Inside Public Accounting has released its list of the largest U.S. auditing & accounting firms. Inside Public Accounting has been compiling this list since 1991. Before that, the Top 100 list was compiled by Public Accounting Report. The list is available online here.
I have excerpted the top 25 firms from the list. Following each firm’s name is its net revenues. Net revenue is not defined.
- Deloitte LLP & Subsidiaries $10,938,000,000
- PwC LLP $8,034,000,000
- Ernst & Young LLP $7,100,000,000
- KPMG LLP $4,889,000,000
- RSM McGladrey Inc. and McGladrey & Pullen LLP $1,370,424,000
- Grant Thornton LLP $1,085,696,000
- CBIZ & Mayer Hoffman McCann PC $590,600,000
- BDO USA LLP $572,000,000
- Crowe Horwath LLP $498,379,000
- BKD LLP $390,684,000
- Moss Adams LLP $316,000,000
- Plante & Moran PLLC $304,000,000
- Dixon Hughes Goodman LLP $284,480,000
- Clifton Gunderson LLP $254,652,060
- EisnerAmper LLP $254,629,000
- Marcum LLP $250,800,353
- Baker Tilly Virchow Krause LLP $242,000,000
- J.H. Cohn LLP $235,568,000
- LarsonAllen LLP $227,002,000
- Reznick Group PC $202,500,000
- UHY Advisors Inc. $200,200,000
- ParenteBeard LLC $163,756,942
- Rothstein Kass $163,203,000
- Eide Bailly LLP $151,397,012
- WeiserMazars LLP $140,000,000
There are several ways to think about this list.
The top seven or eight certainly have worldwide networks, so are physically located to audit multinationals.
AICPA, CAQ, and audit researchers argue that the firms at the top do the best job and provide the highest quality audits. Naysayers like me argue that the firms at the top of this list have done the best job of selling their opinions.
Firms 9-100 are excellent places to start a career, especially if you value quality of life.
Debit and credit – - David Albrecht
So — speaking to those who argue for the ability of smaller firms to combine so as to compete with the Big Four — on a US-only basis, you’d have to combine ##’ 5 through 12 to get a firm as big as the smallest of the Big Four. Done on a global basis, by the way, because that’s where the big engagements are, you’d have to combine all of ## 5 through 25 and you’d still be short.
Conclusion: why is anyone still talking this way?
Also, not all revenues are created equal. Combine the smaller firms that audit the little guys, and what do you get? A large firm (that doesn’t work well) that audits all the little guys. This firm is still unable to compete with the Big 4.