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Accenture

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FY2012 Annual Report · Accenture
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We were pleased with our financial results for fiscal 2012,  
which met or exceeded our business outlook for the year. 
Twelve months ended August 31, 2012

Revenues before reimbursements (“net revenues”) 
Representing growth of 9 percent in US dollars and 11 percent in local currency over fiscal 2011

Diluted earnings per share 
Representing growth of 13 percent in US dollars over fiscal 2011

 $27.9B
 $3.84
 $3.9B
 $32BNew bookings
 13.9%

Operating margin
Defined as operating income as a percentage of net revenues  
Representing an expansion of 30 basis points over fiscal 2011

Free cash flow
Defined as operating cash flow of $4.26 billion net of property and equipment additions of $372 million

2012 Letter from Our Chief Executive Officer

Our strong performance in fiscal 2012 
demonstrates that our growth strategy 
enabled us to further differentiate 
Accenture in the marketplace and deliver 
significant value to shareholders. 

Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares are traded on the  
New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ACN.

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 
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (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 this letter or on our 
website to be part of the Annual Report on Form 10-K. This 
letter and our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal 
year ended August 31, 2012, together constitute Accenture’s 
annual report to security holders for purposes of Rule 
14a-3(b) of the Exchange Act.

Rights to trademarks referenced herein, other than 
Accenture trademarks, belong to their respective owners. 
We disclaim proprietary interest in the marks and names  
of others.

We have included in this letter “forward-looking 
statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the 
Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of 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 “will,” “expect,” “believe” 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 in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly 
Reports on Form 10-Q (available through the Investor 
Relations section of our website at http://investor.accenture.
com) under the sections entitled “Risk Factors.” Our 
forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this 
letter or as of the date they are made, and we undertake no 
obligation to update them.

This letter contains certain non-GAAP (Generally Accepted 
Accounting Principles) measures that our management 
believes provide our shareholders with additional insights 
into Accenture’s results of operations. The non-GAAP 
measures in this letter are supplemental in nature. They 
should not be considered in isolation or as alternatives to 
net income as indicators of company performance, cash 
flows from operating activities as measures of liquidity or 
other financial information prepared in accordance with 
GAAP. Reconciliations of this non-GAAP financial information 
to Accenture’s financial statements as prepared under GAAP 
are included in this letter.

Copyright © 2012 Accenture  
All rights reserved.

Accenture, its logo, and  
High Performance Delivered 
are trademarks of Accenture. 

All amounts throughout this letter are 
stated in US dollars, except where noted. 

The Accenture 2012 Letter from Our  
Chief Executive Officer was printed  
on FSC-certified Mohawk Options,  
a process-chlorine-free 100 percent 
post-consumer waste recycled paper.

 
We were pleased with our financial results for fiscal 2012,  
which met or exceeded our business outlook for the year. 
Twelve months ended August 31, 2012

Revenues before reimbursements (“net revenues”) 
Representing growth of 9 percent in US dollars and 11 percent in local currency over fiscal 2011

Diluted earnings per share 
Representing growth of 13 percent in US dollars over fiscal 2011

 $27.9B
 $3.84
 $3.9B
 $32BNew bookings
 13.9%

Operating margin
Defined as operating income as a percentage of net revenues  
Representing an expansion of 30 basis points over fiscal 2011

Free cash flow
Defined as operating cash flow of $4.26 billion net of property and equipment additions of $372 million

2012 Letter from Our Chief Executive Officer

Our strong performance in fiscal 2012 
demonstrates that our growth strategy 
enabled us to further differentiate 
Accenture in the marketplace and deliver 
significant value to shareholders. 

Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares are traded on the  
New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ACN.

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 
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (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 this letter or on our 
website to be part of the Annual Report on Form 10-K. This 
letter and our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal 
year ended August 31, 2012, together constitute Accenture’s 
annual report to security holders for purposes of Rule 
14a-3(b) of the Exchange Act.

Rights to trademarks referenced herein, other than 
Accenture trademarks, belong to their respective owners. 
We disclaim proprietary interest in the marks and names  
of others.

We have included in this letter “forward-looking 
statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the 
Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of 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 “will,” “expect,” “believe” 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 in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly 
Reports on Form 10-Q (available through the Investor 
Relations section of our website at http://investor.accenture.
com) under the sections entitled “Risk Factors.” Our 
forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this 
letter or as of the date they are made, and we undertake no 
obligation to update them.

