Employeneurs: Human Capital
TMC provides scientists, engineers and digital experts to clients in four major service areas: Technology & Engineering, Energy & Renewables, Digital & IT, and Life Sciences & Pharma. This is done based on a unique model called Employeneurship. This ‘work entrepreneurship’ consists of five pillars that stimulate development and entrepreneurship:
- A long-term relationship: almost every employeneur immediately receives a permanent contract.
- Individual profit sharing: full transparency in revenues and costs, with a pre-agreed percentage of the margin shared and paid out on top of the fixed salary.
- The YOUniversity: an internal training program and extensive study budget for training or coaching.
- The Entrepreneurial Lab: employeneurs from different disciplines can develop and pitch a project in a lab at TMC offices. TMC provides resources such as budget, machines, or marketing.
- Business cells: Work entrepreneurs are grouped into small-scale knowledge networks based on expertise or competencies. This promotes internal knowledge sharing and offers specialization to clients.
After its founding in 2000, TMC began its international growth from 2014 onwards, first organically and later also through acquisitions. About five years ago, TMC chose BDO. Why that choice? Pascal: “At the time, we were with a firm that had supported us since our founding. We were satisfied with them, but due to our international expansion, we were looking for a partner who could facilitate us globally and also had knowledge of the local market. Not a corporate firm, we really wanted a personal approach.”
The desired connection was experienced at the very first contact with BDO, according to Pascal. “During BDO’s pitch, the partner brought a slide deck of dozens of pages, but they were never discussed! Rogier then asked: ‘When do we start and what will our collaboration look like?’ After that, we started with a test case, and from there the partnership began. Our goal was to centralize the entire financial process for all foreign countries, from reporting to accounting and taxes, managed by BDO Netherlands. Our international growth accelerated, so we eventually started insourcing that process. External work such as annual accounts, tax returns and compliance is now outsourced to BDO, which is active for us at group level, in the Netherlands and in several other countries.”
Left Rogier van Beek, right Pascal Klinkenberg.
Good People
For TMC, the human factor is crucial in the relationship with BDO. Rogier: “Long-term relationships are very important to us. With our employeneurs, suppliers, partners, and clients. BDO and TMC have, I think, a bit of the same blood type, the same DNA. They are very normal, pleasant people to work with. Good people, I mean that! Of course, the substantive part must be right. But besides that: working hard together, our joint annual outing with the teams, showing interest in each other’s private lives, in good and bad times, granting each other things as companies, we thrive on all that and I think BDO does too.”
How does that DNA translate into practical collaboration? “Every month we have meetings at our headquarters. Operational, about ongoing matters. Strategic, about our plan and where we want to be in five years. BDO knows that plan and our long-term vision and we actually steer together towards it. Because BDO is closely involved, visits monthly, understands our business and proactively points out risks and opportunities and acts on them, they help us grow”, says Pascal. He continues: “Additionally, the pragmatic approach of our contact person is very pleasant. He is not an advisor who only looks at the rulebook, but comes up with solutions. For example, regarding fiscal structuring: thanks to their proactive attitude, BDO ensures we don’t miss anything and are well positioned for our expected growth.”
Multidisciplinary involvement
For all tax matters, nationally and internationally, the BDO partner in the Netherlands is TMC’s primary contact. Pascal: “It is very convenient for us that there is a single point of contact and you don’t have to deal with ten different people or companies. When extra help is needed, the BDO partner connects with the international BDO network.” Rogier: “What BDO does well too, is that the person with whom we have the initial contact and who makes the promise, remains at the table throughout our collaboration. What we really dislike is an account manager who comes to sell something and then disappears.”
BDO supports TMC not only in international tax but also more broadly. “We regularly have contact with another BDO partner. He is essentially the ‘spider in the web’ for all other topics. Thanks to him, BDO has also helped us with a workshop on AI & hyperautomation and our CSRD/ESG strategy. And we recently announced an acquisition in Sweden, for which BDO conducted due diligence”, says Pascal.
The contact with BDO outside the tax world is also convenient if something ever goes wrong. “That happened once in France, and he mediated well. He is really able to separate the interests of the client and BDO. His involvement is valuable to us because you can always get in touch with a local contact in such cases. That serves a purpose.”
Left Rogier van Beek, right Pascal Klinkenberg.
Founded in 2000 in Eindhoven
