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This article was first published in the April 2016 UK edition of Accounting and Business magazine.

The latest report from International Accounting Bulletin on the performance of global accountancy networks has found that PwC tops the table, with global fee income of US$35.4bn for the year to 30 June 2015. It beat Deloitte, which had held the top spot for the previous two years, but by a relatively narrow margin of US$156m, with Deloitte reporting fee income of US$35.2bn in the year to 31 May 2015.

Network growth

Overall, the Big Four (PwC, Deloitte, EY and KPMG) controlled 66.5% of the global accounting market share in 2015, with a combined fee income of US$124bn. KPMG was the only Big Four firm to report a decrease in fee income (-2%).

According to the survey, networks grew by an average of 2% in 2015, with the Big Four and the next six largest networks averaging 3% growth year on year.

Other notable changes in the network rankings include RSM overtaking Grant Thornton as the sixth largest network globally. RSM reported fee income of US$4.64bn in the year to 31 December 2015, up 6%. Grant Thornton reported fee income of US$4.63bn in the year to 30 September 2015, down 2%. PKF International dropped from 12th position to 15th.

Overall, associations grew by an average of 5% year on year, with combined fee income of US$23.3bn. Praxity remains the largest association globally, with fee income of US$4.5bn, up 3% on 2014.

The associations’ table saw much more volatility in 2015 than the networks’ table, with a few associations – such as MSI Global, KS International and INPACT – climbing up by one or two positions. 

The split between PKF International and ARAF, now Allinial Global, in North America also had a knock-on effect on the association table. Allinial Global took fifth place in the ranking. 

Pinch of salt

Among the top 10 largest associations, the most notable change in the ranking was DFK International overtaking AGN International as the seventh largest association globally, with fee income of US$1.2bn in 2015.

But IAB acting editor Vincent Huck warned that these changes should be taken with a pinch of salt. ‘The strengthening of the dollar in 2015, combined with currency devaluation in Latin America, China and Russia, has played a part in networks’ and associations’ financial reports,’ he says. 

‘A decrease or slow growth do not necessarily reflect an organisation’s operational results but are often the effect of currency exchange.’ 

This article was contributed by International Accounting Bulletin

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Networks fee data

Name Fee income ($m)
PwC 35,356.0
Deloitte 35,200.0
EY 28,655.0
KPMG 24,440.0
BDO 7,303.9
RSM 4,641.4
Grant Thornton International 4,632.8
Baker Tilly International 3,807.0
Crowe Horwath International 3,506.7
Nexia International 3,082.7
Moore Stephens International 2,659.9
Kreston International 2,045.2
HLB International 1,910.3
Mazars 1,423.8
PKF International 1,014.1
UHY International 517.0
Russell Bedford International 392.0
ECOVIS International 322.0
Pan-China International 320.6
ShineWing International 276.1

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Market share - Big Four

PwC 19.0%
Deloitte 18.9%
EY 15.4%
KPMG 13.1%
Mid-tier 33.5%

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Average fee split - Big Four

  2008 2013 2014 2015
Audit and accounting 52% 43% 42% 38%
Tax 24% 23% 23% 23%
Advisory 24% 34% 35% 39%

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World survey 2016

  Average growth of firm 2014 (%) Average growth of firm 2015 (%)
Australia 5.0% 10.3%
Brazil 13.0% 9.1%
Canada 1.4% 5.8%
China 18.0% 6.5%
Colombia Data not available 14.2%
France 4.0% 6.0%
Germany 5.0% 5.5%
Italy 4.6% 4.9%
Japan 4.0% 3.0%
Mexico 7.4% 11.0%
Netherlands -0.7% 2.2%
Nigeria 19.0% -4.5%
Russia 5.8% 18.0%
Singapore Data not available 7.2%
South Africa 8.4% -10.7%
South Korea 0.6% 2.8%
Spain 4.0% 4.8%
Turkey 12.0% 13.0%
UK 4.9% 7.2%
USA 7.0% 7.9%
World 6.0% 2.0%