This letter contains certain non-GAAP (Generally Accepted 
Accounting Principles) measures that our management 
believes provide our shareholders with additional insights 
into Accenture’s results of operations. The non-GAAP 
measures in this letter are supplemental in nature. They 
should not be considered in isolation or as alternatives to 
net income as indicators of company performance, cash 
flows from operating activities as measures of liquidity or 
other financial information prepared in accordance with 
GAAP. Reconciliations of this non-GAAP financial information 
to Accenture’s financial statements as prepared under GAAP 
are included in this letter.

Copyright © 2012 Accenture  
All rights reserved.

Accenture, its logo, and  
High Performance Delivered 
are trademarks of Accenture. 

All amounts throughout this letter are 
stated in US dollars, except where noted. 

The Accenture 2012 Letter from Our  
Chief Executive Officer was printed  
on FSC-certified Mohawk Options,  
a process-chlorine-free 100 percent 
post-consumer waste recycled paper.

 
“ Our excellent results in fiscal 
2012 were the result of the 
continued focused execution  
of our growth strategy.”

Pierre Nanterme  
Chief Executive Officer

Fiscal 2012 was another year of significant growth for Accenture. 
Despite an uncertain economic environment, we delivered 
excellent results, reflecting our diverse portfolio of business 
and the focused execution of our growth strategy. Here are  
a few highlights: 

•	 We	generated	net	revenues	of	$27.9	billion,	our	highest	 
ever and an increase of 11 percent in local currency.

•	 EPS	increased	13	percent	in	US	dollars,	to	$3.84.
•	 We	delivered	record	annual	bookings	of	more	than	

$32 billion.

•	 Our	operating	margin	expanded	30	basis	points,	 

to	13.9	percent.

•	 We	generated	free	cash	flow	of	$3.9	billion	and	 

maintained a very strong balance sheet.

•	 We	continued	to	return	cash	to	shareholders	through	 
more than $3 billion of share repurchases and dividend 
payments, and we increased our semi-annual cash  
dividend by 20 percent shortly after year-end.

In addition, we were pleased to be added to the S&P 100  
Index in fiscal 2012, just a year after being added to the  
S&P 500 Index.

Our main focus in fiscal 2012 was, as it always is, on our  
clients, helping them address the challenges presented by the 
long-term trends of globalization, regulation, rationalization 
and technology innovation. To do this, we combine our unique 
capabilities across management consulting, technology and 
business process outsourcing to provide highly differentiated, 
industry-based, end-to-end services. 

Whether	helping	Oi, one of Brazil’s leading providers of 
communications services, transform its business operations and 
support strategic growth objectives; helping BP consolidate 
and run its finance and accounting function across Europe and 
North America, using advanced analytics to drive greater 
insights into the business; or helping Procter & Gamble build 
and manage digital marketing campaigns to support more  
than 100 brands globally and increase revenues through new 
channels, we remain focused on delivering value to our clients 
and helping them achieve high performance. 

Our ability to create value and drive tangible results is why  
we have long and enduring relationships with so many of  
the world’s leading companies, including more than three-
quarters of the Fortune Global 500. Of our top 100 clients in 
fiscal	2012,	99	have	been	clients	for	at	least	five	years,	and	92 	
have been clients for at least 10 years. This longevity speaks  
to our ability to operate at the heart of our clients’ businesses, 
supporting their most complex mission-critical issues. 

During fiscal 2012, we focused on further differentiating 
Accenture in the marketplace and improving our competitiveness. 
Specifically, we made investments in our strategic technology 
initiatives, our Global Delivery Network, our industry skills and 
capabilities, and geographic expansion, while enhancing our 
operating efficiency. 

Accenture is a market leader in technology services, and  
we continue to strengthen our position by investing in 
fast-growing areas such as cloud, analytics, digital marketing, 

mobility	and	smart	grid.	We	are	now	operating	at	scale	in 	 
each of these areas in response to increased demand  
from our clients. In mobility, for example, we more than 
doubled our revenues in fiscal 2012, with more than  
1,000 client projects around the world featuring a mobility 
component. And in cloud, we are now engaged in or have 
completed projects for more than half of the Fortune 
Global 100. 

Our Global Delivery Network remains an important 
differentiator for Accenture, representing our supply chain 
for global client service as well as a key driver of our own 
productivity	and	competitiveness.	With	our	Global	Delivery	
Network team of 162,000 people and more than 50 delivery 
centers around the world, we have the scope and scale to 
meet our clients’ needs when and where they need us. 

Our industry expertise is another key differentiator, and 
today more than 150,000 of our people have specialized 
industry	skills	and	are	aligned	to	specific	industries.	We	
continue to invest to enhance our industry capabilities, 
especially in our priority industries. For example, we 
strengthened our offerings in banking with the acquisition 
of Zenta, a provider of mortgage-processing services in  
the United States. Accenture Credit Services is now one  
of the country’s top three third-party mortgage 
processors.	We	also	have	enhanced	our	services	in	
pharmaceuticals and consumer goods through the 
acquisitions of Octagon Research Solutions and NewsPage 
since the end of fiscal 2012. 

