We build relationships and facilitate discussions to better your business

At BDO, we focus on relationships. We work closely with our clients to understand your challenges and find positive solutions. By facilitating discussion between the family and the business, and helping to clarify the boundaries of each, we can help your family business better understand the roles, responsibilities and privileges of all involved.

Our role is to help families reach agreement in creating a workable framework for the future. Building a consensus isn’t always easy. But inclusive, sensitive and methodical handling can ensure that the relevant family members are included in the process and are all working towards the same goals.

BDO's approach to working with family business

Our approach has been developed and tested under the most challenging family business circumstances. The results have proven to be successful, flexible and adaptable to your family’s needs. There are five stages to the process:

1. An initial family gathering covering the principles of owning a family business.
2. Meeting individually with family members and key stakeholders using a specially developed questionnaire.
3. Identifying and prioritising key issues for the family and the business, which are used to develop a draft family charter.
4. A family retreat over two days at which family members reach a consensus on issues, complete a family charter and establish a family council.
5. Post-retreat follow up; the completed family charter is usually issued at the next family council meeting.

How BDO can help you

We place importance upon a personal, partner-led approach that fosters close working relationships with our clients to first understand the needs of the business and family; and then develop strategies for handling sensitivities that inevitably exist or arise.

We share our global wealth of knowledge and expertise from a wide range of industry sectors and can draw from an extensive BDO network of resources to provide expert advice on issues specific to family business, latest industry challenges and trends.