MeritValue

Accenture plc

ACNdata completeness 100%18 fiscal years on file

Data notes: no data for concept 'investmentsAtFairValue'; no data for concept 'netInvestmentIncome'; no data for concept 'realEstateImpairment'

The thesis, from the filings

Accenture plc earns about 43% on invested capital, far above its ~9% cost of capital, and has bought back 2% of its shares over 5 years — the marks of a durable business run for its owners. The estimate methods put fair value between $111.64 and $239.86 a share.Whether it’s worth owning at today’s price is the last question — and yours to answer, below.

i. The business — what you’d actually own
FigureFY 2021FY 2022FY 2023FY 2024FY 2025
Revenue$50.5B1$61.6B2$64.1B3$64.9B3$69.7B3
Net income$5.91B4$6.88B5$6.87B6$7.26B6$7.68B6
Operating cash flow$8.98B7$9.54B8$9.52B9$9.13B9$11.5B9
Capital expenditure$580.1M10$718M11$528.2M12$516.5M12$600M12
Free cash flow (derived)$8.4B7$8.82B8$9B9$8.61B9$10.9B9
Total debt$12.1M13$9.18M14$104.8M15$1.88B16$214.4M16
Cash & equivalents$8.17B17$7.89B18$9.05B19$5B20$11.5B20
Diluted shares645.9M642.8M638.6M635.9M632.4M

Superscripts are receipts. Each links to the SEC filing the number came from (full list at the bottom).

ii. Your slice — ownership made literal
If you owned
shares
Net assets behind them
$493.26
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
$121.41
Free cash flow it threw off
$171.94
Debt you’d be carrying
$3.39

10 shares is a claim on $493.26 of net worth that earned you $121.41 and generated $171.94 of cash last year, against $3.39 of debt.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
43% avg · 5y
FY21 53%FY22 49%FY23 42%FY24 30%FY25 40%

It earned about 43% on invested capital, year after year, against a ~9% cost of capital — the footprint of real pricing power. Competition usually drags returns like this back down; here it hasn't.

seeing a moat in the numbers →
Management signal · capital allocation
−2% shares · 5y

Share count is down 2% over 5 years — management has been buying back stock, quietly handing owners a bigger slice. Total debt has risen 1675% over the same window.

reading capital allocation →

Signals, not verdicts — read from the filings above. Numbers don’t prove a moat; they show its footprint. You decide.

iv. What it’s worth — engine v0.5.0

The 3 estimate methods that apply put fair value between $111.64 and $239.86 a share. They rest on different assumptions, so where they diverge is the story; the Graham Number is a stricter floor, not a target.

DCF · Growth Exit 10Y
$238.68
assumptions (10)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • terminalGrowth2.5%
  • projectionYears10
  • fcfGrowth2.3%
  • fcfBase$9B
DCF · Growth Exit 5Y
$239.86
assumptions (10)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • terminalGrowth2.5%
  • projectionYears5
  • fcfGrowth2.3%
  • fcfBase$9B
Earnings Power Value
$111.64
assumptions (8)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • normalizedEarnings$6.88B
  • growthAssumed0.0%
Graham Number
$116.12
assumptions (1)
  • grahamMultiplier2250.0%

Different models answer different questions — which to trust when →

v. The price question — last, on purpose
Is today’s price fair?
See live price ↗
Type a price. The ledger answers.
Or set your own belief
FCF growth, next 5 years2.3%
Discount rate (WACC)9.02%
Terminal growth2.5%
At your growth, a share is worth $239.86
The three cases
Bear0.0%$218.36
Base2.3%$239.86
Bull7.3%$292.6

Bear/base/bull growth = 0% / filed history / history + 5pp. Type a price to see the return each case implies.

Default growth 2.3%= this company’s own filed history (median-to-median FCF CAGR, clamped 0–20%). Your adjustments are recorded anonymously. They become the “what do owners actually believe” dataset.

Sources — the receipts
  1. 10-K · period ending 2021-08-31 · accession 0001467373-23-000324 (Revenues)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2022-08-31 · accession 0001467373-24-000278 (Revenues)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2023-08-31 · accession 0001467373-25-000217 (Revenues)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2021-08-31 · accession 0001467373-23-000324 (NetIncomeLoss)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2022-08-31 · accession 0001467373-24-000278 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2023-08-31 · accession 0001467373-25-000217 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2021-08-31 · accession 0001467373-23-000324 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2022-08-31 · accession 0001467373-24-000278 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2023-08-31 · accession 0001467373-25-000217 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2021-08-31 · accession 0001467373-23-000324 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2022-08-31 · accession 0001467373-24-000278 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2023-08-31 · accession 0001467373-25-000217 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2021-08-31 · accession 0001467373-22-000295 (DebtCurrent)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2022-08-31 · accession 0001467373-23-000324 (DebtCurrent)
  15. 10-K · period ending 2023-08-31 · accession 0001467373-24-000278 (DebtCurrent)
  16. 10-K · period ending 2024-08-31 · accession 0001467373-25-000217 (CommercialPaper)
  17. 10-K · period ending 2021-08-31 · accession 0001467373-22-000295 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  18. 10-K · period ending 2022-08-31 · accession 0001467373-23-000324 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  19. 10-K · period ending 2023-08-31 · accession 0001467373-24-000278 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  20. 10-K · period ending 2024-08-31 · accession 0001467373-25-000217 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)