The Big Eight consisted of Arthur Andersen, Arthur Young, Coopers & Lybrand, Deloitte Haskins and Sells, Ernst & Whinney, Peat Marwick Mitchell, Price Waterhouse, and Touche Ross. A career at the Big 4 firms offers a challenging yet rewarding path, filled with opportunities for growth, learning, and impact. Understanding the nuances of their hiring processes and what they look for in candidates is the first step towards embarking on a successful career within these esteemed organizations. Okay, you are still in college and you’re thinking about getting in public accounting, but you aren’t really sure what it looks like or how much you will make.
How the big four CPA firms were established is an interesting history that goes back over a hundred years, but let’s not go all the way back to the beginning. In the 1980s there were actually eight large firms known as the big eight. The Big 5 eventually became the Big 4 following the scandal involving accounting fraud at the energy company Enron. Thus, in 2002, Arthur Andersen, the fifth member of the then Big 5, was dissolved.
In 1845 William Deloitte formed Deloitte out of his London based office. In 1880 he opened his first office in New York and became the first person appointed to audit a public company. After seeing some success in America, Deloitte merged with Haskins and Sells in 1896.
In the following, we have tried to define the most important aspect that could convince you to apply to the respective company. After all, the Big 4 differ significantly in their strategic focus areas, which should simplify a decision depending on the focus. Despite repeated sanctions from regulators, the Big Four have seen continued challenges to audit quality and ethics as the 2020 decade comes to a close. EY, the middle child of the Big 4 comes, is the perennial third-place firm what is a bad debt ratio for a business in terms of revenue. Globally, Deloitte boasts a number of premier clients such as P&G, Boeing, Starbucks, Morgan Stanley, Berkshire Hathaway.
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC): Assurance and Advisory
- Deloitte recruiters attend career fairs at most major universities and colleges around the country giving students access to their leadership programs and internship opportunities.
- Beyond assurance, EY’s consulting arm has made significant strides, offering expertise in areas such as digital transformation, cybersecurity, sustainability, and strategy, to name a few.
- For some more context, the Big 4 firm with the lowest revenue is KPMG, with ~25 billion.
- With huge revenues, they can afford luxury offices in popular areas of the cities in which they are present.
In that sense, the hiring process is not too different than the one of top strategy consulting firms, especially for their consulting divisions. D&T has also developed college accounting courses and full curriculum for college programs. Currently, there are more than 20 Deloitte accounting colleges and universities utilizing their materials. If you think you want to study accounting, become a CPA, and work in public accounting, you should definitely look into these schools. Vault places Deloitte’s consulting department right after Big 3 strategy consulting firms (McKinsey, BCG, and Bain), an indicator of Deloitte’s success and effectiveness. The largest of the Big Four, Deloitte’s workforce grew to over 457,000 employees during their 2023 fiscal year.
All four companies have similar services, including audit, accounting, tax and management consulting. They all have a strong international presence and impressive revenue figures. Despite these similarities, each firm has its own strengths and specializations that set it apart from the others. The broad spectrum of services offered by the Big 4, combined with their focus on hiring diverse talent and investing in employee growth, underscores their role as leaders in the professional services industry. Their ability to adapt and expand their services ensures they remain at the forefront of addressing the complex needs of businesses in an ever-evolving global marketplace. Pursuing a career at one of the Big 4 accounting firms presents a great opportunity for professionals to develop their skills, work on diverse projects, and build a significant network in the business world.
Deloitte
The Big Four all offer audit, assurance, taxation, management consulting, valuation, market research, actuarial, corporate finance, and legal services to their clients. A significant majority of the audits of public companies, as well as many audits of private companies, are conducted by these four networks. PwC’s global presence ensures that its clients have access to a consistent quality of service, from tax and assurance to advisory services, no matter where they are based. This strategic merger was driven by the vision to provide clients with a seamless, global set of auditing, tax, and advisory services, reflecting the increasingly international nature of business. KPMG’s growth over the decades has been characterized by a commitment to excellence, innovation, and an understanding of the complex and ever-evolving business landscape. The historical milestones of EY underscore its journey from a traditional accounting firm to a comprehensive provider of professional services.
Deloitte also sets itself apart from the other big 4 because they are the only firm with a global headquarters is located in the United States. The Big 4 companies offer numerous opportunities, both in terms of developing professional skills and the chance to work in an international environment. Regardless of which company you choose, each Big 4 firm offers a unique work environment and career opportunities that can lay the foundation for a successful career in management consulting. Audit still plays a big role in the company’s profit-generating ability, though Deloitte’s consulting business is second to none. Back in the early 2000s, other Big 4 accounting firms sold or spun off their Consulting practices in the wake of the Enron scandal and subsequent regulations (e.g. Sarbanes-Oxley or “sox”). Deloitte decided to still keep their consulting practice in-house, putting them ahead of the pack once the other Big 4 firms started to re-boot their consulting arms.
Big 4 Accounting Firms Rankings 2022
Each of these events are great opportunities to meet recruiters and other team members. Remember, the more interaction you have with the big four CPA firms, the more likely will hire you down the road. In 2002, the five was cut by one due to the fall of Arthur Andersen after its involvement in the world-shocking Enron scandal. From then on, the four largest existing accounting firms have been known as the Big 4. Ernst & Whinney merged with Arthur Young to create Ernst & Young in 1989. Ernst & Young is a global organization of member firms in 150 countries.
What is a Big 4 Accounting Firm?
In 1989, Ernst & Whinney merged with Arthur Young to create the modern EY. Although we typically think of these firms as four individual companies, they are actually four large networks of member firms, usually called a professional services network, located all over the world. It has since built these practices back up in a similar fashion to the other big four firms and offers a full range of professional services. The busy season typically means long hours of auditing or tax compliance work to meet reporting deadlines. Big Four employees often work long hours during the busy season, sometimes doubling the hours worked during the off-season. The busy season typically begins at the start of the calendar year with tax reports and returns due between January and April.
We are happy to help and offer a tailored program to help you break into consulting. For consulting candidates of the Big 4, the case interviews and fit interviews are what you would expect from any other consulting firm. The hiring process at the Big 4 is designed to assess candidates’ technical abilities, problem-solving skills, and cultural fit. It typically includes several stages, such as online applications, aptitude tests, first-round interviews, and assessment centers.
The global presence of the Big 4 firms is supported by their vast networks of professionals who bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to their work. Deloitte, with its origins in London, has expanded to operate in over 150 countries. This extensive network allows Deloitte to offer localized services while leveraging global insights, making it a preferred partner for companies seeking to navigate the complexities of international markets. The Big 4 are also at the forefront of technological innovation in the industry, incorporating the latest advancements in capital lease data analytics, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity into their service offerings.
In 2016, Deloitte generated the highest revenue of $37.8 billion, beating out last year’s leader PwC. With all of this averaged out, you should be able to make it to a Senior Partner position as soon as 15 years and have a healthy salary of $400,000 – $450,000. Obviously, these are just estimates and your location and position can vary, but needless to say you will be well taken care of if you choose to go into big four public accounting. For entry-level positions, EY and PwC pay roughly the same and about 10% more than Deloitte and KPMG. All of the firms are ranked in the top graduate employer lists consistently year on year and are deemed to be great places to work. Perhaps unsurprisingly there is little difference in the glassdoor ratings of each firm and this most likely reflects the similarity in work they do and the constant movement of employees between them.