Geographic expansion remains an important part of  
our growth agenda, and we continue to invest in both 
mature under-penetrated markets as well as priority 
emerging markets. In fiscal 2012 we were particularly 
pleased that revenues in the United States, our largest 
market, grew 13 percent, and we continue to make 
excellent	progress	there.	We	also	delivered	solid	results	
across our 10 priority emerging markets, increasing their 
total	revenues	by	9	percent	in	US	dollars	and	16	percent	 
in local currency. 

In fiscal 2012 we continued to take a balanced approach  
to growing the top line and improving operating costs 
while investing in our business. Among the many strategic 
actions we took were further expanding the use of our 
Global Delivery Network to optimize delivery costs, 
leveraging collaboration technologies to enable our people 
to work more efficiently and driving efficiencies to reduce 
administrative expenses. 

The Accenture brand is another key component of our 
strategy.	We	launched	a	new	global	brand	campaign	in	
fiscal 2012 that took our “High performance. Delivered.” 
positioning to the next level—demonstrating the full  
depth and breadth of the company’s capabilities and 
focusing on the value Accenture creates for its clients.  
The Accenture brand increased in value in 2012, moving  
up	to	No.	43	on	Interbrand’s	Best	Global	Brands	list.	

We	ended	the	year	with	257,000	people	serving	clients	
across	more	than	120	countries.	We	continue	to	invest	 
in training and professional development, spending more 
than	$850	million	in	fiscal	2012	to	ensure	that	all	of	our 	
employees have the necessary skills to serve our clients at 
the	highest	level.	We’re	particularly	proud	that	in	January	
Accenture was named to Fortune magazine’s “100 Best 
Companies	to	Work	For”	list	for	the	fourth	consecutive	year.

In addition to our commitments to our clients and our 
people, we also focus on the communities in which we live 
and work. I’m very pleased that, by the end of fiscal 2012, 
we were nearly two-thirds of the way to meeting our goal 
for our Skills to Succeed initiative: to equip 250,000 
people with workplace and entrepreneurial skills by 2015. 
In addition, Accenture and the Accenture Foundations have 
already contributed nearly half of the $100 million we 
committed to provide by the end of 2013 through global 
and local giving as well as pro bono services by Accenture 
employees. 

Our commitment to corporate citizenship includes our 
environmental strategy, which spans our entire business—
from internal operations, to the sustainability services  
we provide clients, to how we engage with suppliers  
and	employees.	We	continue	working	to	improve	our	
environmental performance, including reducing our 
per-employee carbon emissions. 

On February 1, 2013, our chairman, Bill Green, will  
retire from Accenture and step down from our board.  
On behalf of our entire company, I want to thank Bill for  
his tremendous service and contributions to Accenture 
over the past 35 years—not only as chairman and chief 
executive officer, but in his many other leadership roles. 
We	wish	him	all	the	best.	

In closing, I want to thank all of our men and women for 
their commitment to Accenture and our clients. Through 
the disciplined execution of our growth strategy, we had 
great success in fiscal 2012—and we are confident in our 
ability to continue to drive profitable growth in fiscal 2013.

Revenues Before Reimbursements*

Years Ended August 31  
(US dollar amounts in billions)

2012   $ 27.9 
  25.5 
2011  
  21.6 
2010 
  21.6
2009 
  23.4
2008 
  19.7
2007 
  16.6
2006 
  15.5
2005 
  13.7
2004 
  11.8
2003 
  11.6
2002 
  11.4
2001 

2001

2002

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

2012

Comparison of Cumulative Total Return

August 31, 2007 to August 31, 2012  
Accenture vs. S&P 500 Stock Index and S&P 500 Information Technology Sector Index 

$30.0

$25.0

$20.0

$15.0

$10.0

$5.0

$0.0

* This chart reflects revenues before reimbursements 
(“net revenues”) for all years since Accenture’s initial 
public offering. Reimbursements include travel and 
out-of-pocket expenses and third-party costs, such 
as the cost of hardware and software resales. Our 
revenues are denominated in multiple currencies 
and may be significantly affected by currency 
exchange-rate fluctuations. In fiscal 2012, these 
fluctuations resulted in unfavorable currency 
translation and US dollar revenue results that were 
approximately 2 percent lower than our revenue 
results in local currency. In fiscal 2011, these 
fluctuations resulted in favorable currency 
translation and US dollar revenue results that  
were approximately 3 percent higher than our 
results in local currency. 

