Who is the World

Who Is the World’s Biggest Accounting Firm? They are called the Big Four – in alphabetical order, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PwC. But in 2012 revenues, it looks more like the Big Two and the Less Big Two. Both Deloitte and PwC reported revenues of more than US$31 billion each. Ernst & Young and KPMG were some steps behind with sales of US$24.4 billion and US$23 billion, respectively. Does it matter? As CFO Innovation wrote last year, “perhaps it does, to CFOs – or more to the point, investors and other stakeholders – who care about how the company’s external auditor performs in relation to its peers. In terms of reputation, the top revenue earner can be regarded as the world’s accounting firm of choice, and as such, is perceived to be the leader in terms of resources, experience and expertise.” And the world’s largest accounting firm is . . . PwC, for the second year running. As tracked in The 2013 Big Four Firm Performance Analysis by the Big4.com website, PwC had revenues of US$31.5 billion, up 7.8% from 2011 in US dollar terms. In terms of growth, three of the Big Four enjoy momentum, notching upward increases in the past three years (see chart below). But KPMG needs to rev it up – its revenue increase was the slowest in 2012, at only 1.4%. In contrast, its peers saw their sales rise by at least 6.7%. The revenues of second-placer Deloitte, which occupied the top spot in 2010, were just a tad lower at US$31.3 billion, though that is up 8.7% from 2011. PwC’s lead is less than 1% – 0.6%, to be exact – so how they stack up against each other in 2013 should be exciting to watch. Wind Behind Their Back, Save KPMG

Big Four Revenues, 2007 to 2012

Sources: 2012 Innovation 1.) PwC Source: 2012 Big Four Firm Performance Analysis

Big

Four Firm

Performance

Analysis,

CFO

2.) Deloitte 3.) E and Y

Record Year All four accounting firms actually had a record-breaking year. Their 2012 revenues were the highest ever for each one of them. Combined, their total take of US$110.3 billion is “yet another historic record,” say the number crunchers at Big4.com – the previous alltime high was US$103.6 billion in 2011. The 2012 revenues are up 6.2% from 2011, and 24% from 2007.

4.) KPMG The Big 5 Accounting and Auditing Firms in the Philippines SGV & Co. (SyCip Gorres Velayo & Co. - affiliate of Ernst & Young) Manabat Delgado Amper & Co. (formerly C.L. Manabat & Co.) affiliate ofDeloitte Touche Tohmatsu (DTT) Isla Lipana & Co. (formerly Joaquin Cunanan & Co.) - affiliate ofPricewaterhouseCoopers

Manabat Sanagustin & Co. (formerly Laya Mananghaya & Co.) affiliate ofKPMG