BDO USA LLP kicked off the firm’s Centennial Partners Meeting on Monday.
Attending the Centennial in Orlando are more than 700 people representing BDO USA partners and significant others, specially invited retired partners and international guests from the independent member firms of the global BDO network. The conference concludes a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of the firm’s founding as Seidman & Seidman in New York City in 1910.
“In 1910, there were a little more than 2000 CPAs in the United States,” said BDO USA CEO Jack Weisbaum. “That’s approximately the same amount currently working at BDO. Today, there are hundreds of thousands of CPAs, but just a handful of national firms that have been able to grow and prosper across the country and build networks with member firms around the world.
“Our firm bears little physical resemblance to the firm Maximillian L. Seidman started a century ago, and it is sure to change drastically in the coming century,” he added. “What will stay the same is our unwavering commitment to clients, our capacity to adapt to change and our ability to find opportunity in every challenge.”
On Monday, attendees will be treated to a two-hour Disney production on the history of the firm. Entitled “Proud Past – Bold Future,” the firm’s story as told with an extensive cast and musical arrangements, interspersed with video interviews of BDO partners — from both past and present — as the firm’s progress is tracked over the past century.
On Tuesday evening, BDO International CEO Jeremy Newman will present Weisbaum with a plaque commemorating the 100th anniversary of the U.S. firm, a founding member of the BDO network of independent accounting firms.
