PwC's Awards

PwC was again announced a winner in the Beaton Consulting/BRW Client Choice Awards, which were held in Sydney on Wednesday 11 March. The awards are unique in that they were not based on submissions, but an independent survey of 18,000 clients conducted by the specialist consulting firm Beaton Consulting. The survey was completed in October/November 2008 and reflects client interactions with PwC over the previous 12 months.

For the fourth consecutive year, PwC was awarded Professional Services Market Leader in the 2009 awards. PwC’s chief executive, Mark Johnson, told BRW reporter Agnes King: "It is a simple question of wanting to be in the spend clients keep or the spend they cut. Clients are cutting discretionary expenditure but most continue to spend strategically - transforming their businesses or looking for the opportunity in a downturn."

This award reinforces the position of our 1,000-strong Australian tax practice as the country's leading tax adviser. In addition to our unrivalled local resources and industry knowledge, the Australian team draws on the skills and experience of a network of more than 18,000 tax and legal professionals in jurisdictions around the world.

PricewaterhouseCoopers has been voted as the Best Accounting/Consultancy firm in Australasian Markets according to the Environmental Finance Survey 2008.

On Friday 10 October PwC was named Audit Firm of the Year in the CFO Awards 2008. The firm’s Chief Executive Officer, Mark Johnson, said he was honoured to have received the award.

"The Audit Firm of the Year Award confirms that our dedication to sustainable and value-driven relationships with our clients, our people and the community continues to distinguish us in the market," Mr Johnson said.

PwC’s winning submission highlighted the firm’s ability to educate clients and the broader community on climate change; collaborate with the Institute of Chartered Accountants to launch the PwC Transparency Awards for the not-for-profit sector; influence public discussion; and support its people not only in their specific roles in PwC, but in their long-term professional and personal aspirations.

The CFO Awards emphasise qualities including professionalism, integrity and best practice to honour Australia’s financial managers and those who work with them.

PwC has won the "Excellence in Community Practices" category for the inaugural BRW ANZ Private Business Awards. Aimed at raising the profile of outstanding private businesses, and encouraging the spirit of entrepreneurship, nominations for the awards were open to all private businesses and were judged by a panel of industry and academic experts.

The "Excellence in Community Practices" award was accepted on behalf of PwC by our PwC Foundation (Australia), Global Communities partner, Rick Millen at a function at the Park Hyatt in Melbourne. The PwC Foundation is an integral part of our business as it is our collective responsibility to get involved and make our community a better place.

During the last five years the Foundation has evolved from making ad hoc charitable donations to working with not-for-profit organisations towards lasting social change. This means Corporate Responsibility is now an integral part of our daily business and long-term strategic focus. In FY08, our Foundation distributed $3.8 million to charity partners and our people spent 18,910 hours - 2,500 work days or almost 6 years on 387 community activities.

PwC for the third year in a row has won two prestigious awards at the annual BRW Client Choice Awards on Wednesday 12 March 2008 in Sydney. The firm was awarded:

Market Leader - Part of the Attribute Awards, this award recognises our reputation as a professional services forerunner. The award covers 300 firms which operate in accounting, legal, engineering, architectural, actuarial and IT services in Australia.

Best Accounting Firm (Revenue over $500m) - PwC was recognised again as Best Accounting Firm based on feedback from our clients. These results reinforce the commitment of PwC People to provide excellent client service.

About the survey - The BRW Client Choice Awards are based on an independent survey conducted by research firm Beaton Consulting as part of its Business and Professions Study. This year over 30,000 separate ratings from clients were received for 300 professional services firms.

This award reinforces the position of our 1,000-strong Australian tax practice as the country's leading tax adviser. In addition to our unrivalled local resources and industry knowledge, the Australian team draws on the skills and experience of a network of more than 18,000 tax and legal professionals in jurisdictions around the world.

