Accenture plc 10-K

Item 1. Business 5 Services We bring together skills, capabilities, industry experience and functional expertise to help our clients achieve tangible outcomes and create 360° value. Strategy & Consulting We work with C-suite executives, leaders and boards of the world’s leading organizations, helping them reinvent every part of their enterprise to drive greater growth, enhance competitiveness, implement operational improvements, reduce cost, deliver sustainable 360° stakeholder value, and set a new performance frontier for themselves and the industry in which they operate. Our deep industry and functional expertise is supported by proprietary assets and solutions that help organizations transform faster and become more resilient. Underpinned by technology, data, analytics, AI, change management, talent, learning and sustainability capabilities, our Strategy & Consulting services help architect and accelerate all aspects of an organization’s reinvention. Technology We provide innovative and comprehensive services and solutions that span cloud; systems integration and application management; security; intelligent platform services; infrastructure services; software engineering services; data and AI; automation; and global delivery through our Advanced Technology Centers. We continuously innovate our services, capabilities and platforms through early adoption of new technologies such as generative AI, blockchain, robotics, 5G, edge computing, metaverse and quantum computing. We provide a range of capabilities that addresses the challenges faced by organizations today, including how to achieve reinvention, manage change and develop new growth opportunities. We are continuously innovating and investing in R&D for both existing and new forms of technology. Our focus in our Accenture Labs includes furthering innovation beyond traditional boundaries, such as science and space technologies. Our innovation hubs around the world help clients innovate at unmatched speed, scope and scale. We have strong relationships with the world’s leading technology companies, as well as emerging start-ups, which enable us to enhance our service offerings, augment our capabilities and deliver distinctive business value to our clients. Our strong ecosystem relationships provide a significant competitive advantage, and we are a key partner of a broad range of technology providers, including Adobe, Alibaba, Amazon Web Services, Blue Yonder, Cisco, Databricks, Dell, Google, HPE, IBM RedHat, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Oracle, Palo Alto Networks, Pegasystems, Salesforce, SAP, ServiceNow, Snowflake, VMware, Workday and many others. In addition to our mature partners, we invest in emerging technologies through Accenture Ventures. We push the boundaries of what technology can enable and help clients get the most value and best capabilities out of platforms. Operations We operate business processes on behalf of clients for specific enterprise functions, including finance and accounting, sourcing and procurement, supply chain, marketing and sales, and human resources, as well as industry-specific services, such as platform trust and safety, banking, insurance, network and health services. We help organizations to reinvent themselves through intelligent operations, enabled by SynOps, our cloud enabled platform that empowers people with data, processes, automation, generative AI and a broad ecosystem of technology partners to transform enterprise operations at speed and scale. Industry X We combine our digital capabilities with deep engineering and manufacturing expertise. By using the combined power of digital and data we help our clients to reinvent and reimagine the products they make and how they make them. This includes helping our clients to digitally transform how their capital projects are planned, managed and executed, from plant and asset construction to public infrastructure, power grids and data centers. We collaborate closely with our platform and software partners to help our clients achieve compressed transformations by redefining how their products are designed and engineered, tested, sourced and supplied, manufactured, and serviced, returned and renewed. We also design, manufacture, and assemble our own advanced automation equipment, robotics and other specialized commercial hardware to support our clients’ operations. Through the use of data and transformative technologies such as AI and generative AI, Internet of Things, artificial reality/virtual reality, advanced robotics, digital twins and metaverse, we help our clients reinvent to achieve greater resilience, productivity and sustainability in their core operations and design and engineer intelligent products faster and more cost effectively. And in doing so, we help them create new, hyper-personalized experiences and intelligent products and services. Song We help our clients create new, hyper-personalized experiences and services that are intelligently designed to foster loyalty and drive growth by making customer interactions more compelling, useful, and simple from initial interaction through ongoing customer service. Our suite of services spans design, digital products, marketing, commerce, and customer service. We create products and experiences that resonate deeply with users across multiple channels. We help brands amplify their value, by making their propositions clear and inspiring to stand out in a crowded marketplace. Our commerce strategies are designed to enhance sales effectiveness and create seamless buying experiences. Our customer service innovations help make support more responsive and accessible. We bring cross industry expertise, underpinning these services with Table of Contents ACCENTURE 2024 FORM 10-K Item 1. Business 6 technology. We leverage the combined power of strategy, data and AI (including generative AI), ecosystem partnerships, and our ability to scale and manage programs on behalf of our clients. By doing so, we enhance our creative processes, solve client challenges more effectively, and provide solutions that are designed to be advanced, ethically sound and sustainable to help our clients reinvent how they engage with their customers. Table of Contents ACCENTURE 2024 FORM 10-K Item 1. Business 7 Industry Groups We believe the depth and breadth of our industry expertise is a key competitive advantage which allows us to bring client-specific industry solutions to our clients to accelerate value creation. Our industry focus gives us an understanding of industry evolution, business issues and trends, industry operating models, capabilities and processes and new and emerging technologies. The breadth of our industry expertise enables us to create solutions that are informed by cross industry experience. We go to market through the following five industry groups within our geographic markets. Communications, Media & Technology FY24 Revenues of $10.8B Percent of Group’s FY24 Revenue 40% 18% 42% Communications & Media High Tech Software & Platforms B2C and B2B communications service providers (both fixed and mobile), MVNO (mobile virtual network operators) and network infrastructure companies inclusive of edge and IOT connectivity infrastructure, cable and satellite communications, broadcasters and TV networks, gaming, print, online and traditional publishing, entertainment, sports, content producers (including studios), content aggregators and streaming live events (sports) and media infrastructure providers, integrated advertising agencies and creative Enterprise technology, hardware, and associated manufacturing; consumer technology, electronics, batteries, and associated manufacturing; network equipment and device providers and manufacturers, data centers; semiconductor including silicon design and development, foundries, capital equipment, and manufacturing; medical equipment companies and manufacturers Cloud-based enterprise and consumer software companies, large language model owners; both subscription and ad-driven consumer platforms spanning ecommerce, social, media, advertising and gaming Financial Services FY24 Revenues of $11.6B Percent of Group’s FY24 Revenue 69% 31% Banking & Capital Markets Insurance Retail and commercial banks, mortgage lenders, payment providers, corporate and investment banks, private equity firms, market infrastructure providers, wealth and asset management firms, broker/dealers, depositories, exchanges, clearing and settlement organizations, retirement services providers and other diversified financial enterprises Property and casualty, life and annuities and group benefits insurers, reinsurance firms and insurance brokers Health & Public Service FY24 Revenues of $13.8B Percent of Group’s FY24 Revenue 31% 69% Health Public Service Healthcare providers, such as hospitals, public health systems, policy-making authorities, health insurers (payers), and industry organizations and associations Defense departments and military forces; public safety authorities; justice departments; human and social services agencies; educational institutions; non-profit organizations; cities; transportation agencies; and postal, customs, revenue and tax agencies Table of Contents ACCENTURE 2024 FORM 10-K Item 1. Business 8 Our work with clients in the U.S. federal government is delivered through Accenture Federal Services, a U.S. company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Accenture LLP, and represented approximately 37% of our Health & Public Service industry group’s revenues and 17% of our North America revenues in fiscal 2024. Products FY24 Revenues of $19.6B Percent of Group’s FY24 Revenue 46% 34% 20% Consumer Goods, Retail & Travel Services Industrial Life Sciences Food and beverage, household goods, personal care, tobacco, fashion/apparel, agribusiness and consumer health companies; supermarkets, hardline retailers, mass-merchandise discounters, department, quickserve and convenience stores and specialty retailers; aviation; and hospitality and travel services companies Industrial & electrical equipment manufacturers and industrial suppliers; and construction, heavy equipment, consumer durables, engineering services, real estate, freight & logistics, aerospace & defense, automotive & mobility and public transportation companies Biopharmaceutical, medical technology and distributors Resources FY24 Revenues of $9.1B Percent of Group’s FY24 Revenue 29% 25% 46% Chemicals & Natural Resources Energy Utilities Petrochemicals, specialty chemicals, polymers and plastics, gases and agricultural chemicals companies, as well as the metals, mining, forest products and building materials industries Oil and gas industries, including upstream, midstream, downstream, oilfield services, clean energy and energy trading companies Power generators and developers, including nuclear, renewables and other conventional generators; electric and gas transmission and distribution operators, energy and energy service retailers; water, waste and recycling service providers Table of Contents ACCENTURE 2024 FORM 10-K Item 1. Business 9 People Overview We are a talent- and innovation-led organization with approximately 774,000 people as of August 31, 2024, whose skills and specialization are a significant source of competitive differentiation. We serve clients at any given time in more than 120 countries, with offices and operations in 52 countries. The majority of our people are in India, the Philippines and the U.S. We have a culture of shared success, which is defined as success for our clients, our people, our shareholders, our partners and our communities. That culture is built upon four tangible building blocks—our beliefs, our behaviors, the way we develop and reward our people and the way we do business. Our Beliefs and Behaviors Our leadership essentials set the standard for what we expect of all our people: • always do the right thing, in every decision and action; • lead with excellence, confidence and humility, as demonstrated by being a learner, building great teams and being naturally collaborative; • exemplify client-centricity and a commitment to client value creation; • act as a true partner, to each other, our clients, our ecosystem and our communities—committed to shared success; • care deeply for all our people to help them achieve their aspirations professionally and personally; • live our unwavering commitment to inclusion, diversity and equality, as demonstrated by personal impact and overall results; • have the courage to change and the ability to bring our people along the journey; and • actively innovate — seeking new answers, applying a tech, AI and data first mindset, looking internally across Accenture and outside—to partners, competitors, start-ups, clients, academia and analysts—to learn, respectfully challenge our assumptions and apply the innovation, and cultivate and reward our people for doing the same. Listening to the voices of our people provides the input to ensure that they have the tools and resources to do their jobs and the right learning opportunities, and that they experience a positive, respectful and inclusive work environment. We do this on an ongoing basis across various channels, including surveys and forums. Among our people who participated in the Great Place To Work ® Trust Index Survey™, 78% agreed that “Taking everything into account, I would say this is a great place to work.” Additionally, we are recognized as a top 10 place to work in 11 countries, representing more than 70% of our people. Our