[10-K] Accenture plc Files Annual Report
Filing Impact
Filing Sentiment
Form Type
10-K
Rhea-AI Filing Summary
Accenture plc reported its fiscal 2025 annual filing describing operations, risks and key financial items for the year ended
The filing discloses business optimization costs of $615M in Q4 fiscal 2025 (including ~
Accenture plc ha pubblicato la propria dichiarazione annuale fiscale 2025 descrivendo operazioni, rischi e voci finanziarie chiave per l'anno terminato
La dichiarazione rivela costi di ottimizzazione aziendale di $615M nel Q4 dell'esercizio fiscale 2025 (inclusi circa
Accenture plc informó su presentación anual fiscal 2025 describiendo operaciones, riesgos y elementos financieros clave para el año terminado
La presentación divulga costos de optimización de negocio de $615M en el cuarto trimestre del año fiscal 2025 (incluidos ~
Accenture plc은 2025 회계연도 연차 공시를 통해
공시는 2025 회계연도 4분기에 사업 최적화 비용 $615M를 보고하며(약
Accenture plc a publié son dépôt annuel fiscal 2025 décrivant les opérations, les risques et les éléments financiers clés pour l'année terminée le
Le dépôt divulge des coûts d'optimisation commerciale de 615 M$ au quatrième trimestre de l'exercice fiscal 2025 (dont environ
Accenture plc hat seinen fiskalischen Jahresbericht 2025 veröffentlicht, der Operationen, Risiken und wichtige Finanzpositionen für das Jahr mit dem Ende
Die Mitteilung offenbart Kosten für Betriebsoptimierung von $615M im Q4 des Geschäftsjahres 2025 (einschließlich ca.
Accenture plc أصدرت بيانها السنوي المالي 2025 يصف العمليات والمخاطر والعناصر المالية الرئيسية للسنة المنتهية في
يكشف الملف عن تكاليف تحسين الأعمال قدرها $615M في الربع الرابع من السنة المالية 2025 (بما في ذلك نحو
Accenture plc 已公布其财政年度报告2025，描述截至
该披露显示 2025 财年第四季度的业务优化成本为 $615M（其中约
Positive
- Substantial shareholder return capacity with an additional
$5.0B repurchase authority approved, bringing total authorization to ~$7.85B - Significant investment in talent: ~
$1.0B invested in learning with ~47 million training hours in fiscal2025 - Large global scale with ~779,000 employees and diversified revenues across Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific
Negative
- Near-term profitability pressure from
$615M of business optimization costs in Q4 fiscal2025 and an expected ~$250M more in Q1 fiscal2026 - Asset impairments and divestitures totaling approximately
$271M related to two acquisitions no longer aligned with strategy - Large unrecognized tax positions:
$2.41B of unrecognized tax benefits, with potential movement of +$1.4B or -$187M in the next 12 months
Insights
TL;DR: Large buyback authority and near-term restructuring costs reshape capital allocation and margins.
Accenture recorded
The Board approved an additional
TL;DR: Large-scale upskilling investments accompany a compressed exit program with meaningful severance.
The company invested ~
Near-term execution risk includes the timing and cost variability of local consultation and regulatory processes; monitor reported severance spend and the trajectory of training hours and utilization over the next 6–12 months to assess whether upskilling offsets attrition-related capacity gaps.
Accenture plc ha pubblicato la propria dichiarazione annuale fiscale 2025 descrivendo operazioni, rischi e voci finanziarie chiave per l'anno terminato
La dichiarazione rivela costi di ottimizzazione aziendale di $615M nel Q4 dell'esercizio fiscale 2025 (inclusi circa
Accenture plc informó su presentación anual fiscal 2025 describiendo operaciones, riesgos y elementos financieros clave para el año terminado
La presentación divulga costos de optimización de negocio de $615M en el cuarto trimestre del año fiscal 2025 (incluidos ~
Accenture plc은 2025 회계연도 연차 공시를 통해
공시는 2025 회계연도 4분기에 사업 최적화 비용 $615M를 보고하며(약
Accenture plc a publié son dépôt annuel fiscal 2025 décrivant les opérations, les risques et les éléments financiers clés pour l'année terminée le
Le dépôt divulge des coûts d'optimisation commerciale de 615 M$ au quatrième trimestre de l'exercice fiscal 2025 (dont environ
Accenture plc hat seinen fiskalischen Jahresbericht 2025 veröffentlicht, der Operationen, Risiken und wichtige Finanzpositionen für das Jahr mit dem Ende
Die Mitteilung offenbart Kosten für Betriebsoptimierung von $615M im Q4 des Geschäftsjahres 2025 (einschließlich ca.
Table of Contents
UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
| Annual Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 | |||||
For the fiscal year ended August 31 , 2025
Commission File Number: 001-34448
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) | ||||
(Address of principal executive offices)
(353 ) (1 ) 646-2000
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
| Title of each class | Trading Symbol(s) | Name of each exchange on which registered | ||||||
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☑ No ☐
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Yes ☐ No ☑
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☑ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☑ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
| ☑ | Accelerated filer | ☐ | Non-accelerated filer | ☐ | |||||||||||||
| Smaller reporting company | Emerging growth company | ||||||||||||||||
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the Registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☑
If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☐ No ☑
The aggregate market value of the common equity of the registrant held by non-affiliates of the registrant on February 28, 2025 was approximately $218,315,987,018 based on the closing price of the registrant’s Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0000225 per share, reported on the New York Stock Exchange on such date of $348.50 per share and on the par value of the registrant’s Class X ordinary shares, par value $0.0000225 per share.
The number of shares of the registrant’s Class A ordinary shares, par value $0.0000225 per share, outstanding as of September 26, 2025 was 658,171,748 (which number includes 38,032,856 issued shares held by the registrant). The number of shares of the registrant’s Class X ordinary shares, par value $0.0000225 per share, outstanding as of September 26, 2025 was 302,358 .
Table of Contents
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Portions of the definitive proxy statement to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Regulation 14A relating to the registrant’s Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, to be held on January 28, 2026, will be incorporated by reference in this Form 10-K in response to Items 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 of Part III. The definitive proxy statement will be filed with the SEC not later than 120 days after the registrant’s fiscal year ended August 31, 2025.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
| Page | ||||||||
| Part I | ||||||||
| Item 1. | Business | 2 | ||||||
| Item 1A. | Risk Factors | 11 | ||||||
| Item 1B. | Unresolved Staff Comments | 26 | ||||||
| Item 1C. | Cybersecurity | 26 | ||||||
| Item 2. | Properties | 27 | ||||||
| Item 3. | Legal Proceedings | 27 | ||||||
| Item 4. | Mine Safety Disclosures | 28 | ||||||
| Part II | ||||||||
| Item 5. | Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Shareholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities | 29 | ||||||
| Item 6. | [Reserved] | 30 | ||||||
| Item 7. | Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations | 31 | ||||||
| Item 7A. | Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk | 42 | ||||||
| Item 8. | Financial Statements and Supplementary Data | 43 | ||||||
| Item 9. | Changes in and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure | 43 | ||||||
| Item 9A. | Controls and Procedures | 43 | ||||||
| Item 9B. | Other Information | 44 | ||||||
| Item 9C. | Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections | 44 | ||||||
| Part III | ||||||||
| Item 10. | Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance | 46 | ||||||
| Item 11. | Executive Compensation | 46 | ||||||
| Item 12. | Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Shareholder Matters | 47 | ||||||
| Item 13. | Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence | 47 | ||||||
| Item 14. | Principal Accountant Fees and Services | 48 | ||||||
| Part IV | ||||||||
| Item 15. | Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules | 49 | ||||||
| Item 16. | Form 10-K Summary | 51 | ||||||
Signatures | 52 | |||||||
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ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | Part I | 1 | |||||||||
Part I
Disclosure Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) relating to our operations, results of operations and other matters that are based on our current expectations, estimates, assumptions and projections. Words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “likely,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “projects,” “believes,” “estimates,” “positioned,” “outlook” and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Forward-looking statements are based upon assumptions as to future events that may not prove to be accurate. Actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed or forecast in these forward-looking statements. Risks, uncertainties and other factors that might cause such differences, some of which could be material, include, but are not limited to, the factors discussed below under the section entitled “Risk Factors.” Our forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this report or as of the date they are made, and we undertake no obligation to update them, notwithstanding any historical practice of doing so.
Available Information
Our website address is www.accenture.com. We use our website as a channel of distribution for company information. We make available free of charge on the Investor Relations section of our website (http://investor.accenture.com) our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and all amendments to those reports as soon as reasonably practicable after such material is electronically filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act. We also make available through our website other reports filed with or furnished to the SEC under the Exchange Act, including our proxy statements and reports filed by officers and directors under Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act, as well as our Code of Business Ethics. Financial and other material information regarding us is routinely posted on and accessible at http://investor.accenture.com. We do not intend for information contained in our website to be part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
The SEC maintains an Internet site (http://www.sec.gov) that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC. Any materials we file with the SEC are available on such Internet site.
In this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we use the terms “Accenture,” “we,” “our” and “us” to refer to Accenture plc and its subsidiaries. All references to years, unless otherwise noted, refer to our fiscal year, which ends on August 31.
Item 1. Business
Overview
Accenture is a leading solutions and global professional services company that helps the world’s leading enterprises reinvent by building their digital core and unleashing the power of AI to create value at speed across the enterprise, bringing together the talent of our approximately 779,000 people, our proprietary assets and platforms, and deep ecosystem relationships. Our strategy is to be the reinvention partner of choice for our clients and to be the most AI-enabled, client-focused, great place to work in the world. Through our Reinvention Services we bring together our capabilities across strategy, consulting, technology, operations, Song and Industry X with our deep industry expertise to create and deliver solutions and services for our clients. Our purpose is to deliver on the promise of technology and human ingenuity, and we measure our success by the 360° value we create for all our stakeholders.
| Fiscal 2025 Highlights | ||||||||
We serve clients and manage our business through three geographic markets: Americas, EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and Asia Pacific. These markets bring together all of our Reinvention Services with both local and global talent and solutions. We go to market by industry, leveraging our deep expertise across our five industry groups—Communications, Media & Technology, Financial Services, Health & Public Service, Products and Resources. We deliver two types of work: Consulting and Managed Services. | $69.7B in revenues Our revenues are derived primarily from Forbes Global 2000 companies, governments and government agencies. Today, we work across every major market with more than 9,000 clients, including the world’s largest companies; three quarters of the Fortune Global 100 and 500. As of August 31, 2025, we employed approximately 779,000 people. We have long-term relationships and have partnered with 195 of our top 200 clients for 10+ years. | |||||||
| Fiscal 2025 Investments | ||||||||||||||
$1.5B | $0.8B | $1.0B | ||||||||||||
across 23 strategic acquisitions | in research and development | in learning and professional development | ||||||||||||
During fiscal 2025, we continued to make significant investments—in strategic acquisitions, in research and development (R&D) in our assets, platforms and industry and functional solutions, in patents and pending patents and in attracting, retaining and developing people. These investments help us to further enhance our differentiation and competitiveness in the marketplace. Our disciplined acquisition strategy, which is an engine to fuel organic growth, is focused on scaling our business in high-growth areas; adding skills and capabilities in new areas; and deepening our industry and functional expertise. In fiscal 2025, we invested $1.5 billion across 23 strategic acquisitions, $0.8 billion in R&D, and approximately $1.0 billion in learning and professional development, including approximately 47 million training hours.
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ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | Item 1. Business | 3 | |||||||||
We also use our investment capacity to drive early leadership in areas of growth. For example, our early and decisive decision in fiscal 2023 to invest significantly to become a leader in generative AI with a $3 billion multi-year investment has positioned us to capture this new area of spend for our clients.
Geographic Markets
Our three geographic markets—Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific—bring together our Reinvention Services in teams, which typically consist of industry and functional experts, AI, data and technology specialists and professionals with local market knowledge and experience, to meet client needs. The geographic markets have primary responsibility for building and sustaining long-term client relationships; bringing together our expertise from around the globe and collaborating across our business to sell and deliver our full range of solutions and services; ensuring client satisfaction; and achieving revenue and profitability objectives.
While we serve clients in locally relevant ways, our global footprint and scale in every major country give us the ability to leverage our experience and people from around the world to accelerate outcomes for our clients.
Our three geographic markets are our reporting segments. The percent of our revenues represented by each market is shown at right.
Reinvention Services
Effective September 1, 2025, we brought all of our services, which are described below, together into a single, integrated business unit called Reinvention Services. With this change, our client-focused growth model is bringing together all our capabilities across strategy, consulting, technology, operations, Song and Industry X, including deep industry and functional expertise across these capabilities, plus our technology ecosystem partnerships, to create more leading solutions faster and embed AI and data more easily into creating and delivering our solutions and services. As the reinvention partner of choice for our clients, we are building the digital core and helping reinvent nearly every part of the enterprise, everything from functions that are common across industries like HR and Finance, to industry-specific functions like manufacturing and capital projects. With the majority of our large deals today already involving capabilities across multiple areas, the full rollout of our model is designed to make it faster and simpler to sell and deliver everything Accenture offers across our client base, while embedding more AI and data and equipping our people.
Strategy and Consulting
We work with C-suite executives, leaders and boards of the world’s leading organizations, helping them reinvent nearly every part of their enterprise to set their strategic priorities, build their digital core, reinvent processes and reimagine their workforce to drive greater growth, enhance competitiveness, and deliver sustainable 360° stakeholder value. Our deep industry and functional expertise is supported by proprietary assets and platforms that help organizations transform faster and become more resilient. Underpinned by technology, data, analytics, AI, change management, talent, learning and sustainability, these capabilities help architect and accelerate all aspects of an organization’s reinvention. Our strategists and deep industry, functional, customer and technology consultants work hand-in-hand with our clients and across our capabilities to shape and deliver these reinventions.
Technology
We help our clients build their digital core including AI, data, cloud, systems integration and application management, security, intelligent platform services, infrastructure services, software engineering services, automation and global delivery centers, utilizing our deep industry and functional knowledge to create solutions that will drive value at speed. We continuously innovate our solutions and services and develop new capabilities, assets and platforms through early adoption of new technologies such as advanced AI, which includes generative, agentic and physical AI, robotics, 5G, edge computing and quantum computing, as well as invest in R&D for both new and existing forms of technology. We also invest in emerging technologies through Accenture Ventures.
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ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | Item 1. Business | 4 | |||||||||
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 with reinvented operations, enabled by SynOps, our proprietary AI-powered, cloud-enabled platform that empowers people with data, processes, automation and a broad ecosystem of technology partners to transform enterprise operations at speed and scale. Our experience from operations also informs our strategy and consulting capabilities to better serve our clients.
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. We also build the strong digital core that supports the customer agenda. Our suite of solutions and services spans design, digital products, marketing, sales, commerce, and customer service. We help brands amplify their value, by making their products, services and experiences 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 powered with AI help make support more responsive and accessible. We leverage the power of a connected customer strategy, AI and data, ecosystem partnerships, and our ability to scale and manage programs on behalf of our clients to 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 their customers and grow.
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. We have expanded our capabilities over the last few years to include 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 technology ecosystem 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. Our solutions and services include the use of data and transformative technologies such as advanced AI, artificial reality/virtual reality, advanced robotics and digital twins.
Ecosystem Partner Relationships
Our successful strategy for more than a decade has been to be the number-one partner for the technology ecosystem. As technology is front and center for every client, we are the number-one partner for all of our top 10 ecosystem partners. These partners are among the world’s largest technology companies by revenue, and they are seeking deeper partnerships with us as they look for help to turn their technology into business outcomes and scale the adoption of AI. In fiscal 2025, we expanded our partnerships beyond the top 10 in AI and data and created new ones with companies that are becoming critical to many of our clients, which also want us to help them scale their client and customer relationships.
Clients
We continue to be the reinvention partner of choice, serving approximately 9,000 clients including a significant portion of the Fortune Global 100 and 500. We believe our global footprint and breadth of capabilities mean we can serve more of our clients’ needs for large-scale transformations than any other player in the industry. Our deep and long-standing relationships mean we know our clients and their industries thoroughly. We have long-term relationships and have partnered with 195 of our top 200 clients for 10 or more years, and have 305 Diamond clients, our largest client relationships.
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 and services to our clients to accelerate reinvention and 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.
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ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | Item 1. Business | 5 | |||||||||
| Communications, Media & Technology | ||||||||
| FY25 Revenues of $11.5B | ||||||||
Percent of Group’s FY25 Revenue | ||||||||
| 39% | 18% | 43% | ||||||
| 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; semiconductor including silicon design and development, foundries, capital equipment, and manufacturing; consumer technology, electronics, batteries, and associated manufacturing; network equipment and device providers and manufacturers; data centers; medical equipment companies and manufacturers | Cloud-based enterprise, consumer software and platform companies; large language model owners; both subscription and ad-driven consumer platforms spanning ecommerce, social, media, advertising and gaming | ||||||
| Financial Services | |||||
| FY25 Revenues of $12.8B | |||||
| Percent of Group’s FY25 Revenue | |||||
| 70% | 30% | ||||
| Banking & Capital Markets | Insurance | ||||
| Retail and commercial banks, wealth and asset managers, payment providers, corporate and investment banks, market infrastructure providers and exchanges, broker/dealers, depositories, private equity firms, central banks, clearing and settlement organizations, mortgage lenders, retirement services providers and other diversified financial enterprises | Property and casualty personal and commercial lines, life and annuities and group benefits insurers, retirement companies, reinsurance firms and insurance brokers | ||||
| Health & Public Service | |||||
| FY25 Revenues of $14.8B | |||||
| Percent of Group’s FY25 Revenue | |||||
| 32% | 68% | ||||
| Health | Public Service | ||||
| Healthcare providers, such as hospitals, public health systems, policy-making authorities, health insurers (payers) and industry organizations and associations | Human and social services agencies; defense departments and military forces; public safety authorities, including justice departments; educational institutions; non-profit organizations; cities; transportation agencies; and postal, customs, revenue and tax agencies | ||||
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 36% of Health & Public Service revenues, 15% of Americas revenues and 8% of total revenues in fiscal 2025. For risks related to our government contracting work, see Item 1A, Risk Factors—“Our work with government clients exposes us to additional risks inherent in the government contracting environment”.
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ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | Item 1. Business | 6 | |||||||||
Products | ||||||||
| FY25 Revenues of $21.2B | ||||||||
Percent of Group’s FY25 Revenue | ||||||||
| 45% | 35% | 20% | ||||||
| Consumer Goods, Retail & Travel Services | Industrials | Life Sciences | ||||||
Food and beverage, household goods, personal care, fashion/apparel; supermarkets, mass-merchandise discounters, department, quick serve and convenience stores and specialty retailers; aviation, hospitality and travel services companies, tobacco, agribusiness and consumer health companies | Automotive & mobility, industrial & electrical equipment manufacturers, industrial suppliers, construction, infrastructure, heavy equipment, consumer durables, business services, freight, logistics, aerospace & defense, rail and public transportation companies | Biopharmaceutical, medical technology and distributors | ||||||
Resources | ||||||||
| FY25 Revenues of $9.5B | ||||||||
Percent of Group’s FY25 Revenue | ||||||||
| 28% | 25% | 47% | ||||||
| Chemicals & Natural Resources | Energy | Utilities | ||||||
Mining, petrochemicals, specialty chemicals, polymers and plastics, gases and agricultural chemicals companies, as well as the metals and forest products industries | Oil and gas companies, 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 | ||||||
People
We are a value and solution-led company with approximately 779,000 people as of August 31, 2025, 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 and 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. Our Code of Business Ethics, which applies to all of our people, reinforces our core values and helps drive our culture of compliance, ethical conduct and accountability.
Our strategy is to be the most AI-enabled, client-focused, great place to work for reinventors, which is how we refer to our people, because we are the reinvention partner of choice for our clients. We were pleased that among our people who participated in the globally recognized Great Place To Work® Trust Index Survey™ in June 2025, 75% agreed that “Taking everything into account, I would say this is a great place to work.” In addition to earning the No. 6 spot on the Great Place To Work® list of the World’s Best Workplaces™, we are recognized as a Great Place To Work® in 12 countries, representing nearly 80% of our people.
To drive reinvention, innovation must be at the forefront, which requires us to attract, develop and inspire top talent. 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 evolving to meet new client needs.
We are implementing a refreshed three-pronged talent strategy to meet current and future client demand: investing in upskilling people, which has been and continues to be our primary focus; exiting people in a compressed timeline where reskilling is not a viable path for the skills we need; and identifying areas to drive even more operating efficiencies in our business, including through AI.
During fiscal 2025, we invested approximately $1.0 billion in learning and professional development. With our digital learning platform, we delivered approximately 47 million training hours, an increase of 9% compared with fiscal 2024. We continually invest in strengthening the industry, technology, functional and AI skills of our people. As part of our strategic
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ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | 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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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 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 or operate effectively under any new operating model, including the Reinvention Services change effective September 1, 2025, 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 solutions and services, or to enable us to expand in certain geographic and other markets. We have in the past 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, 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, 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.
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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 and/or require changes to our business practices or other actions that could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, or reputation. 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 or otherwise have a material adverse effect.
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 solutions or services cause bodily injuries or death 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 solutions or services could also subject us to regulatory scrutiny or claims 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 solutions or services 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 solutions and services into new areas, we may be exposed to additional and evolving risks specific to these new areas.
In addition, we engage in platform trust and safety services on behalf of clients, including content moderation, which could have a negative impact on our employees due to the nature of the materials they review. We have been subject to media coverage regarding our provision of these services as well as litigation related to the provision of these services, which may result in adverse judgments or settlements or government inquiries and investigations.
Similarly, we periodically are and in the future could become the target of litigation, investigations, or other proceedings initiated by government authorities or private actors alleging that our activities or positions related to ESG (including inclusion and diversity) are anti-competitive, discriminatory or otherwise unlawful.
While we maintain insurance for certain potential liabilities, such insurance does not cover all types and amounts of potential liabilities and is subject to various exclusions as well as caps on amounts recoverable. Even if we believe a claim is covered
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by insurance, insurers may dispute our entitlement to recovery for a variety of potential reasons, which may affect the timing and, if they prevail, the amount of our recovery.
Our work with government clients exposes us to additional risks inherent in the government contracting environment.
Our clients include national, provincial, state and local governmental entities. Our government work carries various risks inherent in the government contracting process. These risks include, but are not limited to, the following:
•Government entities, particularly in the United States, often reserve the right to audit our contract costs and conduct inquiries and investigations of our business practices and compliance with government contract requirements. U.S. government agencies, including the Defense Contract Audit Agency, routinely audit our contract costs, including allocated indirect costs, for compliance with the Cost Accounting Standards and the Federal Acquisition Regulation. These agencies also conduct reviews and investigations and make inquiries regarding our accounting, information technology and other systems in connection with our performance and business practices with respect to our government contracts. Negative findings from existing and future audits, investigations or inquiries, or failure to comply with applicable IT security, supply chain, or other requirements, could affect our future sales and profitability by preventing us, by operation of law or in practice, from receiving new government contracts for some period of time, or result in other adverse consequences described in the following paragraphs. In addition, if the U.S. government concludes that certain costs are not reimbursable, have not been properly determined or are based on outdated estimates of our work, then we will not be allowed to bill for such costs, may have to refund money that has already been paid to us or could be required to retroactively and prospectively adjust previously agreed to billing or pricing rates for our work. Negative findings from existing and future audits of our business systems, including our accounting system, may result in the U.S. government preventing us from billing, at least temporarily, a percentage of our costs. As a result of prior negative findings in connection with audits, investigations and inquiries, we have from time to time experienced some of the adverse consequences described above and may in the future experience further adverse consequences, which could materially adversely affect our future results of operations.
•If a government client discovers improper or illegal activities in the course of audits or investigations, or alleges that such conduct occurred, we may become subject to various civil and criminal penalties, including those under the civil U.S. False Claims Act, and administrative sanctions, which may include termination of contracts, forfeiture of profits, suspension of payments, fines and suspensions or debarment from doing business with other agencies of that government. The inherent limitations of internal controls may not prevent or detect all improper or illegal activities.