$200

$150

$100

$50

$0

Accenture 
S&P 500
S&P 500 Information Technology Sector Index

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

The performance graph to the left shows the 
cumulative total shareholder return on our Class A 
shares for the period starting on August 31, 2007, 
and ending on August 31, 2012, which was the end 
of fiscal 2012. This is compared with the cumulative 
total returns over the same period of the S&P 500 
Index and the S&P 500 Information Technology 
Sector Index. The graph assumes that on August 31, 
2007, $100 was invested in our Class A shares and 
$100 was invested in each of the other two indices, 
with dividends reinvested on the date of payment 
without payment of any commissions. The performance 
shown in the graph represents past performance 
and should not be considered an indication of 
future performance.

Pierre Nanterme  
Chief Executive Officer  
December 17, 2012

Indexed Prices as of August 31,

Accenture 
S&P 500 
S&P 500 Information  

2007 

$100 
100 

2008 

$101 
89 

Technology Sector Index 

100 

91 

2009 

$82 
73 

83 

2010 

$94 
76 

2011 

$140 
  90 

85 

103 

2012

$164
107

130

 
 
  
 
“ Our excellent results in fiscal 
2012 were the result of the 
continued focused execution  
of our growth strategy.”

Pierre Nanterme  
Chief Executive Officer

Fiscal 2012 was another year of significant growth for Accenture. 
Despite an uncertain economic environment, we delivered 
excellent results, reflecting our diverse portfolio of business 
and the focused execution of our growth strategy. Here are  
a few highlights: 

•	 We	generated	net	revenues	of	$27.9	billion,	our	highest	 
ever and an increase of 11 percent in local currency.

•	 EPS	increased	13	percent	in	US	dollars,	to	$3.84.
•	 We	delivered	record	annual	bookings	of	more	than	

$32 billion.

•	 Our	operating	margin	expanded	30	basis	points,	 

to	13.9	percent.

•	 We	generated	free	cash	flow	of	$3.9	billion	and	 

maintained a very strong balance sheet.

•	 We	continued	to	return	cash	to	shareholders	through	 
more than $3 billion of share repurchases and dividend 
payments, and we increased our semi-annual cash  
dividend by 20 percent shortly after year-end.

In addition, we were pleased to be added to the S&P 100  
Index in fiscal 2012, just a year after being added to the  
S&P 500 Index.

Our main focus in fiscal 2012 was, as it always is, on our  
clients, helping them address the challenges presented by the 
long-term trends of globalization, regulation, rationalization 
and technology innovation. To do this, we combine our unique 
capabilities across management consulting, technology and 
business process outsourcing to provide highly differentiated, 
industry-based, end-to-end services. 

Whether	helping	Oi, one of Brazil’s leading providers of 
communications services, transform its business operations and 
support strategic growth objectives; helping BP consolidate 
and run its finance and accounting function across Europe and 
North America, using advanced analytics to drive greater 
insights into the business; or helping Procter & Gamble build 
and manage digital marketing campaigns to support more  
than 100 brands globally and increase revenues through new 
channels, we remain focused on delivering value to our clients 
and helping them achieve high performance. 

Our ability to create value and drive tangible results is why  
we have long and enduring relationships with so many of  
the world’s leading companies, including more than three-
quarters of the Fortune Global 500. Of our top 100 clients in 
fiscal	2012,	99	have	been	clients	for	at	least	five	years,	and	92 	
have been clients for at least 10 years. This longevity speaks  
to our ability to operate at the heart of our clients’ businesses, 
supporting their most complex mission-critical issues. 

During fiscal 2012, we focused on further differentiating 
Accenture in the marketplace and improving our competitiveness. 
Specifically, we made investments in our strategic technology 
initiatives, our Global Delivery Network, our industry skills and 
capabilities, and geographic expansion, while enhancing our 
operating efficiency. 

Accenture is a market leader in technology services, and  
we continue to strengthen our position by investing in 
fast-growing areas such as cloud, analytics, digital marketing, 

mobility	and	smart	grid.	We	are	now	operating	at	scale	in 	 
each of these areas in response to increased demand  
from our clients. In mobility, for example, we more than 
doubled our revenues in fiscal 2012, with more than  
1,000 client projects around the world featuring a mobility 
component. And in cloud, we are now engaged in or have 
completed projects for more than half of the Fortune 
Global 100. 

Our Global Delivery Network remains an important 
differentiator for Accenture, representing our supply chain 
for global client service as well as a key driver of our own 
productivity	and	competitiveness.	With	our	Global	Delivery	
Network team of 162,000 people and more than 50 delivery 
centers around the world, we have the scope and scale to 
meet our clients’ needs when and where they need us. 