purpose is to deliver on the promise of technology and human ingenuity. Our strategy is to deliver 360 ° value for all our stakeholders by helping them continuously reinvent. To drive reinvention, innovation must be at the forefront, which requires us to attract, develop and inspire top talent. Talent is one of our most important areas of competitive differentiation. As part of our talent strategy, we hire and develop people who have different backgrounds, different perspectives, and different lived experiences. These differences ensure that we have and attract the cognitive diversity to deliver a variety of perspectives, observations, and insights which are essential to drive the innovation needed to reinvent. To help achieve this diversity we set goals, share them publicly, and collect data to measure our progress, continuously improve, and hold our leaders accountable for ensuring we have the most innovative and talented people in our industry. This approach is a key driver of our progress. We recognize that some people come to Accenture having faced obstacles as an aspect of their identity or lived experience. At Accenture, we are committed to harness these perspectives and ensure that all of our people have the opportunity to thrive and unlock their full potential. We are a meritocracy. Our intention is to foster a culture and a workplace in which all of our people feel a sense of belonging and are respected and empowered to do their best work and to create 360° value for all our stakeholders. Table of Contents ACCENTURE 2024 FORM 10-K Item 1. Business 10 We are 48% women, compared to our gender parity goal by 2025. And, we are currently 30% women managing directors, in line with our 2025 goal. We are also working toward our total workforce 2025 race and ethnicity goals in the U.S., the U.K., and South Africa, which we announced in 2020. • In the U.S., African American and Black colleagues represent 12% of our workforce, in line with our goal. Additionally, Hispanic American and Latinx colleagues represent 10% of our workforce, compared to our goal of 13%. • In the U.K., Black colleagues represent 6% of our workforce compared to our goal of 7%. • In South Africa, African Black colleagues represent 47% of our workforce compared to our goal of 68%. Coloured colleagues represent 10% of our workforce, in line with our goal. We are committed to pay equity and have processes in place to compensate our people fairly—across gender, race and ethnicity. Pay equity at Accenture means that our people receive pay that is fair and consistent when considering similarity of work, location and tenure at career level. We conduct an annual pay equity review. As of our last review, which reflected pay changes effective December 1, 2023, we had dollar-for-dollar, 100% pay equity for women compared to men in every country where we operate (certain subsidiaries, recent acquisitions, countries with de minimis headcount and temporary employees were excluded from the analysis). By race and ethnicity, we likewise had dollar-for-dollar, 100% pay equity in the U.S., the U.K. and South Africa, which are the locations where we currently have the data available to use for this purpose. We are 48% Women compared to our goal of 50% by 2025. We are now 30% Women managing directors in line with our goal of 30% by 2025. The Way We Develop and Reward Our People Our focus is to create talent and unlock the potential of our people, to create strong leaders, and to help them achieve their professional and personal aspirations, while continuously pivoting to meet new client demands. During fiscal 2024, we invested $1.1 billion in learning and professional development. With our digital learning platform, we delivered approximately 44 million training hours, an increase of 10% compared with fiscal 2023, predominantly due to generative AI training. We have skills data for our people, enabling us to flexibly respond to shifting client needs while also recommending skill-specific training based on an individual’s interests. We upskill people at scale, while proactively defining new skills and roles in anticipation of client needs. We also continue to steadily increase our Data & AI workforce, reaching approximately 57,000 skilled Data & AI practitioners at the end of fiscal 2024, against our goal of doubling our Data & AI workforce to 80,000 by the end of fiscal 2026. We are focused on rigorous, job-specific training through key industry certifications and partnerships with leading universities around the globe. We also train our people on inclusion and mitigating unconscious bias. We promoted approximately 97,000 people in fiscal 2024, demonstrating our continued commitment to creating vibrant careers and opportunities for our people. We balance our supply of skills with changes in client demand. We do this through adjusting levels of new hiring and managing our attrition (both voluntary and involuntary). We believe people are drawn to our strong purpose, values and reputation. For fiscal 2024, attrition, excluding involuntary terminations, was 13%, consistent with fiscal 2023. For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024, annualized attrition, excluding involuntary terminations, was 14%, consistent with the third quarter of fiscal 2024. Accenture’s total rewards consist of cash compensation, equity and a wide range of benefits. Our total rewards program is designed to recognize our people’s skills, contributions and career progression. Base salary, bonus and equity are tailored to the market where our people work and live. Certain rewards, like equity and bonuses, are opportunities for our people to share in the overall success of our company. As our people advance in their careers, they have greater opportunities to be rewarded. Accenture’s equitable rewards go beyond financial rewards and include health and well-being programs that care for our people. Table of Contents ACCENTURE 2024 FORM 10-K Item 1. Business 11 The Way We Do Business At Accenture, our people care deeply about doing the right thing. Together, we have proven that we can succeed—providing value to our clients and shareholders and opportunities for our people—while being a powerful force for good. Our shared commitment to operating with the highest ethical standard and making a positive difference in everything we do is what we believe differentiates Accenture. We believe in transparency, that transparency builds trust, and that we must earn the trust of our clients, our people, our partners and our communities each and every day. Our Code of Business Ethics is organized into six fundamental behaviors: Make Your Conduct Count; Comply with Laws; Deliver for Our Clients; Protect People, Information and Our Business; Run Our Business Responsibly; and Be a Good Corporate Citizen. It applies to all our people—regardless of their title or location. With our Code of Business Ethics, we want to help our people make ethical behavior a natural part of what we do every day—with each other, our clients, our partners and our communities. Accenture’s commitment to and focus on our people and culture has generated significant recognition, including No. 1 on the FTSE (formerly Refinitiv) Diversity and Inclusion Index for the fifth time in seven years; Ethisphere’s World’s Most Ethical Companies for 17 consecutive years; and ranking No. 10 among 25 companies on Great Place To Work ® World's Best Workplaces™. Our Health, Safety and Well-Being We are committed to creating a place where people can be successful both professionally and personally. We take a holistic view of well-being—including physical, mental, emotional and financial well-being—providing specially defined programs and practices to meet our people’s fundamental human needs. Table of Contents ACCENTURE 2024 FORM 10-K Item 1. Business 12 Environmental Sustainability We help our clients together with our ecosystem partners, to define, measure and achieve their environmental, social and governance goals by connecting sustainability with their transformation agendas across their strategy and operations to make their value chains more sustainable. We have a strong commitment to environmental sustainability in how we operate our business, and we hold ourselves accountable to clear and measurable objectives. For example, in 2020, we established a 2025 carbon removal goal—previously referred to as our 2025 net-zero emissions goal—and we are on track to achieve this goal. Our environment goals discussed below span three areas: reducing and removing our carbon emissions, moving toward zero waste and planning for water risk. Our Goals to Reduce and Remove our Carbon Emissions Our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions primarily result from business travel and purchased goods and services, since we have 100% renewable electricity in our facilities. We continue to work toward our 2025 carbon removal goal by first focusing on reductions across our Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions and then removing any remaining emissions through nature-based carbon removal projects. We are a signatory to the UN Global Compact Business Ambition for 1.5°C Pledge, committing to do our part to keep global warming below 1.5° Celsius in alignment with the Paris Agreement and the criteria and recommendations of the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). In 2018, we established a SBTi 2025 near-term emissions reduction target, which we have surpassed. During fiscal 2024, we received SBTi approval for net-zero GHG emissions targets aligned with SBTi's Corporate Net-Zero Standard, including new near-term and long-term reduction targets. We are on track to achieve our 2025 carbon removal goal and we set new goals for the future... SBTi-Approved Net-Zero Targets Fiscal 2030 Near-term Targets 80% reduction of absolute Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions from fiscal 2019 base year. 55% reduction of Scope 3 GHG emissions per unit of revenue from fiscal 2019 base year. Fiscal 2040 Long-term Targets 90% reduction of absolute Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions from fiscal 2019 base year. 90% reduction of absolute Scope 3 GHG emissions from fiscal 2019 base year. Our Actions to Reduce Carbon Emissions Our approach to carbon reduction in support of our goals includes: • Maintaining 100% renewable electricity. In 2023, we achieved our goal of 100% renewable electricity in our facilities and we maintained this in fiscal 2024. As we do not own our facilities and procure most of our energy from the grid, we purchase renewable electricity contracts equivalent to the amount of electricity we consume. Going forward, we plan to maintain 100% renewable electricity in our facilities. As we purchase renewable electricity, we also support the generation of more renewable sources of electricity. • Enabling low carbon business travel. We continue to use technology to facilitate more cost and carbon-efficient delivery for our clients and our business and have implemented an internal carbon price on travel to encourage climate smart travel decisions. In addition, we have developed analytics and reporting focused on our business travel emissions so that we can share emissions data with our clients as part of our delivery activities. • Engaging our suppliers. We are working with our suppliers to reduce our Scope 3 emissions. Our goal is that 90% of our key suppliers disclose their environmental targets and the actions being taken to reduce emissions by the end of 2025. We are on track to meet this goal, with 89% of key suppliers disclosing their targets and 96% disclosing the actions they are taking to reduce their emissions. Key suppliers are defined as vendors that represent a significant portion of our 2019 Scope 3 emissions. Carbon Removal • Nature-based carbon removal. To address our remaining emissions, we are investing in nature-based carbon removal projects to remove carbon from the atmosphere. We plan to begin applying carbon removal credits in fiscal 2025. Our Table of Contents ACCENTURE 2024 FORM 10-K Item 1. Business 13 nature-based carbon removal projects will also support and respect the universal principles of the UNGC in the relevant areas of human rights, labor, environment, anticorruption and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Moving Toward Zero Waste • Addressing e-waste and office furniture. We have a goal of reusing or recycling 100% of our e-waste, such as computers and servers, as well as all our office furniture, by the end of 2025. During fiscal 2024, we reused or recycled nearly 100% of our e-waste relating to computers, servers and uninterruptible power supply devices. We continue to refine our processes, leverage our asset tracking system and work with vendors to help us extend the life cycle of our furniture, including through refurbishment and reuse or recycling. • Eliminate single-use plastics in our office locations. During fiscal 2024, we continued to meet our goal of eliminating single-use plastics in our office locations by purchasing reusable and plastic-free items. Planning for Water Risk • Mitigating the potential impacts of climate change-related water risk. Although Accenture is not a water-intensive company, to safeguard our people and operations we are developing water resiliency action plans to reduce the impact of climate-related flooding, drought and water scarcity on our business and our people in high-risk areas. We have completed plans for approximately 90% of our