What Are the Top Accounting Companies in the U.S. Today?
The Big Four accounting companies are the largest in the United States, as measured by revenue. Deloitte, Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler. These firms provide auditing, tax, strategy and management consulting, valuation, market research, assurance, and legal advisory services.
In today’s digital age, they are constantly innovating and adapting to customer needs by offering digital transformation consulting so they can help clients make the changes they need to stay competitive. However, these transitions don’t always bode well, especially for more traditional firms transitioning into more modern services.
Let’s look at each and discover what these were:
Deloitte LLP
Deloitte is part of the world's largest professional accounting companies with 345,000 employees in over 150 countries. They provide clients' audits, consulting, financial advisory, risk management, and tax services. And while Deloitte had over $50 billion in revenue in 2021, a 5.5 percent increase from 2020, it has been experiencing debilitating problems such as accounting and internal controls, and cyber and strategic risks, among others.
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)
The second largest of the four, PWC’s revenue for 2021 was $45.1 billion, which is only a 2 percent increase from the previous year. The company is headquartered in the United States but is looking to expand its global presence by investing $12 billion to add 100,000 new jobs over the next five years.
However, PwC’s India affiliate was banned from auditing its clients for two years because of its involvement in one of India’s biggest financial scandals.
Ernst & Young (EY)
EY recently announced a $10 billion investment in company expansion. With this investment, EY hopes to reach more clients and be better equipped to navigate their needs. As of the fiscal year 2021, EY has 312,250 employees. This means that EY's revenue has increased yearly by 7.3 percent, which has resulted in significant growth for the company.
But EY also had its fair share of reputation issues, the most recent one published on June 28, 2022, in a Reuters article. One of the Big Four accounting companies had to pay $100 million due to internal auditors who cheated in their CPA exams.
Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler (KPMG)
KPMG is a professional services provider with over 219,000 people in 147 countries, with 35,000 employees residing in the United States. KPMG has an office in every state in the US and most recently reported having over 650 offices in 147 countries. The company reported the equivalent of $32.13 billion of revenue in U.S. dollars during the fiscal year 2021.
However, this year, KPMG was fined £14 million over the Carillion audit scandal due to the misconduct of six employees handling the account.
The Concern of Working with the Big Four
These firms are under fire because they expand into areas beyond their traditional expertise. Fulfilling a legally independent role is at odds with a supportive consultancy role while supporting new services, maintaining the old ones, and hiring employees without proper quality control to serve new accounts.
Interestingly, this virtual change benefits smaller accounting companies launching during this technological boom and can better understand the intricacies of tradition and online auditing.
Conclusion
While there is prestige in partnering with accounting companies from the Big Four, it is better to work with smaller firms that understand modern practices while still upholding the integrity of classic accounting. This is where Revonary Accountants & Advisors, LLC, comes in. We’re one of the accounting companies in Rye Brook with modern and traditional auditing services applied with the highest standards of integrity. Reach us by visiting our website today!