signaled that stricter and standardised requirements for reporting on sustainability for Norwegian enterprises will soon be a reality. Through its reporting, an enterprise can share knowledge, demonstrate examples of compliance and be transparent about its sustainability work. It is not just a matter of showing what they are doing, but that they are actually taking action, encouraging and creating commitment. As auditors, we have an important role in this regard. As an independent third party, we can take part in strengthening the credibility of the report with our assessments and checks. At BDO, quality in the services we provide is essential. Therefore, we have auditors at BDO with certifications from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), which is one of the most recognised standards for sustainability reporting. We cooperate with our colleagues at BDO Global in the development of the service area related to certifying sustainability reports.
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BDO uses international certification standards as the basis for our engagements. We review the company’s process for preparing sustainability reports in order to develop a better understanding of how social responsibility is managed in practice. Through interviews of persons responsible for reporting, we gain an understanding of how the information is selected, gathered and presented. We then verify, on a sample basis, the information in the report against base data before we finally evaluate the completeness of the information and whether it is based on the criteria according to the selected reporting standard. We require the information in the report to be verifiable and well documented. We also ensure a common understanding of the job we are to do through a close dialogue with the client. Our certification will help reduce the risk of misreporting and imprecision. In this way, we strengthen society’s trust in the reporting as an important contribution to sustainable development.
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Skills development BDO expends considerable resources on developing our employees both professionally and personally – as individuals and as a group. We believe in a strength-based approach through which we cultivate the strengths of each individual employee. We believe that good client experiences are created by good employee experiences, and therefore emphasise commitment and good experiences in day-to-day work. BDO - FOR THE FUTURE Our business strategy provides clear guidelines for our focus and expectations as an organisation, also with respect to employee development. BDO must be a company for the future – for our clients, our people and society. We have great confidence in an approach where the client is the centre of attention, and everything we do, our focus and commitment, must be client centred. We want to develop ourselves and all of BDO to meet our clients’ needs more rapidly, more efficiently and with higher quality.
Our business strategy unites us in certain selected and specific priorities we will realise together by 2023. Individual employees at BDO are encouraged to determine for themselves how the strategy will govern their workday and what each individual can do to accomplish the goals we have set for ourselves. All employees have their own development plan, consistent with the objectives and ambitions found in the strategy. EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION AND COMMITMENT We map the experience of working at BDO in several ways. This includes an annual employee survey and ongoing pulse measurements throughout the year. The annual employee survey is provided by Great Place to Work (GPTW). The survey charts the satisfaction, trust, pride and sense of community experienced by employees. The results provide us with valuable insight and are closely followed up with national and local measures. The most recent GPTW survey was conducted in December 2020, and the results show that 82 per cent of all employees of the company believe that BDO is a wonderful place to work. As in previous years, we are GPTW-certified based on our results.
ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, I BELIEVE THIS IS A WONDERFUL PLACE TO WORK
85%
85%
82%
BDO 2018
BDO 2019
BDO 2020
Employee satisfaction and commitment are a key focus area at BDO.
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Client Centricity Range of services Professional development Industry
CLIENT
Change Leadership Relationships Personal development
PEOPLE
Strategy Risks and quality Digital BDO Culture
FIRM
THE SKILLS MODEL AT BDO At BDO we have a common skills development which consists of three overarching skill areas with underlying areas that are critical for us to deliver on in line with our vision, values and strategic objectives. The three overarching skill areas are: • Client skills that are necessary in meetings with clients and the market to create the best client experience • People skills that characterise personal strengths among BDO employees • BDO skills that ensure a common understanding of and identical approach to BDO as an organisation Continuous training and development characterise our culture and our way of working. The skills model functions as a useful compass with respect to what is expected of each individual employee and the direction in which the company prioritises skill development. The skills model is the starting point for all that we do in terms of employee and skill development. All employees at BDO must be professionally up to date. We will constantly develop our individual and organisational skills.