CFO magazine's judges cited four stand out reasons for naming PwC the 2007 winner of the Accounting Services Firm of the Year Award:

• High-profile client audit appointments during the year
• Leadership in relation to the total tax contributions of Australian companies
• Community leadership in the areas of climate change and sustainability
• The strength of our client relationships and client loyalty scores as part of our commitment to service excellence and the PwC experience.

PwC has again won two prestigious awards at the annual BRW - St.George Bank Client Choice Awards on Wednesday 14 March in Sydney. The firm was awarded:

Market Leader - As part of the Attribute Awards, PwC won as Market Leader, an award that recognises our reputation as a professional services forerunner. The award covers 170 firms which operate in accounting, legal, engineering, architectural, actuarial and IT services in Australia.

Best Accounting Firm (Revenue over $250m) - The big four accounting firms were nominated in the Profession Awards category. PwC was recognised as Best Accounting Firm based on feedback from our clients. These results, in the face of increasing competition in the marketplace, are testament to the commitment of the PwC People providing excellent client service. The March 15 edition of BRW magazine said: "For the second year running, the biggest of the big four accounting firms has shown that size is no impediment to maintaining a satisfied client base. This is an endorsement for PwC and its strategy of promoting greater understanding of client needs among staff."

About the survey - The BRW-St.George Client Choice Awards are based on a survey conducted by Beaton Consulting. Over 11,000 client respondents participated by rating over 170 professional services firms.

On the 22 February 2007, PwC’s Infrastructure, Government and Utilities team was named winner of the Advisory Excellence Award from the peak body for the infrastructure sector. The 2007 National Infrastructure Awards celebrates and acknowledges innovation and excellence through expertise and leadership in the industry and a demonstrated commitment to the future of Australian infrastructure. It demonstrates PwC’s leading position in infrastructure advisory and also our ability to providing a unique client experience.

These Awards recognise professionals who uphold the highest standards of governance practice in Australia. PwC took out the award of Global Board Consulting Governance Professional of the Year with an unlisted private sector organisation.

International Tax Review has once again recognised PwC as the leading tax firm in Australia and Asia. At the Inaugural International Tax Review Asia Awards Dinner in Hong Kong PwC accepted the awards for:

• Leading Tax Firm - Australia
• Leading Transfer Pricing Firm - Australia
• Leading Tax Firm - Asia
• Leading Transfer Pricing Firm - Asia
• Leading Transfer Pricing Firm - New Zealand.

This award reinforces the position of our 1,000-strong Australian tax practice as the country's leading tax adviser. In addition to our unrivalled local resources and industry knowledge, the Australian team draws on the skills and experience of a network of more than 18,000 tax and legal professionals in jurisdictions around the world.

Combining the skills of financial and tax specialists with those of economists, lawyers and other in-house specialists, our team solves tax problems from the ideas stage through to implementation of systems and processes, providing proactive business solutions to our clients’ complex business needs of our client, which include public and private Australian companies and organisations, entrepreneurs, family businesses, trusts, partnerships, private individuals and a host of internationally recognised names.

On Friday 15 September, PwC emerged from a tough field as the winner of the 2006 Award for Best Graduate Intake Program at the Australian HR Awards. Winning this highly regarded award is an outstanding achievement, and further demonstrates our ongoing commitment to attracting the best people by offering the best opportunities to our graduates. Our 2007 campus recruitment campaign’s theme, ‘be who you want to be’, demonstrates that PwC values diversity and fresh thinking. It focuses on the flexibility of our firm, the opportunities we can provide to graduates and the value we place on individuality. PwC graduate candidates voted with their feet - over ten times the number of graduates applied for our available graduate positions.

PwC has won three BRW-St.George Client Choice Awards. The firm was recognised as Best Large Accounting Firm, Market Leader and, in the state awards, as Best ACT Firm at the second annual BRW-St.George Client Choice Awards on Wednesday 8 March in Sydney.

