Accenture 10-K 2024-08-31

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

For the fiscal year ended August 31, 2024

Commission File Number: 001-34448

Accenture plc

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

1 Grand Canal Square,

Grand Canal Harbour,

Dublin 2, Ireland

(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:

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.

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 29, 2024 was approximately $235,672,170,215 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 $374.78 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 30, 2024 was 672,684,852 (which number includes 47,829,204 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 30, 2024 was 307,754.

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 February 6, 2025, 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, 2024.

Table of Contents

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. Forward-looking and other statements in this document may also address our corporate responsibility progress, plans, and goals (including environmental matters), and the inclusion of such statements is not an indication that these contents are necessarily material to investors or required to be disclosed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, historical, current, and forward-looking sustainability-related statements may be based on standards for measuring progress that are still developing, internal controls and processes that continue to evolve, and assumptions that are subject to change in the future.

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 and on the Accenture 360° Value Reporting Experience (http://www.accenture.com/reportingexperience). 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.

Overview

Accenture is a leading global professional services company that helps the world’s leading organizations build their digital core, optimize their operations, accelerate revenue growth and enhance services—creating tangible value at speed and scale. We are a talent- and innovation-led company with approximately 774,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Technology is at the core of change today, and we are one of the world’s leaders in helping drive that change, with strong ecosystem relationships. We combine our strength in technology and leadership in cloud, data and AI with unmatched industry experience, functional expertise and global delivery capability. Our broad range of services, solutions and assets across Strategy & Consulting, Technology, Operations, Industry X and Song, together with our culture of shared success and commitment to creating 360° value, enable us to help our clients reinvent and build trusted, lasting relationships. We measure our success by the 360° value we create for our clients, each other, our shareholders, partners and communities.

During fiscal 2024, 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 2024, we invested $6.6 billion across 46 strategic acquisitions, $1.2 billion in R&D, and $1.1 billion in learning and professional development, including 44 million training hours.

Our Strategy

The core of our growth strategy is to be our clients’ reinvention partner of choice, delivering 360° value to our clients, people, shareholders, partners and communities. Our strategy defines the areas in which we will drive growth, build differentiation and enable our clients to transform their organizations through technology, data and AI to create value every day. We aspire to be at the center of our clients’ business and help them reach new levels of performance and to set themselves apart as leaders in their industries.

We define 360° value as delivering the financial business case and unique value a client may be seeking, and striving to partner with our clients to achieve greater progress on inclusion and diversity, reskill and upskill our clients’ employees, help our clients achieve their sustainability goals, and create meaningful experiences, both with Accenture and for the customers and employees of our clients.

We 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 assets and platforms including myWizard, myNav, SynOps and AI Navigator for Enterprise to deliver tangible value for our clients.

We help our clients use technology to drive enterprise-wide transformation, which includes:

• **building their digital core—**such as moving them to the cloud, leveraging data and AI, and embedding security across the enterprise;

• **optimizing their operations—**such as helping our clients digitize faster, access digital talent and reduce costs as well as through digitizing engineering and manufacturing; and

• **accelerating their revenue growth—**such as through using technology and creativity to create personalized connections, experiences and targeted sales at scale, leveraging data and AI, transforming content supply chains and marketing and commerce models and helping create new digital services and business models.

Our clients turn to us to help them drive reinvention with our unique combination of services across Strategy & Consulting, Technology, Operations, Industry X and Song. Our strategists and deep industry, functional, customer and technology consultants work hand-in-hand with our clients and across services to shape and deliver these reinventions.

At the same time, we see AI as the new digital. Like digital, AI is both a technology and a new way of working, and its full value will only come from strategies built on both productivity and growth. And we believe it will be used in every part of the enterprise. We also believe the introduction of generative AI signifies a transformative era that is set to drive growth for us and our clients.

To accomplish reinvention and take advantage of AI, businesses need to focus on talent, which includes: accessing the best people at the right time, place and cost; being a talent creator to keep people market-relevant; and unlocking the potential of talent.

Our managed services are strategic for our clients as companies seek to move faster, embrace AI and automation and leverage our digital platforms and talent as well as reduce costs.

As clients reinvent, we believe that trends such as sustainability will continue to be forces behind their need to reinvent and the outcomes of their reinventions.

We believe our strategy to deliver 360° value makes us an attractive destination for top talent, a trusted partner to our clients and ecosystem, and a respected member of our communities.

