A word from the Managing Partner

MARTIN AASEN Managing Partner at BDO AS

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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!