•On January 21, 2025, an executive order was issued requiring U.S. federal contractors to certify that they do not operate any programs promoting diversity, equity and inclusion that violate any applicable federal anti-discrimination laws. Additionally, various U.S federal and state government agencies and departments may initiate legal proceedings asserting our actions or programs violate the U.S False Claims Act, civil rights laws or other similar federal or state orders, laws or regulations. A violation of these or similar federal or state orders, laws or regulations, may expose us to penalties and sanctions discussed above and jeopardize our ability to continue to do work with the U.S. federal government and certain state governments, which may materially adversely affect our future results of operations.
•U.S. government contracting regulations impose strict compliance and heightened disclosure obligations. From time to time we have made required or voluntary disclosures to the government in connection with our government contracting work. Disclosure is required if certain company personnel have knowledge of “credible evidence” of a violation of federal criminal laws involving fraud, conflict of interest, bribery or improper gratuity, a violation of the civil U.S. False Claims Act or receipt of a significant overpayment from the government. Failure to make required disclosures could be a basis for suspension and/or debarment from federal government contracting in addition to breach of the specific contract and could also impact contracting beyond the U.S. federal level. Reported matters may also lead to audits or investigations and other civil, criminal or administrative sanctions, including those described above. For example, after Accenture Federal Services (“AFS”) made a voluntary disclosure to the U.S. government, the U.S. Department of Justice initiated a civil and criminal investigation concerning whether one or more employees provided inaccurate submissions to an assessor who was evaluating on behalf of the U.S. government an AFS service offering and whether the service offering fully implemented required federal security controls. This matter could subject to us to adverse consequences, including those described in this risk factor.
•Government contracts are subject to heightened reputational and contractual risks compared to contracts with commercial clients. For example, government contracts and the proceedings surrounding them are often subject to more extensive scrutiny and publicity. Negative publicity, including an allegation of improper or illegal activity, regardless of its accuracy, may adversely affect our reputation.
•Terms and conditions of government contracts also tend to be more onerous and are often more difficult to negotiate. For example, these contracts often contain high or unlimited liability for breaches and feature less favorable payment terms and sometimes require us to take on liability for the performance of third parties.
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•Government entities typically fund projects through appropriated monies. While these projects are often planned and executed as multi-year projects, government entities usually reserve the right to change the scope of or terminate these projects for lack of approved funding and/or at their convenience. Elections, changes in government or political developments, including government closures or shutdowns, budget deficits, shortfalls or uncertainties, government spending reductions or other debt constraints have resulted and could in the future result in our projects being reduced in price or scope, delayed or terminated altogether, which also could limit our recovery of incurred costs, reimbursable expenses and profits on work completed prior to the termination. Furthermore, if insufficient funding is appropriated to the government entity to cover termination costs, we may not be able to fully recover our investments.
•In 2025, the U.S. administration began efforts to reduce federal spending and the size of the federal workforce under the guidance of the Department of Government Efficiency. In addition, the General Services Administration (GSA)–the U.S. federal procurement agency–has instructed all federal agencies to review their contracts with consulting firms and technology product resellers contracting with the U.S. federal government, including AFS. These and similar spending reductions and contract reviews have resulted in and are likely to continue to result in contract terminations, delays and cancellations of new procurements, and reductions in price and contract scope at AFS as well as at other state and local governments, all of which have had an adverse effect on AFS’s results, and could in the future have a material impact on our results of operations or financial condition.
•Political and economic factors such as pending elections, the outcome of recent elections, changes in leadership among key executive or legislative decision makers, revisions to governmental tax or other policies and reduced tax revenues can affect the number and terms of new government contracts signed or the speed at which new contracts are signed, decrease future levels of spending and authorizations for programs that we bid, shift spending priorities to programs in areas for which we do not provide services and/or lead to changes in enforcement or how compliance with relevant rules or laws is assessed.
•Our ability to work for the U.S. government is impacted by the fact that we are an Irish company. We elected to enter into a proxy agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense that enhances the ability of our U.S. federal government contracting subsidiary to perform certain work for the U.S. government. The proxy agreement regulates the management and operation of, and limits the control we can exercise over, this subsidiary. In addition, legislative and executive proposals remain under consideration or could be proposed in the future, which, if enacted, could place additional limitations on or even prohibit our eligibility to be awarded state or federal government contracts in the United States or could include requirements that would otherwise affect our results of operations. Various U.S. federal and state legislative proposals have been introduced and/or enacted in recent years that deny government contracts to certain U.S. companies that reincorporate or have reincorporated outside the United States. While Accenture was not a U.S. company that reincorporated outside the United States, it is possible that these contract bans and other legislative proposals could be applied in a way that negatively affects Accenture.
The occurrences or conditions described above could affect not only our business with the particular government entities involved, but also our business with other entities of the same or other governmental bodies or with certain commercial clients, and could have a material adverse effect on our business or our results of operations.
Our global operations expose us to numerous and sometimes conflicting legal and regulatory requirements, and violation of these regulations could harm our business.
We are subject to numerous, changing, and sometimes conflicting, legal regimes on matters as diverse as anticorruption, import/export controls, content requirements, trade restrictions, tariffs, taxation, sanctions, boycotts, immigration, internal and disclosure control obligations, securities regulation, including ESG regulation and reporting requirements, anti-competition, anti-money-laundering, data privacy and protection, government compliance, wage-and-hour standards, employment and labor relations, product liability, health and safety, environmental, human rights and AI regulations, such as the European Union’s AI Act. The sanctions environment has resulted in new sanctions and trade restrictions, which may impair trade with sanctioned individuals and countries, and negative impacts to regional trade ecosystems among our clients, ecosystem partners, and us. For example, as a result of the sanctions imposed in response to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, we are restricted from offering certain of our services to clients in some locations. It is also possible that compliance with sanctions imposed by one country could lead to reputational harm or other negative impacts to our business in another country or countries. The global nature of our operations and supply chains, including emerging markets where legal systems may be less developed or understood by us, and the diverse nature of our operations across a number of regulated industries, further increase the difficulty of compliance. Compliance with diverse legal requirements is costly, time-consuming and requires significant resources. Violations of one or more of these regulations in the conduct of our business could result in significant fines, enforcement actions or criminal sanctions against us and/or our employees, prohibitions on doing business and damage to our reputation. Violations of these regulations in connection with the performance of our obligations to our clients also could result in liability for significant monetary damages, fines, enforcement actions and/or criminal prosecution or sanctions, unfavorable publicity and other reputational damage and restrictions on our ability to effectively carry out our contractual obligations and thereby expose us to potential claims from our clients. Due to the varying degrees of
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development of the legal systems of the countries in which we operate, local laws may not be well developed or provide sufficiently clear guidance and may be insufficient to protect our rights.
In particular, in many parts of the world, including countries in which we operate and/or seek to expand, practices in the local business community might not conform to international business standards and could violate anticorruption laws, or regulations, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the U.K. Bribery Act 2010. Our employees, subcontractors, vendors, agents, alliance or joint venture partners, the companies we acquire and their employees, subcontractors, vendors and agents, and other third parties with which we associate, could take actions that violate policies or procedures designed to promote legal and regulatory compliance or applicable anticorruption laws or regulations. Violations of these laws or regulations by us, our employees or any of these third parties could subject us to criminal or civil enforcement actions (whether or not we participated or knew about the actions leading to the violations), including fines or penalties, disgorgement of profits and suspension or disqualification from work, including U.S. federal contracting, any of which could materially adversely affect our business, including our results of operations and our reputation.
Changes in laws and regulations could also mandate significant and costly changes to the way we implement our solutions and services or could impose additional taxes on our solutions and services. For example, changes in laws and regulations to limit using off-shore resources in connection with our work or to penalize companies that use off-shore resources, which have been proposed from time to time in various jurisdictions, could reduce the demand for our services and adversely affect our cost structure, profitability and results of operations. Such changes may result in contracts being terminated or work being transferred onshore, resulting in greater costs to us, and could have a negative impact on our ability to obtain future work from government clients.
Increasing focus on ESG matters has resulted in, and is expected to continue to result in, the adoption of legal and regulatory requirements related to climate change, human rights and supply chain-related matters. New laws, regulations or interpretations may be more stringent than, or conflict with, other legal or regulatory requirements, which may result in increased compliance burdens and costs or changes to our operations to satisfy such obligations. In addition, our selection of voluntary disclosure frameworks and standards, and the interpretation or application of those frameworks and standards, may change from time to time or may not meet the expectations of investors or other stakeholders. Our ability to achieve our ESG ambitions (such as our 2040 net-zero greenhouse gas emissions target) is subject to numerous risks, many of which are outside of our control. In addition, standards for tracking and reporting on ESG matters, including climate change and human rights related matters, have not been harmonized and continue to evolve. Methodologies for reporting ESG data may be updated and previously reported ESG data may be adjusted to reflect improvement in availability and quality of third-party data, changing assumptions, changes in the nature and scope of our operations and other changes in circumstances. Our processes and controls for reporting ESG matters across our operations are evolving along with multiple disparate standards for identifying, measuring, and reporting ESG metrics, including ESG-related disclosures that may be required by the SEC, European and other regulators, and such standards may change over time, which could result in significant revisions to our current ambitions, reported progress in achieving such ambitions, or ability to achieve such ambitions in the future.
If we are unable to protect or enforce our intellectual property rights, or if our solutions or services infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others or we lose our ability to utilize the intellectual property of others, our business could be adversely affected.
Our success depends, in part, upon our ability to obtain intellectual property protection for our proprietary assets, platforms, methodologies, processes, software, hardware and other solutions. Existing laws of the various countries in which we provide solutions or services may offer only limited intellectual property protection of our solutions or services, and the protection in some countries may be very limited. We rely upon a combination of confidentiality policies and procedures, nondisclosure and other contractual arrangements, and patent, trade secret, copyright and trademark laws to protect our intellectual property rights. These laws are subject to change at any time and could further limit our ability to obtain or maintain intellectual property protection. For example, the intellectual property legal landscape relating to AI is expected to continue to evolve in many countries in which we operate. As a result, there is uncertainty concerning the scope of patent and other intellectual property protection for AI models and outputs, which are fields in which we rely on intellectual property laws to protect our rights.
Even where we obtain intellectual property protection, our intellectual property rights may not prevent or deter competitors, former employees, or other third parties from reverse engineering our solutions or proprietary methodologies and processes or independently developing solutions or services similar to or duplicative of ours. Further, the steps we take in this regard might not be adequate to prevent or deter infringement or other misappropriation of our intellectual property by competitors, former employees or other third parties, and we might not be able to detect unauthorized use of, or take appropriate and timely steps to enforce, our intellectual property rights. Enforcing our rights might also require considerable time, money and oversight, and we may not be successful in enforcing our rights.
In addition, we cannot be sure that our solutions and services, including, for example, our AI, software and hardware solutions, or the solutions of others that we offer to our clients, do not infringe on the intellectual property rights of third parties (including competitors as well as non-practicing holders of intellectual property assets), and these third parties could
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claim that we or our clients are infringing upon their intellectual property rights. Furthermore, although we have established policies and procedures to respect the intellectual property rights of third parties and that prohibit the unauthorized use of intellectual property, we may not be aware if our employees have misappropriated and/or misused intellectual property, and their actions could result in claims of intellectual property misappropriation and/or infringement from third parties. These claims could harm our reputation, cause us to incur substantial costs or prevent us from offering some solutions or services in the future. Any related proceedings could require us to expend significant resources over an extended period of time. In most of our contracts, we agree to indemnify our clients for expenses and liabilities resulting from claimed infringements of the intellectual property rights of third parties. In some instances, the amount of these indemnities could be greater than the revenues we receive from the client. Any claims or litigation in this area could be time-consuming and costly, damage our reputation and/or require us to incur additional costs to obtain the right to continue to offer a service or solution to our clients. If we cannot secure this right at all or on reasonable terms, or we are unable to implement in a cost-effective manner alternative technology, our results of operations could be materially adversely affected. The risk of infringement claims against us may increase as we expand our industry AI, software and hardware solutions and continue to develop and deploy our AI, software and hardware solutions to multiple clients. Any infringement action brought against us or our clients could be costly to defend or lead to an expensive settlement or judgment against us.
Further, we rely on third-party software, hardware, data and other intellectual property in providing some of our solutions and services. If we lose our ability to continue using any such software, hardware, data or intellectual property for any reason, including because it is found to infringe the rights of others, we will need to obtain substitutes or seek alternative means of obtaining the technology necessary to continue to provide such solutions and services. Our inability to replace such software, hardware, data or intellectual property effectively or in a timely and cost-effective manner could materially adversely affect our results of operations.
We are incorporated in Ireland and Irish law differs from the laws in effect in the United States and might afford less protection to our shareholders. We may also be subject to criticism and negative publicity related to our incorporation in Ireland.
Irish law differs from the laws in effect in the United States and our shareholders could have more difficulty protecting their interests than would shareholders of a corporation incorporated in a jurisdiction of the United States. The United States currently does not have a treaty with Ireland providing for the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters. As such, there is some uncertainty as to whether the courts of Ireland would recognize or enforce judgments of U.S. courts obtained against us or our directors or officers based on U.S. federal or state civil liability laws, including the civil liability provisions of the U.S. federal or state securities laws, or hear actions against us or those persons based on those laws.
As an Irish company, we are governed by the Companies Act. The Companies Act differs in some significant, and possibly material, respects from laws applicable to U.S. corporations and shareholders under various state corporation laws, including the provisions relating to interested directors, mergers and acquisitions, takeovers, shareholder lawsuits and indemnification of directors.
Under Irish law, the duties of directors and officers of a company are generally owed to the company only. Shareholders of Irish companies do not generally have rights to take action against directors or officers of the company under Irish law, and may only do so in limited circumstances. Directors of an Irish company must, in exercising their powers and performing their duties, act with due care and skill, honestly and in good faith with a view to the best interests of the company. Directors have a duty not to put themselves in a position in which their duties to the company and their personal interests might conflict and also are under a duty to disclose any personal interest in any contract or arrangement with the company or any of its subsidiaries. If a director or officer of an Irish company is found to have breached his or her duties to that company, he or she could be held personally liable to the company in respect of that breach of duty.
Under Irish law, we must have authority from our shareholders to issue any shares, including shares that are part of the company’s authorized but unissued share capital. In addition, unless otherwise authorized by its shareholders, when an Irish company issues shares for cash to new shareholders, it is required first to offer those shares on the same or more favorable terms to existing shareholders on a pro-rata basis. If we are unable to obtain these authorizations from our shareholders, or are otherwise limited by the terms of our authorizations, our ability to issue shares under our equity compensation plans and, if applicable, to facilitate funding acquisitions or otherwise raise capital could be adversely affected.
Some companies that conduct substantial business in the United States but that have a parent domiciled in certain other jurisdictions have been criticized as improperly avoiding U.S. taxes or creating an unfair competitive advantage over U.S. companies. Accenture never conducted business under a U.S. parent company and pays U.S. taxes on all of its U.S. operations. Nonetheless, we could be subject to criticism in connection with our incorporation in Ireland.
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Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments
None.
Item 1C. Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity Risk Management and Strategy
Safeguarding data and systems is one of our most important responsibilities in building and maintaining trust, not only with our people but also with our clients and other stakeholders. Our cybersecurity risk management program is integrated into our overall enterprise risk management system and is supported by controls, policies and processes implemented across the enterprise and is designed to protect our network/technical infrastructure and the data of Accenture, our clients and our people. Our internal cybersecurity team collaborates closely with our information technology team and Accenture Security, a leading provider of end-to-end cybersecurity services, including strategy, protection, resilience and industry-specific cyber services, to continually innovate security solutions intended to address the evolving threat landscape.
Our security framework leverages a hybrid set of internationally recognized standards, including but not limited to, ISO 27001/27701, NIST Cyber Security Framework, CSA Security Trust and Assurance Registry, and CIS Critical Security Controls. We regularly measure our security posture and resilience through risk assessments, penetration testing and external validation conducted by third-party assessors and auditors . Threat intelligence sources, including those provided by Accenture Security, are also used to inform our security strategy, understand the threat landscape, and enable security risk and procedures to be integrated into the business. Our key strategic security programs include secure integration of acquisitions and supplier cyber risk management. We utilize systems and processes designed to oversee, identify, and reduce the potential impact of cybersecurity incidents at third-party vendors , service providers or clients.
Our infrastructure vulnerability scanning and configuration compliance approach includes real-time threat detection and monitoring of threats via our security information and event management and endpoint detection and response tools to respond to security incidents at speed. We monitor for secure configuration of servers, network devices, containers and other cloud services, evaluate risks in new programs, and regularly review and strengthen our security controls.
Protecting client data is a top business priority supported by our global client data protection (CDP) program. A CDP plan is developed for our clients and is designed to provide end-to-end security risk management covering physical, application, infrastructure, and data security. The CDP program also arms our project teams with tools and controls that enable them to identify and mitigate security risks over the lifecycle of a client project. Accenture leadership reviews and monitors CDP monthly metrics, which are intended to provide oversight and accountability.
All Accenture people are required to complete annual core information security and data privacy training, delivered in multiple courses throughout the year, to stay up-to-date on security practices and threats. In addition, our people in data-sensitive roles are provided specialized, targeted security training to increase knowledge about role-specific threats, concepts and practices. These interactive learning programs are focused on strengthening foundational knowledge and responding to emerging threats. Agile and flexible, our training program has garnered industry recognition for its innovative approach and effectiveness.
In the event of a cybersecurity incident, we have robust playbooks to guide our incident procedures. These procedures provide a standardized framework for responding to cybersecurity incidents and include taking action to limit and contain the spread of the incident within our environment, analyzing whether and the extent to which any data may have been compromised and conducting forensic analysis to determine severity. We also have internal and external reporting and communication plans that address reporting findings and keeping senior management and other key stakeholders informed and involved as appropriate. Once an incident is resolved, a comprehensive post-incident review process is conducted.
We describe the risks from cybersecurity threats, including previous cybersecurity incidents, in Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors – “We face legal, reputational and financial risks from any failure to protect client and/or Accenture data from security incidents or cyberattacks”. To date these risks and incidents have not had a material impact on us, including our business strategy,
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Cybersecurity Governance
Our information security team maintains an extensive governance network, including formal relationships with other organizations within Accenture through our Situation and Action Committee, which includes representatives from our markets and services and the legal, information technology, corporate services and sustainability, data privacy and business resilience services teams. In addition, our cyber incident response efforts are overseen by a cross-functional leadership team including our CISO, our General Counsel and our Chief Marketing Officer.
Item 2. Properties
We have major offices in the world’s leading business centers, including Boston, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, São Paolo, Dublin, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Rome, Bangalore, Beijing, Manila, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo, among others. In total, we have facilities and operations in more than 200 cities in 52 countries around the world. We do not own any material real property. Substantially all of our facilities are leased under long-term leases with varying expiration dates. We believe that our facilities are adequate to meet our needs in the near future.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings
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The information set forth under “Legal Contingencies” in Note 15 (Commitments and Contingencies) to our Consolidated Financial Statements under Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data,” is incorporated herein by reference.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
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Part II
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Shareholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “ACN.” The New York Stock Exchange is the principal United States market for these shares. As of September 26, 2025, there were 356 holders of record of Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares.
There is no trading market for Accenture plc Class X ordinary shares. As of September 26, 2025, there were 14 holders of record of Accenture plc Class X ordinary shares.
Dividends
For information about our dividend activity during fiscal 2025, see Note 14 (Shareholders’ Equity) to our Consolidated Financial Statements under Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
On September 22, 2025, the Board of Directors of Accenture plc declared a quarterly cash dividend of $1.63 per share on our Class A ordinary shares for shareholders of record at the close of business on October 10, 2025, payable on November 14, 2025. For the remainder of fiscal 2026, we expect to declare additional quarterly dividends in December 2025 and March and June 2026, to be paid in February, May and August 2026, respectively, subject to the approval of the Board of Directors.
In certain circumstances, as an Irish tax resident company, we may be required to deduct Irish dividend withholding tax (“DWT”) (currently at the rate of 25%) from dividends paid to our shareholders. Shareholders resident in “relevant territories” (including countries that are European Union member states (other than Ireland), the United States and other countries with which Ireland has a tax treaty) may be exempted from Irish DWT. However, shareholders residing in other countries will generally be subject to Irish DWT.
Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities
None.
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Purchases of Accenture plc Class A Ordinary Shares
The following table provides information relating to our purchases of Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025. For year-to-date information on all of our share purchases, redemptions and exchanges and further discussion of our share purchase activity, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources—Share Purchases and Redemptions.”
| Period | Total Number of Shares Purchased | Average Price Paid per Share (1) | Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Plans or Programs (2) | Approximate Dollar Value of Shares that May Yet Be Purchased Under the Plans or Programs (3) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| (in millions of U.S. dollars) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| June 1, 2025 — June 30, 2025 | 633,762 | $ | 305.70 | 606,123 | $ | 3,124 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| July 1, 2025 — July 31, 2025 | 961,398 | 289.01 | 945,536 | 2,851 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| August 1, 2025 — August 31, 2025 | 8,341 | 259.47 | — | 2,851 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total (4) | 1,603,501 | $ | 295.45 | 1,551,659 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
(1)Average price paid per share reflects the total cash outlay for the period, divided by the number of shares acquired, including those acquired by purchase or redemption for cash and any acquired by means of employee forfeiture.
(2)Since August 2001, the Board of Directors of Accenture plc has authorized and periodically confirmed a publicly announced open-market share purchase program for acquiring Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares. During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, we purchased 1,551,659 Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares under this program for an aggregate price of $458 million. The open-market purchase program does not have an expiration date.
(3)As of August 31, 2025, our aggregate available authorization for share purchases and redemptions was $2,851 million, which management has the discretion to use for either our publicly announced open-market share purchase program or our other share purchase programs. Since August 2001 and as of August 31, 2025, the Board of Directors of Accenture plc has authorized an aggregate of $54.1 billion for share purchases and redemptions by Accenture plc and Accenture Canada Holdings Inc. On September 22, 2025, the Board of Directors of Accenture plc approved $5,000 million in additional share repurchase authority, bringing Accenture’s total outstanding authority to $7,851 million.
(4)During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, Accenture purchased 51,842 Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares in transactions unrelated to publicly announced share plans or programs. These transactions consisted of acquisitions of Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares primarily via share withholding for payroll tax obligations due from employees and former employees in connection with the delivery of Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares under our various employee equity share plans. These purchases of shares in connection with employee share plans do not affect our aggregate available authorization for our publicly announced open-market share purchase and our other share purchase programs.
Item 6. [Reserved]
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Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
The following discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with our Consolidated Financial Statements and related Notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. This discussion and analysis also contains forward-looking statements and should also be read in conjunction with the disclosures and information contained in “Disclosure Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
We use the terms “Accenture,” “we,” “our” and “us” in this report to refer to Accenture plc and its subsidiaries. All references to years, unless otherwise noted, refer to our fiscal year, which ends on August 31. For example, a reference to “fiscal 2025” means the 12-month period that ended on August 31, 2025. All references to quarters, unless otherwise noted, refer to the quarters of our fiscal year.
We use the term “in local currency” so that certain financial results may be viewed without the impact of foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, thereby facilitating period-to-period comparisons of business performance. Financial results “in local currency” are calculated by restating current period activity into U.S. dollars using the comparable prior-year period’s foreign currency exchange rates. This approach is used for all results where the functional currency is not the U.S. dollar.
Overview
Accenture is a leading solutions and global professional services company that helps enterprises reinvent by building their digital core and unleashing the power of AI to create value at speed across the enterprise, bringing together our people, proprietary assets and platforms, and deep ecosystem relationships. Through our Reinvention Services we bring together our capabilities across strategy, consulting, technology, operations, Song and Industry X with our deep industry expertise to create and deliver solutions and services for our clients. We serve clients in three geographic markets: the Americas, EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and Asia Pacific.
Our results of operations are affected by economic conditions, including macroeconomic conditions, the overall inflationary environment, new and rapidly changing technologies, and levels of business confidence. We continue to see significant economic and geopolitical uncertainty in many markets around the world, which has impacted and may continue to impact our business. While the discretionary environment is unchanged, clients continue to prioritize large-scale transformations, which include becoming AI-ready.
