PwC - Annual Review 2009 Australia

In order to face issues in the current market, we strive to deploy the depth and breadth of our talent, passion, skills and perspectives so that internal and external relationships can be built and strengthened. We continually strive to improve our internal culture and performance, providing a quality of service underpinned by the behaviours that make PwC distinctive in the eyes of our clients.

To help deliver this, we launched the PwC Experience in 2006 as our core professional and cultural development program. It is embedded in everything we do and has been used as a model for PwC offices around the world.

PwC Australia provides industry-focused Assurance, Tax & Legal and Advisory services for public and private clients in four areas:

• Corporate accountability
• Risk management
• Structuring and mergers and acquisitions
• Performance and process improvement.

Our global network provides access to many leading business specialists and ensures quality and consistency wherever our clients access our services in the world. In Australia, we are also the only Big Four firm to offer legal services to assist clients in negotiating the complexities of relevant legislation.

PwC’s Assurance practice further cemented its journey to bring a deeper and broader approach to auditing in FY09 by rolling out connectedassurance*. This approach builds upon the PwC Experience and is framed around PwC’s new global auditing platform, integrating solution and service innovation, client service delivery and dynamic resourcing and development. The worldwide launch of the new auditing platform began in Adelaide last year and drives the Assurance practice’s commitment to delivering best practice processes, greater value and insights, and an unparalleled experience for our people and clients.

Several areas of our firm were restructured in early 2009 to better address the changing needs of our clients. For example, as businesses became challenged by the continuing scarcity of debt finance and the need to reset to an optimum capital structure, PwC established a Debt and Capital Advisory practice. This group provides independent advice and support led by specialists, each with over 20 years of banking experience. Our Health practice also stands ready and committed to help health providers and government address the complex issues facing Australia’s health system. CEO Mark Johnson is especially passionate about this topic and sits on the Healthy Taskforce of the Business Council of Australia.

While PwC advises some of Australia’s top listed companies, we also invest heavily in providing personalised services to entrepreneurs and high-net-worth individuals through Private Client Services. We offer a Master of Business program, which facilitates networking among peers and provides deeper insight into topics of strategic importance to private business owners. PwC’s Private Business Barometer examines the sentiment of small to medium private businesses and is used widely by the media, industry groups and government. It is the most comprehensive Australian survey of its kind, and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd provided the Government Overview for the 2009 report.

The firm’s ongoing commitment to a comprehensive review and ultimate reform of Australia’s tax system remained a key focus this year. PwC provided the government and community with effective consultation through a number of forums, including the third annual Australian Total Tax Contribution Survey; specific thought leadership pieces on topics such as stamp duty, ESS, GST and FBT; as well as regular tax reform updates for our client CEOs and CFOs.

Our focus on creating and delivering the PwC Experience continues to resonate in the market, with the firm receiving numerous accolades and awards.

While we are proud of this, we recognise that we cannot become complacent and must continue to strive to improve and listen to our clients. Our client feedback program, ECLIPSE, was launched in 2001. In FY09, 86 per cent of respondents taking part in our client feedback surveys and face-to-face interviews rated us at least four out of five for overall satisfaction. More detail on results can be found in the Facts and Figures section of this Annual Review.

The PwC Experience Awards were introduced in FY09 to identify and celebrate the teams and individuals who are leading the firm in delivering distinct experiences to their teams or clients. Over 200 nominations were received nationally and narrowed to 13 finalists. The four award winners were announced at a gala dinner in September 2008, with medals and cash prizes presented by Olympic gold medallist Leisel Jones.

We continue to expand our focus on helping non-executive directors (NEDs) access opportunities to engage with Australian and global leaders in a confidential environment. In FY09, 80 per cent of ASX 50 companies were impacted by our priority NEDs event program.

This year, the firm responded to feedback from ASX 100 directors and CEOs by investing in a nine-month, highly tailored development and relationship program for ASX 100 CFOs. Hosted by PwC and facilitated by the Melbourne Business School and a variety of global experts, CFO Ascent helps participants broaden their skills and way of thinking to deliver greater value and insights to their leadership teams. This distinct program has received terrific feedback from a number of CFOs.

PwC also launched a business-based social networking website, PwC Connect, for our alumni and current employees in manager roles or above. The site is the first of its kind in Australia and aims to provide mutually beneficial opportunities to our current people, clients and the alumni community. Within 24 hours of the June launch, an impressive 16 per cent of the eligible population had registered.