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FOR THE FUTURE
We experience an active and positive attitude from everyone in BDO, to both their own and BDO’s overall skill development. Recently graduated new employees at BDO are included in the comprehensive introduction and training programme, Camp BDO. Camp BDO is a unique combination of social interaction and professional development. The purpose is to create arenas for both networking and training. In 2020, 110 participants completed the onboarding programme. We hire a large number of experienced employees each year. For experienced new hires, the scope of the training depends on their own experience level. All experienced new hires are given an opportunity to participate in an introduction to BDO day with the focus on becoming familiar with BDO as a company, the people at BDO and our culture. In addition, we have a series of onboarding programmes through our digital training tool. Courses and training at BDO are provided under the BDO Academy umbrella. Training occurs both in person and digitally, often in combination. 2020 became an almost entirely digital year on the training side as well, and many new solutions and adaptations were introduced and put to use. We continuously develop our courses on the basis of the profession’s development and requirements from our surroundings. We work continually
on developing our managers and have several customised management development programmes. In our business strategy, our ultimate goal is to be “the adviser for the future”. We will continue to be a wonderful place to work, and a culture with room for employees who aim to develop themselves with us. This means that requirements are imposed for the development opportunities we offer all our employees. We will ensure that everyone has, and receives, the opportunity to develop: • Appropriate and adequate professional skills • The right attitudes, conduct and values In 2020 we introduced a new training platform as a part of a new ERP system at BDO. This means that all training can be gathered in one place and thus become more flexible, more accessible, more interactive and more engaging than previously. This will lead to a better learning experience for everyone at BDO. CONTINUING EDUCATION The Norwegian Auditors Act imposes requirements for continuing education for all state authorised public accountants. All state authorised public accountants at BDO complete continuing education according to the requirements, and we record and
monitor continuing education hours in our own digital course portal. The requirements for continuing education are met through participation in internal and/or external courses and conferences. In addition to this, our goal is that everyone who works with auditing has continuing education corresponding to at least 5 course days annually. QRM at BDO conducts annual checks of continuing education hours to ensure that the legal requirement is met. INCLUSION AND DIVERSITY BDO has clear ambitions related to inclusion and diversity – both as an element in our sustainability effort and as a part of the “People of BDO” initiative. All employees at BDO shall be treated fairly, have the same advantages and opportunities and feel appreciated. This is irrespective of gender, nationality, competence, age, faith, political perspective or physical and mental challenges. We recognise that we have a special responsibility to create an inclusive culture with respect to our employees, our clients and, not least, the society we are part of. Through the “People of BDO” initiative, we have implemented a number of measures in recent years related to inclusion and diversity.
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Partner compensation
Profits are distributed to the partners annually. Remuneration is determined locally in the respective profit centres. The local compensation models must be approved by the company’s board of directors. The compensation models are performancebased models in which an individual’s effort and contributions are appraised. Quality is a key parameter in the evaluation process, and a specific assessment is made of each individual partner when considering quality in connection with determining the individual’s compensation. Non-conformances with respect to quality may result in deductions from compensation.
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The compensation models also include the individual’s contributions to developing employees, developing client portfolio and developing the business in general. The compensation models do not reward sales from other service areas to audit clients. Final remuneration consists of remuneration for work and profit share.