Best Large Accounting Firm - This year, the big four accounting firms were nominated in the Profession Awards category. PwC was recognised as Best Large Accounting Firm based on feedback from our clients which highlighted the firm's personal approach and commitment to eliciting and acting upon feedback on our client service.

Market Leader - As part of the Attribute Awards, PwC won as Market Leader, an award that recognises our reputation as a professional services forerunner.

Firm The BRW-St.George Client Choice Awards also recognise outstanding professional services firms in each state. This year, PwC was won best firm in the ACT. Our work with government clients played an important role in our recognition in this category.

"The BRW-St.George Client Choice Awards really are an honour as they reflect what our clients think about PwC's client service. I believe that by creating a unique client experience, we have set PwC apart in a very competitive environment," CEO Tony Harrington said. "These awards demonstrate how a large firm like PwC can be very responsive to clients' needs. To maintain PwC's position, however, we'll need to continue to focus on our 'bed side manner' by preparing thoroughly, engaging clients in a way that demonstrates our knowledge of their business, and exceeding expectations in delivery."

About the survey - The BRW-St.George Client Choice Awards are based on a survey conducted by Beaton Consulting between November 2005 and January 2006. Over 10,000 client respondents participated by rating over 150 professional services firms.

In undertaking the Australian and New Zealand Workplace Series survey, recruitment firm Hays surveyed 600 jobseekers to find out what attracts candidates to a potential employer, and what affects the employee's longer-term view of the organisation. The jobseekers nominated career opportunities, company reputation and professional development as top reasons for choosing an employer.

"When an accountant seeks a move, certain companies are approached before others. This is the power of employment branding and is a major differentiator in the recruitment marketplace," says Jacky Carter, director of Hays. "The (survey) responses also show that internal factors, such as the treatment and support offered to employees, service offered to customers, management style and job security are just as important as vision, culture and values in attracting candidates to a company."

PwC emerged as a clear favourite with jobseekers, being named in the survey’s top ten ideal employers.

The firm’s Chief Executive Officer, Tony Harrington, said he was extremely proud to have received the award, which he said was testament to the firm’s commitment to clients. "This is one of the most prestigious and competitive awards, and recognises our leadership position within the business community," Mr Harrington said. CFO Magazine cited three stand out reasons for presenting the award to PwC:

• The unparalleled depth and breadth of the firm's engagements, not only with clients but with the community as a whole
• Our contributions to the field of stakeholder communication
• The alignment of our internal culture with our strategic objectives.

The theme of PwC's award submission was "leading by example". It expressed the way PwC works with clients and industry stakeholders to help promote confidence in the Australian market and regulatory environment. PwC's $10.5 million investment in staff learning and education, its comprehensive China strategy and development of a national evaluation framework for the federal Department of Health and Ageing were just some aspects of the firm's wide-ranging work and activities touched on in the submission. PwC was last year's Audit Firm of the Year, and the qualities that served it well on that occasion remain much in evidence, according to CFO Magazine's October 2005 issue.

PwC comfortably mantained the number one position in Business Review Weekly'slist of the top 100 professional services firms in 2005. In ranking PwC first BRWstated: "As the only billion-dollar professional services firm in the country, PwC has unprecendented critical mass; a big benefit when client demands are escalating and good staff are hard to find."

Hosted by the Asia Insurance Review and the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance. PwC winner - "Service Provider of the Year" - 2nd year running. PwC, won Service Provider of the Year at the Australia and New Zealand Insurance Industry Awards. These awards recognise outstanding achievement in the Australia and New Zealand insurance marketplace.

For the fifth year in a row, International Tax Review’s readers voted PwC as one of the leading tax firms globally, with several of our people receiving special mention for their work in the industry. They are:

• Michael Bersten (Tax Controversy)
• Michael Happell (Transfer Pricing)
• Peter Collins (Capital Markets and Financial Products)
• Tony Clemens (M&A and Cross-Border Transactions).

In 2005, our firm also received a number one ranking in the Asian Tax Survey.