Our industry expertise is another key differentiator, and 
today more than 150,000 of our people have specialized 
industry	skills	and	are	aligned	to	specific	industries.	We	
continue to invest to enhance our industry capabilities, 
especially in our priority industries. For example, we 
strengthened our offerings in banking with the acquisition 
of Zenta, a provider of mortgage-processing services in  
the United States. Accenture Credit Services is now one  
of the country’s top three third-party mortgage 
processors.	We	also	have	enhanced	our	services	in	
pharmaceuticals and consumer goods through the 
acquisitions of Octagon Research Solutions and NewsPage 
since the end of fiscal 2012. 

Geographic expansion remains an important part of  
our growth agenda, and we continue to invest in both 
mature under-penetrated markets as well as priority 
emerging markets. In fiscal 2012 we were particularly 
pleased that revenues in the United States, our largest 
market, grew 13 percent, and we continue to make 
excellent	progress	there.	We	also	delivered	solid	results	
across our 10 priority emerging markets, increasing their 
total	revenues	by	9	percent	in	US	dollars	and	16	percent	 
in local currency. 

In fiscal 2012 we continued to take a balanced approach  
to growing the top line and improving operating costs 
while investing in our business. Among the many strategic 
actions we took were further expanding the use of our 
Global Delivery Network to optimize delivery costs, 
leveraging collaboration technologies to enable our people 
to work more efficiently and driving efficiencies to reduce 
administrative expenses. 

The Accenture brand is another key component of our 
strategy.	We	launched	a	new	global	brand	campaign	in	
fiscal 2012 that took our “High performance. Delivered.” 
positioning to the next level—demonstrating the full  
depth and breadth of the company’s capabilities and 
focusing on the value Accenture creates for its clients.  
The Accenture brand increased in value in 2012, moving  
up	to	No.	43	on	Interbrand’s	Best	Global	Brands	list.	

We	ended	the	year	with	257,000	people	serving	clients	
across	more	than	120	countries.	We	continue	to	invest	 
in training and professional development, spending more 
than	$850	million	in	fiscal	2012	to	ensure	that	all	of	our 	
employees have the necessary skills to serve our clients at 
the	highest	level.	We’re	particularly	proud	that	in	January	
Accenture was named to Fortune magazine’s “100 Best 
Companies	to	Work	For”	list	for	the	fourth	consecutive	year.

In addition to our commitments to our clients and our 
people, we also focus on the communities in which we live 
and work. I’m very pleased that, by the end of fiscal 2012, 
we were nearly two-thirds of the way to meeting our goal 
for our Skills to Succeed initiative: to equip 250,000 
people with workplace and entrepreneurial skills by 2015. 
In addition, Accenture and the Accenture Foundations have 
already contributed nearly half of the $100 million we 
committed to provide by the end of 2013 through global 
and local giving as well as pro bono services by Accenture 
employees. 

Our commitment to corporate citizenship includes our 
environmental strategy, which spans our entire business—
from internal operations, to the sustainability services  
we provide clients, to how we engage with suppliers  
and	employees.	We	continue	working	to	improve	our	
environmental performance, including reducing our 
per-employee carbon emissions. 

On February 1, 2013, our chairman, Bill Green, will  
retire from Accenture and step down from our board.  
On behalf of our entire company, I want to thank Bill for  
his tremendous service and contributions to Accenture 
over the past 35 years—not only as chairman and chief 
executive officer, but in his many other leadership roles. 
We	wish	him	all	the	best.	

In closing, I want to thank all of our men and women for 
their commitment to Accenture and our clients. Through 
the disciplined execution of our growth strategy, we had 
great success in fiscal 2012—and we are confident in our 
ability to continue to drive profitable growth in fiscal 2013.

Revenues Before Reimbursements*

Years Ended August 31  
(US dollar amounts in billions)

2012   $ 27.9 
  25.5 
2011  
  21.6 
2010 
  21.6
2009 
  23.4
2008 
  19.7
2007 
  16.6
2006 
  15.5
2005 
  13.7
2004 
  11.8
2003 
  11.6
2002 
  11.4
2001 

2001

2002

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

2012

Comparison of Cumulative Total Return

August 31, 2007 to August 31, 2012  
Accenture vs. S&P 500 Stock Index and S&P 500 Information Technology Sector Index 

$30.0

$25.0

$20.0

$15.0

$10.0

$5.0

$0.0

* This chart reflects revenues before reimbursements 
(“net revenues”) for all years since Accenture’s initial 
public offering. Reimbursements include travel and 
out-of-pocket expenses and third-party costs, such 
as the cost of hardware and software resales. Our 
revenues are denominated in multiple currencies 
and may be significantly affected by currency 
exchange-rate fluctuations. In fiscal 2012, these 
fluctuations resulted in unfavorable currency 
translation and US dollar revenue results that were 
approximately 2 percent lower than our revenue 
results in local currency. In fiscal 2011, these 
fluctuations resulted in favorable currency 
translation and US dollar revenue results that  
were approximately 3 percent higher than our 
results in local currency. 