facilities in high-risk areas. Table of Contents ACCENTURE 2024 FORM 10-K Item 1. Business 14 Global Delivery Capability A key differentiator is our global delivery capability. We have one of the world’s largest networks of centers with deep capabilities in Strategy & Consulting, Technology, Operations, Industry X and Song, that allows us to help our clients create exceptional business value. It brings the right people at the right time to our clients from anywhere in the world—both in physical and virtual working environments—a capability that is particularly crucial as business needs and conditions change rapidly. Our global approach provides scalable innovation; standardized processes, methods and tools; automation and AI; industry expertise and specialized capabilities; cost advantages; foreign language fluency; proximity to clients; and time zone advantages—to deliver high-quality solutions. Emphasizing quality, productivity, reduced risk, speed-to-market and predictability, our global delivery model supports all parts of our business to provide clients with price-competitive services and solutions. Innovation and Intellectual Property We are committed to developing leading-edge ideas and leveraging emerging technologies and we see innovation as a source of competitive advantage. We use our investment in R&D—on which we spent $1.2 billion, $1.3 billion and $1.1 billion in fiscal 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively—to help clients address new realities in the marketplace and to face the future with confidence. Our innovation experts work with clients across the world to imagine their future, build and co-create innovative business strategies and technology solutions, and then scale those solutions to sustain innovation. We harness our unique intellectual property to deliver these innovation services. We have a global portfolio of patents and pending patent applications covering various technology areas, including AI, cloud, metaverse, cybersecurity, blockchain, automation, extended reality, analytics and quantum. We leverage patent, trade secret and copyright laws as well as contractual arrangements and confidentiality procedures to protect the intellectual property in our innovative services and solutions. These include our proprietary platforms, software, reusable knowledge capital, and other innovations. We also have policies to respect the intellectual property rights of third parties, such as our clients, partners, vendors and others. We believe our combination of people, assets and capabilities, including our global network of more than 100 innovation hubs, makes Accenture one of the leading strategic innovation partners for our clients. We have deep expertise in innovation consulting including strategy, culture change and building new business models through to long-term technology innovation, which creates the products and markets of the future. This is all supported by our innovation approach, which includes Accenture Research, Accenture Ventures and Accenture Labs as well as our Studios, Innovation Centers and Delivery Centers. Our research and thought leadership teams help identify market, technology and industry trends. Accenture Ventures partners with and invests in growth-stage companies that create innovative enterprise technologies. Accenture Labs incubate and prototype new concepts through applied research and development projects. Within this, we incubate and apply emerging technology innovation to business architectures, including blockchain, metaverse, extended reality and quantum. To protect Accenture’s brands, we rely on intellectual property laws and trademark registrations held around the world. Trademarks appearing in this report are the trademarks or registered trademarks of Accenture Global Services Limited, Accenture Global Solutions Limited, or third parties, as applicable. Table of Contents ACCENTURE 2024 FORM 10-K Item 1. Business 15 Competition Accenture operates in a highly competitive and rapidly changing global marketplace. We compete with a variety of organizations that offer services and solutions competitive with those we offer—but we believe no other company offers the full range of services at scale that Accenture does, which uniquely positions us in a highly competitive market. Our clients typically retain us on a non-exclusive basis. Our competitors include large multinational IT service providers, including the services arms of large global technology providers; off-shore IT service providers in lower-cost locations, particularly in India; accounting firms and consultancies that provide consulting, managed services and other IT services and solutions; solution or service providers that compete with us in a specific geographic market, industry or service area, including advertising agency holding companies, engineering services providers and technology start-ups; and in-house IT departments of large corporations that use their own resources rather than engage an outside firm, such as global capability centers ( “GCC’s”). We believe Accenture competes successfully in the marketplace because: • We are focused on creating 360° value, which we define as delivering the financial business case and unique value a client may be seeking, and striving to partner with our clients to achieve greater progress on inclusion and diversity, reskill and upskill our clients’ employees, help our clients achieve their sustainability goals, and create meaningful experiences, both with Accenture and for the customers and employees of our clients; • We are a trusted partner with long-term client relationships and a proven track record for delivering from strategy to execution, on large, complex programs at speed that drive outcomes and tangible value; • We provide a broad range of services bringing together our capabilities at scale and have a significant presence in every major geographic market, enabling us to leverage our global expertise in a local context to deliver the best solutions, and our managed services help companies move faster by leveraging our digital platform and talent and reduce costs; • The breadth and scale of our technology capabilities, combined with our strong relationships with our technology ecosystem partners, enable us to help clients transform and re-platform in a sustainable way at speed; • We have deep industry and cross-industry expertise , which enable us to accelerate value as clients transform their products, customer experiences and optimize their operations; • We continuously invest in advanced tools, methods and platforms, and the highly specialized skills of our people, to create repeatable industry and cross industry solutions and assets, that can scale at speed, leveraging our deep experience, knowledge and insights across industries, functions and services, often with our ecosystem partners; • Our industry-leading innovation approach — including Accenture Research, Accenture Ventures and Accenture Labs as well as our Studios, Innovation Centers and Delivery Centers—reflects our commitment to continuous innovation and enables us to rapidly identify, incubate, and scale emerging technology solutions for our clients; • We have deep experience in AI, having embedded AI across our worldwide service delivery approach for more than a decade, and are making significant investments in solutions at scale to help our clients responsibly advance and use AI, and generative AI, to develop new strategies, operating models, business cases and digital core architecture, enabling them to achieve greater growth, efficiency, and resiliency, while accelerating value; and • Our goal is to recruit the most talented people in our markets, and we have an unwavering commitment to inclusion and diversity, which creates an environment that unleashes innovation, and a world-class learning organization that helps us continuously invest in the development of our people, and we believe our strategy to deliver 360° value makes us an attractive destination for top talent, a trusted partner to our clients and ecosystem, and a respected member of our communities. Table of Contents ACCENTURE 2024 FORM 10-K Item 1. Business 16 Information About Our Executive Officers Our executive officers as of October 10, 2024 are as follows: Angela Beatty, 53, became our chief leadership and human resources officer in September 2024. From April 2022 to September 2024, Ms. Beatty was our global lead for talent, rewards and employee experience. From 2015 to 2022, she served in a variety of other leadership roles in human resources at Accenture, including as the lead for total rewards. Prior to joining Accenture, Ms. Beatty spent 15 years with Towers Watson (now Willis Towers Watson) as a consultant and ultimately practice leader for the rewards, talent and change business. Ms. Beatty has been with Accenture for 9 years. Melissa Burgum, 52, became our chief accounting officer in September 2022 and has served as our corporate controller since September 2021. Prior to that, Ms. Burgum served as our assistant corporate controller from December 2016 to September 2021 and as controller for Accenture Federal Services from May 2013 to December 2016. Prior to joining Accenture, Ms. Burgum held controllership roles at two public companies and was previously an auditor and consultant for Arthur Andersen. Ms. Burgum has been with Accenture for 11 years. Atsushi Egawa, 59, became our co-chief executive officer—Asia Pacific and chief executive officer —Japan in September 2024. Since September 2015, Mr. Egawa has served as our market unit lead in Japan. Prior to September 2015, Mr. Egawa led our Products industry group in Japan. Prior to that role, he led our Consumer Goods business in Japan. He has partnered closely with numerous global clients on their digital transformations and was integral in the opening of Accenture’s Innovation Hub in Tokyo. Mr. Egawa has been with Accenture for 35 years. Mauro Macchi, 59, became our chief executive officer—EMEA in September 2024. From September 2021 to September 2024, Mr. Macchi served as our market unit lead for Italy, Central Europe and Greece. From March 2020 to September 2021, Mr. Macchi served as the Strategy & Consulting lead for Europe. Previously, he served as our Financial Services lead for Europe from November 2019 to March 2020, Financial Services lead for Italy, Central Europe and Greece from October 2017 to October 2019 and global Banking industry lead for Strategy from March 2015 to September 2017. Mr. Macchi has been with Accenture for 34 years. KC McClure, 59, became our chief financial officer in January 2019. From June 2018 to January 2019, she served as managing director—Finance Operations, where she led our finance operations across the entirety of our businesses. From December 2016 to May 2018, she served as our finance director—Communications, Media & Technology. Prior to assuming that role, she served as our head of investor relations from September 2010 to November 2016, and from March 2002 to August 2010, she served as our finance director—Health & Public Service. Ms. McClure has been with Accenture for 36 years. Ryoji Sekido, 57, became our co-chief executive officer—Asia Pacific and chief executive officer—Asia Oceania in September 2024. From April 2023 to September 2024, Mr. Sekido served as our Technology lead for Growth Markets. Prior to March 2023, Mr. Sekido served as the Technology and Cloud First lead for Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. In his earlier roles, he led several industry and technology teams and served as the Financial Services client service group lead and the Financial Services technology consulting lead for APAC. Mr. Sekido has been with Accenture for 32 years. Table of Contents ACCENTURE 2024 FORM 10-K Item 1. Business 17 Manish Sharma, 56, became our chief executive officer—North America in September 2023 and our chief executive officer—the Americas in September 2024. Prior to that, Mr. Sharma served as our chief operating officer from March 2022 to September 2023. From March 2020 to March 2022, Mr. Sharma served as our group chief executive—Operations. From September 2016 to March 2020, Mr. Sharma served as the group operating officer for Operations. From January 2009 to September 2016, Mr. Sharma was our senior managing director for Accenture Operations Global Delivery and Solution Development and global sales lead for Accenture Operations Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). Previously, he led our BPO operations in the Asia Pacific region. Mr. Sharma has been with Accenture for 29 years. Julie Sweet, 57, became chair of our Board of Directors in September 2021 and has served as our chief executive officer since September 2019. From June 2015 to September 2019, she served as our chief executive officer—North America. From March 2010 to June 2015, she served as our general counsel, secretary and chief compliance officer. Prior to joining Accenture in 2010, Ms. Sweet was a partner for 10 years in the law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, which she joined as an associate in 1992. Ms. Sweet has been with Accenture for 14 years and has served as a director since September 2019. Joel Unruch, 46, became our general counsel in September 2019 and has served as our corporate secretary since June 2015. Mr. Unruch also served as our chief compliance officer from September 2019 to January 2020. Mr. Unruch joined Accenture in 2011 as our assistant general counsel and assistant secretary and also oversaw ventures & acquisitions and alliances & ecosystems practices for our legal group. Prior to joining Accenture, Mr. Unruch was corporate counsel at Amazon.com and previously an associate in the corporate department of the law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP. Mr. Unruch has been with Accenture for 13 years. John Walsh, 60, became our chief operating officer in September 2023. From March 2020 to September 2023, Mr. Walsh served as our chief strategic accounts and global sales officer. From November 2019 to March 2020, he served as our group chief executive—Communications, Media & Technology. He served as senior managing director—Communications, Media & Technology in North America, from 2013 to 2019. Mr. Walsh has been with Accenture for 38 years. Organizational Structure Accenture plc was incorporated in Ireland on June 10, 2009 as a public limited company. We operate our business through subsidiaries of Accenture plc. The Consolidated Financial Statements reflect the ownership interests in Accenture Canada Holdings Inc. held by certain current and former members of Accenture Leadership as noncontrolling interests. The noncontrolling ownership interests were less than 1% as of August 31, 2024. “Accenture Leadership” is comprised of members of our global management committee (our primary management and leadership team, which consists of approximately 50 of our most senior leaders), senior managing directors and managing directors. Table of Contents ACCENTURE 2024 FORM 10-K Item 1A. Risk Factors 18 Item 1A. Risk Factors In addition to the other information set forth in this report, you should carefully consider the following factors which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations (including revenues and profitability) and/or stock price. Our business is also subject to general risks and uncertainties that may broadly affect companies, including us. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently deem to be immaterial also could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and/or stock price. Risks in this section are grouped in the following categories: (1) Business Risks; (2) Financial Risks; (3) Operational Risks; and (4) Legal and Regulatory Risks. Many risks affect more than one category, and the risks are not in order of significance or probability of occurrence because they have been grouped by categories. Business Risks Our results of operations have been, and may in the future be, adversely affected by volatile, negative or uncertain economic and geopolitical conditions and the effects of these conditions on our clients’ businesses and levels of business activity. Global macroeconomic and geopolitical conditions affect us, our clients’ businesses and the markets they serve. Volatile, negative and uncertain economic and geopolitical conditions have in the past undermined and could in the future undermine business confidence in our significant markets and other markets, which are increasingly interdependent, causing our clients to reduce or defer their spending on new initiatives and technologies, and resulting in clients reducing, delaying or eliminating spending under existing contracts with us, which negatively affects our business. Growth in some of the markets we serve has slowed and could continue to slow, or could slow in other markets or stagnate or contract, in each case, for an extended period of time. Because we operate globally and have significant businesses in many markets, an economic slowdown in any of those markets could adversely affect our results of operations. Ongoing economic and geopolitical volatility and uncertainty and changing demand patterns affect our business in a number of other ways, including making it more difficult to accurately forecast client demand and effectively build our revenue and resource plans, particularly in consulting. Economic and geopolitical volatility and uncertainty is particularly challenging because it may take some time for the effects and changes in demand patterns resulting from these and other factors to manifest themselves in our business and results of operations. Changing demand patterns from economic and political volatility and uncertainty, including as a result of increasing geopolitical tensions, inflation, economic downturns, changes in global trade policies, global health emergencies and their impact on us, our clients and the industries we serve, have in the past had a negative impact and could in the future have a significant negative impact on our results of operations. For example, some of these conditions slowed the pace and level of client spending, particularly for smaller contracts with a shorter duration and for our consulting services during fiscal 2024. Clients continue to prioritize large-scale transformations, which convert to revenue over a longer period. Our business depends on generating and maintaining client demand for our services and solutions, including through the adaptation and expansion of our services and solutions in response to ongoing changes in technology and offerings, and a significant reduction in such demand or an inability to respond to the evolving technological environment could materially affect our results of operations. Our financial results depend in part on the demand for our services and solutions, which could be negatively affected by numerous factors, many of which are beyond our control and unrelated to our work product. As described above, volatile, negative or uncertain global economic and political conditions and lower growth or contraction in the markets we serve have adversely affected and could in the future adversely affect client demand for our services and solutions. Our success depends, in part, on our ability to continue to develop and implement services and solutions that anticipate and respond to rapid and continuing changes in technology and offerings to serve the evolving needs of our clients. Examples of areas of significant change include digital-, cloud- and security-related offerings, which are continually evolving, as well as developments in areas such as AI, including generative AI, augmented and virtual reality, automation, blockchain, Internet of Things, quantum and edge computing, infrastructure and network engineering, intelligent connected products, digital Table of Contents ACCENTURE 2024 FORM 10-K Item 1A. Risk Factors 19 engineering and manufacturing, and robotics solutions. As we expand our services and solutions into these new areas, we may be exposed to operational, legal, regulatory, ethical, technological and other risks specific to such new areas, which may negatively affect our reputation and demand for our services and solutions. Technological developments may materially affect the cost and use of technology by our clients and, in the case of cloud, data and AI solutions, could affect the nature of how we generate revenue. Some of these technological developments have reduced and replaced, in whole or in part, some of our historical services and solutions and will continue to do so in the future. This has caused, and may in the future cause, clients to delay spending under existing contracts and engagements and to delay entering into new contracts while they evaluate new technologies. Such technological developments and spending delays can negatively impact our results of operations if we are unable to introduce new pricing or commercial models that reflect the value of these technological developments or if the pace and level of spending on new technologies are not sufficient to make up any shortfall. Developments in the industries we serve, which may be rapid, also could shift demand to new services and solutions. If, as a result of new technologies or changes in the industries we serve, our clients demand new services and solutions, we may be less competitive in these new areas or need to make significant investment to meet that demand. Our growth strategy focuses on responding to these types of developments by driving innovation and making strategic investments in acquisitions, joint ventures and adjacencies to our current offerings that will enable us to expand our business into new growth areas. If we do not sufficiently invest in new technology and adapt to industry developments, or evolve and expand our business at sufficient speed and scale, or if we do not make the right strategic investments to respond to these developments and successfully drive innovation, our services and solutions, our results of operations, and our ability to develop and maintain a competitive advantage and to execute on our growth strategy could be adversely affected. In a particular geographic market, service or industry group, a small number of clients have contributed, or may, in the future contribute, a significant portion of the revenues of such geographic market, service or industry group, and any decision by such a client to delay, reduce, or eliminate spending on our services and solutions have had and could in the future have a disproportionate impact on the results of operations in the relevant geographic market, service or industry group. Many of our consulting contracts are less than 12 months in duration, and these contracts typically permit a client to terminate the agreement with as little as 30 days’ notice. Longer-term, larger and more complex contracts, such as the majority of our managed services contracts, generally require a longer notice period for termination and often include an early termination charge to be paid to us, but this charge might not be sufficient to cover our costs or make up for anticipated ongoing revenues and profits lost upon termination of the contract. Many of our contracts allow clients to terminate, delay, reduce or eliminate spending on the services and solutions we provide. Additionally, a client could choose not to retain us for additional stages of a project, try to renegotiate the terms of its contract or cancel or delay additional planned work. When contracts are terminated or not renewed, we lose the anticipated revenues, and it may take significant time to replace the level of revenues lost. Consequently, our results of operations in subsequent periods could be materially lower than expected. The specific business or financial condition of a client, changes in management and changes in a client’s strategy are also all factors that can result in terminations, cancellations or delays. Risks and uncertainties related to the development and use of AI could harm our business, damage our reputation or give rise to legal or regulatory action. We are increasingly applying AI-based technologies, including generative AI, to our services and solutions, to how we deliver work to our clients, and to our own internal operations. In addition, we are creating new offerings to implement AI solutions for clients. We have made significant investments in AI and are continuing to incur significant development and operational costs to develop and deploy our AI services and solutions for ourselves and for our clients. If we fail to continue to develop leading AI services and solutions, including generative AI, we may lose our leadership position in this area and fail to realize the anticipated benefits of our investments in AI. AI technologies are complex and rapidly evolving, and we face significant competition, including from our own clients, who may develop their own internal AI-related capabilities, which can lead to reduced demand for our services or solutions. As these technologies evolve, some services and tasks currently performed by our people will be replaced by automation, including AI-enabled solutions, which will lead to reduced demand for our services and/or adversely affect the utilization rate of our professionals, if demand for those services is not replaced by demand for new services. Leveraging AI capabilities for our internal functions and operations presents additional risks, costs, and challenges, including those discussed in these risk factors. The development, adoption, and use of AI technologies is still in the early stages and involve significant risks and uncertainties, which may expose us to legal, reputational and financial harm. AI algorithms and training methodologies may be flawed and datasets may be overbroad, insufficient, or contain biased information. Moreover, the use of AI may give rise to risks related to harmful content, accuracy, bias, intellectual property infringement or misappropriation, defamation, data privacy, cybersecurity and health and safety, among others, and also bring the possibility of new or enhanced governmental Table of Contents ACCENTURE 2024 FORM 10-K Item 1A. Risk Factors 20 or regulatory scrutiny, litigation or other legal liability, or ethical concerns that could adversely affect our business, reputation, or financial results. Evolving rules, regulations, and industry standards governing AI may require us to incur significant costs to modify, maintain, or align our business practices, services and solutions to comply with US and non-US rules and regulations, the nature of which cannot be determined at this time and may be inconsistent from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Several jurisdictions where we operate are considering or have proposed or enacted legislation and policies regulating AI and non-personal data, such as the European Union’s AI Act and the U.S.’s Executive Order on AI. These regulations may impose significant requirements on how we