Partners in service Knut Andreassen
Jan Ove Bergin
Lars Nygaard
Arnfred Lennart Berntsen
Bjørn Kleiven
Knut Haugen
Vidar Hermansen
Anders Nordahl
Sven Aarvold
Laina M. Karlsen
Ole Winther
Bård Christian Braathen
Øyvind Hjemgård
Steinar Kolbeinsen
Ingeborg Hukkelås
Henning Arne Dalsegg
Norunn Byrkjeland
Kent Stabell
Lars Klæth
Siv Merethe Øveraasen
Roar Svensbakken
Knut Evensen
Arve Sunde
Henrik Dagestad
Hans Petter Urkedal
Trine Gulestø
Karl-Ludvig Mauland
Jostein Håland
Martin Aasen
Gro Borchgrevink
Thomas Olstad
Peder Karlsson
Knut Nyerrød
Anders Bjerke
Tore Hoem
Cathrine Sæther-Karlsen
Tommy Benum
Øyvind Ørbeck
Eli-Ann Murberg Casso
Bente Hodne
Terje Tvedt
Frode Ludvigsen
Håvard Hammertrø
Leif Åge Aabø
Børre Skisland
Frank Tveita
Geir Bjarne Sørensen
Roald Haugland
Morten Thuve
Charlotte Bårdsen
Stein Knutsen
Rune Iversen
Erik Lie
Solveig Dalstø
Ståle Lorås
Kåre Rødssæteren
Geirr Fuglestad Olsen
Audun Halsen
Roald Viken
Else Iversen
Arve Garberg
Henning Rødal
Ketil Jacobsen
Kjell Henriksen Grure
Jørn Løken
Jan Torset
Rolf Udnes Glesne
Kjell Iversen
Yngve Aslaksrud
Grete Rød
Per Ove Giske
Kjetil Bårdsen
Tollef Halvorsen
Jon Granum
Espen Åsulfsen
Jens Arne Hagen
Tom Erik Lehne
Jan Rygg
Alexander Amundsen
Stine Marie Zetterstrøm
Rune Pettersen
Kurt Hyllestad
Marianne Rygvold Karlsen
Frode Kristiansen
Tor Johan Jelstad
Erik Horghagen
Hans Erlend Åsebø
Magne Aasheim
Per Aage Hansen
John Krogstad
Anders Urdal
Harald Husabø
Jan Erik Marthinsen
Stein Sæther
Mads Blomfeldt
Trine Agathe Lorentzen
Trond Vidar Vettestad
Anders Aunli
Anders Ramberg
Snorri Sverrisson Rasch
Dag Georg Øhre
Idar Stavran
Anne Merete Vorpenes
Tom Aleksandersen
Asbjørn Wathne
Stig Forr
John Arne Fiskerstrand
Thomas Bjørseth
Stein Rhoar Juul
Håvard Edvardsen
Roger Telle-Hansen
Toril Ulfsnes
Ellen Marie Marvik
Erik Langlo-Johansen
Ingjer Ofstad
Rolf K. Sæther
Stig Fjelldahl
Jan Aalborg
Hanne Fritzsønn
Thomas Lidsheim
Thor Martin Eidem
Elisabeth Moum
Yngve Gjethammer
Dagfinn Buset
Eldar Zahl
Kristen Elstad
Siv Irene Aasen
Henning Torgersen
Einar Giljarhus Løkken
Kjetil Ardem
Eivin A. Redbo
Per Harald Eskedal
Arne Almklov
Steinar Andersen
Sigbjørn Selvik
Erik Ritch-Reinfjord
Gunhild Kveine
Johan Lorange
Anne Taran Tjølsen Jacobsen
Kristin By Farstad
Olav Velure
John Christian Løvaas
Håkon Romuld
Dag Ramsberg
Christian Reegård Dalby
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Torget 2 6881 Årdalstangen
Public-interest entities audited by BDO • • • • • •
Bulk Industrier AS Cultura Sparebank Drangedal Sparebank Endur ASA Europris ASA Gyldendal ASA
• • • • • •
Hjartdal og Gransherad Sparebank Infront ASA MediStim ASA Norske Skog ASA Ofoten Sparebank Olav Thon Eiendomsselskap ASA
• • • • • •
Olympic Subsea ASA Romsdal Sparebank Techstep ASA Varig Forsikring Hemne Varig Forsikring Nord-Odal Varig Forsikring Gjensidig
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BDO AS www.bdo.no The contents of this publication are only for general information and cannot replace professional guidance on the individual matters discussed. Please contact one of our offices if you would like answers to your specific questions concerning matters discussed. BDO, the firm’s partners, employees and business partners are not to be regarded as liable for any losses resulting from actions or decisions based on the contents. BDO AS, a Norwegian limited company, is a member of BDO International Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, and is part of the international BDO network, which consists of independent companies in individual countries. BDO is the trademark name for the BDO network and for each individual BDO member firm. Copyright © April 2021 BDO AS. All rights reserved. Published in Norway. Photo: Kimm Saatvedt
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