SUrvey
World Survey 2014
International Accounting Bulletin
and will continue to make headlines in the
coming years. The reason behind the trend,
Nusbaum of Grant Thornton International
says, is that mid-size and smaller business
are becoming much more international and
have needs in different countries where their
auditors will have to service.
after the deal was first announced.
Pr ior to K PMG ’s acqu isit ion , EY
acquired Terco, a former Grant Thornton
International member firm in Brazil, which
meant two of the largest mid-tier firms were
bought out in the space of a year by two
of the Big Four firms, which raised question on the effect of the concentration of
the audit market.
Despite validating the acquisition, the
CADE imposed some restrictions on KPMG
Brazil’s future acquisitions for the next four
years. The CADE also issued some recommendation for the rest of the Big Four.
All interviewed firm leaders agreed the
trend of consolidation is far from over
Fewer mid-tier networks
But interviewed firm leaders remain divided
on whether or not this consolidation trend
will see the end of one of the major mid-tier
brands in the market. “Within the next five
years there will only be two or three substantial mid-tier networks globally,” BDO’s
Van Roekel predicts.
Mazars’ Castagnac believes that “midtier major players such as Grant Thornton,
BDO and Mazars will certainly not disappear”. For the others he says it could happen
but “certainly not in the short term”.
Baker Tilly International’s Barnes shares
this analysis. “There have been mergers between smaller global organisations
before,” he says. “But not in this mid-tier
region and it’s a jolly difficult thing to think
how one would do that.”
Audit
Despite Deloitte overtaking PwC to become
the largest firm by revenue over the past 12
months, PwC’s audit and accounting ser-
■■ WORLD SURVEY 2014
Networks: staff data
Rank
2013
Name
Total staff
2013
2012
Deloitte*
202,885
193,359
2
PwC*
184,235
180,529
3
EY*
174,808
167,225
4
KPMG*
155,180
152,390
5
BDO
56,389
54,933
Partners
Growth
(%)
2013
Professional staff
2012
Administrative staff
2013
2012
2013
157,505
148,947
Offices
2012
2013
2012
NETWORKS
1
5
10,189
9,948
35,192
34,464
677
655
2
9,597
9,359
143,111
139,723
31,527
31,447
776
776
5
9,468
9,129
130,569
124,735
34,771
33,361
700
726
2
8,664
8,624
119,675
117,190
26,841
26,576
700
700
3
4,908
4,778
43,461
41,979
8,020
8,176
1,264
1,204
6
Grant Thornton International
38,543
35,809
8
2,907
2,839
28,735
26,987
6,901
5,983
696
638
7
RSM International*
31,896
32,757
–3
2,871
3,126
23,657
23,947
5,368
5,684
678
702
8
Crowe Horwath International
29,414
29,239
1
3,352
3,335
21,363
21,335
4,699
4,569
684
671
9
Moore Stephens
International*
27,081
21,224
28
2,636
2,312
19,595
15,273
4,850
3,639
667
624
10
Baker Tilly International*
26,846
25,667
5
2,754
2,650
19,754
18,986
4,339
4,031
738
672
11
Nexia International*
23,131
22,161
4
2,739
2,600
15,774
15,261
4,618
4,300
604
581
12
PKF International
22,543
21,978
3
2,660
2,276
15,383
16,681
4,500
3,021
385
440
13
Kreston International*
20,090
21,009
–4
1,504
1,448
15,645
16,303
2,941
3,258
623
640
14
HLB International*
16,474
15,811
4
1,701
1,754
12,090
10,878
2,683
3,179
455
479
15
Mazars*
13,746
13,161
4
742
727
11 047
10,413
1,957
2,021
250
236
16
UHY International*
7,661
7,134
7
789
768
5,693
5,210
1,179
1,156
275
266
17
Russell Bedford
International*
5,198
4,967
5
613
549
3,750
3,751
835
667
241
240
18
ECOVIS International*
4,610
4,326
7
657
597
3,425
3,295
528
434
262
263
19
Shinewing CPA*
4,500
-
-
150
-
-
-
-
-
24
25
20
UC&CS América*
2,075
2,196
–6
213
170
1,533
1,635
329
391
126
146
21
SMS Latinoamérica*
1,913
1,873
2
167
162
1,597
1,571
149
140
48
40
22
Reanda International
1,882
2,195
–14
105
109
1,549
1,829
228
257
70
42
23
TGS Global*
1,852
-
-
152
-
1,463
-
237
-
141
-
24
IECnet*
1,682
1,418
19
213
219
1,164
977
305
222
124
118
25
Auren*
1,285
1,314
–2
190
191
998
1,024
97
99
46
45
1,055,919
1,012,675
0
69,941
67,670
787,489
767,930
183,094
177,075
11,254
10,929
Totals
Notes: *Disclaimer = Only data from the exclusive member firms within the network or association is included. Data relating to correspondent and non-exclusive member firms is not included
Source: International Accounting Bulletin
10 y January 2014
www.InternationalAccountingBulletin.com