In addition, the U.S. administration is reducing federal spending and the size of the federal workforce under the guidance of the Department of Government Efficiency. We are seeing impacts from these efforts in our federal government business (“Accenture Federal Services, or AFS”), including delays in new procurements, reductions in price and contract scope, and contract terminations. These changes have had an adverse effect on AFS’s results and could in the future have a material impact on our results of operations or financial condition. For a discussion of risks related to these and other recent developments, see Item 1A, “Risk Factors.”
Key Metrics
Key metrics for fiscal 2025 compared to fiscal 2024 are included below. We have presented operating income, operating margin, effective tax rate and diluted earnings per share for fiscal 2025 and 2024 on a non-GAAP or “adjusted” basis to exclude the impact of business optimization costs. During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, we initiated business optimization actions and recorded $615 million in related costs, which includes $344 million associated with a refreshed talent strategy, as well as asset impairments of approximately $271 million primarily related to the divestiture of two acquisitions that are no longer aligned with our strategic priorities. In fiscal 2024, we recorded $438 million in business optimization costs associated with actions initiated in fiscal 2023 and completed in fiscal 2024. For additional information regarding our business optimization actions and related costs, see Note 1 (Summary of Significant Accounting Policies) to our Consolidated Financial Statements under Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
•Revenues of $69.7 billion, an increase of 7% in both U.S. dollars and local currency;
•New bookings of $80.6 billion, a decrease of 1% in both U.S. dollars and local currency;
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•Operating margin of 14.7%, a decrease from 14.8% in fiscal 2024; adjusted operating margin of 15.6%, an increase compared to 15.5% in fiscal 2024;
•Diluted earnings per share of $12.15, a 6% increase over diluted earnings per share of $11.44 in fiscal 2024; adjusted earnings per share of $12.93, an 8% increase over adjusted earnings per share of $11.95 in fiscal 2024; and
•Cash returned to shareholders of $8.3 billion, including dividends of $3.7 billion and share purchases of $4.6 billion.
Revenues
| Fiscal | Percent Increase (Decrease) U.S. Dollars | Percent Increase (Decrease) Local Currency | Percent of Total Revenues for Fiscal | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| (in billions of U.S. dollars) | 2025 | 2024 | 2025 | 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Geographic Markets | Americas (1) | $ | 35.1 | $ | 32.6 | 8 | % | 9 | % | 50 | % | 50 | % | |||||||||||||
| EMEA | 24.6 | 22.8 | 8 | 6 | 35 | 35 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Asia Pacific (1) | 10.0 | 9.5 | 5 | 4 | 14 | 15 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Revenues | $ | 69.7 | $ | 64.9 | 7 | % | 7 | % | 100 | % | 100 | % | ||||||||||||||
| Industry Groups | Communications, Media & Technology | $ | 11.5 | $ | 10.8 | 6 | % | 6 | % | 16 | % | 17 | % | |||||||||||||
| Financial Services | 12.8 | 11.6 | 10 | 10 | 18 | 18 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Health & Public Service | 14.8 | 13.8 | 7 | 6 | 21 | 21 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Products | 21.2 | 19.6 | 8 | 8 | 30 | 30 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Resources | 9.5 | 9.1 | 5 | 5 | 14 | 14 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Revenues | $ | 69.7 | $ | 64.9 | 7 | % | 7 | % | 100 | % | 100 | % | ||||||||||||||
| Type of Work | Consulting | $ | 35.1 | $ | 33.2 | 6 | % | 5 | % | 50 | % | 51 | % | |||||||||||||
| Managed Services | 34.6 | 31.7 | 9 | 9 | 50 | 49 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Revenues | $ | 69.7 | $ | 64.9 | 7 | % | 7 | % | 100 | % | 100 | % | ||||||||||||||
(1)During the first quarter of fiscal 2025, our Latin America market unit moved from Growth Markets to North America. With this change, North America became the Americas market and Growth Markets became the Asia Pacific market. Prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform with the current period presentation.
Revenues for fiscal 2025 increased 7% in both U.S. dollars and local currency compared to fiscal 2024. During fiscal 2025, revenue growth in local currency was very strong in the Americas, strong in EMEA and solid in Asia Pacific. We experienced local currency revenue growth that was very strong in Financial Services & Products, strong in Health & Public Service and Communications, Media & Technology and solid in Resources. Revenue growth in local currency was very strong in managed services and solid in consulting. While the business environment remained competitive, pricing improved in several areas of our business. We define pricing as the contract profitability or margin on the work that we sell.
In our consulting business, revenues for fiscal 2025 increased 6% in U.S. dollars and 5% in local currency compared to fiscal 2024. Consulting revenue growth in local currency for fiscal 2025 was driven by strong growth in the Americas, solid growth in EMEA and modest growth in Asia Pacific. Our consulting revenue continues to be driven by helping our clients accelerate their reinvention, leveraging cloud, enterprise platforms, security, AI and data, including advanced AI, as well as our change capabilities to help clients build new skills and drive the successful adoption of new processes and technologies. In addition, clients continue to be focused on initiatives designed to deliver cost savings, supply chain and operational resilience, as well as to accelerate growth and improve customer experiences. While we continue to experience demand for these services, we are seeing a slower pace and level of client spending, particularly for smaller contracts with a shorter duration.
In our managed services business, revenues for fiscal 2025 increased 9% in both U.S. dollars and local currency compared to fiscal 2024. Managed services revenue growth in local currency for fiscal 2025 was driven by very strong growth in the Americas and strong growth in EMEA and Asia Pacific. We continue to experience growing demand to assist clients with reinvented operations, application development and maintenance, and infrastructure management including cloud and security. Clients continue to be focused on transforming their operations through technology, AI and data, and leveraging our proprietary assets and platforms and talent to drive productivity and cost savings.
As we are a global company, our revenues are denominated in multiple currencies and may be significantly affected by currency exchange rate fluctuations. While a significant portion of our revenues are in U.S. dollars, the majority of our revenues are denominated in other currencies, including the Euro, Japanese yen and U.K. pound. There continues to be volatility in foreign currency exchange rates. Unfavorable fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates have had and could in the future have a material effect on our financial results. If the U.S. dollar weakens against other currencies, resulting in favorable currency translation, our revenues, revenue growth and results of operations in U.S. dollars may be higher. If the
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ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations | 33 | |||||||||
U.S. dollar strengthens against other currencies, resulting in unfavorable currency translation, our revenues, revenue growth and results of operations in U.S. dollars may be lower. There was minimal currency translation impact for fiscal 2025 compared to fiscal 2024. Assuming that exchange rates stay within recent ranges, we estimate that our fiscal 2026 revenue growth in U.S. dollars will be approximately 2% higher than our revenue growth in local currency.
People Metrics
Utilization | Workforce | Voluntary Attrition | ||||||||||||
92% | 779,000+ | 14% | ||||||||||||
consistent with fiscal 2024 | compared to approximately 774,000 as of August 31, 2024 | compared to 13% in fiscal 2024 | ||||||||||||
Utilization for fiscal 2025 was 92%, consistent with fiscal 2024. We hire to meet current and projected future demand. We proactively plan and manage the size and composition of our workforce and take actions as needed to address changes in the anticipated demand for our solutions and services, given that compensation costs are the most significant portion of our operating expenses. Our workforce, the majority of which serves our clients, increased to approximately 779,000 as of August 31, 2025, compared to approximately 774,000 as of August 31, 2024.
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. We evaluate voluntary attrition, adjust levels of new hiring and use involuntary terminations as a means to keep our supply of skills and resources in balance with changes in client demand.
In addition, we adjust compensation to provide market relevant pay based on the skills of our people and locations where we operate. We also consider a variety of factors, including the macroeconomic environment, in making our decisions around pay and benefits. We strive to adjust pricing as well as drive cost and delivery efficiencies, such as changing the mix of people and utilizing technology, to reduce the impact of compensation increases on our margin and contract profitability.
Our ability to grow our revenues and maintain or increase our margin could be adversely affected if we are unable to: match people and skills with the types or amounts of solutions and services clients are demanding; recover or offset increases in compensation; deploy our employees globally on a timely basis; manage attrition; and/or effectively assimilate new employees.
New Bookings
| Fiscal | Percent Increase (Decrease) U.S. Dollars | Percent Increase (Decrease) Local Currency | ||||||||||||
| (in billions of U.S. dollars) | 2025 | 2024 | ||||||||||||
| Consulting | $ | 37.6 | $ | 37.0 | 2 | % | 2 | % | ||||||
| Managed Services | 43.0 | 44.2 | (3) | (3) | ||||||||||
| Total New Bookings | $ | 80.6 | $ | 81.2 | (1) | % | (1) | % | ||||||
We provide information regarding our new bookings, which include new contracts, including those acquired through acquisitions, as well as renewals, extensions and changes to existing contracts, because we believe doing so provides useful trend information regarding changes in the volume of our new business over time. New bookings can vary significantly quarter to quarter depending in part on the timing of the signing of a small number of large managed services contracts. The types of solutions and services clients are demanding and the pace and level of their spending may impact the conversion of new bookings to revenues. For example, managed services bookings, which are typically for multi-year contracts, generally convert to revenue over a longer period of time compared to consulting bookings.
Information regarding our new bookings is not comparable to, nor should it be substituted for, an analysis of our revenues over time. New bookings involve estimates and judgments. There are no third-party standards or requirements governing the calculation of bookings. We do not update our new bookings for material subsequent terminations or reductions related to bookings originally recorded in prior fiscal years. New bookings are recorded using then-existing foreign currency exchange rates and are not subsequently adjusted for foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations.
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The majority of our contracts are terminable by the client on short notice with little or no termination penalties, and some without notice. Only the non-cancelable portion of these contracts is included in our remaining performance obligations disclosed in Note 2 (Revenues) to our Consolidated Financial Statements under Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.” Accordingly, a significant portion of what we consider contract bookings is not included in our remaining performance obligations.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
The preparation of our Consolidated Financial Statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the Consolidated Financial Statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses. We continually evaluate our estimates, judgments and assumptions based on available information and experience. Because the use of estimates is inherent in the financial reporting process, actual results could differ from those estimates. Certain of our accounting policies require higher degrees of judgment than others in their application. These include certain aspects of accounting for revenue recognition and income taxes.
Revenue Recognition
Determining the method and amount of revenue to recognize requires us to make judgments and estimates. Specifically, complex arrangements with nonstandard terms and conditions may require contract interpretation to determine the appropriate accounting, including whether promised goods and services specified in an arrangement are distinct performance obligations and should be accounted for separately. Other judgments include determining whether performance obligations are satisfied over time or at a point in time and the selection of the method to measure progress towards completion.
We measure progress towards completion for technology integration consulting services and some non-technology consulting services using costs incurred to date relative to total estimated costs at completion. Revenues, including estimated fees, are recorded proportionally as costs are incurred. The amount of revenue recognized for these contracts in a period is dependent on our ability to estimate total contract costs. We continually evaluate our estimates of total contract costs based on available information and experience.
Additionally, the nature of our contracts gives rise to several types of variable consideration, including incentive fees. Many contracts include incentives or penalties related to costs incurred, benefits produced or adherence to schedules that may increase the variability in revenues and margins earned on such contracts. We conduct reviews prior to signing such contracts to evaluate whether these incentives are reasonably achievable. Our estimates are monitored over the lives of our contracts and are based on an assessment of our anticipated performance, historical experience and other information available at the time.
For additional information, see Note 2 (Revenues) to our Consolidated Financial Statements under Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
Income Taxes
Determining the consolidated provision for income tax expense, income tax liabilities and deferred tax assets and liabilities involves judgment. Deferred tax assets and liabilities, measured using enacted tax rates, are recognized for the future tax consequences of temporary differences between the tax and financial statement bases of assets and liabilities. As a global company, we calculate and provide for income taxes in each of the tax jurisdictions in which we operate. This involves estimating current tax exposures in each jurisdiction as well as making judgments regarding the recoverability of deferred tax assets. Tax exposures can involve complex issues and may require an extended period to resolve. In assessing the realizability of deferred tax assets, we consider whether it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized and adjust the valuation allowances accordingly. Factors considered in making this determination include the period of expiration of the tax asset, planned use of the tax asset, tax planning strategies and historical and projected taxable income as well as tax liabilities for the tax jurisdiction in which the tax asset is located. Valuation allowances will be subject to change in each future reporting period as a result of changes in one or more of these factors. Changes in the geographic mix or estimated level of annual income before taxes can affect the overall effective tax rate.
We apply an estimated annual effective tax rate to our quarterly operating results to determine the interim provision for income tax expense. A change in judgment that impacts the measurement of a tax position taken in a prior year is recognized as a discrete item in the interim period in which the change occurs. In the event there is a significant unusual or infrequent item recognized in our quarterly operating results, the tax attributable to that item is recorded in the interim period in which it occurs. We release stranded tax effects from Accumulated other comprehensive loss using the specific identification approach for our defined benefit plans and the portfolio approach for other items.
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No taxes have been provided on undistributed foreign earnings that are planned to be indefinitely reinvested. If future events, including material changes in estimates of cash, working capital and long-term investment requirements, necessitate that these earnings be distributed, an additional provision for taxes may apply, which could materially affect our future effective tax rate. We currently do not foresee any event that would require us to distribute these indefinitely reinvested earnings. For additional information, see Note 11 (Income Taxes) to our Consolidated Financial Statements under Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
As a matter of course, we are regularly audited by various taxing authorities, and sometimes these audits result in proposed assessments where the ultimate resolution may result in us owing additional taxes. We establish tax liabilities or reduce tax assets when, despite our belief that our tax return positions are appropriate and supportable under local tax law, we believe we may not succeed in realizing the tax benefit of certain positions if challenged. In evaluating a tax position, we determine whether it is more likely than not that the position will be sustained upon examination, including resolution of any related appeals or litigation processes, based on the technical merits of the position. Our estimate of the ultimate tax liability contains assumptions based on past experiences, judgments about potential actions by taxing jurisdictions as well as judgments about the likely outcome of issues that have been raised by taxing jurisdictions. The tax position is measured at the largest amount of benefit that is greater than 50 percent likely of being realized upon settlement. We evaluate tax positions each quarter and adjust the related tax liabilities or assets in light of changing facts and circumstances, such as the progress of a tax audit or the expiration of a statute of limitations. We believe the estimates and assumptions used to support our evaluation of tax positions are reasonable. However, final determinations of prior-year tax liabilities, either by settlement with tax authorities or expiration of statutes of limitations, could be materially different from estimates reflected in assets and liabilities and historical income tax provisions. The outcome of these final determinations could have a material effect on our income tax provision, net income, or cash flows in the period in which that determination is made. We believe our tax positions comply with applicable tax law and that we have adequately accounted for these positions.
Revenues by Segment/Geographic Market
Our three reportable operating segments are our geographic markets, the Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific. In addition to reporting revenues by geographic market and industry group, we also report revenues by two types of work: consulting and managed services, which represent the services sold by our geographic markets. Consulting revenues, which include strategy, management and technology consulting and technology integration consulting, reflect a finite, distinct project or set of projects with a defined outcome and typically a defined set of specific deliverables. Managed services revenues typically reflect ongoing, repeatable services or capabilities provided to transition, run and/or manage operations of client systems or business functions.
From time to time, our geographic markets work together to sell and implement certain contracts. The resulting revenues and costs from these contracts may be apportioned among the participating geographic markets. Generally, operating expenses for each geographic market have similar characteristics and are subject to the same factors, pressures and challenges. However, the economic environment and its effects on the industries served by our geographic markets affect revenues and operating expenses within our geographic markets to differing degrees. The mix between consulting and managed services is not uniform among our geographic markets. Local currency fluctuations also tend to affect our geographic markets differently, depending on the geographic concentrations and locations of their businesses.
While we provide discussion about our results of operations below, we cannot measure how much of our revenue growth in a particular period is attributable to changes in price or volume. Management does not track standard measures of unit or rate volume. Instead, our measures of volume and price are extremely complex, as each of our services contracts is unique, reflecting a customized mix of specific services that does not fit into standard comparability measurements. Revenue for our services is a function of the nature of each service to be provided, the skills required and the outcome sought, as well as estimated cost, risk, contract terms and other factors.
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Results of Operations for Fiscal 2025 Compared to Fiscal 2024
Revenues
Revenues by geographic market, industry group and type of work are as follows:
| Fiscal | Percent Increase (Decrease) U.S. Dollars | Percent Increase (Decrease) Local Currency | |||||||||||||||||||||
| (in millions of U.S. dollars) | 2025 | 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Geographic Markets | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Americas (1) | $ | 35,057 | $ | 32,552 | 8 | % | 9 | % | |||||||||||||||
| EMEA | 24,644 | 22,818 | 8 | 6 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Asia Pacific (1) | 9,972 | 9,526 | 5 | 4 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Total Revenues | $ | 69,673 | $ | 64,896 | 7 | % | 7 | % | |||||||||||||||
| Industry Groups | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Communications, Media & Technology | $ | 11,454 | $ | 10,837 | 6 | % | 6 | % | |||||||||||||||
| Financial Services | 12,774 | 11,610 | 10 | 10 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Health & Public Service | 14,763 | 13,841 | 7 | 6 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Products | 21,197 | 19,554 | 8 | 8 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Resources | 9,485 | 9,054 | 5 | 5 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Total Revenues | $ | 69,673 | $ | 64,896 | 7 | % | 7 | % | |||||||||||||||
| Type of Work | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Consulting | $ | 35,107 | $ | 33,195 | 6 | % | 5 | % | |||||||||||||||
| Managed Services | 34,566 | 31,701 | 9 | 9 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Total Revenues | $ | 69,673 | $ | 64,896 | 7 | % | 7 | % | |||||||||||||||
(1)During the first quarter of fiscal 2025, our Latin America market unit moved from Growth Markets to North America. With this change, North America became the Americas market and Growth Markets became the Asia Pacific market. Prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform with the current period presentation.
.
Geographic Markets
The following revenues commentary discusses the primary drivers of local currency revenue changes by geographic market for fiscal 2025 compared to fiscal 2024:
•Americas revenues increased 9% in local currency, led by growth in Banking & Capital Markets, Industrials and Software & Platforms. Revenue growth was driven by the United States.
•EMEA revenues increased 6% in local currency, led by growth in Public Service, Life Sciences, Insurance, Health and Consumer Goods, Retail & Travel Services. Revenue growth was driven by the United Kingdom and Germany, partially offset by a decline in France.
•Asia Pacific revenues increased 4% in local currency, led by growth in Utilities, Banking & Capital Markets, Public Service and Insurance, partially offset by a decline in Chemicals & Natural Resources. Revenue growth was driven by Japan and Australia, partially offset by a decline in Singapore.
Operating Expenses
Operating expenses for fiscal 2025 increased $4,147 million over fiscal 2024, and increased as a percentage of revenues to 85.3% from 85.2% in fiscal 2024.
The primary categories of operating expenses include Cost of services, Sales and marketing and General and administrative costs. Cost of services is primarily driven by the cost of people serving our clients, which consists mainly of compensation and other payroll costs, as well as non-payroll costs such as subcontractors, facilities, technology and travel. Cost of services and the related gross margin may be impacted by several factors, including contract profitability, which includes the pricing on the work that we sell, as well as by the investments we make in our business and our people, such as research and development to build assets, platforms and industry and functional solutions, learning and professional development and strategic acquisitions. Sales and marketing costs are driven primarily by compensation costs for business development activities; marketing- and advertising-related activities; and certain acquisition-related costs. General and administrative costs primarily include costs for people that are non-client-facing, information systems, office space and certain acquisition-related costs.
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Operating expenses by category are as follows:
| Fiscal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (in millions of U.S. dollars) | 2025 | 2024 | Increase (Decrease) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating Expenses | $ | 59,447 | 85.3 | % | $ | 55,301 | 85.2 | % | $ | 4,147 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Cost of services | 47,438 | 68.1 | 43,734 | 67.4 | 3,703 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sales and marketing | 7,043 | 10.1 | 6,847 | 10.6 | 197 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| General and administrative costs | 4,351 | 6.2 | 4,281 | 6.6 | 70 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Business optimization costs | 615 | 0.9 | 438 | 0.7 | 177 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Amounts in table may not total due to rounding.
Cost of Services
Cost of services for fiscal 2025 increased $3,703 million, or 8%, over fiscal 2024, and increased as a percentage of revenues to 68.1% over 67.4% during this period. Gross margin for fiscal 2025 decreased as a percentage of revenues to 31.9% from 32.6% during fiscal 2024. The decrease in gross margin was primarily due to higher payroll costs.
Sales and Marketing
Sales and marketing expense for fiscal 2025 increased $197 million, or 3%, over fiscal 2024, and decreased as a percentage of revenues to 10.1% from 10.6% during this period due to lower payroll and non-payroll costs.
General and Administrative Costs
General and administrative costs for fiscal 2025 increased $70 million, or 2%, over fiscal 2024, and decreased as a percentage of revenues to 6.2% from 6.6% during this period primarily due to lower payroll costs.
Business Optimization Costs
During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, we initiated business optimization actions and recorded $615 million in related costs, which includes $344 million related to a talent rotation that we are making in a compressed timeline, as well as asset impairments of approximately $271 million primarily related to the divestiture of two acquisitions that are no longer aligned with our strategic priorities. During fiscal 2024, we recorded business optimization costs of $438 million associated with actions initiated in fiscal 2023 and completed in fiscal 2024, primarily for employee severance. For additional information, see Note 1 (Summary of Significant Accounting Policies) to our Consolidated Financial Statements under Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
We have presented operating income, operating margin, effective tax rate and diluted earnings per share on a non-GAAP or “adjusted” basis excluding the business optimization costs recorded in fiscal 2025 and 2024 as we believe doing so facilitates understanding as to the impact of these items and our performance in comparison to the prior periods. While we believe that this non-GAAP financial information is useful in evaluating our operations, this information should be considered as supplemental in nature and not as a substitute for the related financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP.
Operating Income and Operating Margin
Operating income and operating margin for each of the geographic markets is as follows:
| Fiscal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (in millions of U.S. dollars) | Operating Income | Operating Margin | Operating Income | Operating Margin | Increase (Decrease) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Americas (1) | $ | 5,324 | 15 | % | $ | 5,080 | 16 | % | $ | 245 | |||||||||||||||||||
| EMEA | 3,091 | 13 | 2,804 | 12 | 287 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Asia Pacific (1) | 1,810 | 18 | 1,713 | 18 | 98 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | 10,226 | 14.7 | % | $ | 9,596 | 14.8 | % | $ | 630 | |||||||||||||||||||
Amounts in table may not total due to rounding.
(1)During the first quarter of fiscal 2025, our Latin America market unit moved from Growth Markets to North America. With this change, North America became the Americas market and Growth Markets became the Asia Pacific market. Prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform with the current period presentation.
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ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations | 38 | |||||||||
Operating income for fiscal 2025 increased $630 million, or 7%, compared with fiscal 2024. Operating margin for fiscal 2025 was 14.7%, compared with 14.8% for fiscal 2024.
Geographic Markets
We estimate that the aggregate percentage impact of foreign currency exchange rates on our operating income during fiscal 2025 was similar to that disclosed for revenue for each geographic market. Additionally, operating costs for our geographic markets increased in line with revenues. The commentary below provides insight into other factors affecting geographic market performance and operating income for fiscal 2025 compared with fiscal 2024:
•Americas operating income increased due to revenue growth, partially offset by higher business optimization costs.
•EMEA operating income increased due to revenue growth and lower business optimization costs.
•Asia Pacific operating income increased due to revenue growth and lower business optimization costs.
