Item 1. Business
Item 1. Business 7
focus on driving reinvention and growth with AI, we are launching a global learning program that integrates tools, platforms, and role-based learning, along with partnerships with leading educational institutions and certification programs. Additionally, Accenture’s industry learning framework and technology certification strategy are an important part of our competitive differentiation.
We also continue to steadily increase our AI and data workforce, reaching approximately 77,000 skilled AI and data practitioners at the end of fiscal 2025, against our goal of doubling our AI and data workforce to 80,000 by the end of fiscal 2026.
We promoted approximately 97,000 people in fiscal 2025, 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 2025, attrition, excluding involuntary terminations, was 14%, compared to 13% in fiscal 2024. For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, annualized attrition, excluding involuntary terminations, was 15%, down from 16% in the third quarter of fiscal 2025.
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 and practices—including physical, mental, emotional and financial well-being—that care for our people.
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 that allow us to help our clients create exceptional business value. 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 and services. 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 solutions and services.
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 $0.8 billion, $1.2 billion and $1.3 billion in fiscal 2025, 2024 and 2023, 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 believe our combination of people, platforms, assets and capabilities, including our global network of Innovation Centers, makes Accenture one of the leading strategic innovation partners for our clients.
This is all supported by our innovation approach, which includes Accenture Research, Accenture Ventures and Accenture Labs, our Innovation Centers as well as our 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 robotics, quantum and advanced AI along with many other disruptive technologies and ideas.
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, cybersecurity, automation, 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 solutions and services. 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.
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.
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Assets and Platforms
We bring industry specific solutions and services as well as cross industry expertise and leverage our scale and global footprint, innovation capabilities, and strong ecosystem partnerships together with our proprietary assets and platforms including GenWizard, myNav, SynOps and AI Navigator for Enterprise to deliver tangible value for our clients. We have significantly embedded advanced AI into our proprietary platforms like GenWizard, which enables us to deliver differently for our clients.
Competition
Accenture operates in a highly competitive and rapidly changing global marketplace. We compete with a variety of organizations that offer solutions and services 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 solutions and services; 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 scaled rapidly to focus on or disrupt certain markets and provide new or alternative products, end-to-end solutions, services, or commercial or delivery models; 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”).
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Information About Our Executive Officers
Our executive officers as of October 10, 2025 are as follows:
Melissa Burgum, 53, 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 12 years.
Kate Clifford, 48, became our chief leadership and human resources officer in September 2025. From September 2024 to September 2025, Ms. Clifford was our chief human resources officer—the Americas. From June 2022 to September 2024, she served as our chief human resources officer—North America. Prior to that, she served as our North America human resources service delivery lead from December 2018 to June 2022. Ms. Clifford has been with Accenture for 27 years.
Atsushi Egawa, 60, 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 36 years.
Kate Hogan, 49, became our chief operating officer in September 2025. From September 2024 to September 2025, she served as our chief operating officer—the Americas. From September 2023 to September 2024, she served as chief operating officer—North America. Prior to that, Ms. Hogan served as our US West lead from September 2022 to September 2023 and chief operating officer—North America from March 2020 to August 2022. Ms. Hogan has been with Accenture for 27 years.
Mauro Macchi, 60, 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 35 years.
Angie Park, 53, became our chief financial officer in December 2024. From September 2023 to December 2024, she served as our Business and Commercial Finance lead. From September 2022 to September 2023, she served as our chief financial officer—Technology. Prior to assuming that role, she served as our head of investor relations from December 2016 to September 2022 and finance director—Health & Public Service from April 2014 to September 2023. Ms. Park has been with Accenture for 29 years
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Ryoji Sekido, 58, 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 33 years.
Manish Sharma, 57, became our chief strategy and services officer in September 2025. Prior to that, Mr. Sharma served as our chief executive officer—the Americas from September 2024 to September 2025, chief executive officer—North America from September 2023 to September 2024 and chief operating officer from March 2022 to September 2023. From March 2020 to March 2022, Mr. Sharma served as our group chief executive—Operations. Prior to that, he held key leadership positions in Operations, including as group chief operating officer and global business process outsourcing delivery lead. Mr. Sharma has been with Accenture for 30 years.
Julie Sweet, 58, 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 15 years and has served as a director since September 2019.
Joel Unruch, 47, 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 14 years.
John Walsh, 61, became our chief executive officer—the Americas in September 2025. Prior
to that, Mr. Walsh served as our chief operating officer from September 2023 to September 2025. 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 39 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, 2025. “Accenture Leadership” is comprised of members of our global management committee (our primary management and leadership team, which consists of approximately 55 of our most senior leaders), senior managing directors and managing directors.
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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. The disclosures in this section reflect our beliefs and opinions as to factors that could materially and adversely affect us in the future. References to past events are provided by way of example only and are not intended to be a complete listing or a representation as to whether or not such factors have occurred in the past. 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 increased economic and political volatility and uncertainty, including as a result of increasing geopolitical tensions, inflation, economic downturns, changes in global trade policies, including the threat or imposition of tariffs or other trade restrictions and related retaliatory actions, protectionism, nationalism, 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.
Our business depends on generating and maintaining client demand for our solutions and services, including through the adaptation and expansion of our solutions and services 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 solutions and services, 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 solutions and services. Our success depends, in part, on our ability to continue to develop and implement solutions and services 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 advanced AI, which includes generative, agentic and physical AI, digital-, cloud- and security-related offerings, which are continually evolving, as well as developments in areas such as software, augmented and virtual reality, automation, blockchain, Internet of Things, quantum and edge computing, infrastructure and network engineering, intelligent connected products, digital engineering and manufacturing, and robotics solutions. As we continue to expand our solutions and services into these new areas, we are 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 solutions and services.