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In addition to the other information set forth in this report, you should carefully consider the following factors which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations (including revenues and profitability) and/or stock price. Our business is also subject to general risks and uncertainties that may broadly affect companies, including us. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently deem to be immaterial also could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and/or stock price. Risks in this section are grouped in the following categories: (1) Business Risks; (2) Financial Risks; (3) Operational Risks; and (4) Legal and Regulatory Risks. Many risks affect more than one category, and the risks are not in order of significance or probability of occurrence because they have been grouped by categories.

Business Risks

Our results of operations have been, and may in the future be, adversely affected by volatile, negative or uncertain economic and geopolitical conditions and the effects of these conditions on our clients’ businesses and levels of business activity.

Global macroeconomic and geopolitical conditions affect us, our clients’ businesses and the markets they serve. Volatile, negative and uncertain economic and geopolitical conditions have in the past undermined and could in the future undermine business confidence in our significant markets and other markets, which are increasingly interdependent, causing our clients to reduce or defer their spending on new initiatives and technologies, and resulting in clients reducing, delaying or eliminating spending under existing contracts with us, which negatively affects our business. Growth in some of the markets we serve has slowed and could continue to slow, or could slow in other markets or stagnate or contract, in each case, for an extended period of time. Because we operate globally and have significant businesses in many markets, an economic slowdown in any of those markets could adversely affect our results of operations.

Ongoing economic and geopolitical volatility and uncertainty and changing demand patterns affect our business in a number of other ways, including making it more difficult to accurately forecast client demand and effectively build our revenue and resource plans, particularly in consulting. Economic and geopolitical volatility and uncertainty is particularly challenging because it may take some time for the effects and changes in demand patterns resulting from these and other factors to manifest themselves in our business and results of operations. Changing demand patterns from economic and political volatility and uncertainty, including as a result of increasing geopolitical tensions, inflation, economic downturns, changes in global trade policies, global health emergencies and their impact on us, our clients and the industries we serve, have in the past had a negative impact and could in the future have a significant negative impact on our results of operations. For example, some of these conditions slowed the pace and level of client spending, particularly for smaller contracts with a shorter duration and for our consulting services during fiscal 2024. Clients continue to prioritize large-scale transformations, which convert to revenue over a longer period.

Our business depends on generating and maintaining client demand for our services and solutions, including through the adaptation and expansion of our services and solutions in response to ongoing changes in technology and offerings, and a significant reduction in such demand or an inability to respond to the evolving technological environment could materially affect our results of operations.

Our financial results depend in part on the demand for our services and solutions, which could be negatively affected by numerous factors, many of which are beyond our control and unrelated to our work product. As described above, volatile, negative or uncertain global economic and political conditions and lower growth or contraction in the markets we serve have adversely affected and could in the future adversely affect client demand for our services and solutions. Our success depends, in part, on our ability to continue to develop and implement services and solutions that anticipate and respond to rapid and continuing changes in technology and offerings to serve the evolving needs of our clients. Examples of areas of significant change include digital-, cloud- and security-related offerings, which are continually evolving, as well as developments in areas such as AI, including generative AI, augmented and virtual reality, automation, blockchain, Internet of Things, quantum and edge computing, infrastructure and network engineering, intelligent connected products, digital

engineering and manufacturing, and robotics solutions. As we expand our services and solutions into these new areas, we may be exposed to operational, legal, regulatory, ethical, technological and other risks specific to such new areas, which may negatively affect our reputation and demand for our services and solutions.

Technological developments may materially affect the cost and use of technology by our clients and, in the case of cloud, data and AI solutions, could affect the nature of how we generate revenue. Some of these technological developments have reduced and replaced, in whole or in part, some of our historical services and solutions and will continue to do so in the future. This has caused, and may in the future cause, clients to delay spending under existing contracts and engagements and to delay entering into new contracts while they evaluate new technologies. Such technological developments and spending delays can negatively impact our results of operations if we are unable to introduce new pricing or commercial models that reflect the value of these technological developments or if the pace and level of spending on new technologies are not sufficient to make up any shortfall.

Developments in the industries we serve, which may be rapid, also could shift demand to new services and solutions. If, as a result of new technologies or changes in the industries we serve, our clients demand new services and solutions, we may be less competitive in these new areas or need to make significant investment to meet that demand. Our growth strategy focuses on responding to these types of developments by driving innovation and making strategic investments in acquisitions, joint ventures and adjacencies to our current offerings that will enable us to expand our business into new growth areas. If we do not sufficiently invest in new technology and adapt to industry developments, or evolve and expand our business at sufficient speed and scale, or if we do not make the right strategic investments to respond to these developments and successfully drive innovation, our services and solutions, our results of operations, and our ability to develop and maintain a competitive advantage and to execute on our growth strategy could be adversely affected.