design, build and deploy AI and handle non-personal data for ourselves and our clients or limit our ability to incorporate certain AI capabilities into our offerings. While we aim to develop and use AI responsibly and attempt to identify and mitigate ethical and legal issues presented by its use, we may be unsuccessful in identifying or resolving issues before they arise. Any failure to address concerns relating to the responsible use of AI technology in our services and solutions may cause harm to our reputation or financial liability and, as such, may increase our costs to address or mitigate such risks and issues. If we are unable to match people and their skills with client demand around the world and attract and retain professionals with strong leadership skills, our business, the utilization rate of our professionals and our results of operations may be materially adversely affected. Our success is dependent, in large part, on our ability to keep our people with market-leading skills and capabilities in balance with client demand around the world and our ability to attract and retain people with the knowledge and skills to lead our business globally. We must hire or reskill, retain and inspire appropriate numbers of talented people with diverse skills, backgrounds, perspectives, and lived experiences in order to serve clients across the globe, respond quickly to rapid and ongoing changes in demand, technology, industry and the macroeconomic environment, and continuously innovate to grow our business. For example, if we are unable to hire or retrain our employees to keep pace with the rapid and continuous changes in technology and the industries we serve, we may not be able to innovate and deliver new services and solutions to fulfill client demand. There is competition for scarce talent with market-leading skills and capabilities in new technologies, and our people have been directly targeted because of their highly sought-after skills and this will likely continue. There is a risk that at certain points in time, as a result of technological developments or changes in demand, we may have more people than we need in certain skill sets or geographies or at compensation levels that are not aligned with skill sets. In these situations, we have engaged, and may in the future engage, in actions to rebalance our workforce, including reducing the rate of new hires and increasing involuntary terminations as a means to keep our supply of people and skills in balance with client demand. In some countries we are required by local law to consult with employee representative bodies such as works councils, which may constrain our operational flexibility and efficiency in balancing our workforce with client demand and make us less competitive. In addition, while an immaterial percentage of our global workforce is currently unionized, the unionization of significant employee populations could result in higher costs and other operational impediments. At certain times and in certain geographical regions, we will find it difficult to hire and retain a sufficient number of employees with the skills or backgrounds to meet current and/or future demand. In these cases, we might need to redeploy existing people or increase our reliance on subcontractors to fill certain labor needs. If we are not successful in these initiatives, our results of operations could be adversely affected. If our utilization rate is too high or too low, it could have an adverse effect on employee engagement and attrition, the quality of the work performed as well as our ability to staff projects. We are particularly dependent on retaining members of Accenture Leadership with critical capabilities. If we are unable to do so, our ability to innovate, generate new business opportunities and effectively lead large and complex transformations and client relationships could be jeopardized. We depend on identifying, developing and retaining top talent to innovate and lead our businesses. This includes developing talent and leadership capabilities in markets where the depth of skilled employees may be limited. Our ability to expand in our key markets depends, in large part, on our ability to attract, develop, retain and integrate both leaders for the local business and people with critical capabilities. Our equity-based incentive compensation plans and other variable cash compensation programs, as well as promotions, are designed to reward high-performing individuals for their contributions and provide incentives for them to remain with us. If the anticipated value of such incentives or the pace of promotions does not materialize because of company performance or volatility or lack of positive performance in our stock price, or if our total compensation package is not viewed as being competitive, our ability to attract and retain the people we need could be adversely affected. In addition, if we do not obtain the shareholder approval needed to continue granting equity awards under our share plans in the amounts we believe are necessary, our ability to attract and retain people could be negatively affected. Table of Contents ACCENTURE 2024 FORM 10-K Item 1A. Risk Factors 21 We face legal, reputational and financial risks from any failure to protect client and/or Accenture data from security incidents or cyberattacks. We are dependent on information technology networks and systems to securely process, transmit and store electronic information and to communicate among our locations around the world and with our people, clients, ecosystem partners and vendors. As the breadth and complexity of this infrastructure continues to grow, including as a result of the increasing reliance on, and use of, mobile technologies, social media and cloud-based services, as more of our employees continue to work remotely, and as cyberattacks become increasingly sophisticated (e.g. deepfakes and AI generated social engineering), the risk of security incidents and cyberattacks has increased. Threat actors may leverage emerging AI technologies to develop new hacking tools and attack vectors, exploit vulnerabilities, obscure their activities, and increase the difficulty of threat attribution. Such incidents could lead to shutdowns or disruptions of or damage to our systems and those of our clients, ecosystem partners and vendors, and unauthorized disclosure of sensitive or confidential information, including personal data and proprietary business information. In the past, we have experienced, and in the future, we may again experience, data security incidents resulting from unauthorized access to our and our service providers’ systems and unauthorized acquisition of our data and our clients’ data including: inadvertent disclosure, misconfiguration of systems, phishing ransomware or malware attacks. In addition, our clients have experienced, and may in the future experience, breaches of systems and cloud-based services enabled, managed or provided by us. To date these incidents have not had a material impact on our or our clients’ operations; however, there is no assurance that such impacts will not be material in the future, and such incidents have in the past and may in the future have the impacts discussed below. In providing services and solutions to clients, we often manage, utilize and store sensitive or confidential client, Accenture or other third-party data, including customer and other personal data and proprietary information, and we expect these activities to increase, including through the use of AI, the Internet of Things and analytics. Unauthorized disclosure or use of, denial of access to, or other incidents involving sensitive or confidential client, vendor, ecosystem partner or Accenture data, whether through systems failure, employee negligence, fraud, misappropriation, or cybersecurity, ransomware or malware attacks, or other intentional or unintentional acts, could damage our reputation and our competitive positioning in the marketplace, disrupt our or our clients’ business, cause us to lose clients and result in significant financial exposure and legal liability. Similarly, unauthorized access to or through, denial of access to, downtime or other incidents involving, our software and IT supply chain or software-as-a-service providers, our or our service providers’ information systems or those we develop for our clients, whether by our employees or third parties, including a cyberattack by computer programmers, hackers, members of organized crime and/or state-sponsored organizations, who continuously develop and deploy viruses, ransomware, malware or other malicious software programs or social engineering attacks, has and could in the future result in negative publicity, significant remediation costs, legal liability, damage to our reputation and government sanctions and could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations — see risk factor below entitled “Our business could be materially adversely affected if we incur legal liability.” Cybersecurity threats are constantly expanding and evolving, becoming increasingly sophisticated and complex, increasing the difficulty of detecting and defending against them and maintaining effective security measures and protocols. We are subject to numerous laws and regulations designed to protect this information, including privacy and cybersecurity laws such as the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), the United Kingdom’s GDPR, U.S. states’ recent comprehensive privacy legislation, as well as various other U.S. federal and state laws governing the protection of privacy, health or other personally identifiable information and data privacy and cybersecurity laws in other regions, and related contractual obligations. These laws and regulations continue to evolve, are increasing in complexity and number and increasingly conflict among the various countries in which we operate, which has resulted in greater compliance risk and cost for us. Various privacy laws impose compliance obligations regarding the handling of personal data, including localization of data and the cross-border transfer of data, and significant financial penalties for noncompliance. For example, failure to comply with the GDPR may lead to regulatory enforcement actions, which can result in monetary penalties of up to 4% of worldwide revenue, orders to discontinue certain data processing operations, civil lawsuits, or reputational damage. If any person, including any of our employees, negligently disregards or intentionally breaches our established controls with respect to client, third-party or Accenture data, or otherwise mismanages or misappropriates that data, we could be subject to significant litigation, monetary damages, regulatory enforcement actions, fines and/or criminal prosecution in one or more jurisdictions. These monetary damages might not be subject to a contractual limit of liability or an exclusion of consequential or indirect damages and could be significant. In addition, our liability insurance, which includes cyber insurance, might not be sufficient in type or amount to cover us against claims related to security incidents, cyberattacks and other related incidents. The markets in which we operate are highly competitive, and we might not be able to compete effectively. The markets in which we offer our services and solutions are highly competitive. Our competitors include: • large multinational IT service providers, including the services arms of large global technology providers; • off-shore IT service providers in lower-cost locations, particularly in India; Table of Contents ACCENTURE 2024 FORM 10-K Item 1A. Risk Factors 22 • accounting firms and consultancies that provide consulting, managed services and other IT services and solutions; • solution or service providers that compete with us in a specific geographic market, industry or service area, including advertising agency holding companies, engineering services providers and technology start-ups and other companies that can scale rapidly to focus on or disrupt certain markets and provide new or alternative products, services or delivery models; and • in-house IT departments of large corporations that use their own resources, rather than engage an outside firm, such as the growing number of companies that are setting up global capability centers (“GCC’s”). Some competitors may have greater financial, marketing or other resources than we do and, therefore, may be better able to compete for new work and skilled professionals, may be able to innovate and provide new services and solutions faster than we can or may be able to anticipate the need for services and solutions before we do. Our competitors may also team together to create competing offerings. Even if we have potential offerings that address marketplace or client needs, competitors may be more successful at selling similar services they offer, including to companies that are our clients. Some competitors are more established in certain markets, and may make executing our growth strategy to expand in these markets more challenging. Additionally, competitors may also offer more aggressive pricing or contractual terms, which may affect our ability to win work. Our future performance is largely dependent on our ability to compete successfully and expand in the markets we currently serve. If we are unable to compete successfully, we could lose market share and clients to competitors, which could materially adversely affect our results of operations. In