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Technological developments may materially affect the cost and use of technology by our clients and, in the case of cloud, AI and data 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 solutions and services 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 solutions and services. If, as a result of new technologies or changes in the industries we serve, our clients demand new solutions and services, 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, partnerships 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 solutions and services, 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 solutions and services 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 solutions and services 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, including advanced AI, could harm our business, damage our reputation or give rise to legal or regulatory action.
We are increasingly applying AI-based technologies to our solutions and services, 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 solutions and services for ourselves and for our clients. If we fail to continue to develop leading AI solutions and services that meet our clients’ and our own internal needs, we may lose our leadership position in this area and fail to realize the anticipated benefits of our investments in advanced AI.
AI technologies are complex and rapidly evolving, and we face significant competition, including from our clients and ecosystem partners, who may develop their own internal AI-related capabilities, as well as new AI-native companies, which can lead to reduced demand for our solutions or services. As these technologies evolve, some services and tasks currently performed by our people have been and will continue to 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 solutions and services or if the pace and level of spending on new solutions or services are not sufficient to make up any shortfall. If we are unable to introduce or if our clients do not accept new pricing or commercial models that reflect the value of these AI-enabled solutions, our results of operations may be adversely affected. 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 or inaccurate 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 or regulatory scrutiny, litigation or other legal liability, or ethical concerns that could adversely affect our business, reputation or financial results.
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Evolving rules, regulations and industry standards governing AI may require us to incur significant costs to modify, maintain, or align our business practices, solutions and services to comply with U.S. and non-U.S. 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. 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. There is increasing divergence globally among AI regulations, which will require us to navigate different obligations in different geographies. Violations of these laws may lead to reputational damage, financial penalties and increased regulatory scrutiny and oversight.
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 solutions and services 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 upskill, retain and inspire appropriate numbers of talented people 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 upskill 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 solutions and services 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, such as the three-pronged talent strategy initiated in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025. The timing and amount of costs related to these business optimization actions and the nature and extent of benefits realized from such actions are subject to uncertainties and other factors, including local country consultation processes and regulations, and may differ from our current expectations and estimates. 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 upskill and 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. Although only a very small percentage of our people in the U.S. are on H-1B visas, changes in immigration laws or policies, or the application of those laws and policies, could limit the availability of H-1B or other visas in the U.S.
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
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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.
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 are leveraging 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.
In providing solutions and services 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. 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 social engineering methods, phishing frameworks and viruses, ransomware, malware or other malicious software programs, 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, including as a result of evolving AI technologies and threat actors’ increasingly mature infrastructure and systems capable of broadly deploying zero-day attacks. These developments are increasing the difficulty of detecting and defending against cybersecurity attacks 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”), Digital Operational Resilience Act and Network and Information Security 2 Directive, 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 solutions and services are highly competitive. Our competitors include:
• large multinational IT service providers, including the services arms of large global technology providers;
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• off-shore IT service providers in lower-cost locations, particularly in India;
• accounting firms and consultancies that provide consulting, managed services and other IT solutions and services;
• 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, end-to-end solutions, services, or commercial 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 solutions and services faster than we can or may be able to anticipate the need for solutions and services 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, or alternative commercial models, 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 and new AI-native companies, are increasingly able to offer services related to their AI, software, platform, cloud migration and other solutions, or are developing AI, software, platform, cloud migration and other solutions that require integration services to a lesser extent or replace them in their entirety. These more integrated solutions and services may represent more attractive alternatives to clients than some of our solutions and services, which may materially adversely affect our competitive position and our results of operations.
If we do not successfully manage and develop our relationships with our 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 solutions and services are based on technology, including platforms and software, provided by our ecosystem partners. See “Business—Ecosystem Partner Relationships.”
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 solutions and services that compete with some of our solutions and services. 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 solutions and services.
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.
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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.
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 solutions and services 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 solutions and services 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 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 initiatives, 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, modify, 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.
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 solutions and services 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 advanced AI), services or products by competitors, ecosystem partners and clients, which could reduce our ability to obtain favorable pricing and impact our overall economics for the solutions or services 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 solutions and services and/or clearly
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convey the value of our solutions and services, 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.
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 including through the use of new technologies, such as advanced AI. Our cost management strategies include maintaining appropriate alignment between the demand for our solutions and services 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, develop, upskill and retain enough people with the knowledge and skills necessary to deliver our solutions and services, 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 solutions and services, 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, which convert to revenue over a longer period. These deals may involve transforming a client’s business, transitioning it to the cloud and updating their technology, increasing their operational efficiency and improving their customers’ experience with AI and data, 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 solutions and services 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
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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 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 applies 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. On June 28, 2025, the G7 released a statement on global minimum taxes that outlined, among other items, that work will be done to simplify the overall Pillar Two administration and compliance 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 still expect Pillar Two to further increase complexity and uncertainty around income taxes. Ongoing volatility in global trade relations may prompt governments to implement new tax, tariff and compliance measures, which could extend to services. 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.
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. 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, which are designed to partially offset the impact on consolidated earnings related to the changes in value of certain balance sheet items, are themselves subject to risk and might not be successful. These include risks related to counterparty performance under hedging contracts, risks related to ineffective hedges and risks related to currency fluctuations. Additionally, some transactions and balances may be denominated in currencies for which there is no available market to hedge. 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.
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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 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.
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, and earthquakes; 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 solutions and services 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. Sovereignty initiatives or other nationalist trends in our markets may result in local sourcing initiatives, conflicting local or regional requirements, or other developments that may make it more difficult or costly to operate in or negatively impact demand for our solutions and services in those markets. While these developments 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 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, 2025, we had approximately 779,000 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
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