Five minutes with Klaus Bauer-Mitterlehner

Tell us about yourself

Born and raised in Lower Austria, I've been married to my wonderful wife for more than 25 years and am a proud father of five children. As a member of the Management Team of TPA Austria, I am responsible for the TPA CEE/SEE network. Most of my career has been spent in Eastern Europe where I helped to build our TPA firms and network. Meanwhile, we are a €100 million company and I take great pride in our achievements in Austria and CEE/SEE.

Outside of work, what keeps you busy?

My five children keep me very busy. Every free minute we spend on all kind of sports activities. My personal passion is golf. My children are very successful golfers which gives me the opportunity to cheer them on at national and international tournaments. My twins, the two youngest in the gang, also play ice hockey. As a family, we love to travel and explore new places, which often involves exploring a new golf course as well!

Tell us about an accomplishment that shaped your career?

One of these learnings was that we take our time when looking for new partners and only take on new partners we are absolutely convinced of.My career started at a Big 4 firm, but I soon switched to TPA where I got the opportunity to work in Eastern Europe. In the 1990s I was sent to Moscow to establish a new TPA subsidiary. It was a very difficult endeavour as it was a time of social and economic upheaval. In the end, we failed in our attempt to set up a company in Moscow due to the underlying conditions, but the learnings I gained from this experience were essential for our expansion steps in other countries, where we successfully built new TPA subsidiaries. I learnt to take our time when looking for new partners and only take on new partners we are absolutely convinced of.

Klaus (Left) during his trip to Moscow in 1995

 

What do you enjoy most about being part of the global Baker Tilly network?

I appreciate the Baker Tilly partners who have very similar goals as our partners in TPA. We all want to innovate and accomplish great things together. The common interests and approaches allow us to co-operate effectively. The network also provides us with the opportunity to share ideas and best practices in a trusted environment.

What opportunities are there for your firm in the next few years?

This is probably something that everyone is writing, but there is a transformation process going on and we need to adapt and be proactive. The biggest threat comes from Fintechs, which are already disrupting our business. At the end of the day, no one knows where the journey will take us and how Fintechs, blockchain and other technologies will affect us. We can only embrace the changes and try to keep pace with the new developments. After all, there is something good in every change.

Get to know us in five minutes

 

Ana Chalas		Angela Macphee