Much like the rest of the world, the Big 4 are among the Top Accounting Firms in Ireland. In this post, we are going to take a quick look at the Big 4. These are the companies which will look closely a which university you have studied at.
"Obviously the more transparency we have as auditors, the more we can get, but the main goal is to understand important characteristics about a black box algorithm without necessarily having to understand every single granular detail of the algorithm."
- Cathy O'Neil
One thing this post will really help with is people graduating with an accountancy degree, the choice that students who pursue the practice route can’t avoid is deciding which firm to train in!
Who are the Big 4?
Big 4: The Big 4 firms (PwC, KPMG, Deloitte and EY) are the dominant players in terms of accountancy firms globally and in Ireland. All of the Big 4 have head offices in Dublin with most having a regional presence across the country including Belfast, Cork, Galway and Limerick.
In recent years, their ambition has been to become professional services firms as opposed to mere accountancy practices with a focus now on offering a broad range of services from the traditional audit, bookkeeping, tax and advisory offerings to consulting, risk analysis and data analytics departments.
Let's dive a little deeper, shall we?
KPMG - Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdele
KPMG got its start in 1897, just a few years after the first American accounting firm had been set up. The company was formed by James Marwick and Roger Mitchell, who had both immigrated to the new world from Scotland. They set up their new partnership, called Marwick, Mitchell & Company, in New York City.
In 1986, KMG was the ninth-largest accounting firm in the United States, while Peat Marwick was number two. The merger of KMG and Peat Marwick created the largest accounting firm in the world in terms of size and revenue. After the joined companies were to be known as Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler, or KPMG and were to be headquartered in Amsterdam. In September 1986, Peat Marwick announced that it had opened negotiations to buy a public relations company and a consulting business, both with ties to the high-tech industry.
KPMG Trivia
- To this day, KPMG headquarters remain in Holland, located in Amstelveen, the Netherlands
- KPMG employs 207,050 people.
- Has three lines of services: financial audit, tax, and advisory. Its tax and advisory services are further divided into various service groups.
- In March 2017 KPMG launched a campaign designed to encourage more women to pursue careers in technology-based professions.
- KPMG currently ranks 4th on the top 10 accounting firms in the world in 2023 with a net worth of $34.64 billion
PwC - Price Waterhouse Coopers
Samuel Price, Edwin Waterhouse and William Cooper started to practice as accountants in the mid-19th century.
PricewaterhouseCoopers was created on 1 July 1998 by the merger of two firms, Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand. In September 2010, the trading name of the firm was shortened to PwC, along with the adoption of a new visual identity.
Today, the accountancy giant focuses on delivering services relating to tax, assurance, auditing, crisis management and transactions, among other things, to its clients and stakeholders globally. Furthermore, PwC offers its expertise and influence to assist governments, non-profit organisations, relief agencies and high education institutions in addressing their business issues.
PwC Trivia
- PwC have offices in 157 countries, 721 locations
- More than 223,000 people are employed by PwC
- PwC ranks as the second largest professional services firm in the world behind Deloitte
- The firm was formed in 1998 by a merger between Coopers & Lybrand and Price Waterhouse. Both firms had histories dating back to the 19th century.
- The trading name was shortened to PwC in September 2010 as part of a rebranding effort.
- As of 2023, PwC ranks 2nd in the top 10 accounting firms in the world according to "The Big 4 Accounting Firms" PwC has a net worth of $50.3 billion.
EY - Ernest & Young
EY first became Ernst & Young LLP in 1989 when Ernst & Whinney and Arthur Young & Co. merged.
Interestingly enough the two founders of Ernst and Young were Arthur Young and Alwin C Ernst, but the two founders never actually met each other. Scotsman Arthur Young and American Alwin Ernst founded their separate companies in 1906 and 1903, respectively. The companies merged in 1989.
EY Trivia
- Ernst and Young is a multinational professional services firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom.
- Ernst and Young had 365,399 employees as of the fiscal year 2022.
- Ernst & Young LLP is primarily an audit firm which means they are responsible for auditing the financial statements of various companies. They also offer tax services and consulting services to their clients.
- EY has reported record levels of growth for its business on the island of Ireland, with revenues to the end of June 2022 up 26% to €536 million
- Ernst & Young currently ranks 3rd on the top 10 accounting firms in the world in 2023 with a net worth of $45.4 billion.
Deloitte
Deloitte was founded in 1845 by William Welch Deloitte. He opened the first Deloitte office in London, UK. The name of the firm Deloitte is derived from William Welch Deloitte's last name. William Welch Deloitte was the first accountant to be appointed as an independent auditor of a public company.
Touche Ross and Deloitte Haskins Sells merged in 1989. The newly formed Deloitte & Touche was led by J. Michael Cook and Edward A. Kangas, who shared the belief that successful accountants of the future would combine strong professional abilities with a deep understanding of their client’s industries, situations and needs.
In 1995, a century after its founding, the partners of Deloitte & Touche voted to create Deloitte Consulting to better serve their multinational clients.
Deloitte Trivia
- Deloitte is the largest professional services firm in the world. They provide audit, consulting, financial advisory, risk management, tax and other services through their member firms.
- Deloitte had 14,266 partners as of 2020.
- You can choose to intern in any of their offices: Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick, Waterford or Wexford. You will have a chance to experience the life of a PwC graduate during a fully paid internship that can last for either eight or 12 weeks.
- Deloitte currently ranks 1st in the top 10 accounting firms in the world in 2023 with a net worth of $59.3 billion
- As of 2023, it is estimated that Deloitte currently employs 411,951 globally.
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