addition, we may face greater competition due to consolidation of companies in the technology sector through strategic mergers, acquisitions or teaming arrangements. Consolidation activity may result in new competitors with greater scale, a broader footprint or offerings that are more attractive than ours. New services or technologies offered by competitors, ecosystem partners or new entrants may make our offerings less differentiated or less competitive when compared to other alternatives, which may adversely affect our results of operations. The technology companies described above, including many of our ecosystem partners, are increasingly able to offer services related to their software, platform, cloud migration and other solutions, or are developing software, platform, cloud migration and other solutions that require integration services to a lesser extent or replace them in their entirety. These more integrated services and solutions may represent more attractive alternatives to clients than some of our services and solutions, which may materially adversely affect our competitive position and our results of operations. Our ability to attract and retain business and employees may depend on our reputation in the marketplace. We believe the Accenture brand name and our reputation are important corporate assets that help distinguish our services and solutions from those of competitors and also contribute to our efforts to recruit and retain talented employees. However, our corporate reputation is susceptible to material damage by events such as disputes with clients or competitors, cybersecurity incidents or service outages, internal control deficiencies, delivery or solution failures, compliance violations, government investigations or legal proceedings. We may also experience reputational damage from employees, advocacy groups, regulators, investors and other stakeholders that disagree with the services and solutions that we offer, the clients or markets that we serve, or the ways in which we operate our business. Similarly, our reputation could be damaged by actions or statements of current or former clients, directors, employees, competitors, vendors, ecosystem partners, joint venture partners, adversaries in legal proceedings, legislators or government regulators, as well as members of the investment community or the media, including social media influencers and advocacy groups. There is a risk that negative or inaccurate information about Accenture, even if based on rumor or misunderstanding, could adversely affect our business. Damage to our reputation could be difficult, expensive and time-consuming to repair, could make potential or existing clients reluctant to select us for new engagements or could negatively impact our relationships with ecosystem partners, resulting in a loss of business, and could adversely affect our recruitment and retention efforts. Damage to our reputation could also reduce the value and effectiveness of the Accenture brand name and could reduce investor confidence in us, materially adversely affecting our share price. Our brand and reputation are also associated with our public commitments to various corporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives. Our disclosures on these matters and any failure or perceived failure to achieve or accurately report on our commitments, could harm our reputation and adversely affect our client relationships or our recruitment and retention efforts, as well as expose us to potential legal liability. In addition, positions we take or do not take on these issues may be unpopular with some of our employees, our clients or potential clients, our investors, legislators or government regulators, as well as members of the media, or advocacy groups, which may impact our ability to attract or retain employees or the demand for our services. We also may choose not to conduct business with potential clients or discontinue or not expand business with existing clients due to these positions. Table of Contents ACCENTURE 2024 FORM 10-K Item 1A. Risk Factors 23 If we do not successfully manage and develop our relationships with key ecosystem partners or if we fail to anticipate and establish new alliances in new technologies, our results of operations could be adversely affected. We have alliances with companies whose capabilities complement our own. A very significant portion of our revenue and services and solutions are based on technology or software provided by a few major ecosystem partners. See “Business—Services.” The business that we conduct through these alliances could decrease or fail to grow for a variety of reasons. The priorities and objectives of our ecosystem partners may differ from ours. They offer services and solutions that compete with some of our services and solutions. They may also form closer or preferred arrangements with our competitors. Some of our ecosystem partners are also large clients or suppliers of technology to us. The decisions we make vis-à-vis an ecosystem partner may impact our ongoing alliance relationships with other members of our ecosystem. Our ecosystem partners may at times be impacted by global events, the changing macroeconomic environment and supply chain or service disruptions, as well as rapid increases in demand for their products and services, any of which may impact their ability to provide their products and services within our expected timeframes or at anticipated prices. In addition, our ecosystem partners may also experience reduced demand for their technology or software, including, for example, in response to changes in technology, which could lessen related demand for our services and solutions. We must anticipate and respond to continuous changes in technology and develop alliance relationships with new providers of relevant technology and services. We must secure meaningful alliances with these providers early in their life cycle so that we can develop the right number of certified people with skills in new technologies. If we are unable to maintain our relationships with current partners and identify new and emerging providers of relevant technology to expand our network of ecosystem partners, we may not be able to differentiate our services or compete effectively in the market. If we do not obtain the expected benefits from our alliance relationships for any reason, we may be less competitive, our ability to offer attractive solutions to our clients may be negatively affected, and our results of operations could be adversely affected. Financial Risks Our profitability could materially suffer due to pricing pressure, if we are unable to remain competitive, if our cost-management strategies are unsuccessful or if we experience delivery inefficiencies or fail to satisfy certain agreed-upon targets or specific service levels. Our profitability is highly dependent on a variety of factors and could be materially impacted by any of the following: Pricing pressures have had and may continue to have a negative impact on our profitability. The rates we are able to charge for our services and solutions are affected by a number of factors, including: • general economic and political conditions; • our clients’ desire to reduce their costs; • the competitive environment in our industry; • the introduction of new technologies (such as generative AI), services or products by competitors, which could reduce our ability to obtain favorable pricing and impact our overall economics for the services or solutions we offer; • our ability to accurately estimate our service delivery costs, upon which our pricing is sometimes determined, including our ability to estimate the impact of inflation and foreign exchange on our service delivery costs over long-term contracts; and • the procurement practices of clients and their use of third-party advisors. Our profitability could suffer if we are not able to remain competitive . The competitive environment in our industry affects our ability to secure new contracts at our target economics in a number of ways, any of which could have a material negative impact on our results of operations. The less we are able to differentiate our services and solutions and/or clearly convey the value of our services and solutions, the more risk we have in winning new work in sufficient volumes and at our target pricing and overall economics. Competitors may be willing, at times, to take on more risk or price contracts lower than us in an effort to enter the market or increase market share. Table of Contents ACCENTURE 2024 FORM 10-K Item 1A. Risk Factors 24 Our profitability could suffer if our cost-management strategies are unsuccessful, and we may not be able to improve our profitability. Our ability to improve or maintain our profitability is dependent on our being able to successfully manage our costs, including taking actions to reduce certain costs and optimize our business. Our cost management strategies include maintaining appropriate alignment between the demand for our services and solutions and the workforce needed to deliver them. If we are not effective in managing our operating costs in response to changes in demand or pricing, or if we are unable to cost-effectively hire and retain people with the knowledge and skills necessary to deliver our services and solutions, particularly in areas of new technologies and offerings and in the right geographic locations, we may incur increased costs, which could reduce our ability to continue to invest in our business in an amount necessary to achieve our planned rates of growth and our desired levels of profitability. If we do not accurately anticipate the cost, risk and complexity of performing our work or if third parties upon whom we rely do not meet their commitments, then our contracts could have delivery inefficiencies and be less profitable than expected or unprofitable. Our contract profitability is highly dependent on our forecasts regarding the effort and cost necessary to deliver our services and solutions, which are based on available data and could turn out to be materially inaccurate. If we do not accurately estimate the effort, costs or timing for meeting our contractual commitments and/or completing engagements to a client’s satisfaction, our contracts could yield lower profit margins than planned or be unprofitable. Moreover, many of our contracts include clauses that tie our ultimate compensation to the achievement of agreed-upon performance standards or milestones. If we fail to satisfy these measures, it could significantly reduce or eliminate our fees under the contracts, increase the cost to us of meeting performance standards or milestones, delay expected payments or subject us to potential damage claims under the contract terms, any of which could significantly affect our profitability. We also have a number of contracts in which a portion of our compensation depends on performance measures such as cost-savings, revenue enhancement, benefits produced, business goals attained and adherence to schedule. These goals can be complex and may depend on our clients’ actual levels of business activity or may be based on assumptions that are later determined not to be achievable or accurate and could negatively impact our profit margins if not achieved. Similarly, if we experience unanticipated delivery difficulties due to our management, the failure of third parties or our clients to meet their commitments, or for any other reason, our contracts could yield lower profit margins than planned or be unprofitable. We are increasingly entering into contracts for large, complex client engagements to transform our clients’ businesses. These deals may involve transforming a client’s business, transitioning it to the cloud and updating their technology, while operating portions of their business. The scale and complexity of these projects present risks in execution and profitability challenges as a result of the costs we incur and investments we make at the beginning of these transactions. In particular, large and complex arrangements often require that we utilize subcontractors or that our services and solutions incorporate or coordinate with the software, systems or infrastructure requirements of other vendors and service providers, including companies with which we have alliances. Our profitability depends on the ability of these subcontractors, vendors and service providers to deliver their products and services in a timely manner, at the anticipated cost, and in accordance with the project requirements, as well as on our effective oversight of their performance. In some cases, these subcontractors are small firms, and they might not have the resources or experience to successfully integrate their services or products with large-scale engagements or enterprises. Some of this work involves new technologies, which may not work as intended or provide anticipated productivity gains, or may take more effort to implement than initially predicted. In addition, certain client work requires the use of unique and complex structures and alliances, some of which require us to assume responsibility for the performance of third parties whom we do not control. Any of these factors could adversely affect our ability to perform and subject us to additional liabilities, which could have a material adverse effect on our relationships with clients and on our results of operations. Changes in our level of taxes, as well as audits, investigations and tax proceedings, or changes