It’s always interesting to see a company mid-stream in its fiscal year with one eye on the SEC 10-K annual report and chairman’s letter; one eye on the news. At the end of the last fiscal year, (ACN) Accenture was set on expanding into bigger and better global markets, and focusing on wrap-around services that hopefully would develop into long-term commitments and relationships with new and existing clients. A quick peek into recent Accenture News & Current Events will show you the company is definitely out to “get ‘er done.” Since the first edit of this report Accenture added a few more headlines, including:

• Accenture was named by a leading analyst firm as the 2009 Western Europe Market Share and Revenue Leader for Operations and Billing Systems Support, and Service Delivery Platform;
• July 07, 2010 – Accenture Added to Russell 1000 Index
• Accenture to help develop Singapore EHR system

On 4/22/10 headlines read “Accenture Group Chief Executive Sells $1.5M Worth,” and therein lies the key information you’ll need to know for the next few years working at Accenture. Accenture is planning to grow its services and its marketshare, and for now, purchases or acquisitions are likely sitting low on the list of corporate things to do. If the company was in trouble, it might indicate it was time to get out while the getting is good. But this is Accenture – and Accenture is quite possibly getting to be one of those companies that we can’t afford to let fail.

The fun thing about watching Accenture is watching how the company does the research and publication and resell back to the client all in one tidy package. Sure, a lot of consulting houses follow the same corporate floor plan, but Accenture has taken on the likes of IBM successfully, and improved on the weaknesses of its competitors by clarifying the product lines and staying as nimble and flexible as possible. Accenture may be smaller, but the company packs a lot of power in its punch, successfully carving out a huge chunk out of IBM’s Global Services business.

Health Care will be a major source of activity at Accenture in the coming years, and Accenture recently realigned it’s formerly separate health and public service businesses under one umbrella. Since healthcare reporting will be the focus of this market, it makes absolute sense, and may be a strategically brilliant move to follow the money and reporting trails and trains here. Most other companies are staying locked into customer definitions that, given technology developments and new communications pathways, don’t.

Banking reform is shaking up the industry. Accenture has been eating away at new banking business, and government staff are looking closely at contracts and contractor relationships. Coupled with new audit and transparency responsibility Accenture lacks the “Big Brother” IBM legacy, and is much more adaptable across technology lines as rivals like EDS and Oracle.

Energy and sustainability aren’t just trendy words. Whenever energy and innovation come knocking on the same door, Accenture wants to be there to document, research, publish… you get the picture. It’s a successful model and it has a future that promises massive success. Accenture seems to be better able to steer clear of ‘conflicts of interest’ around this topic too – again, thanks to that document, research, publish approach, the company adeptly pulls off both defining and selling business and technology solutions to the market.

Fell in May as a computer glich caused markets to fall, including Accenture. However, the company has not regained the price from pre-glich days. Why? The good news is that banking and healthcare reform in the U.S. has now been defined, and Accenture can move into the right services segments to assist with the required changes. The good news and/or bad news is that contract reviews are coming with these changes. Provided Accenture has a solid results-oriented history with excellent records, the company may fall prey to losing more contracts. This hasn’t really been at issue for Accenture, but it is a risk for the next fiscal year. If Accenture stays with its current model and performance, not to mention its relatively sparkling reputation, it should continue to show solid activity and stay on the right side of Wall Street and Irish investors.

In the 3rd quarter of 2010, the company was beginning to improve on its 2009 first and second quarters. By the year end reporting, DSO’s improved dramatically – probably more a sign of free cash becoming available among their receivables accounts than any specific Accenture action. Cash flow of $2.92 billion, a company record, means Accenture is gearing up for market expansion as announced. Strong cash, sizeable new bookings, and the gratitude and confidence of Wall Street will likely mean that stock options are going to be a good investment when it comes time to talk compensation. It also confirms the company commitment to it’s growth plan.

Finally, pay no attention to that June 2010 stock dip. There was a strange technology blip on Wall Street that did some very strange things to adjusted numbers. Interesting, however, is the amount of time it has taken Accenture to rise up out of even those synthetic ashes. The company has a long way to go to get back to the May 2010 highs above the $42 range, but it’s climbing. Low target is $37.00, and hovering around $40 at the end of July, 2010, Accenture has already attained that. Will it continue and can it, given the slow pace of economic recovery progress, reach the mean target price of $46.35 anytime in the near future? You’re better to bank on at least a 2-3 year viewpoint on that number. The high target $55 share price might seem off the probability charts right now, but who knows what the next two years will bring in the strong growth areas that have become the focus at Accenture.

Accenture markets cover a broad range of inter-related services that can, when done properly, feed each other and lead to the next defined development. Lots of consulting companies do this. “Always be on the lookout for the upsell and new projects.” Microsoft and Oracle, again, come to mind. So does IBM. Accenture opens their client doors to new technologies in a much less disruptive and a much easier, open-approach way. In a way, Accenture sells the very thing you can’t get with a Microsoft partner, or an IBM Global Services consulting and technology contract (or even Google) – impartiality to the technology, and a drive to deliver real results. Opening those options means Accenture has to keep both satisfactory employees on board, and mutually advantageous partnerships within both political and technology factions. Progressing on all counts is important, but difficult. Hiring freezes, contract scrutiny, government audits, and the global economic recession have been working against all the competitors. For all its smaller size, Accenture is outperforming industry giants in significant ways. In fact, the smaller size is more to Accenture’s advantage in remaining efficient, nimble, and capable of making decisions that need to be made without the weight of a company celebrating it’s 86th year and counting. All in all – from a market view, Accenture seems to be calling the right shots, and making the right turns onto the right customers’ preferred consultant list.

Just about everything you need to know about being an employee at Accenture can be derived from just two sources – Accenture’s client list, and the Compensation Committee’s Year-End Report. Accenture’s compensation practices are tied to Company and individual performance, which are evaluated based on three broad themes:

• Educating, energizing and inspiring Accenture’s people;
• Driving growth by helping Accenture’s clients become high-performing businesses; and
• Running Accenture as a high-performance business.

If you need to hear more after that, it may be useful to say that Accenture’s CEO is one of the top paid executives in the world. Bonus points – the company continues to remain on the 2010 Fortune list of the best companies to work for moving up from it’s #97 position in 2009 to #84 in 2010. The blend of interesting projects, focus on research and knowledge accumulation, training/education opportunities and excellent end-of-the-year payouts keep employees at Accenture energized about getting to work every day.

Look for opportunities overseas, and launch your career by researching current projects, then finding out the career steps to get on board. You’ll need to be highly self-confident, professional, and knowledgeable in your field to advance or get noticed. Brush up on your references, and invest in a little pre-screening on your background to be sure no surprises spring up during the interview and hiring process. Security clearances might be needed in some instances, and depending on your position, you may be subject to extra security requirements for sensitive projects. The top qualities that will get you in the door at Accenture are knowledge and confidence in that knowledge; the ability to effectively communicate and facilitate client relationships and expectations, and a good pair of running shoes with a stack of expense reports close at hand. At Accenture, the future looks so bright, you may also want to invest in a good pair of shades.