BDO Pakihi Taitokerau

We’re delighted to announce the launch of BDO Pakihi Taitokerau, a majority Māori owned BDO Māori business advisory entity of BDO Northland.  

BDO Pakihi, pakihi being the Māori word for business, will operate through a te ao Māori lens, balancing people, planet and profit to ensure the best outcomes for generations to come, as well as today. 

Working specifically with Māori businesses, we have the knowledge and passion to help see the Māori business sector thrive.  

Helping Māori businesses operate sustainably 

BDO Pakihi has sustainable outcomes at our heart. Kaitiakitanga will be a central value, and ESG will underlie company decisions. The core Māori value set and decision-making process undertaken ensures we will always seek holistic outcomes. BDO Pakihi will work with a number of clients, across all sectors and service lines, and will support clients to navigate through their reporting requirements when it comes to climate change. Internally we are working hard to ensure we are operating sustainably through a variety of carbon and waste reduction measures. Our people are volunteering on a number of Northland organisations to enhance and protect te taiao, the environment. 

We also work with clients on programmes to help advance Māori in the regions. For example, we are working with iwi to ensure Māori youth are financially literate and can go into management positions when ready. We are also helping various sectors to improve financial and business literacy.  

Internally when it comes to our people, we work hard to ensure all our people in BDO Pakihi are valued and heard – we have a child-friendly office space, flexible work, and a comprehensive wellbeing framework in place, and we also make sure all our people have input before business decisions are made.  

Helping whānau across Northland succeed 

We know that whānau is not just the people in our offices and their immediate families. The BDO Pakihi team works with whānau across Northland on a variety of social programmes and partners with a number of organisations. This includes assisting to deliver the Wāhine Mā programme, which helps to empower Māori women in business, supporting businesses post covid, and sponsoring both the Te Tai Tokerau Māori Business Awards and the Youth Enterprise Scheme Māori Business Award. The BDO Pakihi team also volunteers on a number of Boards across Tai Tokerau to support local organisations and sports clubs. 

We know there will always be more to do and we are on a journey when it comes to infusing te ao Māori into every aspect of our business. We are hoping to learn as we go so that we can continually improve, develop internal knowledge around te reo and tikanga and make sure we are serving our communities and the Northland region in the best way possible.  

BDO Pakihi is part of BDO’s Māori business team. You can learn more about our services here, as well as our commitment to increasing the number of Māori in the accounting profession through our BDO Sir Henare Ngata Scholarship for Māori accountants here.