Operating Income and Operating Margin Excluding Business Optimization Costs (Non-GAAP)
The business optimization costs reduced operating margin for fiscal 2025 and fiscal 2024 by 90 and 70 basis points, respectively. Adjusted operating margin for fiscal 2025 was 15.6% compared to adjusted operating margin for fiscal 2024 of 15.5%.
| Fiscal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (in millions of U.S. dollars) | Operating Income (GAAP) | Business Optimization (1) | Operating Income (Non-GAAP) | Operating Margin (Non-GAAP) | Operating Income (GAAP) | Business Optimization (2) | Operating Income (Non-GAAP) | Operating Margin (Non-GAAP) | Increase (Decrease) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Americas (3) | $ | 5,324 | $ | 420 | $ | 5,745 | 16 | % | $ | 5,080 | $ | 83 | $ | 5,163 | 16 | % | $ | 582 | |||||||||||||||||
| EMEA | 3,091 | 132 | 3,223 | 13 | 2,804 | 249 | 3,052 | 13 | 171 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Asia Pacific (3) | 1,810 | 63 | 1,873 | 19 | 1,713 | 107 | 1,819 | 19 | 54 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | 10,226 | $ | 615 | $ | 10,841 | 15.6 | % | $ | 9,596 | $ | 438 | $ | 10,034 | 15.5 | % | $ | 807 | |||||||||||||||||
Amounts in table may not total due to rounding.
(1)Costs recorded in connection with business optimization actions initiated in fiscal 2025, including $344 million for employee severance associated with headcount reductions we are making in a compressed timeline and $271 million for asset impairments primarily related to the divestiture of two acquisitions in the Americas that are no longer aligned with our strategic priorities.
(2)Costs recorded in connection with business optimization actions initiated in fiscal 2023 and completed in fiscal 2024, primarily for employee severance.
(3)During the first quarter of fiscal 2025, our Latin America market unit moved from Growth Markets to North America. With this change, North America became the Americas market and Growth Markets became the Asia Pacific market. Prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform with the current period presentation.
Interest Income
Interest income for fiscal 2025 was $336 million, an increase of $64 million, or 24%, over fiscal 2024. The increase was primarily due to a higher average cash balance.
Interest Expense
Interest expense for fiscal 2025 was $229 million, an increase of $170 million over fiscal 2024. The increase was primarily due to an increase in long-term debt.
Other Income (Expense), net
Other income (expense), net primarily consists of foreign currency gains and losses, non-operating components of pension expense, as well as gains and losses associated with our investments. During fiscal 2025, Other income (expense), net decreased $47 million, or 43%, from fiscal 2024, primarily due to higher gains on investments.
Income Tax Expense
The effective tax rate for fiscal 2025 was 23.7%, compared with 23.5% for fiscal 2024.
Income Tax Expense Excluding Business Optimization Costs (Non-GAAP)
Excluding the business optimization costs of $615 million and related reduction in tax expense of $126 million, our adjusted effective tax rate was 23.6% for fiscal 2025. Excluding the business optimization costs of $438 million and related reduction in tax expense of $111 million, our adjusted effective tax rate was 23.6% for fiscal 2024.
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Net Income Attributable to Noncontrolling Interests
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests reflects the income earned or expense incurred attributable to the equity interest that some current and former members of Accenture Leadership and their permitted transferees have in our Accenture Canada Holdings Inc. subsidiary. See “Business—Organizational Structure.” Noncontrolling interests also include amounts primarily attributable to noncontrolling shareholders in our Avanade Inc. subsidiary. Net income attributable to Accenture plc represents the income attributable to the shareholders of Accenture plc.
Earnings Per Share
Diluted earnings per share were $12.15 for fiscal 2025, compared with $11.44 for fiscal 2024. For information regarding our earnings per share calculations, see Note 3 (Earnings Per Share) to our Consolidated Financial Statements under Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
Earnings Per Share Excluding Business Optimization Costs (Non-GAAP)
The business optimization costs of $489 million and $327 million, net of related taxes, decreased diluted earnings per share by $0.78 and $0.51 for fiscal 2025 and fiscal 2024, respectively. Adjusted diluted earnings per share were $12.93 and $11.95 for fiscal 2025 and fiscal 2024, respectively.
| Fiscal | |||||
| 2024 As Reported | $ | 11.44 | |||
| Business optimization costs | 0.69 | ||||
| Tax effect of business optimization costs (1) | (0.18) | ||||
| 2024 As Adjusted | $ | 11.95 | |||
| 2025 As Reported | $ | 12.15 | |||
| Business optimization costs | 0.98 | ||||
| Tax effect of business optimization costs (1) | (0.20) | ||||
| 2025 As Adjusted | $ | 12.93 | |||
(1)The income tax effect of business optimization costs includes both the current and deferred income tax impact and was calculated by using the relevant tax rate of the country where the adjustments were recorded.
The increase in adjusted diluted earnings per share for fiscal 2025 compared to fiscal 2024 is due to the following factors:
| Fiscal | |||||
| 2024 As Adjusted | $ | 11.95 | |||
| Higher revenue and operating results | 0.97 | ||||
| Lower share count | 0.07 | ||||
| Lower effective tax rate | 0.01 | ||||
| Lower non-operating income | (0.07) | ||||
| 2025 As Adjusted | $ | 12.93 | |||
Our operating income and diluted earnings per share are affected by currency exchange rate fluctuations on revenues and costs. Most of our costs are incurred in the same currency as the related revenues. Where practical, we seek to manage foreign currency exposure for costs not incurred in the same currency as the related revenues, such as the costs associated with our global delivery model, by using currency protection provisions in our customer contracts and through our hedging programs. We seek to manage our costs, taking into consideration the residual positive and negative effects of changes in foreign exchange rates on those costs. For more information on our hedging programs, see Foreign Currency Risk under Item 7A, “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk” and Note 9 (Financial Instruments) to our Consolidated Financial Statements under Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
Results of Operations for Fiscal 2024 Compared to Fiscal 2023
Our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2024 includes a discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations for the year ended August 31, 2023 in Item 7 of Part II, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”
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ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations | 40 | |||||||||
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Our primary sources of liquidity are cash flows from operations, available cash reserves, debt capacity available under various credit facilities and other borrowings. We could raise additional funds through other public or private debt or equity financings. We may use our available or additional funds to, among other things:
•facilitate purchases, redemptions and exchanges of shares and pay dividends;
•acquire complementary businesses or technologies;
•take advantage of opportunities, including more rapid expansion;
•develop new solutions and services; or
•repay outstanding borrowings and other debt.
See Note 10 (Borrowings and Indebtedness) to our Consolidated Financial Statements under Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” for further information regarding our outstanding borrowings and other debt.
As of August 31, 2025, Cash and cash equivalents were $11.5 billion, compared with $5.0 billion as of August 31, 2024.
Cash flows from operating, investing and financing activities, as reflected in our Consolidated Cash Flows Statements, are summarized in the following table:
| Fiscal | Change | ||||||||||||||||
| (in millions of U.S. dollars) | 2025 | 2024 | |||||||||||||||
| Net cash provided by (used in): | |||||||||||||||||
| Operating activities | $ | 11,474 | $ | 9,131 | $ | 2,343 | |||||||||||
| Investing activities | (2,020) | (7,062) | 5,042 | ||||||||||||||
| Financing activities | (2,948) | (6,064) | 3,115 | ||||||||||||||
| Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents | (32) | (46) | 14 | ||||||||||||||
| Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents | $ | 6,474 | $ | (4,041) | $ | 10,515 | |||||||||||
Amounts in table may not total due to rounding.
Operating activities: The $2,343 million increase in operating cash flows was primarily due to higher net income and lower cash outflows for certain compensation payments compared to the prior year.
Investing activities: The $5,042 million decrease in cash used was primarily due to lower spending on business acquisitions. For additional information, see Note 6 (Business Combinations and Dispositions) to our Consolidated Financial Statements under Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
Financing activities: The $3,115 million decrease in cash used was primarily due to higher net proceeds from borrowings. For additional information, see Note 14 (Shareholders’ Equity) to our Consolidated Financial Statements under Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
We believe that our current and longer-term working capital, investments and other general corporate funding requirements will be satisfied for the next twelve months and thereafter through cash flows from operations and, to the extent necessary, from our borrowing facilities and future financial market activities.
Substantially all of our cash is held in jurisdictions where there are no regulatory restrictions or material tax effects on the free flow of funds. Domestic cash inflows for our Irish parent, principally dividend distributions from lower-tier subsidiaries, have been sufficient to meet our historic cash requirements, and we expect this to continue into the future.
Borrowings and Indebtedness
On September 30, 2024, we filed a registration statement on Form S-3, pursuant to which Accenture plc’s wholly owned finance subsidiaries Accenture Capital and Accenture Global Capital DAC may issue debt securities. As of August 31, 2025, we had outstanding long-term debt in the form of senior unsecured notes issued by Accenture Capital in an aggregate principal amount of $5 billion, which mature from 2027 through 2034. Accenture plc fully and unconditionally guarantees these notes, as well as all future debt securities that may be issued by these entities.
For additional information regarding our outstanding borrowings, credit facilities and other debt, see Note 10 (Borrowings and Indebtedness) to our Consolidated Financial Statements under Item 8, “Financial Statements and supplementary Data.”
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ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations | 41 | |||||||||
Share Purchases and Redemptions
We intend to continue to use a significant portion of cash generated from operations for share repurchases during fiscal 2026. The number of shares ultimately repurchased under our open-market share purchase program may vary depending on numerous factors, including, without limitation, share price and other market conditions, our ongoing capital allocation planning, the levels of cash and debt balances, other demands for cash, such as acquisition activity, general economic and/or business conditions, and board and management discretion. Additionally, as these factors may change over the course of the year, the amount of share repurchase activity during any particular period cannot be predicted and may fluctuate from time to time. Share repurchases may be made from time to time through open-market purchases, in respect of purchases and redemptions of Accenture Canada Holdings Inc. exchangeable shares, through the use of Rule 10b5-1 plans and/or by other means. The repurchase program may be accelerated, suspended, delayed or discontinued at any time, without notice. For additional information, see Note 14 (Shareholders’ Equity) to our Consolidated Financial Statements under Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
Subsequent Events
See Note 14 (Shareholders’ Equity) to our Consolidated Financial Statements under Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
Obligations and Commitments
As of August 31, 2025, we had commitments of $3 billion related to cloud hosting arrangements, software subscriptions, information technology services and other obligations in the ordinary course of business that we cannot cancel or where we would be required to pay a termination fee in the event of cancellation. Payments under these commitments are estimated to be made as follows:
| (in millions of U.S. dollars) | Payments (1) | |||||||
| Less than 1 year | $ | 1,154 | ||||||
| 1-3 years | 1,275 | |||||||
| 3-5 years | 513 | |||||||
| More than 5 years | 38 | |||||||
| Total | $ | 2,980 | ||||||
(1)Amounts do not include recourse that we may have to recover termination fees or penalties from clients.
For information about borrowing facilities and leases, see Note 10 (Borrowings and Indebtedness) and Note 8 (Leases) to our Consolidated Financial Statements under Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
In the normal course of business and in conjunction with some client engagements, we have entered into contractual arrangements through which we may be obligated to indemnify clients with respect to certain matters. To date, we have not been required to make any significant payment under any of these arrangements. For further discussion of these transactions, see Note 15 (Commitments and Contingencies) to our Consolidated Financial Statements under Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
New Accounting Pronouncements
See Note 1 (Summary of Significant Accounting Policies) to our Consolidated Financial Statements under Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
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ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk | 42 | |||||||||
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
All of our market risk sensitive instruments were entered into for purposes other than trading.
Foreign Currency Risk
We are exposed to foreign currency risk in the ordinary course of business. We hedge material cash flow exposures when feasible using forward contracts. These instruments are subject to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates and credit risk. Credit risk is managed through careful selection and ongoing evaluation of the financial institutions utilized as counterparties.
Certain of these hedge positions are undesignated hedges of balance sheet exposures such as intercompany loans and typically have maturities of less than one year. These hedges, the most significant of which are U.S. dollar/Japanese yen, U.S. dollar/Indian rupee, U.S. dollar/Euro, U.S. dollar/U.K. pound, U.S. dollar/Australian dollar, U.S. dollar/Swiss franc, U.S. dollar/Philippine peso and U.S. dollar/Chinese yuan, are intended to offset remeasurement of the underlying assets and liabilities. Changes in the fair value of these derivatives are recorded in Other income (expense), net in the Consolidated Income Statements. Additionally, we have hedge positions that are designated cash flow hedges of certain intercompany charges relating to our global delivery model. These hedges, the most significant of which are U.S. dollar/Indian rupee, U.S. dollar/Philippine peso, Euro/Indian rupee and U.K. pound/Indian rupee, typically have maturities not exceeding three years and are intended to partially offset the impact of foreign currency movements on future costs relating to our global delivery resources. For additional information, see Note 9 (Financial Instruments) to our Consolidated Financial Statements under Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”
For designated cash flow hedges, gains and losses currently recorded in Accumulated other comprehensive loss are expected to be reclassified into earnings at the time when certain anticipated intercompany charges are accrued as Cost of services. As of August 31, 2025, it was anticipated that approximately $115 million of net losses, net of tax, currently recorded in Accumulated other comprehensive loss will be reclassified into Cost of services within the next 12 months.
We use sensitivity analysis to determine the effects that market foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations may have on the fair value of our hedge portfolio. The sensitivity of the hedge portfolio is computed based on the market value of future cash flows as affected by changes in exchange rates. This sensitivity analysis represents the hypothetical changes in value of the hedge position and does not reflect the offsetting gain or loss on the underlying exposure. A 10% change in the levels of foreign currency exchange rates against the U.S. dollar (or other base currency of the hedge if not a U.S. dollar hedge) with all other variables held constant would have resulted in a change in the fair value of our hedge instruments of approximately $722 million and $655 million as of August 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively.
Interest Rate Risk
The interest rate risk associated with our borrowing and investing activities as of August 31, 2025 is not material in relation to our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows. While we may do so in the future, we have not used derivative financial instruments to alter the interest rate characteristics of our investment holdings or debt instruments.
Equity Investment Risk
Our non-marketable and marketable equity securities are subject to a wide variety of market-related risks that could substantially reduce or increase the fair value of our investments.
Our non-marketable equity securities are investments in privately held companies which are often in a start-up or development stage, which is inherently risky. The technologies or products these companies have under development are typically in the early stages and may never materialize, which could result in a loss of a substantial part of our investment in these companies. The evaluations of privately held companies are based on information that we request from these companies, which is not subject to the same disclosure regulations as U.S. publicly traded companies, and as such, the basis for these evaluations is subject to the timing and accuracy of the data received from these companies. We have minimal exposure on our long-term investments in privately held companies as these investments were not material in relation to our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows as of August 31, 2025.
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ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk | 43 | |||||||||
We record our marketable equity securities not accounted for under the equity method at fair value based on readily determinable market values.
The carrying values of our investments accounted for under the equity method generally do not fluctuate based on market price changes; however, these investments could be impaired if the carrying value exceeds the fair value.
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
See the Index to Consolidated Financial Statements and financial statements commencing on page F-1, which are incorporated herein by reference.
Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure
None.
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Our management, with the participation of our principal executive officer and our principal financial officer, has evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) under the Exchange Act) as of the end of the period covered by this report. Any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving the desired control objectives. Based on that evaluation, the principal executive officer and the principal financial officer of Accenture plc have concluded that, as of the end of the period covered by this report, our disclosure controls and procedures were effective at the reasonable assurance level.
Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of our financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that:
i.pertain to the maintenance of records that in reasonable detail accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of our assets;
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ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | Item 9A. Controls and Procedures | 44 | |||||||||
ii.provide reasonable assurance that the transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that our receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and our Board of Directors; and
iii.provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect on our financial statements.
Due to its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate due to changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, we conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting using the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) in Internal Control—Integrated Framework (2013). Based on its evaluation, our management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of the end of the fiscal year covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
KPMG LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, has audited the Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and, as part of their audit, has issued its auditor’s report, included herein, on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. See “Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm” on page F-2.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
There has been no change in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
Item 9B. Other Information
Trading Arrangements
The table below summarizes the terms of trading arrangements adopted or terminated
| Name | Title | Date of Adoption or Termination | Duration of Plan (1) | Aggregate number of Class A ordinary shares to be sold pursuant to the trading agreement | |||||||||||||
Adopted on | October 22, 2025 - July 24, 2026 | (2) | |||||||||||||||
Adopted on | October 22, 2025 - July 24, 2026 | (2) | |||||||||||||||
Adopted on | October 22, 2025 - July 24, 2026 | (2) | |||||||||||||||
Adopted on | October 27, 2025 - July 24, 2026 | ||||||||||||||||
(1) Each plan will expire on the earlier of the expiration date or the completion of all transactions under the trading arrangement.
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ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | Item 9A. Controls and Procedures | 45 | |||||||||
Item 9C. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections
None.
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ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | Part III | 46 | |||||||||
Part III
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance
There have been no material changes to the procedures by which security holders may recommend nominees to our Board of Directors from those described in the proxy statement for our 2025 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders filed with the SEC on December 16, 2024.
Information about our executive officers is contained in the discussion entitled “Information about our Executive Officers” in Part I of this Form 10-K. The remaining information called for by Item 10 will be included in the sections captioned “Appointment of Directors,” “Corporate Governance” and “Beneficial Ownership” included in the definitive proxy statement relating to the 2026 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of Accenture plc to be held on January 28, 2026 and is incorporated herein by reference. Accenture plc will file such definitive proxy statement with the SEC pursuant to Regulation 14A not later than 120 days after the end of our 2025 fiscal year covered by this Form 10-K.
Item 11. Executive Compensation
The information called for by Item 11 will be included in the sections captioned “Executive Compensation” and “Director Compensation” included in the definitive proxy statement relating to the 2026 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of Accenture plc to be held on January 28, 2026 and is incorporated herein by reference. Accenture plc will file such definitive proxy statement with the SEC pursuant to Regulation 14A not later than 120 days after the end of our 2025 fiscal year covered by this Form 10-K.
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ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Shareholder Matters | 47 | |||||||||
Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Shareholder Matters
Securities Authorized for Issuance under Equity Compensation Plans
The following table sets forth, as of August 31, 2025, certain information related to our compensation plans under which Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares may be issued.
| Plan Category | Number of Shares to be Issued Upon Exercise of Outstanding Options, Warrants and Rights | Weighted-Average Exercise Price of Outstanding Options, Warrants and Rights (3) | Number of Shares Remaining Available for Future Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans (Excluding Securities Reflected in 1st Column) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Equity compensation plans approved by shareholders: | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2001 Share Incentive Plan | 1,872 | (1) | $ | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||
| Amended and Restated 2010 Share Incentive Plan | 16,388,598 | (2) | — | 20,971,852 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Amended and Restated 2010 Employee Share Purchase Plan | — | N/A | 46,056,389 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Equity compensation plans not approved by shareholders | — | N/A | — | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 16,390,470 | 67,028,241 | |||||||||||||||||||||
(1)Consists of 1,872 restricted share units.
(2)Consists of 16,388,598 restricted share units, with performance-based awards assuming maximum performance.
(3)Restricted share units have no exercise price.
The remaining information called for by Item 12 will be included in the section captioned “Beneficial Ownership” included in the definitive proxy statement relating to the 2026 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of Accenture plc to be held on January 28, 2026 and is incorporated herein by reference. Accenture plc will file such definitive proxy statement with the SEC pursuant to Regulation 14A not later than 120 days after the end of our 2025 fiscal year covered by this Form 10-K.
Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence
The information called for by Item 13 will be included in the section captioned “Corporate Governance” included in the definitive proxy statement relating to the 2026 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of Accenture plc to be held on January 28, 2026 and is incorporated herein by reference. Accenture plc will file such definitive proxy statement with the SEC pursuant to Regulation 14A not later than 120 days after the end of our 2025 fiscal year covered by this Form 10-K.
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ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services | 48 | |||||||||
Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services
The information called for by Item 14 will be included in the section captioned “Audit” included in the definitive proxy statement relating to the 2026 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of Accenture plc to be held on January 28, 2026 and is incorporated herein by reference. Accenture plc will file such definitive proxy statement with the SEC pursuant to Regulation 14A not later than 120 days after the end of our 2025 fiscal year covered by this Form 10-K.