In a particular geographic market, service or industry group, a small number of clients have contributed, or may, in the future contribute, a significant portion of the revenues of such geographic market, service or industry group, and any decision by such a client to delay, reduce, or eliminate spending on our services and solutions have had and could in the future have a disproportionate impact on the results of operations in the relevant geographic market, service or industry group.

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None.

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 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 internal- and client-data-sensitive roles complete 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, results of operations, and financial condition; however, there is no assurance that such impacts will not be material in the future. Cybersecurity threats are constantly expanding and evolving, becoming increasingly sophisticated and complex, increasing the difficulty of detecting and defending against them and maintaining effective security measures and protocols.

Cybersecurity Governance

Our enterprise risk management program is an annual and ongoing process designed to identify, assess and manage Accenture’s risk exposures over the short-, intermediate- and long-term. Our enterprise risk management program and disclosure controls and procedures are designed to appropriately escalate key risks to the Board of Directors, as well as to analyze potential risks for disclosure. As part of our Board of Directors’ role in overseeing the Company’s enterprise risk

management program, the Board devotes time and attention to cybersecurity and data privacy-related risks, with the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors responsible for overseeing information technology risk exposures, including cybersecurity, data privacy and data security.

The Audit Committee receives reports on cybersecurity and data privacy matters and related risk exposures from management, including our chief information security officer (“CISO”), at least twice a year and more frequently as applicable. In addition, the Audit Committee’s quarterly enterprise risk management updates include developments regarding IT security and data protection. Recent topics included evolving generative AI threats, social engineering resistance and deepfake readiness. The Audit Committee regularly updates the Board on such matters and the Board also periodically receives reports from management directly. We have protocols by which cybersecurity incidents that meet established reporting thresholds are escalated within the company and, where appropriate, reported promptly to the Board.

Our CISO leads all aspects of Accenture’s global cybersecurity program, including security operations, client data protection, cyber risk reduction strategies, incident response, cybersecurity integration of acquisitions and our industry-leading behavioral change program. Our CISO joined Accenture in 1995. Prior to being appointed CISO in 2020, he helped create Accenture’s information security capability and led the implementation of information security technology. Previously, he managed large technology transformations for Accenture and for clients in the United States, Japan and Australia. Our CISO reports to our Chief Operating Officer and is supported by a team of over 800 people with expertise in technical architecture and security operations; governance, risk and compliance; client data protection; behavioral change; and cyber incident response, many of whom hold cybersecurity certifications and possess deep technical knowledge and experience.

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.

We have major offices in the world’s leading business centers, including Boston, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Dublin, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Rome, Bangalore, Beijing, Manila, Mumbai, São Paolo, 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.

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.

Not applicable.

Part II

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 30, 2024, there were 367 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 30, 2024, there were 14 holders of record of Accenture plc Class X ordinary shares.

Dividends

For information about our dividend activity during fiscal 2024, see Note 14 (Shareholders’ Equity) to our Consolidated Financial Statements under Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”

On September 25, 2024, the Board of Directors of Accenture plc declared a quarterly cash dividend of $1.48 per share on our Class A ordinary shares for shareholders of record at the close of business on October 10, 2024, payable on November 15, 2024. For the remainder of fiscal 2025, we expect to declare additional quarterly dividends in December 2024 and March and June 2025, to be paid in February, May and August 2025, 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.

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 2024. 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.”

(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 2024, we purchased 2,000,308 Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares under this program for an aggregate price of $605 million. The open-market purchase program does not have an expiration date.

(3)As of August 31, 2024, our aggregate available authorization for share purchases and redemptions was $2,694 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, 2024, the Board of Directors of Accenture plc has authorized an aggregate of $50.1 billion for share purchases and redemptions by Accenture plc and Accenture Canada Holdings Inc. On September 25, 2024, the Board of Directors of Accenture plc approved $4,000 million in additional share repurchase authority, bringing Accenture’s total outstanding authority to $6,694 million.

(4)During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024, Accenture purchased 72,255 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.

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 2024” means the 12-month period that ended on August 31, 2024. 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 global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions across Strategy & Consulting, Technology, Operations, Industry X and Song. We serve clients in three geographic markets: North America, EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and Growth Markets (Asia Pacific and Latin America). We combine our strength in technology and leadership in cloud, data and AI with unmatched industry experience, functional expertise and global delivery capability to help the world’s leading organizations build their digital core, optimize their operations, accelerate revenue growth and enhance services—creating tangible value at speed and scale. In the first quarter of fiscal 2025, our Latin America market unit will move from Growth Markets to North America. With this change, North America will become the Americas market and Growth Markets will become the Asia Pacific market.

