BearingPoint's origins lie in the consulting services operations of KPMG, which were established as a distinct business unit in 1997.

On 2 October 2002, the company was re-named BearingPoint and the next day began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker "BE."

After the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the company acquired a $9 million contract to outline and implement new economic regulations and institutions for the country, heavily focusing on neoliberal policies such as large-scale privatizations.

[6][7][8] According to a report by Stephen Foley, "BearingPoint employees gave $117,000 (£60,000) to the 2000 and 2004 Bush election campaigns, more than any other Iraq contractor.

The Company said its net loss for the first quarter ended 31 March 2007 narrowed as revenue grew and costs declined.

A day later, Hawaiian Telcom announced that it had signed a contract with Accenture to take over BearingPoint's role in their systems development.

[15] On 10 December 2008, BearingPoint filed a Certificate of Amendment to the Certificate of Incorporation of the company with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware to effect a previously approved reverse stock split of the company's outstanding common stock, par value $0.01 per share, at a ratio of one-for-fifty.

Unable to sustain the heavy debt load resulting from ill-advised expansion moves, costly management errors and audit fees associated with the bankruptcy process, the company negotiated debt for equity swaps with its creditors and zeroed the value of its common shares, wiping out existing investors.

The China-based information technology company HiSoft acquired BearingPoint Australia for an undisclosed sum in July 2012.

[27] BearingPoint works in areas like streamlining business processes and IT security,[28] largely for big companies and governments.