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ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | Part IV | 49 | |||||||||
Part IV
Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules
(a) List of documents filed as part of this report:
1. Financial Statements as of August 31, 2025 and 2024 and for the three years ended August 31, 2025—Included in Part II of this Form 10-K:
Consolidated Balance Sheets
Consolidated Income Statements
Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income
Consolidated Shareholders’ Equity Statements
Consolidated Cash Flows Statements
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
2. Financial Statement Schedules:
None
3. Exhibit Index:
| Exhibit Number | Exhibit | |||||||
| 3.1 | Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association of Accenture plc (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to Accenture plc’s 8-K filed on February 7, 2018) | |||||||
| 3.2 | Certificate of Incorporation of Accenture plc (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.2 to Accenture plc’s 8-K12B filed on September 1, 2009 (the “8-K12B”)) | |||||||
| 4.1 | Description of Accenture plc’s Securities (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 to the August 31, 2024 10-K) | |||||||
| 4.2 | Indenture, among Accenture Capital Inc., Accenture plc and The Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company, N.A., dated as of October 4, 2024 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 to Accenture plc’s 8-K filed on October 4, 2024) | |||||||
| 4.3 | Officer’s Certificate of Accenture Capital Inc., dated as of October 4, 2024, containing Form of 3.900% Note due 2027, Form of 4.050% Note due 2029, Form of 4.250% Note due 2031 and Form of 4.500% Note due 2034 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.2 to Accenture plc’s 8-K filed on October 4, 2024) | |||||||
| 10.1 | Form of Voting Agreement, dated as of April 18, 2001, among Accenture Ltd and the covered persons party thereto as amended and restated as of February 3, 2005 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 9.1 to the Accenture Ltd February 28, 2005 10-Q (File No. 001-16565)) | |||||||
| 10.2 | Assumption Agreement of the Amended and Restated Voting Agreement, dated September 1, 2009 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 to the 8-K12B) | |||||||
| 10.3* | Form of Non-Competition Agreement, dated as of April 18, 2001, among Accenture Ltd and certain employees (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Accenture Ltd Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-59194) filed on April 19, 2001) | |||||||
| 10.4 | Assumption and General Amendment Agreement between Accenture plc and Accenture Ltd, dated September 1, 2009 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the 8-K12B) | |||||||
| 10.5* | 2001 Share Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to the Accenture Ltd Registration Statement on Form S-1/A (File No. 333-59194) filed on July 12, 2001) | |||||||
| 10.6* | Amended and Restated Accenture plc 2010 Share Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to Accenture plc’s 8-K filed on January 31, 2024) | |||||||
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ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules | 50 | |||||||||
| 10.7* | Amended and Restated 2010 Employee Share Purchase Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to Accenture plc’s 8-K filed on January 31, 2024) | |||||||
| 10.8 | Credit Agreement, dated as of May 14, 2024, among Accenture plc, the borrowers party thereto, the lenders party thereto, and JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., as administrative agent (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to Accenture plc’s 8-K filed on May 17, 2024) | |||||||
| 10.9 | Form of Support Agreement, dated as of May 23, 2001, between Accenture Ltd and Accenture Canada Holdings Inc. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.9 to the Accenture Ltd Registration Statement on Form S-1/A (the “July 2, 2001 Form S-1/A”)) | |||||||
| 10.10 | First Supplemental Agreement to Support Agreement among Accenture plc, Accenture Ltd and Accenture Canada Holdings Inc., dated September 1, 2009 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the 8-K12B) | |||||||
| 10.11* | Form of Employment Agreement of executive officers in the United States (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to the February 28, 2013 10-Q) | |||||||
| 10.12* | 2012 Employment Contract between Accenture SAS and Jean-Marc Ollagnier, together with 2017 and 2022 Addenda (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.12 to the August 31, 2022 10-K) | |||||||
| 10.13 | Form of Articles of Association of Accenture Canada Holdings Inc. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.11 to the July 2, 2001 Form S-1/A) | |||||||
| 10.14 | Articles of Amendment to Articles of Association of Accenture Canada Holdings Inc. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.21 to the August 31, 2013 10-K) | |||||||
| 10.15 | Form of Exchange Trust Agreement by and between Accenture Ltd and Accenture Canada Holdings Inc. and CIBC Mellon Trust Company, made as of May 23, 2001 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.12 to the July 2, 2001 Form S-1/A) | |||||||
| 10.16 | First Supplemental Agreement to Exchange Trust Agreement among Accenture plc, Accenture Ltd, Accenture Canada Holdings Inc. and Accenture Inc., dated September 1, 2009 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to the 8-K12B) | |||||||
| 10.17* | 2015 Sub-plan for Restricted Share Units Granted in France, as amended (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the February 28, 2022 10-Q ) | |||||||
| 10.18* | Form of Director Restricted Share Unit Agreement pursuant to the Amended and Restated Accenture plc 2010 Share Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the February 28, 2025 10-Q) | |||||||
| 10.19* | Form of Key Executive Performance-Based Award Restricted Share Unit Agreement pursuant to the Amended and Restated Accenture plc 2010 Share Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the February 28, 2023 10-Q) | |||||||
| 10.20* | Form of Key Executive Performance-Based Award Restricted Share Unit Agreement pursuant to the Amended and Restated Accenture plc 2010 Share Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the February 29, 2024 10-Q) | |||||||
| 10.21* | Form of Key Executive Performance-Based Award Restricted Share Unit Agreement pursuant to the Amended and Restated Accenture plc 2010 Share Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the February 28, 2025 10-Q) | |||||||
| 10.22* | Form of Fiscal 2023 Key Executive Performance-Based Award Restricted Share Unit Agreement in France (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.6 to the February 28, 2023 10-Q) | |||||||
| 10.23* | Form of Fiscal 2024 Key Executive Performance-Based Award Restricted Share Unit Agreement in France (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.6 to the February 29, 2024 10-Q) | |||||||
| 10.24* | Form of Accenture Leadership Performance Equity Award Restricted Share Unit Agreement pursuant to the Amended and Restated Accenture plc 2010 Share Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to the February 28, 2023 10-Q) | |||||||
| 10.25* | Form of Accenture Leadership Performance Equity Award Restricted Share Unit Agreement pursuant to the Amended and Restated Accenture plc 2010 Share Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to the February 29, 2024 10-Q) | |||||||
| 10.26* | Form of Accenture Leadership Performance Equity Award Restricted Share Unit Agreement pursuant to the Amended and Restated Accenture plc 2010 Share Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to the February 28, 2025 10-Q) | |||||||
| 10.27* | Form of Accenture Leadership Performance Equity Award Restricted Share Unit Agreement in France (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.7 to the February 29, 2024 10-Q) | |||||||
| 10.28* | Form of Accenture Leadership Performance Equity Award Restricted Share Unit Agreement in France (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.7 to the February 28, 2025 10-Q | |||||||
| 10.29* | Form of Voluntary Equity Investment Program Matching Grant Restricted Share Unit Agreement pursuant to the Amended and Restated Accenture plc 2010 Share Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 to the February 29, 2024 10-Q) | |||||||
| 10.30* | Form of Voluntary Equity Investment Program Matching Grant Restricted Share Unit Agreement pursuant to the Amended and Restated Accenture plc 2010 Share Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 to the February 28, 2025 10-Q) | |||||||
| 10.31* | Form of CEO Discretionary Grant Restricted Share Unit Agreement pursuant to the Amended and Restated Accenture plc 2010 Share Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.5 to the February 28, 2025 10-Q ) | |||||||
| 10.32* | Description of Global Annual Bonus Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.9 to the February 28, 2022 10-Q) | |||||||
| 10.33* | Form of Indemnification Agreement, between Accenture Inc. and the indemnitee party thereto (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.28 to the August 31, 2018 10-K) | |||||||
| 10.34* | Form of Severance Agreement (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the November 30, 2023 10-Q) | |||||||
| 10.35* | Relocation Benefits Agreement between Accenture LLP and Manish Sharma (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the November 30, 2023 10-Q) | |||||||
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ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules | 51 | |||||||||
| 10.36* | Accenture LLP Leadership Separation Benefits Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to November 30, 2024 10-Q) | |||||||
| 19.1 | ||||||||
| 21.1 | Subsidiaries of the Registrant (filed herewith) | |||||||
| 23.1 | Consent of KPMG LLP (filed herewith) | |||||||
| 23.2 | Consent of KPMG LLP related to the Accenture plc 2010 Employee Share Purchase Plan (filed herewith) | |||||||
| 24.1 | Power of Attorney (included on the signature page hereto) | |||||||
| 31.1 | Certification of the Principal Executive Officer pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) or 15d-14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as adopted pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (filed herewith) | |||||||
| 31.2 | Certification of the Principal Financial Officer pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) or 15d-14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as adopted pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (filed herewith) | |||||||
| 32.1 | Certification of the Principal Executive Officer pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (furnished herewith) | |||||||
| 32.2 | Certification of the Principal Financial Officer pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (furnished herewith) | |||||||
| 97.1* | Mandatory Recoupment Policy (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 97.1 to the August 31, 2023 10-K) | |||||||
| 99.1 | Amended and Restated Accenture plc 2010 Employee Share Purchase Plan Financial Statements (filed herewith) | |||||||
| 101 | The following financial information from Accenture plc’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2025, formatted in Inline XBRL: (i) Consolidated Balance Sheets as of August 31, 2025 and August 31, 2024, (ii) Consolidated Income Statements for the years ended August 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, (iii) Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income for the years ended August 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, (iv) Consolidated Shareholders’ Equity Statements for the years ended August 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, (v) Consolidated Cash Flows Statements for the years ended August 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, and (vi) the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements | |||||||
| 104 | The cover page from Accenture plc’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2025, formatted in Inline XBRL (included as Exhibit 101) | |||||||
| (*) | Indicates management contract or compensatory plan or arrangement. | ||||
The agreements and other documents filed as exhibits to this report are not intended to provide factual information or other disclosure other than with respect to the terms of the agreements or other documents themselves, and you should not rely on them for that purpose. In particular, any representations and warranties made by us in these agreements or other documents were made solely within the specific context of the relevant agreement or document and may not describe the actual state of affairs as of the date they were made or at any other time.
Item 16. Form 10-K Summary
Not applicable.
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ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | Signatures | 52 | |||||||||
Signatures
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf on October 10, 2025 by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
| ACCENTURE PLC | |||||
| By: | /s/ JULIE SWEET | ||||
| Name: Julie Sweet Title: Chief Executive Officer | |||||
Power of Attorney
KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears below hereby constitutes and appoints Julie Sweet, Angie Park and Joel Unruch, and each of them, as his or her true and lawful attorneys-in-fact and agents, with power to act with or without the others and with full power of substitution and resubstitution, to do any and all acts and things and to execute any and all instruments which said attorneys and agents and each of them may deem necessary or desirable to enable the registrant to comply with the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and any rules, regulations and requirements of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission thereunder in connection with the registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2025 (the “Annual Report”), including specifically, but without limiting the generality of the foregoing, power and authority to sign the name of the registrant and the name of the undersigned, individually and in his or her capacity as a director or officer of the registrant, to the Annual Report as filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, to any and all amendments thereto, and to any and all instruments or documents filed as part thereof or in connection therewith; and each of the undersigned hereby ratifies and confirms all that said attorneys and agents and each of them shall do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below on October 10, 2025 by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities indicated.
| Signature | Title | |||||||
/s/ JULIE SWEET | Chief Executive Officer, Chair of the Board and Director | |||||||
| Julie Sweet | (principal executive officer) | |||||||
/s/ ANGIE PARK | Chief Financial Officer | |||||||
| Angie Park | (principal financial officer) | |||||||
/s/ MELISSA A. BURGUM | Chief Accounting Officer | |||||||
| Melissa A. Burgum | (principal accounting officer) | |||||||
/s/ ARUN SARIN | Lead Director | |||||||
| Arun Sarin | ||||||||
/s/ JAIME ARDILA | Director | |||||||
| Jaime Ardila | ||||||||
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ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | Signatures | 53 | |||||||||
/s/ MARTIN BRUDERMÜLLER | Director | |||||||
| Martin Brudermüller | ||||||||
/s/ ALAN JOPE | Director | |||||||
| Alan Jope | ||||||||
/s/ NANCY MCKINSTRY | Director | |||||||
| Nancy McKinstry | ||||||||
/s/ JENNIFER NASON | Director | |||||||
| Jennifer Nason | ||||||||
/s/ PAULA A. PRICE | Director | |||||||
| Paula A. Price | ||||||||
/s/ VENKATA S.M. RENDUCHINTALA | Director | |||||||
| Venkata S.M. Renduchintala | ||||||||
/s/ TRACEY T. TRAVIS | Director | |||||||
| Tracey T. Travis | ||||||||
/s/ MASAHIKO UOTANI | Director | |||||||
| Masahiko Uotani | ||||||||
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ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | Index to Consolidated Financial Statements | F-1 | |||||||||
Accenture plc
Index to Consolidated Financial Statements
| Page | ||||||||
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm (Auditor Firm ID: | F-2 | |||||||
Consolidated Financial Statements as of August 31, 2025 and 2024 and for the years ended August 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023: | ||||||||
Consolidated Balance Sheets | F-5 | |||||||
Consolidated Income Statements | F-6 | |||||||
Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income | F-7 | |||||||
Consolidated Shareholders’ Equity Statements | F-8 | |||||||
Consolidated Cash Flows Statements | F-11 | |||||||
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements | F-12 | |||||||
1
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ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm | F-2 | |||||||||
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Shareholders and Board of Directors
Accenture plc:
Opinions on the Consolidated Financial Statements and Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Accenture plc and subsidiaries (the Company) as of August 31, 2025 and 2024, the related consolidated statements of income, comprehensive income, shareholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended August 31, 2025, and the related notes (collectively, the consolidated financial statements). We also have audited the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of August 31, 2025, based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.
In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of August 31, 2025 and 2024, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended August 31, 2025, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Also in our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of August 31, 2025 based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.
Basis for Opinions
The Company’s management is responsible for these consolidated financial statements, for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting, and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s consolidated financial statements and an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud, and whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects.
Our audits of the consolidated financial statements included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audits also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinions.
Definition and Limitations of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
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ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm | F-3 | |||||||||
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
Critical Audit Matters
The critical audit matters communicated below are matters arising from the current period audit of the consolidated financial statements that were communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relate to accounts or disclosures that are material to the consolidated financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matters below, providing separate opinions on the critical audit matters or on the accounts or disclosures to which they relate.
Estimated costs to complete certain technology integration consulting services contracts
As discussed in Notes 1 and 2 to the consolidated financial statements, revenues from contracts for technology integration consulting services where the Company designs, builds, and implements new or enhanced system applications and related processes for its clients are recognized over time since control of the system is transferred continuously to the client. Generally, revenue is recognized using costs incurred to date relative to total estimated costs at completion to measure progress toward satisfying the Company’s performance obligations, which typically occurs over time periods ranging from six months to two years.
We identified the evaluation of estimated costs to complete certain technology integration consulting services contracts as a critical audit matter. Subjective auditor judgment was required to evaluate the estimate of costs to complete the contracts.
The following are the primary procedures we performed to address this critical audit matter. We evaluated the design and tested the operating effectiveness of certain internal controls over the Company’s process for estimating costs to complete technology integration consulting services contracts, including controls over the estimate of costs to complete the contracts. We tested the estimated costs to complete for certain technology integration consulting services contracts by evaluating:
•the scope of the work and timing of delivery for consistency with the underlying contractual terms;
•the estimated costs to complete in relation to progress toward satisfying the Company’s performance obligations, based on internal and customer-facing information;
•changes to estimated costs, if any, including the amount and timing of the change based on internal information or contractual changes; and
•actual costs incurred subsequent to the balance sheet date to assess if they were consistent with the estimate for that time period.
We evaluated the Company’s ability to estimate costs by comparing estimates developed at contract inception to actual costs ultimately incurred to satisfy the performance obligation.
Unrecognized tax benefits
As discussed in Note 11 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company has $2,410 million of unrecognized tax benefits as of August 31, 2025. As discussed in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company recognizes tax positions when it believes such positions are more likely than not of being sustained if challenged. Recognized tax positions are measured at the largest amount of benefit greater than 50 percent likely of being realized. The Company uses estimates and assumptions in determining the amount of unrecognized tax benefits.
We identified the evaluation of the Company’s unrecognized tax benefits related to transfer pricing and certain other intercompany transactions as a critical audit matter. Complex auditor judgment was required in evaluating the Company’s interpretation of tax law and its analysis of the recognition and measurement of its tax positions.
The following are the primary procedures we performed to address this critical audit matter. We evaluated the design and tested the operating effectiveness of certain internal controls over the Company’s unrecognized tax benefits process, including controls over transfer pricing and certain other intercompany transactions. We involved tax and transfer pricing professionals with specialized skills and knowledge, who assisted in:
•evaluating the Company’s interpretation of tax laws and income tax consequences of intercompany transactions, including internal restructurings and intra-entity transfers of assets;
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ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm | F-4 | |||||||||
•assessing transfer pricing studies for compliance with applicable laws and regulations;
•analyzing the Company’s tax positions, including the methodology over the measurement of unrecognized tax benefits related to transfer pricing;
•evaluating the Company’s determination of unrecognized tax benefits, including the associated effect in other jurisdictions; and
•inspecting settlements with applicable taxing authorities.
In addition, we evaluated the Company’s ability to estimate its unrecognized tax benefits by comparing historical unrecognized tax benefits to actual results upon the conclusion of examinations by applicable taxing authorities.
/s/ KPMG LLP
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2002.
October 10, 2025
Table of Contents | Consolidated Financial Statements (In thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share amounts) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-5 | ||||||||||
Consolidated Balance Sheets
August 31, 2025 and 2024
| August 31, 2025 | August 31, 2024 | ||||||||||
| ASSETS | |||||||||||
| CURRENT ASSETS: | |||||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Short-term investments | |||||||||||
| Receivables and contract assets | |||||||||||
| Other current assets | |||||||||||
| Total current assets | |||||||||||
| NON-CURRENT ASSETS: | |||||||||||
| Contract assets | |||||||||||
| Investments | |||||||||||
| Property and equipment, net | |||||||||||
| Lease assets | |||||||||||
| Goodwill | |||||||||||
| Deferred contract costs | |||||||||||
| Deferred tax assets | |||||||||||
| Intangibles | |||||||||||
| Other non-current assets | |||||||||||
| Total non-current assets | |||||||||||
| TOTAL ASSETS | $ | $ | |||||||||
| LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY | |||||||||||
| CURRENT LIABILITIES: | |||||||||||
| Current portion of long-term debt and bank borrowings | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Accounts payable | |||||||||||
| Deferred revenues | |||||||||||
| Accrued payroll and related benefits | |||||||||||
| Income taxes payable | |||||||||||
| Lease liabilities | |||||||||||
| Other accrued liabilities | |||||||||||
| Total current liabilities | |||||||||||
| NON-CURRENT LIABILITIES: | |||||||||||
| Long-term debt | |||||||||||
| Deferred revenues | |||||||||||
| Retirement obligation | |||||||||||
| Deferred tax liabilities | |||||||||||
| Income taxes payable | |||||||||||
| Lease liabilities | |||||||||||
| Other non-current liabilities | |||||||||||
| Total non-current liabilities | |||||||||||
| COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES | |||||||||||
| SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY: | |||||||||||
Ordinary shares, par value | |||||||||||
Class A ordinary shares, par value $ | |||||||||||
Class X ordinary shares, par value $ | |||||||||||
| Restricted share units | |||||||||||
| Additional paid-in capital | |||||||||||
Treasury shares, at cost: Ordinary, | ( | ( | |||||||||
| Retained earnings | |||||||||||
| Accumulated other comprehensive loss | ( | ( | |||||||||
| Total Accenture plc shareholders’ equity | |||||||||||
| Noncontrolling interests | |||||||||||
| Total shareholders’ equity | |||||||||||
| TOTAL LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY | $ | $ | |||||||||
The accompanying Notes are an integral part of these Consolidated Financial Statements.
Table of Contents | Consolidated Financial Statements (In thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share amounts) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-6 | ||||||||||
Consolidated Income Statements
For the Years Ended August 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | |||||||||||||||
| REVENUES: | |||||||||||||||||
| Revenues | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
| OPERATING EXPENSES: | |||||||||||||||||
| Cost of services | |||||||||||||||||
| Sales and marketing | |||||||||||||||||
| General and administrative costs | |||||||||||||||||
| Business optimization costs | |||||||||||||||||
| Total operating expenses | |||||||||||||||||
| OPERATING INCOME | |||||||||||||||||
| Interest income | |||||||||||||||||
| Interest expense | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||
| Other income (expense), net | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||
| INCOME BEFORE INCOME TAXES | |||||||||||||||||
| Income tax expense | |||||||||||||||||
| NET INCOME | |||||||||||||||||
| Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests in Accenture Canada Holdings Inc. | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||
| Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests – other | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||
| NET INCOME ATTRIBUTABLE TO ACCENTURE PLC | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
| Weighted average Class A ordinary shares: | |||||||||||||||||
| Basic | |||||||||||||||||
| Diluted | |||||||||||||||||
| Earnings per Class A ordinary share: | |||||||||||||||||
| Basic | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
| Diluted | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
| Cash dividends per share | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
The accompanying Notes are an integral part of these Consolidated Financial Statements.
Table of Contents | Consolidated Financial Statements (In thousands of U.S. dollars) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-7 | ||||||||||
Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income
For the Years Ended August 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | |||||||||||||||
| NET INCOME | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
| OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS), NET OF TAX: | |||||||||||||||||
| Foreign currency translation | |||||||||||||||||
| Defined benefit plans | ( | ||||||||||||||||
| Cash flow hedges | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||
| OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS) ATTRIBUTABLE TO ACCENTURE PLC | |||||||||||||||||
| Other comprehensive income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests | |||||||||||||||||
| COMPREHENSIVE INCOME | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
| COMPREHENSIVE INCOME ATTRIBUTABLE TO ACCENTURE PLC | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
| Comprehensive income attributable to noncontrolling interests | |||||||||||||||||
| COMPREHENSIVE INCOME | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
The accompanying Notes are an integral part of these Consolidated Financial Statements.
Table of Contents | Consolidated Financial Statements (In thousands of U.S. dollars and share amounts) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-8 | ||||||||||
Consolidated Shareholders’ Equity Statements
For the Years Ended August 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023
| Ordinary Shares | Class A Ordinary Shares | Class X Ordinary Shares | Restricted Share Units | Additional Paid-in Capital | Treasury Shares | Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss | Total Accenture plc Shareholders’ Equity | Noncontrolling Interests | Total Shareholders’ Equity | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| $ | No. Shares | $ | No. Shares | $ | No. Shares | $ | No. Shares | Retained Earnings | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance as of August 31, 2022 | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | ( | $ | $ | ( | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net income | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other comprehensive income (loss) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Purchases of Class A shares | ( | ( | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cancellation of treasury shares | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Share-based compensation expense | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Purchases/redemptions of Accenture Canada Holdings Inc. exchangeable shares and Class X shares | ( | ( | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Issuances of Class A shares for employee share programs | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dividends | ( | ( | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other, net | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance as of August 31, 2023 | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | ( | $ | $ | ( | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The accompanying Notes are an integral part of these Consolidated Financial Statements.
Table of Contents | Consolidated Financial Statements (In thousands of U.S. dollars and share amounts) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-9 | ||||||||||
Consolidated Shareholders’ Equity Statements — (continued)
For the Years Ended August 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023
| Ordinary Shares | Class A Ordinary Shares | Class X Ordinary Shares | Restricted Share Units | Additional Paid-in Capital | Treasury Shares | Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss | Total Accenture plc Shareholders’ Equity | Noncontrolling Interests | Total Shareholders’ Equity | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| $ | No. Shares | $ | No. Shares | $ | No. Shares | $ | No. Shares | Retained Earnings | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net income | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other comprehensive income (loss) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Purchases of Class A shares | ( | ( | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Share-based compensation expense | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Purchases/redemptions of Accenture Canada Holdings Inc. exchangeable shares and Class X shares | ( | ( | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Issuances of Class A shares for employee share programs | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dividends | ( | ( | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other, net | ( | ( | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance as of August 31, 2024 | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | ( | $ | $ | ( | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The accompanying Notes are an integral part of these Consolidated Financial Statements.
Table of Contents | Consolidated Financial Statements (In thousands of U.S. dollars and share amounts) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-10 | ||||||||||
Consolidated Shareholders’ Equity Statements — (continued)
For the Years Ended August 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023
| Ordinary Shares | Class A Ordinary Shares | Class X Ordinary Shares | Restricted Share Units | Additional Paid-in Capital | Treasury Shares | Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss | Total Accenture plc Shareholders’ Equity | Noncontrolling Interests | Total Shareholders’ Equity | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| $ | No. Shares | $ | No. Shares | $ | No. Shares | $ | No. Shares | Retained Earnings | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net income | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other comprehensive income (loss) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Purchases of Class A shares | ( | ( | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cancellation of treasury shares | ( | ( | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Share-based compensation expense | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Purchases/redemptions of Accenture Canada Holdings Inc. exchangeable shares and Class X shares | ( | ( | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Issuances of Class A shares for employee share programs | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dividends | ( | ( | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other, net | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance as of August 31, 2025 | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | ( | $ | $ | ( | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The accompanying Notes are an integral part of these Consolidated Financial Statements.
Table of Contents | Consolidated Financial Statements (In thousands of U.S. dollars) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-11 | ||||||||||
Consolidated Cash Flows Statements
For the Years Ended August 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | |||||||||||||||
| CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES: | |||||||||||||||||
| Net income | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
| Adjustments to reconcile Net income to Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities— | |||||||||||||||||
| Depreciation, amortization and other | |||||||||||||||||
| Share-based compensation expense | |||||||||||||||||
| Deferred tax expense (benefit) | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||
| Other, net | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||
| Change in assets and liabilities, net of acquisitions— | |||||||||||||||||
| Receivables and contract assets, current and non-current | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||
| Other current and non-current assets | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||
| Accounts payable | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||
| Deferred revenues, current and non-current | |||||||||||||||||
| Accrued payroll and related benefits | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||
| Income taxes payable, current and non-current | ( | ||||||||||||||||
| Other current and non-current liabilities | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||
| Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities | |||||||||||||||||
| CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES: | |||||||||||||||||
| Purchases of property and equipment | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||
| Purchases of businesses and investments, net of cash acquired | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||
| Proceeds from the sale of businesses and investments, net of cash transferred | |||||||||||||||||
| Other investing, net | |||||||||||||||||
| Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||
| CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES: | |||||||||||||||||
| Proceeds from issuance of shares | |||||||||||||||||
| Purchases of shares | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||
| Proceeds from debt | |||||||||||||||||
| Repayments of debt | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||
| Cash dividends paid | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||
| Other financing, net | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||
| Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||
| Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||
| NET INCREASE (DECREASE) IN CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS | ( | ||||||||||||||||
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, beginning of period | |||||||||||||||||
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS, end of period | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
| SUPPLEMENTAL CASH FLOW INFORMATION: | |||||||||||||||||
| Interest paid | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
| Income taxes paid, net | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
The accompanying Notes are an integral part of these Consolidated Financial Statements.
Table of Contents | Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (In thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share amounts or as otherwise disclosed) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-12 | ||||||||||
1. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Description of Business
Accenture is a leading solutions and global professional services company that helps enterprises reinvent by building their digital core and unleashing the power of AI to create value at speed across the enterprise, bringing together our people, proprietary assets and platforms, and deep ecosystem relationships. Through our Reinvention Services we bring together our capabilities across strategy, consulting, technology, operations, Song and Industry X with our deep industry expertise to create and deliver solutions and services for our clients. We serve clients in three geographic markets: the Americas, EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and Asia Pacific.
Basis of Presentation
The Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of Accenture plc, an Irish company, and our controlled subsidiary companies. Accenture plc is an Irish public limited company, which operates its business through its subsidiaries.
The shares of Accenture Canada Holdings Inc. held by persons other than us are treated as noncontrolling interests in the Consolidated Financial Statements. The noncontrolling interests were less than 1
The preparation of the Consolidated Financial Statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect amounts reported in the Consolidated Financial Statements and accompanying disclosures. Although these estimates are based on management’s best knowledge of current events and actions that we may undertake in the future, actual results may be different from those estimates.
Revenue Recognition
We account for revenue in accordance with FASB ASU No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606).