Our results of operations are affected by economic conditions, including macroeconomic conditions, the overall inflationary environment and levels of business confidence. There continues to be significant economic and geopolitical uncertainty in many markets around the world, which has impacted and may continue to impact our business. These conditions have slowed the pace and level of client spending, particularly for smaller contracts with a shorter duration and for our consulting services. Clients continue to prioritize large-scale transformations, which convert to revenue over a longer period.

Key Metrics

Key metrics for fiscal 2024 compared to fiscal 2023 are included below. We have presented operating income, operating margin, effective tax rate and diluted earnings per share on a non-GAAP or “adjusted” basis to exclude the impact of $438 million and $1,063 million, respectively, in business optimization costs recorded during fiscal 2024 and 2023 and, with respect to effective tax rate and diluted earnings per share, the impact of a $253 million investment gain related to our investment in Duck Creek Technologies recorded during fiscal 2023 as discussed further in our Results of Operations. For additional information regarding business optimization costs, see Note 1 (Summary of Significant Accounting Policies) to our Consolidated Financial Statements under Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”

• Revenues of $64.9 billion, an increase of 1% in U.S. dollars and 2% in local currency;

• New bookings of $81.2 billion, an increase of 13% in U.S. dollars and 14% in local currency;

• Operating margin of 14.8%, compared to 13.7% in fiscal 2023; adjusted operating margin was 15.5% compared to 15.4% in fiscal 2023;

• Diluted earnings per share of $11.44, a 6% increase over $10.77 for fiscal 2023; adjusted earnings per share increased 2% to $11.95 compared to $11.67 for fiscal 2023; and

• Cash returned to shareholders of $7.8 billion, including share purchases of $4.5 billion and dividends of $3.2 billion.

Revenues

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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/Euro, U.S. dollar/Indian rupee, U.S. dollar/Japanese yen, U.S. dollar/U.K. pound, U.S. dollar/Swiss franc, U.S. dollar/Chinese yuan, U.S. dollar/Australian dollar and U.S. dollar/Philippine peso, 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, 2024, it was anticipated that approximately $22 million of net gains, 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 $655 million and $856 million as of August 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.

Interest Rate Risk

The interest rate risk associated with our borrowing and investing activities as of August 31, 2024 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, 2024.

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.

See the Index to Consolidated Financial Statements and financial statements commencing on page F-1, which are incorporated herein by reference.

None.

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;

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 attestation 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 2024 that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

Trading Arrangements

The table below summarizes the terms of trading arrangements adopted or terminated by our executive officers or directors during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024. All of the trading arrangements listed below are intended to satisfy the affirmative defense conditions of Rule 10b5-1(c).

(1) Each plan will expire on the earlier of the expiration date or the completion of all transactions under the trading arrangement.

(2) The actual number of shares sold under each plan will depend on the vesting of certain performance-based equity awards and the number of shares withheld by Accenture to satisfy its income tax withholding obligations, and may vary from the approximate number provided.

None.

Part III

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 2024 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders filed with the SEC on December 13, 2023.

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 2025 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of Accenture plc to be held on February 6, 2025 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 2024 fiscal year covered by this Form 10-K.

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 2025 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of Accenture plc to be held on February 6, 2025 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 2024 fiscal year covered by this Form 10-K.

Securities Authorized for Issuance under Equity Compensation Plans

The following table sets forth, as of August 31, 2024, certain information related to our compensation plans under which Accenture plc Class A ordinary shares may be issued.

(1)Consists of 9,265 restricted share units.

(2)Consists of 16,220,558 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 2025 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of Accenture plc to be held on February 6, 2025 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 2024 fiscal year covered by this Form 10-K.

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 2025 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of Accenture plc to be held on February 6, 2025 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 2024 fiscal year covered by this Form 10-K.

The information called for by Item 14 will be included in the section captioned “Audit” included in the definitive proxy statement relating to the 2025 Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of Accenture plc to be held on February 6, 2025 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 2024 fiscal year covered by this Form 10-K.

Part IV

(a) List of documents filed as part of this report:

1. Financial Statements as of August 31, 2024 and 2023 and for the three years ended August 31, 2024—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:

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.

Not applicable.

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, 2024 by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

Power of Attorney

KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears below hereby constitutes and appoints Julie Sweet, KC McClure 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, 2024 (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, 2024 by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities indicated.

Accenture plc

Index to Consolidated Financial Statements

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, 2024 and 2023, 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, 2024, 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, 2024, 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 fin

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