in tax laws or in their interpretation or enforcement, could have a material adverse effect on our effective tax rate, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition. We are subject to taxes in numerous jurisdictions. We calculate and provide for taxes in each tax jurisdiction in which we operate. Tax accounting often involves complex matters and requires our judgment to determine our worldwide provision for income taxes and other tax liabilities. We are subject to ongoing audits, investigations and tax proceedings in various jurisdictions. Tax authorities have disagreed, and may in the future disagree, with our judgments, and are taking increasingly aggressive positions opposing the judgments we make, including with respect to our intercompany transactions. We regularly assess the likely outcomes of our audits, investigations and tax proceedings to determine the appropriateness of our tax liabilities. However, our judgments might not be sustained as a result of these audits, investigations and tax proceedings, and the amounts ultimately paid could be materially different from the amounts previously recorded. In addition, our effective tax rate in the future could be adversely affected by challenges to our intercompany transactions, changes in the valuation of deferred tax assets and liabilities, changes in tax laws or in their interpretation or enforcement, changes in the mix of earnings in countries with differing statutory tax rates and changes in accounting principles, including the U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Tax rates and policies in the jurisdictions in which we operate may change Table of Contents ACCENTURE 2024 FORM 10-K Item 1A. Risk Factors 25 materially as a result of shifting economic, social and political conditions. In addition, changes in tax laws, treaties or regulations, or their interpretation or enforcement, have become more unpredictable and may become more stringent, which could materially adversely affect our tax position. A number of countries where we do business, including the United States and many countries in the European Union, have implemented, and are considering implementing, changes in relevant tax, accounting and other laws, regulations and interpretations. There remains significant uncertainty around whether these changes will ultimately be implemented and, if implemented, the extent of their impact. The overall tax environment remains highly uncertain and increasingly complex. The European Commission has been conducting investigations, focusing on whether local country tax rulings or tax legislation provides preferential tax treatment that violates European Union state aid rules. In the U.S., various proposals to raise corporate income taxes are periodically considered. Individual countries across the globe and the European Union have either enacted or plan to enact digital taxes to impose incremental taxes on companies based on where ultimate users are located. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (“OECD”), a global coalition of member countries, further developed a two-pillar plan to reform international taxation. The plan aims to prevent the proliferation of separate new digital taxes and to ensure a fairer distribution of profits among countries by creating a new global system to tax income based on the location of users, and to impose a floor on tax competition through the introduction of a global minimum tax. Ireland and other countries where we operate have enacted Pillar Two, the OECD’s global minimum tax rate, which will apply to us beginning with fiscal year 2025. Other countries are also actively considering changes to their tax laws to adopt certain parts of the OECD’s two-pillar framework. We cannot predict the impact to our income taxes of future OECD guidance and interpretations, related local country tax legislation, and local challenges to our Pillar Two positions. However, we expect Pillar Two to further increase complexity and uncertainty around income taxes. The increased focus of various jurisdictions on challenging tax positions and enacting new tax laws could have a material adverse effect on our effective tax rate, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition. Although we expect to be able to rely on the tax treaty between the United States and Ireland, legislative or diplomatic action could be taken, or the treaty may be amended in such a way, that would prevent us from being able to rely on such treaty. Our inability to rely on the treaty would subject us to increased taxation or significant additional expense. In addition, we could be materially adversely affected by changes in the laws (or in their interpretation or enforcement) around the definition of a U.S. person for U.S. federal income tax purposes and by changes in tax law or policy (or in their interpretation or enforcement) in Ireland or other jurisdictions where we operate, including their treaties with Ireland or the United States. Our results of operations could be materially adversely affected by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. Although we report our results of operations in U.S. dollars, a majority of our revenues is denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Unfavorable fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates have had an adverse effect, and could in the future have a material adverse effect, on our results of operations. Because our consolidated financial statements are presented in U.S. dollars, we must translate revenues, expenses and income, as well as assets and liabilities, into U.S. dollars at exchange rates in effect during or at the end of each reporting period. Therefore, changes in the value of the U.S. dollar against other currencies will affect our revenues, operating income and the value of balance-sheet items, including intercompany payables and receivables, originally denominated in other currencies. These changes cause our growth stated in U.S. dollars to be higher or lower than our growth in local currency when compared against other periods. Our currency hedging programs, which are designed to partially offset the impact on consolidated earnings related to the changes in value of certain balance sheet items, might not be successful. Additionally, some transactions and balances may be denominated in currencies for which there is no available market to hedge. As we continue to leverage our global delivery model, more of our expenses are incurred in currencies other than those in which we bill for the related services. An increase in the value of certain currencies, such as the Indian rupee or Philippine peso, against the currencies in which our revenue is recorded could increase costs for delivery of services at off-shore sites by increasing labor and other costs that are denominated in local currency. Our contractual provisions or cost management efforts might not be able to offset their impact, and our currency hedging activities, which are designed to partially offset this impact, might not be successful. This could result in a decrease in the profitability of our contracts that are utilizing delivery center resources. In addition, our currency hedging activities are themselves subject to risk. These include risks related to counterparty performance under hedging contracts, risks related to ineffective hedges and risks related to currency fluctuations. We also face risks that extreme economic conditions, political instability, or hostilities or disasters of the type described below could impact or perhaps eliminate the underlying exposures that we are hedging. Such an event could lead to losses being recognized on the currency hedges then in place that are not offset by anticipated changes in the underlying hedged exposure. Our debt obligations could adversely affect our business and financial condition. Our current debt, and any additional indebtedness we incur, may adversely affect our financial condition and future financial results by, among other things, requiring the dedication of a portion of our expected cash from operations to service our Table of Contents ACCENTURE 2024 FORM 10-K Item 1A. Risk Factors 26 indebtedness, thereby reducing the amount of cash flow available for other purposes. We may also be required to raise additional financing, which will depend on, among other factors, our financial position and performance, as well as prevailing market conditions and other factors beyond our control. We may not be able to obtain additional financing or refinancing on terms acceptable to us, or at all, which could adversely impact our ability to service our outstanding indebtedness or to repay our outstanding indebtedness as it becomes due and could adversely impact our business and financial condition. Additionally, further indebtedness may increase the risk of a future downgrade in our credit ratings, which could increase future debt costs and limit the future availability of debt financing. Changes to accounting standards or in the estimates and assumptions we make in connection with the preparation of our consolidated financial statements could adversely affect our financial results. Our financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. It is possible that changes in accounting standards could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial position. The application of generally accepted accounting principles requires us to make estimates and assumptions about certain items and future events that affect our reported financial condition and results of operations, and our accompanying disclosure with respect to, among other things, revenue recognition and income taxes. Our most critical accounting estimates are described in Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations under “Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates.” We base our estimates on historical experience, contractual commitments and various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances and at the time they are made. These estimates and assumptions involve the use of judgment and are subject to significant uncertainties, some of which are beyond our control. If our estimates, or the assumptions underlying such estimates, are not correct, actual results may differ materially from our estimates, and we may need to, among other things, adjust revenues or accrue additional costs that could adversely affect our results of operations. Operational Risks As a result of our geographically diverse operations and our strategy to continue to grow in our key markets around the world, we are more susceptible to certain risks. We have offices and operations in more than 200 cities in 52 countries around the world. One aspect of our strategy is to continue to grow in our key markets around the world. Our strategy might not be successful. If we are unable to manage the risks of our global operations and strategy, our results of operations and ability to grow could be materially adversely affected. Health emergencies or pandemics; acts of terrorist violence; political, social and civil unrest; regional and international war and other hostilities and international responses to these wars and hostilities; natural disasters, sea level rise, floods, droughts and water scarcity, heat waves, wildfires and storms, occurrences of which may increase in frequency and severity as a result of climate change; or the threat of or perceived potential for these events; and other acts of god have had and could in the future have significantly negative impacts on us. These events could adversely affect our clients’ levels of business activity and precipitate sudden and significant changes in regional and global economic conditions and cycles. These events also pose significant risks to our people and to physical facilities and operations around the world, whether the facilities are ours or those of our ecosystem partners, suppliers or clients. By disrupting communications and travel and increasing the difficulty of obtaining and retaining highly skilled and qualified people, these types of events impact our ability to deliver our services and solutions to our clients. Extended disruptions of electricity, other public utilities or network or cloud services at our facilities or in the areas where our people are working remotely, as well as physical infrastructure damage to, system failures at, cyberattacks on, or security incidents involving, our facilities or systems, or those of our ecosystem partners, suppliers or clients, could also adversely affect our ability to conduct our business and serve our clients. If any of these circumstances occurs, we have a greater risk that interruptions in communications with our clients and other Accenture locations and people, and any down-time in important processes we operate for clients, could result in a material adverse effect on our results of operations and our reputation in the marketplace. Our business model is dependent on our global delivery capability. While our delivery centers are located throughout the world, we have based large portions of our delivery capability in India and the Philippines, where we have the largest and second largest number of our people located, respectively. In addition, certain of our clients and markets are primarily supported by individual delivery centers. Concentrating our delivery capability in these locations presents a number of operational risks, including those discussed in this risk factor, many of which are