$200

$150

$100

$50

$0

Accenture 
S&P 500
S&P 500 Information Technology Sector Index

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

The performance graph to the left shows the 
cumulative total shareholder return on our Class A 
shares for the period starting on August 31, 2007, 
and ending on August 31, 2012, which was the end 
of fiscal 2012. This is compared with the cumulative 
total returns over the same period of the S&P 500 
Index and the S&P 500 Information Technology 
Sector Index. The graph assumes that on August 31, 
2007, $100 was invested in our Class A shares and 
$100 was invested in each of the other two indices, 
with dividends reinvested on the date of payment 
without payment of any commissions. The performance 
shown in the graph represents past performance 
and should not be considered an indication of 
future performance.

Pierre Nanterme  
Chief Executive Officer  
December 17, 2012

Indexed Prices as of August 31,

Accenture 
S&P 500 
S&P 500 Information  

2007 

$100 
100 

2008 

$101 
89 

Technology Sector Index 

100 

91 

2009 

$82 
73 

83 

2010 

$94 
76 

2011 

$140 
  90 

85 

103 

2012

$164
107

130

 
 
  
 
“ Our excellent results in fiscal 
2012 were the result of the 
continued focused execution  
of our growth strategy.”

Pierre Nanterme  
Chief Executive Officer

Fiscal 2012 was another year of significant growth for Accenture. 
Despite an uncertain economic environment, we delivered 
excellent results, reflecting our diverse portfolio of business 
and the focused execution of our growth strategy. Here are  
a few highlights: 

•	 We	generated	net	revenues	of	$27.9	billion,	our	highest	 
ever and an increase of 11 percent in local currency.

•	 EPS	increased	13	percent	in	US	dollars,	to	$3.84.
•	 We	delivered	record	annual	bookings	of	more	than	

$32 billion.

•	 Our	operating	margin	expanded	30	basis	points,	 

to	13.9	percent.

•	 We	generated	free	cash	flow	of	$3.9	billion	and	 

maintained a very strong balance sheet.

•	 We	continued	to	return	cash	to	shareholders	through	 
more than $3 billion of share repurchases and dividend 
payments, and we increased our semi-annual cash  
dividend by 20 percent shortly after year-end.

In addition, we were pleased to be added to the S&P 100  
Index in fiscal 2012, just a year after being added to the  
S&P 500 Index.

Our main focus in fiscal 2012 was, as it always is, on our  
clients, helping them address the challenges presented by the 
long-term trends of globalization, regulation, rationalization 
and technology innovation. To do this, we combine our unique 
capabilities across management consulting, technology and 
business process outsourcing to provide highly differentiated, 
industry-based, end-to-end services. 

Whether	helping	Oi, one of Brazil’s leading providers of 
communications services, transform its business operations and 
support strategic growth objectives; helping BP consolidate 
and run its finance and accounting function across Europe and 
North America, using advanced analytics to drive greater 
insights into the business; or helping Procter & Gamble build 
and manage digital marketing campaigns to support more  
than 100 brands globally and increase revenues through new 
channels, we remain focused on delivering value to our clients 
and helping them achieve high performance. 

Our ability to create value and drive tangible results is why  
we have long and enduring relationships with so many of  
the world’s leading companies, including more than three-
quarters of the Fortune Global 500. Of our top 100 clients in 
fiscal	2012,	99	have	been	clients	for	at	least	five	years,	and	92 	
have been clients for at least 10 years. This longevity speaks  
to our ability to operate at the heart of our clients’ businesses, 
supporting their most complex mission-critical issues. 

During fiscal 2012, we focused on further differentiating 
Accenture in the marketplace and improving our competitiveness. 
Specifically, we made investments in our strategic technology 
initiatives, our Global Delivery Network, our industry skills and 
capabilities, and geographic expansion, while enhancing our 
operating efficiency. 

Accenture is a market leader in technology services, and  
we continue to strengthen our position by investing in 
fast-growing areas such as cloud, analytics, digital marketing, 

mobility	and	smart	grid.	We	are	now	operating	at	scale	in 	 
each of these areas in response to increased demand  
from our clients. In mobility, for example, we more than 
doubled our revenues in fiscal 2012, with more than  
1,000 client projects around the world featuring a mobility 
component. And in cloud, we are now engaged in or have 
completed projects for more than half of the Fortune 
Global 100. 