Performance Obligations
A performance obligation is a promise in a contract to transfer a distinct good or service to the client and is the unit of accounting in Topic 606. A contract’s transaction price is allocated to each distinct performance obligation and recognized as revenue when, or as, the performance obligation is satisfied. For contracts with multiple performance obligations, we allocate the contract’s transaction price to each performance obligation based on the relative standalone selling price. The primary method used to estimate standalone selling price is the expected cost plus a margin approach, under which we forecast our expected costs of satisfying a performance obligation and then add an appropriate margin for that distinct good or service based on margins for similar services sold on a standalone basis. While determining relative standalone selling price and identifying separate performance obligations require judgment, generally relative standalone selling prices and the separate performance obligations are readily identifiable as we sell those performance obligations unaccompanied by other performance obligations. Contract modifications are routine in the performance of our contracts. Contracts are often modified to account for changes in the contract specifications, requirements or duration. If a contract modification results in the addition of performance obligations priced at a standalone selling price or if the post-modification services are distinct from the services provided prior to the modification, the modification is accounted for separately. If the modified services are not distinct, they are accounted for as part of the existing contract.
Our revenues are derived from contracts for managed services, technology integration consulting services and non-technology integration consulting services. These contracts have different terms based on the scope, performance obligations and complexity of the engagement, which frequently require us to make judgments and estimates in recognizing revenues. We have many types of contracts, including time-and-materials contracts, fixed-price contracts, fee-per-transaction contracts and contracts with multiple fee types.
The nature of our contracts gives rise to several types of variable consideration, including incentive fees. Many contracts include incentives or penalties related to costs incurred, benefits produced or adherence to schedules that may increase the
Table of Contents | Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements — (continued) (In thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share amounts or as otherwise disclosed) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-13 | ||||||||||
variability in revenues and margins earned on such contracts. These variable amounts generally are awarded or refunded upon achievement of or failure to achieve certain performance metrics, milestones or cost targets and can be based upon client discretion. We include these variable fees in the estimated transaction price when there is a basis to reasonably estimate the amount of the fee and it is not probable a significant reversal of revenue will occur. These estimates reflect the expected value of the variable fees and are based on an assessment of our anticipated performance, historical experience and other information available at the time.
Our performance obligations are satisfied over time as work progresses or at a point in time. The majority of our revenues are recognized over time based on the extent of progress towards satisfying our performance obligations. The selection of the method to measure progress towards completion requires judgment and is based on the contract and the nature of the services to be provided.
Managed Services Contracts
Our managed services contracts typically span several years. Revenues are generally recognized on managed services contracts over time because our clients benefit from the services as they are performed. Managed services contracts require us to provide a series of distinct services each period over the contract term. Revenues from unit-priced contracts are recognized as transactions are processed. When contractual billings represent an amount that corresponds directly with the value provided to the client (e.g., time-and-materials contracts), revenues are recognized as amounts become billable in accordance with contract terms.
Technology Integration Consulting Services
Revenues from contracts for technology integration consulting services where we design/redesign, build and implement new or enhanced systems and related processes for our clients are recognized over time as control of the system is transferred continuously to the client. Contracts for technology integration consulting services generally span six months to two years . Revenue, including estimated fees, is recognized using costs incurred to date relative to total estimated costs at completion to measure progress toward satisfying our performance obligations. Incurred cost represents work performed, which corresponds with, and thereby best depicts, the transfer of control to the client.
Non-Technology Integration Consulting Services
Our contracts for non-technology integration consulting services are typically less than one year in duration. Revenues are generally recognized over time as our clients benefit from the services as they are performed, or the contract, for which the related services lack an alternative use, includes termination provisions enabling payment for performance completed to date. When contractual billings represent an amount that corresponds directly with the value provided to the client (e.g., time-and-materials contracts), revenues are recognized as amounts become billable in accordance with contract terms. Revenues from fixed-price contracts are generally recognized using costs incurred to date relative to total estimated costs at completion to measure progress toward satisfying our performance obligations. Incurred cost represents work performed, which corresponds with, and thereby best depicts, the transfer of control to the client. For non-technology integration consulting contracts which do not qualify to recognize revenue over time, we recognize revenues at a point in time when the client obtains control of the promised good or service.
Contract Estimates
Estimates of total contract revenues and costs are continuously monitored over the lives of our contracts, and recorded revenues and cost estimates are subject to revision as the contract progresses. If at any time the estimate of contract profitability indicates an anticipated loss on a technology integration consulting contract, we recognize the loss in the quarter it first becomes probable and reasonably estimable.
Contract Balances
The timing of revenue recognition, billings and cash collections results in Receivables, Contract assets, and Deferred revenues (Contract liabilities) on our Consolidated Balance Sheet. Amounts are billed as work progresses in accordance with agreed-upon contractual terms, either at periodic intervals (e.g., monthly or quarterly) or upon achievement of contractual milestones. In limited circumstances, we agree to extend financing to certain clients. The terms vary by contract, but generally payment for services is contractually linked to the achievement of specified performance milestones. When the period between payment and transfer of goods or services is one year or less, we do not assess the existence of, and therefore, do not adjust the promised amount of consideration for the effects of a significant financing component. Our receivables are rights to consideration that are conditional only upon the passage of time as compared to our contract assets, which are rights to consideration conditional upon additional factors. When we bill or receive payments from our clients before revenue is recognized, we record Contract liabilities. Contract assets and liabilities are reported on our Consolidated Balance Sheet on a contract-by-contract basis at the end of each reporting period.
Table of Contents | Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements — (continued) (In thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share amounts or as otherwise disclosed) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-14 | ||||||||||
For some managed services contracts, we receive payments for transition or set-up activities, which are deferred and recognized as revenue as the services are provided. These advance payments are typically not a significant financing component because they are used to meet working capital demands in the early stages of a contract and to protect us from the other party failing to complete its obligations under the contract. We elected the practical expedient to report revenues net of any revenue-based taxes assessed by governmental authorities that are imposed on and concurrent with specific revenue-producing transactions.
Employee Share-Based Compensation Arrangements
Income Taxes
Translation of Non-U.S. Currency Amounts
Cash and Cash Equivalents
Allowance for Credit Losses—Client Receivables and Contract Assets
We record client receivables and contract assets at their face amounts less an allowance for credit losses. The allowance represents our estimate of expected credit losses based on historical experience, current economic conditions and certain forward-looking information. As of August 31, 2025 and 2024, the total allowances recorded for credit losses recorded for client receivables and contract assets was $32,247 and $27,561 , respectively. The change in the allowance is primarily due to changes in gross client receivables, contract assets and immaterial write-offs.
Concentrations of Credit Risk
Table of Contents | Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements — (continued) (In thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share amounts or as otherwise disclosed) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-15 | ||||||||||
Investments
All available-for-sale securities and liquid investments with an original maturity greater than three months but less than one year are considered to be Short-term investments. Non-current investments consist of equity securities in privately-held companies and are accounted for using either the equity or fair value measurement alternative method of accounting (for investments without readily determinable fair values). Investments are periodically assessed for other-than-temporary impairment. If an investment is deemed to have experienced an other-than-temporary decline below its basis, we reduce the carrying amount of the investment to its estimated fair value.
Our non-current investments are as follows:
| August 31, 2025 | August 31, 2024 | ||||||||||
| Equity method investments | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Investments without readily determinable fair values | |||||||||||
| Total non-current investments | $ | $ | |||||||||
For investments in which we can exercise significant influence but do not control, we use the equity method of accounting. Equity method investments are initially recorded at cost and our proportionate share of gains and losses of the investee is included as a component of Other income (expense), net.
For equity securities without a readily determinable fair value, we use the fair value measurement alternative and measure the securities at cost less impairment, if any, plus or minus observable price changes in orderly transactions for an identical or similar investment of the same issuer.
Depreciation and Amortization
See table below for summary of depreciation on fixed assets, deferred transition amortization, intangible assets amortization and operating lease cost for fiscal 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively.
| Fiscal | ||||||||||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | ||||||||||||
| Depreciation | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||
Amortization—Deferred transition | ||||||||||||||
Amortization—Intangible assets | ||||||||||||||
| Operating lease cost | ||||||||||||||
| Other | ||||||||||||||
| Total depreciation, amortization and other | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||
Property and Equipment
Property and equipment is stated at cost, net of accumulated depreciation. Depreciation of property and equipment is computed on a straight-line basis over the following estimated useful lives:
| Computers, related equipment and software | |||||
| Furniture and fixtures | |||||
| Leasehold improvements | Lesser of lease term or | ||||
Goodwill
Table of Contents | Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements — (continued) (In thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share amounts or as otherwise disclosed) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-16 | ||||||||||
Long-Lived Assets
Long-lived assets, including lease assets, deferred contract costs and identifiable intangible assets, are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset or group of assets may not be recoverable. Recoverability of long-lived assets or groups of assets is assessed based on a comparison of the carrying amount to the undiscounted estimated future net cash flows. If estimated future undiscounted net cash flows are less than the carrying amount, the asset is considered impaired and a loss is recorded equal to the amount required to reduce the carrying amount to fair value.
Intangible assets with finite lives are generally amortized using the straight-line method over their estimated economic useful lives, ranging from to eighteen years .
Operating Expenses
Selected components of operating expenses are as follows:
| Fiscal | |||||||||||||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | |||||||||||||||
| Research and development costs | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
| Advertising costs (1) | |||||||||||||||||
| Provision for (release of) doubtful accounts (2) | |||||||||||||||||
(1)Advertising costs are expensed as incurred.
Business Optimization
Actions Initiated in Fiscal 2025
During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, we began implementing a refreshed three-pronged talent strategy to meet current and future client demand: investing in upskilling people, which has been and continues to be our primary focus; exiting people in a compressed timeline where reskilling is not a viable path for the skills we need; and identifying areas to drive even more operating efficiencies in our business, including through AI. We recorded $615 million in business optimization costs during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025. This includes employee severance of approximately $344 million associated with headcount reductions that we are making in a compressed timeline, as well as asset impairments of approximately $271 million primarily related to the divestiture of two acquisitions in the Americas that are no longer aligned with our strategic priorities. We expect to record additional costs of approximately $250 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2026, primarily for employee severance, for a total of approximately $865 million over the six-month period. The actual amount and timing of costs are dependent in part upon local country consultation processes and regulations and may differ from our current expectations and estimates.
Actions Initiated in Fiscal 2023
During the second quarter of fiscal 2023, we initiated actions to streamline our operations, transform our non-billable corporate functions and consolidate our office space to reduce costs. We recorded a total of $1.5 billion related to these actions, primarily for employee severance, which were completed as of August 31, 2024.
Total business optimization costs by reportable operating segment for fiscal 2025 and 2024 were as follows:
| Fiscal | |||||||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | ||||||||||
| Americas (1) | $ | $ | |||||||||
| EMEA | |||||||||||
| Asia Pacific (1) | |||||||||||
| Total business optimization costs | $ | $ | |||||||||
Table of Contents | Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements — (continued) (In thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share amounts or as otherwise disclosed) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-17 | ||||||||||
Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements
On November 27, 2023, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2023-07, Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures, which requires entities to enhance disclosures regarding their segments, including significant segment expenses. We retrospectively adopted this standard in our annual fiscal 2025 financial statements. See Note 16 (Segment Reporting) to these Consolidated Financial Statements for more information.
New Accounting Pronouncements
On December 14, 2023, the FASB issued ASU No. 2023-09, Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures, which requires disclosure of disaggregated income taxes paid, prescribes standard categories for the components of the effective tax rate reconciliation, and modifies other income tax-related disclosures. The ASU will be effective beginning with our annual fiscal 2026 financial statements and allows for adoption on a prospective basis, with a retrospective option. We are in the process of assessing the impacts and method of adoption. This ASU will impact our income tax disclosures, but not our financial position or results of operations.
On November 4, 2024, the FASB issued ASU No. 2024-03, Disaggregation of Income Statement Expenses, which requires entities to disclose specified information about certain expenses in the notes to the financial statements, including employee compensation. The ASU will be effective beginning with our annual fiscal 2028 financial statements. We are currently evaluating the impact of this standard on our disclosures.
Table of Contents | Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements — (continued) (In thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share amounts or as otherwise disclosed) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-18 | ||||||||||
2. Revenues
Disaggregation of Revenue
See Note 16 (Segment Reporting) to these Consolidated Financial Statements for our disaggregated revenues.
Remaining Performance Obligations
We had remaining performance obligations of approximately $34 billion and $30 billion as of August 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. Our remaining performance obligations represent the amount of transaction price for which work has not been performed and revenue has not been recognized. The majority of our contracts are terminable by the client on short notice with little or no termination penalties, and some without notice. Under Topic 606, only the non-cancelable portion of these contracts is included in our performance obligations. Additionally, our performance obligations only include variable consideration if we assess it is probable that a significant reversal of cumulative revenue recognized will not occur when the uncertainty is resolved. Based on the terms of our contracts, a significant portion of what we consider contract bookings is not included in our remaining performance obligations. We expect to recognize approximately 65 % of our remaining performance obligations as of August 31, 2025 as revenue in fiscal 2026, an additional 16 % in fiscal 2027, and the balance thereafter.
Contract Estimates
Adjustments in contract estimates related to performance obligations satisfied or partially satisfied in prior periods were immaterial for both fiscal 2025 and 2024.
Contract Balances
Deferred transition revenues were $642,361 and $641,091 as of August 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively, and are included in Non-current deferred revenues. Costs related to these activities are also deferred and are expensed as the services are provided. Generally, deferred amounts are protected in the event of early termination of the contract and are monitored regularly for impairment. Impairment losses are recorded when projected remaining undiscounted operating cash flows of the related contract are not sufficient to recover the carrying amount of contract assets. Deferred transition costs were $1,025,391 and $862,140 as of August 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively, and are included in Deferred contract costs. Deferred transition amortization expense for fiscal 2025, 2024 and 2023 was $337,072 , $352,045 and $339,139 , respectively.
The following table provides information about the balances of our Receivables and Contract assets, net of allowance, and Contract liabilities (Deferred revenues):
| August 31, 2025 | August 31, 2024 | ||||||||||
| Receivables | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Contract assets (current) | |||||||||||
| Receivables and contract assets, net of allowance (current) | |||||||||||
| Contract assets (non-current) | |||||||||||
| Deferred revenues (current) | |||||||||||
| Deferred revenues (non-current) | |||||||||||
Changes in the contract asset and liability balances during fiscal 2025, were a result of normal business activity and not materially impacted by any other factors.
Revenues recognized during fiscal 2025 that were included in Deferred revenues as of August 31, 2024 were $4.3 billion. Revenues recognized during fiscal 2024 that were included in Deferred revenues as of August 31, 2023 were $4.2 billion.
Table of Contents | Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements — (continued) (In thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share amounts or as otherwise disclosed) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-19 | ||||||||||
3. Earnings Per Share
Basic and diluted earnings per share are calculated as follows:
| Fiscal | |||||||||||||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | |||||||||||||||
| Basic Earnings per share | |||||||||||||||||
| Net income attributable to Accenture plc | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
| Basic weighted average Class A ordinary shares | |||||||||||||||||
| Basic earnings per share | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
| Diluted Earnings per share | |||||||||||||||||
| Net income attributable to Accenture plc | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
| Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests in Accenture Canada Holdings Inc. (1) | |||||||||||||||||
| Net income for diluted earnings per share calculation | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
| Basic weighted average Class A ordinary shares | |||||||||||||||||
| Class A ordinary shares issuable upon redemption/exchange of noncontrolling interests (1) | |||||||||||||||||
| Diluted effect of employee compensation related to Class A ordinary shares | |||||||||||||||||
| Diluted effect of share purchase plans related to Class A ordinary shares | |||||||||||||||||
| Diluted weighted average Class A ordinary shares (2) | |||||||||||||||||
| Diluted earnings per share | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
(1)Diluted earnings per share assumes the exchange of all Accenture Canada Holdings Inc. exchangeable shares for Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares on a one -for-one basis. The income effect does not take into account “Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests - other,” since those shares are not redeemable or exchangeable for Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares.
(2)The weighted average diluted shares outstanding for the calculation of diluted earnings per share excludes an immaterial amount of shares issuable upon the vesting of restricted stock units because their effects were antidilutive.
Table of Contents | Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements — (continued) (In thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share amounts or as otherwise disclosed) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-20 | ||||||||||
4. Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss
The following table summarizes the changes in the accumulated balances for each component of accumulated other comprehensive loss attributable to Accenture plc:
| Fiscal | |||||||||||||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | |||||||||||||||
| Foreign currency translation | |||||||||||||||||
| Beginning balance | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | ( | |||||||||||
| Foreign currency translation | |||||||||||||||||
| Income tax benefit (expense) | ( | ||||||||||||||||
| Portion attributable to noncontrolling interests | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||
| Foreign currency translation, net of tax | |||||||||||||||||
| Ending balance | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||
| Defined benefit plans | |||||||||||||||||
| Beginning balance | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||
| Actuarial gains (losses) | ( | ||||||||||||||||
| Pension settlement | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||
| Prior service costs arising during the period | ( | ||||||||||||||||
| Reclassifications into net periodic pension and post-retirement expense | |||||||||||||||||
| Income tax benefit (expense) | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||
| Portion attributable to noncontrolling interests | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||
| Defined benefit plans, net of tax | ( | ||||||||||||||||
| Ending balance | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||
| Cash flow hedges | |||||||||||||||||
| Beginning balance | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||
| Unrealized gain (loss) | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||
| Reclassification adjustments into Cost of services | ( | ||||||||||||||||
| Income tax benefit (expense) | |||||||||||||||||
| Portion attributable to noncontrolling interests | ( | ||||||||||||||||
| Cash flow hedges, net of tax | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||
| Ending balance (1) | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||
| Accumulated other comprehensive loss | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | ( | |||||||||||
Table of Contents | Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements — (continued) (In thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share amounts or as otherwise disclosed) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-21 | ||||||||||
5. Property and Equipment
The components of Property and equipment, net are as follows:
| August 31, 2025 | August 31, 2024 | ||||||||||
| Computers, related equipment and software | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Furniture and fixtures | |||||||||||
| Leasehold improvements | |||||||||||
| Property and equipment, gross | |||||||||||
| Total accumulated depreciation | ( | ( | |||||||||
| Property and equipment, net | $ | $ | |||||||||
6. Business Combinations
We completed a number of individually immaterial acquisitions during fiscal 2025, 2024 and 2023. These acquisitions were completed primarily to expand our solutions and services offerings. The table below gives additional details related to these acquisitions:
| Fiscal | |||||||||||||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | |||||||||||||||
| Total consideration | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
| Goodwill | |||||||||||||||||
| Intangible assets | |||||||||||||||||
Table of Contents | Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements — (continued) (In thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share amounts or as otherwise disclosed) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-22 | ||||||||||
7. Goodwill and Intangible Assets
Goodwill
The changes in the carrying amount of goodwill by reportable operating segment are as follows:
| August 31, 2023 | Additions/ Adjustments | Foreign Currency Translation | August 31, 2024 | Additions/ Adjustments | Foreign Currency Translation | August 31, 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Geographic Markets | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Americas (1) | $ | $ | $ | ( | $ | $ | $ | ( | $ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| EMEA | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Asia Pacific (1) | ( | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(1)During the first quarter of fiscal 2025, our Latin America market unit moved from Growth Markets to North America. With this change, North America became the Americas market and Growth Markets became the Asia Pacific market. Prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform with the current period presentation.
Goodwill includes immaterial adjustments related to prior period acquisitions.
Intangible Assets
Our definite-lived intangible assets by major asset class are as follows:
| August 31, 2025 | August 31, 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Intangible Asset Class | Gross Carrying Amount | Accumulated Amortization | Net Carrying Amount | Gross Carrying Amount | Accumulated Amortization | Net Carrying Amount | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Customer-related | $ | $ | ( | $ | $ | $ | ( | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Technology | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Patents | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | $ | ( | $ | $ | $ | ( | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total amortization related to our intangible assets was $745,892 , $530,062 and $440,957 for fiscal 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively. Estimated future amortization related to intangible assets held as of August 31, 2025 is as follows:
| Fiscal Year | Estimated Amortization | |||||||
| 2026 | $ | |||||||
| 2027 | ||||||||
| 2028 | ||||||||
| 2029 | ||||||||
| 2030 | ||||||||
| Thereafter | ||||||||
| Total | $ | |||||||
Table of Contents | Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements — (continued) (In thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share amounts or as otherwise disclosed) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-23 | ||||||||||
8. Leases
As a lessee, substantially all of our lease obligation is for office real estate. Our significant judgments used in determining our lease obligation include whether a contract is or contains a lease and the determination of the discount rate used to calculate the lease liability. We elected the practical expedient not to separate lease and associated non-lease components, accounting for them as a single combined lease component, for our office real estate and automobile leases.
Our leases may include the option to extend or terminate before the end of the contractual term and are often non-cancelable or cancelable only by the payment of penalties. Our lease assets and liabilities include these options in the lease term when it is reasonably certain that they will be exercised. In certain cases, we sublease excess office real estate to third-party tenants.
Lease assets and liabilities recognized at the lease commencement date are determined predominantly as the present value of the payments due over the lease term. Since we cannot determine the implicit rate in our leases, we use our incremental borrowing rate on that date to calculate the present value. Our incremental borrowing rate approximates the rate at which we could borrow, on a secured basis for a similar term, an amount equal to our lease payments in a similar economic environment.
When we are the lessee, all leases are recognized as lease liabilities and associated lease assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheet. Lease liabilities represent our obligation to make payments arising from the lease. Lease assets represent our right to use an underlying asset for the lease term and may also include advance payments, initial direct costs, or lease incentives. Payments that depend upon an index or rate, such as the Consumer Price Index (CPI), are included in the recognition of lease assets and liabilities at the commencement-date rate. Other variable payments, such as common area maintenance, property and other taxes, utilities and insurance that are based on the lessor’s cost, are recognized in the Consolidated Income Statement in the period incurred.
As of August 31, 2025 and 2024, we had no material finance leases. Operating lease expense is recorded on a straight-line basis over the lease term. Lease costs are as follows:
| Fiscal | |||||||||||||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | |||||||||||||||
| Operating lease cost | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
| Variable lease cost | |||||||||||||||||
| Sublease income | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
Supplemental information related to operating lease transactions is as follows:
| Fiscal | |||||||||||||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | |||||||||||||||
| Lease liability payments | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
| Lease assets obtained in exchange for liabilities | |||||||||||||||||
As of August 31, 2025 and 2024, our operating leases had a weighted average remaining lease term of 6.5 and 6.7 years, respectively, and a weighted average discount rate of 4.3 % and 4.2 %, respectively.
Table of Contents | Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements — (continued) (In thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share amounts or as otherwise disclosed) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-24 | ||||||||||
The following maturity analysis presents future undiscounted cash outflows (inflows) for operating leases as of August 31, 2025:
| Lease Payments | Sublease Receipts | ||||||||||
| 2026 | $ | $ | ( | ||||||||
| 2027 | ( | ||||||||||
| 2028 | ( | ||||||||||
| 2029 | ( | ||||||||||
| 2030 | |||||||||||
| Thereafter | |||||||||||
| Total lease payments (receipts) | $ | $ | ( | ||||||||
| Less interest | ( | ||||||||||
| Total lease liabilities | $ | ||||||||||
Table of Contents | Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements — (continued) (In thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share amounts or as otherwise disclosed) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-25 | ||||||||||
9. Financial Instruments
Derivatives
In the normal course of business, we use derivative financial instruments to manage foreign currency exchange rate risk. Derivative transactions are governed by a uniform set of policies and procedures covering areas such as authorization, counterparty exposure and hedging practices. Positions are monitored using techniques such as market value and sensitivity analyses. We do not enter into derivative transactions for trading purposes. We classify cash flows from our derivative programs as cash flows from operating activities in the Consolidated Cash Flows Statements.
Certain derivatives give rise to credit risks from the possible non-performance by counterparties. Credit risk is generally limited to the fair value of those contracts that are favorable to us, and the maximum amount of loss due to credit risk, based on the gross fair value of our derivative financial instruments that are in an asset position, was $36,847 as of August 31, 2025.
