Accounting firms offer numerous business services, including tax preparation, auditing, review, compilation and consulting. To be considered an accounting firm, you must have your CPA license and other qualifications to hold yourself out as a certified public accountant. The top four accounting firms in the U.S., in order of size are Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Ernst & Young (EY) and KPMG LLP. What do they do?
PwC
PricewaterhouseCoopers, or PwC, is one of Big Four auditing and professional services network firms. It ranks as the world’s largest accounting firm in terms of total revenue. Established in 1849 and headquartered in London, PwC has over 189,000 employees working in over 700 offices across 158 countries. The company provides a wide range of services to its global clients in nearly every industry sector and business activity.
EY
Ernst & Young – EY is a multinational professional services firm headquartered in London, England. It operates as a network of member firms which are separate legal entities in individual countries. The US member firm, Ernst & Young LLP, is structured as a national partnership between sub-specialty areas. As of 2015, Ernst & Young has approximately 700 offices and employs more than 235,000 people globally. Ernst & Young’s global revenues were $27.3 billion for FY2015 which ended on 30 June 2015.
Deloitte
Headquartered in New York City, Deloitte is a powerhouse professional services firm that encompasses more than 225,000 people working in more than 700 offices across 140 countries. They’re one of Big Four accounting firms, along with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Ernst & Young (EY), and KPMG.
The firm provides audit, tax, consulting and financial advisory services to companies around the world; they also specialize in risk management, IT consulting, privacy and cybersecurity consulting.
KPMG
Founded in 1987, KPMG is a global network of professional service providers with one firm philosophy: Building trust in society. The name ‘KPMG’ comes from its founders,Ernst & Young and Peat Marwick. The two were joined by Deloitte in 2000 to form ‘KPMG’.
It has offices in more than 150 countries and employs over 190,000 people across various sectors including audit, tax, legal services and advisory. It was named among ‘Best Companies to Work For’ by Fortune magazine for eight consecutive years between 2007-2014. In 2015 it was ranked as No 1 on Crain’s list of ‘Best Places to Work in New York City’. In 2016 it received five stars overall rating from Forbes Magazine’s survey on America’s Best Employers.
conclusion
The top 4 accountancy companies in 2017 are PwC, Deloitte, EY and KPMG. Accounting firms have a huge responsibility in helping businesses to secure their financials, making sure they stay within their budgets and fulfill their compliance requirements with government bodies. And while many of these accountancy firms look similar on paper all offering tax advice, auditing services and business consulting there is one clear winner among them when it comes to standing out from its competition: PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