Our Global Delivery Network remains an important 
differentiator for Accenture, representing our supply chain 
for global client service as well as a key driver of our own 
productivity	and	competitiveness.	With	our	Global	Delivery	
Network team of 162,000 people and more than 50 delivery 
centers around the world, we have the scope and scale to 
meet our clients’ needs when and where they need us. 

Our industry expertise is another key differentiator, and 
today more than 150,000 of our people have specialized 
industry	skills	and	are	aligned	to	specific	industries.	We	
continue to invest to enhance our industry capabilities, 
especially in our priority industries. For example, we 
strengthened our offerings in banking with the acquisition 
of Zenta, a provider of mortgage-processing services in  
the United States. Accenture Credit Services is now one  
of the country’s top three third-party mortgage 
processors.	We	also	have	enhanced	our	services	in	
pharmaceuticals and consumer goods through the 
acquisitions of Octagon Research Solutions and NewsPage 
since the end of fiscal 2012. 

Geographic expansion remains an important part of  
our growth agenda, and we continue to invest in both 
mature under-penetrated markets as well as priority 
emerging markets. In fiscal 2012 we were particularly 
pleased that revenues in the United States, our largest 
market, grew 13 percent, and we continue to make 
excellent	progress	there.	We	also	delivered	solid	results	
across our 10 priority emerging markets, increasing their 
total	revenues	by	9	percent	in	US	dollars	and	16	percent	 
in local currency. 

In fiscal 2012 we continued to take a balanced approach  
to growing the top line and improving operating costs 
while investing in our business. Among the many strategic 
actions we took were further expanding the use of our 
Global Delivery Network to optimize delivery costs, 
leveraging collaboration technologies to enable our people 
to work more efficiently and driving efficiencies to reduce 
administrative expenses. 

The Accenture brand is another key component of our 
strategy.	We	launched	a	new	global	brand	campaign	in	
fiscal 2012 that took our “High performance. Delivered.” 
positioning to the next level—demonstrating the full  
depth and breadth of the company’s capabilities and 
focusing on the value Accenture creates for its clients.  
The Accenture brand increased in value in 2012, moving  
up	to	No.	43	on	Interbrand’s	Best	Global	Brands	list.	

We	ended	the	year	with	257,000	people	serving	clients	
across	more	than	120	countries.	We	continue	to	invest	 
in training and professional development, spending more 
than	$850	million	in	fiscal	2012	to	ensure	that	all	of	our 	
employees have the necessary skills to serve our clients at 
the	highest	level.	We’re	particularly	proud	that	in	January	
Accenture was named to Fortune magazine’s “100 Best 
Companies	to	Work	For”	list	for	the	fourth	consecutive	year.

In addition to our commitments to our clients and our 
people, we also focus on the communities in which we live 
and work. I’m very pleased that, by the end of fiscal 2012, 
we were nearly two-thirds of the way to meeting our goal 
for our Skills to Succeed initiative: to equip 250,000 
people with workplace and entrepreneurial skills by 2015. 
In addition, Accenture and the Accenture Foundations have 
already contributed nearly half of the $100 million we 
committed to provide by the end of 2013 through global 
and local giving as well as pro bono services by Accenture 
employees. 

Our commitment to corporate citizenship includes our 
environmental strategy, which spans our entire business—
from internal operations, to the sustainability services  
we provide clients, to how we engage with suppliers  
and	employees.	We	continue	working	to	improve	our	
environmental performance, including reducing our 
per-employee carbon emissions. 

On February 1, 2013, our chairman, Bill Green, will  
retire from Accenture and step down from our board.  
On behalf of our entire company, I want to thank Bill for  
his tremendous service and contributions to Accenture 
over the past 35 years—not only as chairman and chief 
executive officer, but in his many other leadership roles. 
We	wish	him	all	the	best.	

In closing, I want to thank all of our men and women for 
their commitment to Accenture and our clients. Through 
the disciplined execution of our growth strategy, we had 
great success in fiscal 2012—and we are confident in our 
ability to continue to drive profitable growth in fiscal 2013.