We utilize standard counterparty master agreements containing provisions for the netting of certain foreign currency transaction obligations and for set-off of certain obligations in the event of an insolvency of one of the parties to the transaction. These provisions may reduce our potential overall loss resulting from the insolvency of a counterparty and reduce a counterparty’s potential overall loss resulting from our insolvency. Additionally, these agreements contain early termination provisions triggered by adverse changes in a counterparty’s credit rating, thereby enabling us to accelerate settlement of a transaction prior to its contractual maturity and potentially decrease our realized loss on an open transaction. Similarly, a decrement in our credit rating could trigger a counterparty’s early termination rights, thereby enabling a counterparty to accelerate settlement of a transaction prior to its contractual maturity and potentially increase our realized loss on an open transaction. The aggregate fair value of our derivative instruments with credit-risk-related contingent features that were in a liability position as of August 31, 2025 was $281,389 .
Our derivative financial instruments consist of deliverable and non-deliverable foreign currency forward contracts. Fair values for derivative financial instruments are based on prices computed using third-party valuation models and are classified as Level 2 in accordance with the three-level hierarchy of fair value measurements. All of the significant inputs to the third-party valuation models are observable in active markets. Inputs include current market-based parameters such as forward rates and yield curves. For additional information related to the three-level hierarchy of fair value measurements, see Note 12 (Retirement and Profit Sharing Plans) to these Consolidated Financial Statements.
Cash Flow Hedges
Certain of our subsidiaries are exposed to currency risk through their use of our global delivery resources. To mitigate this risk, we use foreign currency forward contracts to hedge the foreign exchange risk of the forecasted intercompany expenses denominated in foreign currencies for up to three years in the future. We have designated these derivatives as cash flow hedges. As of August 31, 2025 and 2024, we held no derivatives that were designated as fair value or net investment hedges.
In order for a derivative to qualify for hedge accounting, the derivative must be formally designated as a fair value, cash flow or net investment hedge by documenting the relationship between the derivative and the hedged item. The documentation includes a description of the hedging instrument, the hedged item, the risk being hedged, our risk management objective and strategy for undertaking the hedge, the method for assessing the effectiveness of the hedge and the method for measuring hedge ineffectiveness. Additionally, the hedge relationship must be expected to be highly effective at offsetting changes in either the fair value or cash flows of the hedged item at both inception of the hedge and on an ongoing basis.
For a cash flow hedge, the effective portion of the change in estimated fair value of a hedging instrument is recorded in Accumulated other comprehensive loss as a separate component of Shareholders’ Equity and is reclassified into Cost of services in the Consolidated Income Statements during the period in which the hedged transaction is recognized. The amounts related to derivatives designated as cash flow hedges that were reclassified into Cost of services were net losses of $10,165 , net gains of $28,386 and net losses of $27,865 during fiscal 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively. The ineffective portion of the change in fair value of a cash flow hedge is recognized immediately in Other income (expense), net in the Consolidated Income Statements and for fiscal 2025, 2024 and 2023, was not material. In addition, we did not discontinue any cash flow hedges during fiscal 2025, 2024 or 2023.
Table of Contents | Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements — (continued) (In thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share amounts or as otherwise disclosed) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-26 | ||||||||||
Other Derivatives
We also use foreign currency forward contracts, which have not been designated as hedges, to hedge balance sheet exposures, such as intercompany loans. These instruments are generally short-term in nature, with typical maturities of less than one year, and are subject to fluctuations in foreign exchange rates. Realized gains or losses and changes in the estimated fair value of these derivatives were net losses of $147,220 , $48,840 and $135,586 for fiscal 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively. Gains and losses on these contracts are recorded in Other income (expense), net in the Consolidated Income Statements and are offset by gains and losses on the related hedged items.
Fair Value of Derivative Instruments
The notional and fair values of all derivative instruments are as follows:
| August 31, 2025 | August 31, 2024 | ||||||||||
| Assets | |||||||||||
| Cash Flow Hedges | |||||||||||
| Other current assets | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Other non-current assets | |||||||||||
| Other Derivatives | |||||||||||
| Other current assets | |||||||||||
| Total assets | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Liabilities | |||||||||||
| Cash Flow Hedges | |||||||||||
| Other accrued liabilities | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Other non-current liabilities | |||||||||||
| Other Derivatives | |||||||||||
| Other accrued liabilities | |||||||||||
| Total liabilities | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Total fair value | $ | ( | $ | ||||||||
| Total notional value | $ | $ | |||||||||
We utilize standard counterparty master agreements containing provisions for the netting of certain foreign currency transaction obligations and for the set-off of certain obligations in the event of an insolvency of one of the parties to the transaction. In the Consolidated Balance Sheets, we record derivative assets and liabilities at gross fair value. The potential effect of netting derivative assets against liabilities under the counterparty master agreements is as follows:
| August 31, 2025 | August 31, 2024 | ||||||||||
| Net derivative assets | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Net derivative liabilities | |||||||||||
| Total fair value | $ | ( | $ | ||||||||
Table of Contents | Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements — (continued) (In thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share amounts or as otherwise disclosed) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-27 | ||||||||||
10. Borrowings and Indebtedness
On October 4, 2024, Accenture Capital Inc. (“Accenture Capital”), a wholly owned finance subsidiary of Accenture plc, issued $5 billion aggregate principal amount of senior unsecured notes. Net proceeds from the offering are being used for general corporate purposes, including repayment of outstanding commercial paper borrowings. Interest on the senior unsecured notes is payable semi-annually in arrears. Accenture Capital may redeem the senior unsecured notes at any time in whole, or from time to time, in part at specified redemption prices. Accenture plc and Accenture Capital are not subject to any financial covenants under the senior unsecured notes.
The following is a summary of total outstanding debt as of August 31, 2025 and August 31, 2024, respectively:
| August 31, 2025 | August 31, 2024 | ||||||||||
| Current portion of long-term debt and bank borrowings | |||||||||||
| Commercial paper (1) | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Other (2) | |||||||||||
| Total current portion of long-term debt and bank borrowings | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Long-term debt | |||||||||||
Senior notes – | $ | $ | |||||||||
Senior notes – | |||||||||||
Senior notes – | |||||||||||
Senior notes – | |||||||||||
| Total principal amount (3) | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Less: unamortized debt discount and issuance costs | ( | ||||||||||
| Total carrying amount | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Other (2) | |||||||||||
| Total long-term debt | $ | $ | |||||||||
(1)The carrying amounts of the commercial paper as of August 31, 2025 and August 31, 2024 include the remaining principal outstanding of $100,000 and $935,000 , respectively, net of total unamortized discounts of $37 and $3,493 , respectively. The weighted-average effective interest rate for the commercial paper was 4.5 % and 5.4 % as of August 31, 2025 and August 31, 2024, respectively.
(2)Amounts primarily include finance lease liabilities.
(3)The total estimated fair value of our senior notes was $5.0 billion as of August 31, 2025. The fair value was determined based on quoted prices as of the last trading day of fiscal 2025 and is classified as Level 2 within the fair value hierarchy.
As of August 31, 2025, future principal payments for total outstanding debt, excluding finance leases, are summarized as follows:
| Fiscal Year | Amount | ||||
| 2026 | $ | ||||
| 2027 | |||||
| 2028 | |||||
| 2029 | |||||
| 2030 | |||||
| Thereafter | |||||
| Total | $ | ||||
Table of Contents | Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements — (continued) (In thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share amounts or as otherwise disclosed) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-28 | ||||||||||
As of August 31, 2025, we had the following borrowing facilities:
| Credit Facilities | |||||
| Syndicated loan facility (1) | $ | ||||
| Separate, uncommitted, unsecured multicurrency revolving credit facilities (2) | |||||
| Local guaranteed and non-guaranteed lines of credit (3) | |||||
| Total | $ | ||||
(1)This facility, which matures on May 14, 2029, provides unsecured, revolving borrowing capacity for general corporate purposes, including the issuance of letters of credit and short-term commercial paper. Borrowings under this facility will accrue interest at the applicable risk-free rate plus a spread. We continue to be in compliance with relevant covenant terms. The facility is subject to annual commitment fees.
(2)We maintain separate, uncommitted and unsecured multicurrency revolving credit facilities. These facilities provide local currency financing for the majority of our operations. Interest rate terms on the revolving facilities are at market rates prevailing in the relevant local markets. As of August 31, 2025 and 2024, we had no
(3)We also maintain local guaranteed and non-guaranteed lines of credit for those locations that cannot access our global facilities. As of August 31, 2025 and 2024, we had no
Table of Contents | Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements — (continued) (In thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share amounts or as otherwise disclosed) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-29 | ||||||||||
11. Income Taxes
| Fiscal | |||||||||||||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | |||||||||||||||
| Current taxes | |||||||||||||||||
| U.S. federal | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
| U.S. state and local | |||||||||||||||||
| Non-U.S. | |||||||||||||||||
| Total current tax expense | |||||||||||||||||
| Deferred taxes | |||||||||||||||||
| U.S. federal | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||
| U.S. state and local | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||
| Non-U.S. | |||||||||||||||||
| Total deferred tax (benefit) expense | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
The components of Income before income taxes are as follows:
| Fiscal | |||||||||||||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | |||||||||||||||
| U.S. sources | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
| Non-U.S. sources | |||||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
On July 4, 2025, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) was enacted in the U.S. The OBBBA contains a number of provisions, such as the permanent extension of certain expiring provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, modifications to the international tax framework and the restoration of favorable tax treatment for certain business provisions. The act has multiple effective dates that generally apply to us beginning with fiscal year 2026, and we expect the impacts on our consolidated financial statements to be immaterial.
The reconciliation of the U.S. federal statutory income tax rate to our effective income tax rate is as follows:
| Fiscal | |||||||||||||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 (2) | |||||||||||||||
| U.S. federal statutory income tax rate | % | % | % | ||||||||||||||
| U.S. state and local taxes, net | |||||||||||||||||
| Non-U.S. operations taxed at other rates | |||||||||||||||||
| Final determinations (1) | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||
| Other net activity in unrecognized tax benefits | |||||||||||||||||
| Excess tax benefits from share based payments | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||
| Foreign-derived intangible income deduction | ( | ( | ( | ||||||||||||||
| Other, net | |||||||||||||||||
| Effective income tax rate | % | % | % | ||||||||||||||
(1)Final determinations include final agreements with tax authorities and expirations of statutes of limitations.
(2)Prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform with the current period presentation.
As of August 31, 2025, we had not recognized a deferred tax liability on approximately $6,600,000 of undistributed earnings for certain foreign subsidiaries, because these earnings are intended to be indefinitely reinvested. If such earnings were distributed, some countries may impose additional taxes. The unrecognized deferred tax liability (the amount payable if distributed) is approximately $340,000 .
Portions of our operations are subject to reduced tax rates or are free of tax under various tax holidays which expire through fiscal 2034. The income tax benefits attributable to the tax status of these subsidiaries were estimated to be approximately $50,000 , $44,000 and $40,000 in fiscal 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively.
Table of Contents | Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements — (continued) (In thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share amounts or as otherwise disclosed) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-30 | ||||||||||
The revaluation of deferred tax assets and liabilities due to enacted changes in tax laws and tax rates did not have a material impact on our effective tax rate in fiscal 2025, 2024, or 2023.
The components of our deferred tax assets and liabilities included the following:
| August 31, 2025 | August 31, 2024 (1) | ||||||||||
| Deferred tax assets | |||||||||||
| Pensions | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Compensation and benefits | |||||||||||
| Share-based compensation | |||||||||||
| Tax credit carryforwards | |||||||||||
| Net operating loss carryforwards | |||||||||||
| Deferred amortization deductions | |||||||||||
| Indirect effects of unrecognized tax benefits | |||||||||||
| Licenses and other intangibles | |||||||||||
| Leases | |||||||||||
| Capitalized research costs | |||||||||||
| Other | |||||||||||
| Total deferred tax assets | |||||||||||
| Valuation allowance | ( | ( | |||||||||
| Deferred tax assets, net of valuation allowance | |||||||||||
| Deferred tax liabilities | |||||||||||
| Pensions | ( | ( | |||||||||
| Investments in subsidiaries | ( | ( | |||||||||
| Intangibles | ( | ( | |||||||||
| Leases | ( | ( | |||||||||
| Revenue recognition | ( | ( | |||||||||
| Other | ( | ( | |||||||||
| Total deferred tax liabilities | ( | ( | |||||||||
| Net deferred tax assets | $ | $ | |||||||||
(1)Prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform with the current period presentation.
We recorded valuation allowances of $1,689,015 and $1,618,414 as of August 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively, against deferred tax assets principally associated with certain tax credit and tax net operating loss carryforwards, as we believe it is more likely than not that these assets will not be realized. For all other deferred tax assets, we believe it is more likely than not that the results of future operations will generate sufficient taxable income to realize these deferred tax assets. During fiscal 2025 and 2024, we recorded net increases of $70,601 and $137,737 in the valuation allowance, respectively, primarily related to valuation allowances on certain tax credit carryforwards, as we believe it is more likely than not that these assets will not be realized.
We had tax credit carryforwards as of August 31, 2025 of $1,544,834 , of which $22,555 will expire between 2026 and 2035 and $1,522,279 has an indefinite carryforward period. We had net operating loss carryforwards as of August 31, 2025 of $1,089,806 . Of this amount, $134,443 expires between 2026 and 2035, $87,549 expires between 2036 and 2045, and $867,814 has an indefinite carryforward period.
As of August 31, 2025, we had $2,409,655 of unrecognized tax benefits, of which $1,614,917 , if recognized, would favorably affect our effective tax rate. As of August 31, 2024, we had $1,904,867 of unrecognized tax benefits, of which $1,408,347 , if recognized, would favorably affect our effective tax rate. The remaining unrecognized tax benefits as of August 31, 2025 and 2024 of $794,738 and $496,520 , respectively, represent items recorded as offsetting tax benefits associated with the correlative effects of potential transfer pricing adjustments, state income taxes and timing adjustments.
Table of Contents | Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements — (continued) (In thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share amounts or as otherwise disclosed) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-31 | ||||||||||
A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amounts of unrecognized tax benefits is as follows:
| Fiscal | |||||||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | ||||||||||
| Balance, beginning of year | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Additions for tax positions related to the current year | |||||||||||
| Additions for tax positions related to prior years | |||||||||||
| Reductions for tax positions related to prior years | ( | ( | |||||||||
| Statute of limitations expirations | ( | ( | |||||||||
| Settlements with tax authorities | ( | ( | |||||||||
| Cumulative translation adjustment | ( | ||||||||||
| Balance, end of year | $ | $ | |||||||||
We recognize interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits in our Income tax expense. During fiscal 2025, 2024 and 2023, we recognized a benefit of $20,036 and expense of $37,396 and $21,137 in interest and penalties, respectively. Accrued interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits of $186,901 ($173,628 , net of tax benefits) and $210,642 ($198,328 , net of tax benefits) were reflected on our Consolidated Balance Sheets as of August 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively.
As a global company, we file tax returns in numerous tax jurisdictions including the U.S. and Ireland, where in both jurisdictions the tax years from fiscal 2021 forward remain open for examination. We participate in the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) Compliance Assurance Process (“CAP”). In CAP, the IRS examines tax years on a contemporaneous basis, and most issues are resolved prior to filing the tax return. We also participate in the Irish Cooperative Compliance Framework (“CCF”) which promotes a collaborative approach to tax return review between taxpayers and Irish Revenue. In addition, we are negotiating a bilateral Advance Pricing Agreement (“APA”) with the U.S. and Ireland that covers fiscal 2021 through fiscal 2025. We expect through this APA to gain certainty and avoid prolonged disputes on the pricing of intercompany transactions between the U.S. and Ireland. We expect to conclude the APA in fiscal 2026 or fiscal 2027.
We are currently under audit in U.S. state and other non-U.S. tax jurisdictions. However, with limited exceptions, we are no longer subject to examination by those taxing authorities for years before 2017. Although the outcome of tax audits is always uncertain and could result in significant cash tax payments, we do not believe the outcome of these audits will have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position or results of operations. We believe that it is reasonably possible that our unrecognized tax benefits could decrease by approximately $187,000 or increase by approximately $1,400,000 in the next 12 months as a result of settlements, lapses of statutes of limitations, tax audit activity and other agreements with taxing authorities. The majority of these amounts relate to transfer pricing matters in both U.S. and non-U.S. tax jurisdictions.
Table of Contents | Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements — (continued) (In thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share amounts or as otherwise disclosed) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-32 | ||||||||||
12. Retirement and Profit Sharing Plans
Defined Benefit Pension and Postretirement Plans
In the United States and certain other countries, we maintain and administer defined benefit retirement plans and postretirement medical plans for certain current, retired and resigned employees. In addition, our U.S. defined benefit pension plans include a frozen plan for former pre-incorporation partners, which is unfunded. Benefits under the employee retirement plans are primarily based on years of service and compensation during the years immediately preceding retirement or termination of participation in the plan. The defined benefit pension disclosures include our U.S. and material non-U.S. defined benefit pension plans.
Assumptions
The weighted-average assumptions used to determine the defined benefit pension obligations as of August 31 and the net periodic pension expense are as follows:
| Pension Plans | Postretirement Plans | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| August 31, 2025 | August 31, 2024 | August 31, 2023 | August 31, 2025 | August 31, 2024 | August 31, 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| U.S. Plans | Non-U.S. Plans | U.S. Plans | Non-U.S. Plans | U.S. Plans | Non-U.S. Plans | U.S. and Non-U.S. Plans | U.S. and Non-U.S. Plans | U.S. and Non-U.S. Plans | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discount rate for determining projected benefit obligation | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discount rate for determining net periodic pension expense | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Long term rate of return on plan assets | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rate of increase in future compensation for determining projected benefit obligation | % | % | % | % | % | % | N/A | N/A | N/A | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rate of increase in future compensation for determining net periodic pension expense | % | % | % | % | % | % | N/A | N/A | N/A | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Interest crediting rate for determining projected benefit obligation | N/A | % | N/A | % | N/A | % | N/A | N/A | N/A | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Interest crediting rate for determining net periodic pension expense | N/A | % | N/A | % | N/A | % | N/A | N/A | N/A | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
We utilize a full yield curve approach to estimate the service and interest cost components by applying specific spot rates along the yield curve used in the determination of the benefit obligation to the relevant projected cash flows. This approach provides a correlation between projected benefit cash flows and the corresponding yield curve spot rates and provides a precise measurement of service and interest costs. The discount rate assumptions are based on the expected duration of the benefit payments for each of our defined benefit pension and postretirement plans as of the annual measurement date and are subject to change each year.
The expected long-term rate of return on plan assets should, over time, approximate the actual long-term returns on defined benefit pension and postretirement plan assets and is based on historical returns and the future expectations for returns for each asset class, as well as the target asset allocation of the asset portfolio.
Assumed U.S. Health Care Cost Trend
Our U.S. postretirement plan assumed annual rate of increase in the per capita cost of health care benefits is 9.0 % for the plan year ending August 31, 2026. The rate is assumed to decrease on a straight-line basis to 4.0 % for the plan year ending August 31, 2050 and remain at that level thereafter.
Table of Contents | Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements — (continued) (In thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share amounts or as otherwise disclosed) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-33 | ||||||||||
Pension and Postretirement Expense
Pension expense for fiscal 2025, 2024 and 2023 was $219,933 , $222,891 and $206,346 , respectively. Postretirement expense for fiscal 2025, 2024 and 2023 was not material to our Consolidated Financial Statements. The service cost component of pension and postretirement expense is included in operating expenses while the other components of net benefit cost are included in Other income (expense), net.
Benefit Obligation, Plan Assets and Funded Status
The changes in the benefit obligations, plan assets and funded status of our pension and postretirement benefit plans for fiscal 2025 and 2024 are as follows:
| Pension Plans | Postretirement Plans | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| August 31, 2025 | August 31, 2024 | August 31, 2025 | August 31, 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| U.S. Plans | Non-U.S. Plans | U.S. Plans | Non-U.S. Plans | U.S. and Non-U.S. Plans | U.S. and Non-U.S. Plans | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reconciliation of benefit obligation | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Benefit obligation, beginning of year | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Service cost | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Participant contributions | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Acquisitions/divestitures/transfers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Amendments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Actuarial (gain) loss | ( | ( | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Benefits paid | ( | ( | ( | ( | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Exchange rate impact | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Benefit obligation, end of year | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reconciliation of fair value of plan assets | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fair value of plan assets, beginning of year | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Actual return on plan assets | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Acquisitions/divestitures/transfers | ( | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Employer contributions | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Participant contributions | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Benefits paid | ( | ( | ( | ( | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Exchange rate impact | ( | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fair value of plan assets, end of year | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Funded status, end of year | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Amounts recognized in the Consolidated Balance Sheets | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-current assets | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Current liabilities | ( | ( | ( | ( | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-current liabilities | ( | ( | ( | ( | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Funded status, end of year | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Table of Contents | Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements — (continued) (In thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share amounts or as otherwise disclosed) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-34 | ||||||||||
Accumulated Other Comprehensive (Gain) Loss
The pre-tax accumulated net (gain) loss and prior service (credit) cost recognized in Accumulated other comprehensive (gain) loss as of August 31, 2025 and 2024 is as follows:
| Pension Plans | Postretirement Plans | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| August 31, 2025 | August 31, 2024 | August 31, 2025 | August 31, 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| U.S. Plans | Non-U.S. Plans | U.S. Plans | Non-U.S. Plans | U.S. and Non-U.S. Plans | U.S. and Non-U.S. Plans | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net (gain) loss | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | $ | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prior service (credit) cost | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Accumulated other comprehensive (gain) loss, pre-tax | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | $ | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Funded Status for Defined Benefit Plans
The accumulated benefit obligation for defined benefit pension plans as of August 31, 2025 and 2024 is as follows:
| August 31, 2025 | August 31, 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| U.S. Plans | Non-U.S. Plans | U.S. Plans | Non-U.S. Plans | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Accumulated benefit obligation | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
The following information is provided for defined benefit pension plans and postretirement plans with projected benefit obligations in excess of plan assets and for defined benefit pension plans with accumulated benefit obligations in excess of plan assets as of August 31, 2025 and 2024:
| Pension Plans | Postretirement Plans | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| August 31, 2025 | August 31, 2024 | August 31, 2025 | August 31, 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| U.S. Plans | Non-U.S. Plans | U.S. Plans | Non-U.S. Plans | U.S. and Non-U.S. Plans | U.S. and Non-U.S. Plans | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Projected benefit obligation in excess of plan assets | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Projected benefit obligation | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fair value of plan assets | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| August 31, 2025 | August 31, 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| U.S. Plans | Non-U.S. Plans | U.S. Plans | Non-U.S. Plans | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Accumulated benefit obligation in excess of plan assets | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Accumulated benefit obligation | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
| Fair value of plan assets | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Investment Strategies
U.S. Pension Plans
The overall investment objective of the defined benefit pension plans is to match the duration of the plans’ assets to the plans’ liabilities while managing risk in order to meet current defined benefit pension obligations. The plans’ future prospects, their current financial conditions, our current funding levels and other relevant factors suggest that the plans can tolerate some interim fluctuations in market value and rates of return in order to achieve long-term objectives without undue risk to the plans’ ability to meet their current benefit obligations. We recognize that asset allocation of the defined benefit pension plans’ assets is an important factor in determining long-term performance. Actual asset allocations at any point in time may
Table of Contents | Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements — (continued) (In thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share amounts or as otherwise disclosed) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-35 | ||||||||||
vary from the target asset allocations and will be dictated by current and anticipated market conditions, required cash flows and investment decisions of the investment committee and the pension plans’ investment funds and managers. Ranges are established to provide flexibility for the asset allocation to vary around the targets without the need for immediate rebalancing.
Non-U.S. Pension Plans
Plan assets in non-U.S. defined benefit pension plans conform to the investment policies and procedures of each plan and to relevant legislation. The pension committee or trustee of each plan regularly, but at least annually, reviews the investment policy and the performance of the investment managers. In certain countries, the trustee is also required to consult with us. Asset allocation decisions are made to provide risk adjusted returns that align with the overall investment strategy for each plan. Generally, the investment return objective of each plan is to achieve a total annualized rate of return that exceeds inflation over the long term by an amount based on the target asset allocation mix of that plan. In certain countries, plan assets are invested in funds that are required to hold a majority of assets in bonds, with a smaller proportion in equities. Also, certain plan assets are entirely invested in contracts held with the plan insurer, which determines the strategy. Defined benefit pension plans in certain countries are unfunded.