beyond our control and which have been and may in the future be exacerbated by increasing geopolitical tensions. While these events have not materially impacted our ability to deliver services to our clients, international conflicts are unpredictable and we might not be as successful in mitigating these operational risks in the future. We are unable to protect our people, facilities and systems, and those of our ecosystem partners, suppliers and clients, against all such events. Our business continuity and disaster recovery plans may not be effective, particularly if catastrophic Table of Contents ACCENTURE 2024 FORM 10-K Item 1A. Risk Factors 27 events occur where large numbers of our people are located, or simultaneously affect our people in multiple locations around the world. We generally do not have insurance for losses and interruptions caused by terrorist attacks, conflicts and wars. If these disruptions prevent us from effectively serving our clients, our results of operations could be significantly adversely affected. If we are unable to manage the organizational challenges associated with our size, we might be unable to achieve our business objectives. As of August 31, 2024, we had approximately 774,000 employees worldwide. Our size and scale present significant management and organizational challenges. As our organization grows and evolves, it might become increasingly difficult to maintain effective standards across a large enterprise and effectively institutionalize our knowledge or to effectively change the strategy, operations or culture of our Company in a timely manner. It might also become more difficult to maintain our culture, effectively manage and monitor our people and operations, effectively communicate our core values, policies and procedures, strategies and goals, and motivate, engage and retain our people, particularly given our world-wide operations, rate of new hires, and the significant percentage of our employees who have the option to work remotely. The size and scope of our operations increase the possibility that we will have employees who engage in unlawful or fraudulent activity, or otherwise expose us to unacceptable business risks, despite our efforts to train them and maintain internal controls to prevent such instances. For example, employee misconduct could involve the improper use of sensitive or confidential information entrusted to us, or obtained inappropriately, or the failure to comply with legislation or regulations regarding the protection of sensitive or confidential information, including personal data and proprietary information. Furthermore, the inappropriate use of social networking sites and unapproved technologies, such as public-facing, free generative AI tools, by our employees could result in breaches of confidentiality, unauthorized disclosure of non-public company information or damage to our reputation. If we do not continue to develop and implement the right processes and tools to manage our enterprise and instill our culture and core values into all of our employees, our ability to compete successfully and achieve our business objectives could be impaired. In addition, from time to time, we have made, and may continue to make, changes to our operating model, including how we are organized, as the needs and size of our business change, and if we do not successfully implement the changes, our business and results of operation may be negatively impacted. We might not be successful at acquiring, investing in or integrating businesses, entering into joint ventures or divesting businesses. We expect to continue pursuing strategic acquisitions, investments and joint ventures to enhance or add to our skills and capabilities or offerings of services and solutions, or to enable us to expand in certain geographic and other markets. We have increased and may again in the future increase the amount of capital invested in such opportunities. These acquisitions and other transactions and investments involve challenges and risks, such as that we may not succeed in completing targeted transactions, including as a result of the market becoming increasingly competitive, or achieve desired results of operations. To the extent that we increase the capital invested in such opportunities, as we did in fiscal 2024, the risks associated with such investments, further described below, also increase. Furthermore, we face risks in successfully integrating any businesses we might acquire, and these risks may be magnified by the size and number of transactions we have executed. Ongoing business may be disrupted, and our management’s attention may be diverted by acquisition, investment, transition or integration activities. In addition, we might need to dedicate additional management and other resources, and our organizational structure could make it difficult for us to efficiently integrate acquired businesses into our ongoing operations and assimilate and retain employees of those businesses into our culture and operations. The loss of key executives, employees, customers, suppliers, vendors and other business partners of businesses we acquire may adversely impact the value of the assets, operations or businesses. Furthermore, acquisitions or joint ventures may result in significant costs and expenses, including those related to retention payments, equity compensation, severance pay, early retirement costs, intangible asset amortization and asset impairment charges, enhancing controls, procedures and policies including those related to financial reporting, disclosure, and cyber and information security, assumed litigation and other liabilities, and legal, accounting and financial advisory fees, which could negatively affect our profitability as these costs and expenses grow along with the increased capital invested in such acquisitions and joint ventures. We may have difficulties as a result of entering into new markets where we have limited or no direct prior experience or where competitors may have stronger market positions. In some cases, we have failed to, and may in the future fail to fully realize the expected benefits or strategic objectives of any acquisition, investment or joint venture we undertake. We might not achieve our expected return on investment or may lose money. We may be adversely impacted by liabilities that we assume from a company we acquire or in which we invest, including from that company’s known and unknown obligations, intellectual property or other assets, terminated employees, current or former clients or other third parties. In addition, we may fail to identify or adequately assess the magnitude of certain liabilities, shortcomings or other circumstances prior to acquiring, investing in or partnering with a company, including potential exposure to regulatory sanctions or liabilities resulting from an acquisition target’s previous activities, or from an acquisition’s controls related to financial reporting, disclosure, and cyber and information security environment. The number of transactions we execute annually may increase this risk. If any of these circumstances occurs, they could result in unexpected regulatory or legal exposure, including litigation with new or existing clients, unfavorable accounting treatment, Table of Contents ACCENTURE 2024 FORM 10-K Item 1A. Risk Factors 28 unexpected increases in taxes or other adverse effects on our relationships with clients and our business. In addition, we have a lesser degree of control over the business operations of the joint ventures and businesses in which we have made minority investments or in which we have acquired less than 100% of the equity. This lesser degree of control may expose us to additional reputational, financial, legal, compliance or operational risks. Litigation, indemnification claims and other unforeseen claims and liabilities may arise from the acquisition or operation of acquired businesses. For example, we may face litigation or other claims as a result of certain terms and conditions of the acquisition agreement, such as earnout payments or closing working capital adjustments. Alternatively, shareholder litigation may arise as a result of proposed acquisitions. If we are unable to complete the number and kind of investments for which we plan, or if we are inefficient or unsuccessful at integrating acquired businesses into our operations, we may not be able to achieve our planned rates of growth or improve our market share, profitability or competitive position in specific markets or services. We also periodically evaluate, and have engaged in, the disposition of assets and businesses. Divestitures could involve difficulties in the separation of operations, services, products and people, the diversion of management’s attention, the disruption of our business and the potential loss of key employees. After reaching an agreement with a buyer for the disposition of a business, the transaction may be subject to the satisfaction of pre-closing conditions, including obtaining necessary regulatory and government approvals, which, if not satisfied or obtained, may prevent us from completing the transaction. Divestitures may also involve continued financial involvement in or liability with respect to the divested assets and businesses, such as indemnities or other financial obligations, in which the performance of the divested assets or businesses could impact our results of operations. Any divestiture we undertake could adversely affect our results of operations. Legal and Regulatory Risks Our business could be materially adversely affected if we incur legal liability. We are subject to, and may become a party to, a variety of litigation or other claims and suits that arise from time to time in the ordinary course of our business. Our business is subject to the risk of litigation involving current and former employees, clients, ecosystem partners, subcontractors, suppliers, competitors, shareholders, government agencies or others through private actions, class actions, whistleblower claims, administrative proceedings, regulatory actions or other litigation. Regardless of the merits of the claims, the cost to defend current and future litigation may be significant, and such matters can be time-consuming and divert management’s attention and resources. The results of litigation and other legal proceedings are inherently uncertain, and adverse judgments or settlements in some or all of these legal disputes may result in materially adverse monetary damages, fines, penalties, debarment or injunctive relief against us. Any claims or litigation, even if fully indemnified or insured, could damage our reputation and make it more difficult to compete effectively or to obtain adequate insurance in the future. We could be subject to significant legal liability and litigation expense if we fail to meet our contractual obligations, contribute to internal control or other deficiencies of a client or otherwise breach obligations to third parties, including clients, ecosystem partners, employees and former employees, and other parties with whom we conduct business, or if our subcontractors breach or dispute the terms of our agreements with them and impede our ability to meet our obligations to our clients, or if our services or solutions cause bodily injuries to our people, clients, or the public or property damage. For example, by taking over the operation of certain portions of our clients’ businesses, including functions and systems that are critical to the core businesses of our clients, by contributing to the design, development, manufacturing and/or engineering of client products, or by providing various operational technology, digital manufacturing and robotics or other industrial automation equipment solutions, and advisory, management and engineering services for infrastructure projects, we may be exposed to additional and evolving operational, regulatory, reputational or other risks specific to these areas, including risks related to data security, product liability, health and safety, hazardous materials and other environmental risks. A failure of a client’s system, product or infrastructure based on our services or solutions could also subject us to a claim for significant damages that could materially adversely affect our results of operations. In order to remain competitive, we increasingly enter into agreements based on our clients’ contract terms after conducting an assessment of the risk of doing so, which may expose us to additional risk. In addition, the contracting practices of competitors, along with the demands of increasingly sophisticated clients, may cause contract terms and conditions that are unfavorable to us to become new standards in the industry. We may commit to providing services or solutions that we are unable to deliver or whose delivery may reduce our profitability or cause us financial loss. If we cannot or do not meet our contractual obligations and if our potential liability is not adequately limited through the terms of our agreements, liability limitations are not enforced or a third party alleges fraud or other wrongdoing to prevent us from relying upon those contractual protections, we might face significant legal liability and litigation expense and our results of operations could be materially adversely affected. Moreover, as we expand our services and solutions into new areas, we may be exposed to additional and evolving risks specific to these new areas. Table of Contents ACCENTURE 2024 FORM 10-K