Revenues Before Reimbursements*

Years Ended August 31  
(US dollar amounts in billions)

2012   $ 27.9 
  25.5 
2011  
  21.6 
2010 
  21.6
2009 
  23.4
2008 
  19.7
2007 
  16.6
2006 
  15.5
2005 
  13.7
2004 
  11.8
2003 
  11.6
2002 
  11.4
2001 

2001

2002

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

2012

Comparison of Cumulative Total Return

August 31, 2007 to August 31, 2012  
Accenture vs. S&P 500 Stock Index and S&P 500 Information Technology Sector Index 

$30.0

$25.0

$20.0

$15.0

$10.0

$5.0

$0.0

* This chart reflects revenues before reimbursements 
(“net revenues”) for all years since Accenture’s initial 
public offering. Reimbursements include travel and 
out-of-pocket expenses and third-party costs, such 
as the cost of hardware and software resales. Our 
revenues are denominated in multiple currencies 
and may be significantly affected by currency 
exchange-rate fluctuations. In fiscal 2012, these 
fluctuations resulted in unfavorable currency 
translation and US dollar revenue results that were 
approximately 2 percent lower than our revenue 
results in local currency. In fiscal 2011, these 
fluctuations resulted in favorable currency 
translation and US dollar revenue results that  
were approximately 3 percent higher than our 
results in local currency. 

$200

$150

$100

$50

$0

Accenture 
S&P 500
S&P 500 Information Technology Sector Index

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

The performance graph to the left shows the 
cumulative total shareholder return on our Class A 
shares for the period starting on August 31, 2007, 
and ending on August 31, 2012, which was the end 
of fiscal 2012. This is compared with the cumulative 
total returns over the same period of the S&P 500 
Index and the S&P 500 Information Technology 
Sector Index. The graph assumes that on August 31, 
2007, $100 was invested in our Class A shares and 
$100 was invested in each of the other two indices, 
with dividends reinvested on the date of payment 
without payment of any commissions. The performance 
shown in the graph represents past performance 
and should not be considered an indication of 
future performance.

Pierre Nanterme  
Chief Executive Officer  
December 17, 2012

Indexed Prices as of August 31,

Accenture 
S&P 500 
S&P 500 Information  

2007 

$100 
100 

2008 

$101 
89 

Technology Sector Index 

100 

91 

2009 

$82 
73 

83 

2010 

$94 
76 

2011 

$140 
  90 

85 

103 

2012

$164
107

130

 
 
  
 
We were pleased with our financial results for fiscal 2012,  
which met or exceeded our business outlook for the year. 
Twelve months ended August 31, 2012

Revenues before reimbursements (“net revenues”) 
Representing growth of 9 percent in US dollars and 11 percent in local currency over fiscal 2011

Diluted earnings per share 
Representing growth of 13 percent in US dollars over fiscal 2011

 $27.9B
 $3.84
 $3.9B
 $32BNew bookings
 13.9%

Operating margin
Defined as operating income as a percentage of net revenues  
Representing an expansion of 30 basis points over fiscal 2011

Free cash flow
Defined as operating cash flow of $4.26 billion net of property and equipment additions of $372 million

2012 Letter from Our Chief Executive Officer

Our strong performance in fiscal 2012 
demonstrates that our growth strategy 
enabled us to further differentiate 
Accenture in the marketplace and deliver 
significant value to shareholders. 

Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares are traded on the  
New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ACN.

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 
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (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 this letter or on our 
website to be part of the Annual Report on Form 10-K. This 
letter and our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal 
year ended August 31, 2012, together constitute Accenture’s 
annual report to security holders for purposes of Rule 
14a-3(b) of the Exchange Act.

Rights to trademarks referenced herein, other than 
Accenture trademarks, belong to their respective owners. 
We disclaim proprietary interest in the marks and names  
of others.

We have included in this letter “forward-looking 
statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the 
Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of 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 “will,” “expect,” “believe” 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 in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly 
Reports on Form 10-Q (available through the Investor 
Relations section of our website at http://investor.accenture.
com) under the sections entitled “Risk Factors.” Our 
forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this 
letter or as of the date they are made, and we undertake no 
obligation to update them.

This letter contains certain non-GAAP (Generally Accepted 
Accounting Principles) measures that our management 
believes provide our shareholders with additional insights 
into Accenture’s results of operations. The non-GAAP 
measures in this letter are supplemental in nature. They 
should not be considered in isolation or as alternatives to 
net income as indicators of company performance, cash 
flows from operating activities as measures of liquidity or 
other financial information prepared in accordance with 
GAAP. Reconciliations of this non-GAAP financial information 
to Accenture’s financial statements as prepared under GAAP 
are included in this letter.

Copyright © 2012 Accenture  
All rights reserved.

Accenture, its logo, and  
High Performance Delivered 
are trademarks of Accenture. 

All amounts throughout this letter are 
stated in US dollars, except where noted. 

The Accenture 2012 Letter from Our  
Chief Executive Officer was printed  
on FSC-certified Mohawk Options,  
a process-chlorine-free 100 percent 
post-consumer waste recycled paper.