Risk Management
Plan investments are exposed to risks including market, interest rate and operating risk. In order to mitigate significant concentrations of these risks, the assets are invested in a diversified portfolio primarily consisting of fixed income instruments and equities. To minimize asset volatility relative to the liabilities, plan assets allocated to debt securities appropriately match the duration of individual plan liabilities. Equities are diversified between U.S. and non-U.S. index funds and are intended to achieve long term capital appreciation. Plan asset allocation and investment managers’ guidelines are reviewed on a regular basis.
Plan Assets
Our target allocation for fiscal 2026 and weighted-average plan assets allocations as of August 31, 2025 and 2024 by asset category for defined benefit pension plans are as follows:
| 2026 Target Allocation | 2025 | 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| U.S. Plans | Non-U.S. Plans | U.S. Plans | Non-U.S. Plans | U.S. Plans | Non-U.S. Plans | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Asset Category | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Equity securities | % | % | % | % | % | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Debt securities | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cash and short-term investments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Insurance contracts | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | % | % | % | % | % | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fair Value Measurements
Fair value is the price that would be received upon sale of an asset or paid upon transfer of a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date and in the principal or most advantageous market for that asset or liability. The fair value should be calculated based on assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability, not on assumptions specific to the entity.
The three-level hierarchy of fair value measurements is based on whether the inputs to those measurements are observable or unobservable. Observable inputs reflect market data obtained from independent sources, while unobservable inputs reflect our market assumptions. The fair-value hierarchy requires the use of observable market data when available and consists of the following levels:
•Level 1—Quoted prices for identical instruments in active markets;
•Level 2—Quoted prices for similar instruments in active markets; quoted prices for identical or similar instruments in markets that are not active; and model-derived valuations in which all significant inputs are observable in active markets; and
•Level 3—Valuations derived from valuation techniques in which one or more significant inputs are unobservable.
Table of Contents | Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements — (continued) (In thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share amounts or as otherwise disclosed) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-36 | ||||||||||
The fair values of defined benefit pension and postretirement plan assets as of August 31, 2025 are as follows:
| Non-U.S. Plans | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Total | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Equity | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mutual fund equity securities | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
| Fixed Income | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| U.S. government, state and local debt securities | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-U.S. government debt securities | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-U.S. corporate debt securities | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mutual fund debt securities | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cash and short-term investments | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Insurance contracts | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
The level 3 assets are primarily invested in an insurance buy-in contract in a Non-U.S. plan. The fair value of the assets is set to an actuarially calculated present value of the underlying liabilities.
The U.S. Plans have $246,267 in Level 2 assets, primarily made up of U.S. corporate debt securities of $167,631 and U.S. government, state and local debt securities of $38,030 .
The following table provides a reconciliation of the beginning and ending balances of Level 3 assets for fiscal 2025:
| Level 3 Assets | Fiscal 2025 | ||||
| Beginning balance | $ | ||||
| Changes in fair value | |||||
| Ending Balance | $ | ||||
The fair values of defined benefit pension and postretirement plan assets as of August 31, 2024 are as follows:
| Non-U.S. Plans | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Total | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Equity | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mutual fund equity securities | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
| Fixed Income | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| U.S. government, state and local debt securities | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-U.S. government debt securities | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-U.S. corporate debt securities | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mutual fund debt securities | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cash and short-term investments | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Insurance contracts | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
The level 3 assets are primarily invested in an insurance buy-in contract in a Non-U.S. plan. The fair value of the assets is set to an actuarially calculated present value of the underlying liabilities.
The U.S. Plans have $250,066 in Level 2 assets, primarily made up of U.S. corporate debt securities of $169,800 and U.S. government, state and local debt securities of $35,086 .
The following table provides a reconciliation of the beginning and ending balances of Level 3 assets for fiscal 2024:
| Level 3 Assets | Fiscal 2024 | ||||
| Beginning balance | $ | ||||
| Changes in fair value | |||||
| Ending Balance | $ | ||||
Table of Contents | Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements — (continued) (In thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share amounts or as otherwise disclosed) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-37 | ||||||||||
Expected Contributions
Generally, annual contributions are made at such times and in amounts as required by law and may, from time to time, exceed minimum funding requirements. We estimate we will pay approximately $170,941 in fiscal 2026 related to contributions to our U.S. and non-U.S. defined benefit pension plans and benefit payments related to the unfunded frozen plan for former pre-incorporation partners. We have not determined whether we will make additional voluntary contributions for our defined benefit pension plans. Our postretirement plan contributions in fiscal 2026 are not expected to be material to our Consolidated Financial Statements.
Estimated Future Benefit Payments
Benefit payments for defined benefit pension plans and postretirement plans, which reflect expected future service, as appropriate, are expected to be paid as follows:
| Pension Plans | Postretirement Plans | ||||||||||||||||
| U.S. Plans | Non-U.S. Plans | U.S. and Non-U.S. Plans | |||||||||||||||
| 2026 | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
| 2027 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2028 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2029 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2030 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2031-2035 | |||||||||||||||||
Defined Contribution Plans
Table of Contents | Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements — (continued) (In thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share amounts or as otherwise disclosed) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-38 | ||||||||||
13. Share-Based Compensation
Share Incentive Plans
The Amended and Restated Accenture plc 2010 Share Incentive Plan (the “Amended 2010 SIP”), is administered by the Compensation, Culture & People Committee of the Board of Directors of Accenture and provides for the grant of nonqualified share options, incentive stock options, restricted share units and other share-based awards. A maximum of 141,000,000 Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares are currently authorized for awards under the Amended 2010 SIP. As of August 31, 2025, there were 20,971,852 shares available for future grants. Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares covered by awards that terminate, lapse or are cancelled may again be used to satisfy awards under the Amended 2010 SIP. We issue new Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares and shares from treasury for shares delivered under the Amended 2010 SIP.
A summary of information with respect to share-based compensation is as follows:
| Fiscal | |||||||||||||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | |||||||||||||||
| Total share-based compensation expense included in Net income | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
| Income tax benefit related to share-based compensation included in Net income | |||||||||||||||||
Restricted Share Units
Under the Amended 2010 SIP, participants may be, and previously under the predecessor 2001 Share Incentive Plan were, granted restricted share units, each of which represent an unfunded, unsecured right to receive an Accenture plc Class A ordinary share on the date specified in the participant’s award agreement. The fair value of the awards is based on our stock price on the date of grant. The restricted share units granted under these plans are subject to cliff or graded vesting, generally ranging from to five years . For awards with graded vesting, compensation expense is recognized over the vesting term of each separately vesting portion. Compensation expense is recognized on a straight-line basis for awards with cliff vesting. Restricted share unit activity during fiscal 2025 is as follows:
| Number of Restricted Share Units | Weighted Average Grant-Date Fair Value | ||||||||||
| Nonvested balance as of August 31, 2024 | $ | ||||||||||
| Granted (1) | |||||||||||
| Vested (2) | ( | ||||||||||
| Forfeited | ( | ||||||||||
| Nonvested balance as of August 31, 2025 | $ | ||||||||||
(1)The weighted average grant-date fair value for restricted share units granted for fiscal 2025, 2024 and 2023 was $346.49 , $341.78 and $267.37 , respectively.
As of August 31, 2025, there was $1,671,700 of total unrecognized restricted share unit compensation expense related to nonvested awards, which is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of 1.1 years. As of August 31, 2025, there were 405,396 restricted share units vested but not yet delivered as Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares.
Table of Contents | Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements — (continued) (In thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share amounts or as otherwise disclosed) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-39 | ||||||||||
Employee Share Purchase Plan
2010 ESPP
The Amended and Restated Accenture plc 2010 Employee Share Purchase Plan (the “2010 ESPP”) is a nonqualified plan that provides eligible employees of Accenture plc and its designated affiliates with an opportunity to purchase Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares through payroll deductions. Under the 2010 ESPP, eligible employees may purchase Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares through the Employee Share Purchase Plan (the “ESPP”) or the Voluntary Equity Investment Program (the “VEIP”). Under the ESPP, eligible employees may elect to contribute 1 % to 10 % of their eligible compensation during each semi-annual offering period (up to $7.5 per offering period) to purchase Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares at a discount. Under the VEIP, eligible members of Accenture Leadership may elect to contribute up to 30 % of their eligible compensation towards the monthly purchase of Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares at fair market value. At the end of the VEIP program year, Accenture Leadership participants who did not withdraw from the program will be granted restricted share units under the Amended 2010 SIP equal to 50 % of the number of shares purchased during that year and held by the participant as of the grant date.
Table of Contents | Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements — (continued) (In thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share amounts or as otherwise disclosed) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-40 | ||||||||||
14. Shareholders’ Equity
Accenture plc
Ordinary Shares
We have 40,000 authorized ordinary shares, par value €1 per share. Each ordinary share of Accenture plc entitles its holder to receive payments upon a liquidation of Accenture plc; however, a holder of an ordinary share is not entitled to vote on matters submitted to a vote of shareholders of Accenture plc or to receive dividends.
Class A Ordinary Shares
An Accenture plc Class A ordinary share entitles its holder to one vote per share, and holders of those shares do not have cumulative voting rights. Each Class A ordinary share entitles its holder to a pro rata part of any dividend at the times and in the amounts, if any, which Accenture plc’s Board of Directors from time to time determines to declare, subject to any preferred dividend rights attaching to any preferred shares. Each Class A ordinary share is entitled on a winding-up of Accenture plc to be paid a pro rata part of the value of the assets of Accenture plc remaining after payment of its liabilities, subject to any preferred rights on liquidation attaching to any preferred shares.
Class X Ordinary Shares
Most of our pre-incorporation partners who received Accenture Canada Holdings Inc. exchangeable shares in connection with our transition to a corporate structure received a corresponding number of Accenture plc Class X ordinary shares. An Accenture plc Class X ordinary share entitles its holder to one vote per share, and holders of those shares do not have cumulative voting rights. A Class X ordinary share does not entitle its holder to receive dividends, and holders of those shares are not entitled to be paid any amount upon a winding-up of Accenture plc. Accenture plc may redeem, at its option, any Class X ordinary share for a redemption price equal to the par value of the Class X ordinary share. Accenture plc has separately agreed with the original holders of Accenture Canada Holdings Inc. exchangeable shares not to redeem any Class X ordinary share of such holder if the redemption would reduce the number of Class X ordinary shares held by that holder to a number that is less than the number of Accenture Canada Holdings Inc. exchangeable shares owned by that holder, as the case may be. Accenture plc will redeem Class X ordinary shares upon the redemption or exchange of Accenture Canada Holdings Inc. exchangeable shares so that the aggregate number of Class X ordinary shares outstanding at any time does not exceed the aggregate number of Accenture Canada Holdings Inc. exchangeable shares outstanding. Class X ordinary shares are not transferable without the consent of Accenture plc.
Equity of Subsidiaries Redeemable or Exchangeable for Accenture plc Class A Ordinary Shares
Accenture Canada Holdings Inc. Exchangeable Shares
Pre-incorporation partners resident in Canada and New Zealand received Accenture Canada Holdings Inc. exchangeable shares in connection with our transition to a corporate structure. Holders of Accenture Canada Holdings Inc. exchangeable shares may exchange their shares for Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares at any time on a one -for-one basis. We may, at our option, satisfy this exchange with cash at a price per share generally equal to the market price of an Accenture plc Class A ordinary share at the time of the exchange. Each exchangeable share of Accenture Canada Holdings Inc. entitles its holder to receive distributions equal to any distributions to which an Accenture plc Class A ordinary share entitles its holder.
Share Purchases and Redemptions
The Board of Directors of Accenture plc has authorized funding for our publicly announced open-market share purchase program for acquiring Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares and for purchases and redemptions of Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares and Accenture Canada Holdings Inc. exchangeable shares held by current and former members of Accenture Leadership and their permitted transferees. As of August 31, 2025, our aggregate available authorization was $2,850,777 for our publicly announced open-market share purchase and these other share purchase programs.
Table of Contents | Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements — (continued) (In thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share amounts or as otherwise disclosed) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-41 | ||||||||||
Our share purchase activity during fiscal 2025 is as follows:
| Accenture plc Class A Ordinary Shares | Accenture Canada Holdings Inc. Exchangeable Shares | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shares | Amount | Shares | Amount | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Open-market share purchases (1) | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Other share purchase programs | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other purchases (2) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||
(1)We conduct a publicly announced open-market share purchase program for Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares. These shares are held as treasury shares by Accenture plc and may be utilized to provide for select employee benefits, such as equity awards to our employees.
Cancellation of Treasury Shares
During fiscal 2025, we cancelled 22,738,965 Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares that were held as treasury shares and had an aggregate cost of $6,666,403 . The effect of the cancellation of these treasury shares was recognized in Class A ordinary shares and Additional paid-in capital with the residual recorded in Retained earnings. There was no effect on total shareholders’ equity as a result of this cancellation.
Dividends
Our dividend activity during fiscal 2025 is as follows:
| Dividend Per Share | Accenture plc Class A Ordinary Shares | Accenture Canada Holdings Inc. Exchangeable Shares | Total Cash Outlay | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dividend Payment Date | Record Date | Cash Outlay | Record Date | Cash Outlay | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| November 15, 2024 | $ | October 10, 2024 | $ | October 9, 2024 | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| February 14, 2025 | January 16, 2025 | January 15, 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| May 15, 2025 | April 10, 2025 | April 9, 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| August 15, 2025 | July 10, 2025 | July 9, 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Dividends | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The payment of cash dividends includes the net effect of $134,689 of additional restricted stock units being issued as a part of our share plans, which resulted in 415,705 restricted share units being issued.
Subsequent Events
On September 22, 2025, the Board of Directors of Accenture plc declared a quarterly cash dividend of $1.63 per share on our Class A ordinary shares for shareholders of record at the close of business on October 10, 2025, payable on November 14, 2025.
On September 22, 2025, the Board of Directors of Accenture plc approved $5,000,000 in additional share repurchase authority, bringing Accenture’s total outstanding authority to $7,850,777 .
Table of Contents | Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements — (continued) (In thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share amounts or as otherwise disclosed) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-42 | ||||||||||
15. Commitments and Contingencies
Indemnifications and Guarantees
In the normal course of business and in conjunction with certain client engagements, we have entered into contractual arrangements through which we may be obligated to indemnify clients with respect to certain matters. These arrangements with clients can include provisions whereby we have joint and several liability in relation to the performance of certain contractual obligations along with third parties also providing services and products for a specific project. In addition, our consulting arrangements may include warranty provisions that our solutions will substantially operate in accordance with the applicable system requirements. Indemnification provisions are also included in arrangements under which we agree to hold the indemnified party harmless with respect to third-party claims related to such matters as title to assets sold or licensed or certain intellectual property rights.
As of August 31, 2025 and 2024, our aggregate potential liability to our clients for expressly limited guarantees involving the performance of third parties was approximately $2,225,000 and $2,370,000 , respectively, of which all but approximately $55,000 and $61,000 , respectively, may be recovered from the other third parties if we are obligated to make payments to the indemnified parties as a consequence of a performance default by the other third parties. For arrangements with unspecified limitations, we cannot reasonably estimate the aggregate maximum potential liability, as it is inherently difficult to predict the maximum potential amount of such payments, due to the conditional nature and unique facts of each particular arrangement.
As of August 31, 2025 and 2024, we have issued or provided guarantees in the form of letters of credit and surety bonds of $1,997,596 ($1,788,832 net of recourse provisions) and $1,758,783 ($1,609,046 net of recourse provisions) respectively, the majority of which support certain contracts that require us to provide them as a guarantee of our performance. These guarantees are typically renewed annually and remain in place until the contractual obligations are satisfied. In general, we would only be liable for these guarantees in the event we defaulted in performing our obligations under each contract, the probability of which we believe is remote.
To date, we have not been required to make any significant payment under any of the arrangements described above. We have assessed the current status of performance/payment risk related to arrangements with limited guarantees, warranty obligations, unspecified limitations, indemnification provisions, letters of credit and surety bonds, and believe that any potential payments would be immaterial to the Consolidated Financial Statements, as a whole.
Legal Contingencies
As of August 31, 2025, we or our present personnel had been named as a defendant in various litigation matters. We and/or our personnel also from time to time are involved in investigations by various regulatory or legal authorities concerning matters arising in the course of our business around the world. Based on the present status of these matters, except as otherwise noted below, management believes the range of reasonably possible losses in addition to amounts accrued, net of insurance recoveries, will not have a material effect on our results of operations or financial condition.
On July 24, 2019, Accenture was named in a putative class action lawsuit filed by consumers of Marriott International, Inc. (“Marriott”) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. The complaint alleges negligence by us, and seeks monetary damages, costs and attorneys’ fees and other related relief, relating to a data security incident involving unauthorized access to the reservations database of Starwood Worldwide Resorts, Inc. (“Starwood”), which was acquired by Marriott on September 23, 2016. Since 2009, we have provided certain IT infrastructure outsourcing services to Starwood. On May 3, 2022, the court issued an order granting in part the plaintiffs’ motion for class certification, which we appealed. On August 17, 2023, the appeals court vacated the class certification and remanded the case to the district court for consideration of, among other things, the class action waiver signed by Starwood customer plaintiffs. On November 29, 2023, the district court reinstated the classes previously certified by the court in May 2022. We appealed the district court’s decision, and on June 3, 2025, the appeals court again reversed the class certification and declined to order another remand to the district court on those certification issues. We continue to believe the lawsuit is without merit and we will continue to vigorously defend it. At
Table of Contents | Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements — (continued) (In thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share amounts or as otherwise disclosed) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-43 | ||||||||||
present, we do not believe any losses from this matter will have a material effect on our results of operations or financial condition.
After Accenture Federal Services (“AFS”) made a voluntary disclosure to the U.S. government, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) initiated a civil and criminal investigation concerning whether one or more employees provided inaccurate submissions to an assessor who was evaluating on behalf of the U.S. government an AFS service offering and whether the service offering fully implemented required federal security controls. AFS is responding to an administrative subpoena and cooperating with DOJ’s investigation. This matter could subject us to adverse consequences, including civil and criminal penalties, including under the civil U.S. False Claims Act and/or other statutes, and administrative sanctions, such as termination of contracts, forfeiture of profits, suspension of payments, fines and suspensions or debarment from doing business with agencies of the U.S. government. We cannot at this time determine when or how this matter will be resolved or estimate the cost or range of costs in excess of the amounts already accrued that are reasonably likely to be incurred in connection with this matter.
Table of Contents | Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements — (continued) (In thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share amounts or as otherwise disclosed) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-44 | ||||||||||
16. Segment Reporting
Operating segments are components of an enterprise for which separate financial information is evaluated regularly by the chief operating decision maker(s). Our three reportable segments are our geographic markets: Americas, EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and Asia Pacific. Each market represents a strategic business unit providing consulting and managed services to clients across different industries.
Our chief operating decision makers are our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer who evaluate our reportable segments based on segment revenue and operating income. Company resources are aligned to reportable segments based on market demand.
Information regarding our geographic markets is as follows. Amounts are attributed to geographic markets based on where clients are located. Our expenses primarily consist of employee compensation costs, subcontractor costs and facilities and technology costs.
| Fiscal 2025 (1) | Americas | EMEA | Asia Pacific | Total | |||||||||||||||||||
| Revenues | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
| Less: | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Payroll costs | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-payroll costs including subcontractor costs (2) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Depreciation and amortization (3) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Business optimization costs (4) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating income | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net assets as of August 31, 2025 (5) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Property & equipment, net as of August 31, 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fiscal 2024 (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Revenues | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
| Less: | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Payroll costs | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-payroll costs including subcontractor costs (2) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Depreciation and amortization (3) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Business optimization costs (4) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating income | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net assets as of August 31, 2024 (5) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Property & equipment, net as of August 31, 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fiscal 2023 (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Revenues | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
| Less: | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Payroll costs | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-payroll costs including subcontractor costs (2) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Depreciation and amortization (3) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Business optimization costs (4) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating income | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net assets as of August 31, 2023 (5) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Property & equipment, net as of August 31, 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
(1)During the first quarter of fiscal 2025, our Latin America market unit moved from Growth Markets to North America. With this change, North America became the Americas market and Growth Markets became the Asia Pacific market. Additionally, during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, we retrospectively adopted Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2023-07, Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures. Prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform with the current period presentation.
(2)Non-payroll costs primarily include subcontractor costs and other non-payroll such as facilities, technology and travel costs.
(3)Amounts include depreciation on property and equipment and amortization of intangible assets and deferred transition costs.
(4)Costs recorded in connection with business optimization actions initiated in fiscal 2025 include $344 million for employee severance associated with headcount reductions we are making in a compressed timeline and $271 million for asset impairments primarily related to the divestiture of two acquisitions in the Americas that are no longer aligned with our strategic priorities. Costs recorded in connection with business optimization actions initiated in fiscal 2023 and completed in fiscal 2024 primarily include employee severance.
(5)We do not allocate total assets by reportable segment. Reportable segment assets directly attributable to a reportable segment and provided to the chief operating decision makers include receivables and current and non-current contract assets, deferred contract costs and current and non-current deferred revenues.
The accounting policies of the reportable segments are the same as those described in Note 1 (Summary of Significant Accounting Policies) to these Consolidated Financial Statements.
Table of Contents | Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements — (continued) (In thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share amounts or as otherwise disclosed) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-45 | ||||||||||
Our business in the United States represented 45 1
We conduct business in Ireland and in the following countries that hold 10% or more of our total consolidated Property and equipment, net:
| August 31, 2025 | August 31, 2024 | August 31, 2023 | |||||||||||||||
| United States | % | % | % | ||||||||||||||
| India | |||||||||||||||||
| Ireland | |||||||||||||||||
Revenues by industry group and type of work are as follows:
| Fiscal | |||||||||||||||||
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | |||||||||||||||
| Industry Groups | |||||||||||||||||
| Communications, Media & Technology | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
| Financial Services | |||||||||||||||||
| Health & Public Service | |||||||||||||||||
| Products | |||||||||||||||||
| Resources | |||||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
| Type of Work | |||||||||||||||||
| Consulting | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
| Managed Services | |||||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
Table of Contents | Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements — (continued) (In thousands of U.S. dollars, except share and per share amounts or as otherwise disclosed) | ||||||||||
ACCENTURE 2025 FORM 10-K | F-46 | ||||||||||
17. Quarterly Data (unaudited)
| Fiscal 2025 | First Quarter | Second Quarter | Third Quarter | Fourth Quarter | Annual | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Revenues | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cost of services | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating income | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net income | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net income attributable to Accenture plc | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weighted average Class A ordinary shares: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| —Basic | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| —Diluted | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Earnings per Class A ordinary share: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| —Basic | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| —Diluted | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fiscal 2024 | First Quarter | Second Quarter | Third Quarter | Fourth Quarter | Annual | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Revenues | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cost of services | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating income | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net income | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net income attributable to Accenture plc | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weighted average Class A ordinary shares: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| —Basic | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| —Diluted | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Earnings per Class A ordinary share: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| —Basic | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| —Diluted | $ | $ | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
FAQ
What business optimization costs did Accenture (ACN) record in fiscal 2025?
Accenture recorded $615 million in business optimization costs in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, including approximately $344 million of severance and $271 million of asset impairments.
How much additional share repurchase authority did Accenture (ACN) approve?
On September 22, 2025 , the Board approved an additional $5.0 billion of repurchase authority, bringing total outstanding authorization to about $7.85 billion.
How much did Accenture invest in training during fiscal 2025?
Accenture invested approximately $1.0 billion in learning and professional development and delivered about 47 million training hours in fiscal 2025.
What is Accenture's exposure to unrecognized tax benefits?
As of August 31, 2025 , Accenture reported $2.41 billion of unrecognized tax benefits, of which $1.61 billion would favorably affect the effective tax rate if recognized.
Did Accenture report any material cyber incidents in fiscal 2025?
The filing states Accenture has experienced cybersecurity incidents historically but notes that, to date, such incidents have not had a material impact on the company’s business or strategy.
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