Big Four accounting firms Wikipedia

Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for accountants and auditors was 1.4% in the fourth quarter of 2019. If you’re wondering how to transition into accounting consulting, you’re in good company. It’s fairly common for CPAs to become part-time or full-time consultants just prior to retirement, while others enjoy the benefits of greater flexibility and control over their schedules earlier in their careers.

You work with them directly and routinely to enhance their decision-making and help their accounting consultinges grow. This type of advisory relationship differentiates you from other consultants. When you ask what accounting consultants do, there are many different answers, depending on the different needs their clients have, the areas of specialization they focus on, their geographic region, and many other factors. Being an accountant can mean far more than preparing tax returns, compiling financial statements, handling technical compliance work or providing back-office accounting services. It’s becoming increasing popular for many CPAs to offer their services in an accounting consultant capacity, which is a bridge to becoming the holistic trusted advisor consumers are looking for in today’s economic climate. Deloitte is the largest of the Big Four accounting firms with over $46B in annual revenue and 312,000 employees in 2019.

Platinum level

The report recommended the Government refer the statutory audit market to the Competition and Markets Authority , urging consideration of breaking up the Big Four. In September 2018, Business Secretary Greg Clark announced he had asked the CMA to conduct an inquiry into competition in the audit sector, and on 9 October 2018, the CMA announced it had launched a detailed study. In July 2020, the UK Financial Reporting Council told the Big Four that they must submit plans by October 2020 to separate their audit and consultancy operations by 2024. The Big Eight gradually reduced due to mergers between these firms, as well as the 2002 collapse of Arthur Andersen, leaving four networks dominating the market at the turn of the 21st century.

Once the client has chosen an entity structure, your consulting job is done. That doesn’t mean that you won’t have additional consulting opportunities with that same client in the future; it just means that you handle them one at a time as they arise. While there are similarities, the primary difference between advisory services and accounting consulting is the length and purpose of the engagement. There’s another practical difference between serving as a traditional accountant and becoming an accounting consultant; namely, it’s how you get paid. Conventionally, accountants bill for time spent, whereas a consultant usually provides up-front pricing for specific consulting engagements, above and beyond the hourly billing for compliance and technical services. They have limited expertise or resources in technology consulting, implementation, financial advisory consulting, and risk and compliance consulting.

Product & service classification

Becoming an accounting consultant takes a special set of skills beyond your technical accounting expertise. Technical skills aren’t necessarily the divide between a great consultant and a mediocre one. Passion, drive for excellence, leadership, communication skills, and organizational skills – in addition to your knowledge – play a big role in how successful you will be as an accounting consultant. Cloud Audit Suite Complete audits with confirmation service and integration with third-party data analytics. Therefore, if you are interested in management or strategy consulting, this specific type of work makes up a much smaller percentage of the Big Four’s revenues compared to the other types of consulting. KPMG is the smallest of the Big Four, but still had over $29B in annual revenue and 219,000 employees in 2019.

• As a CPA consultant, you analyze the numbers and trends and provide thoughtful, detailed insight to improve your client’s business going forward.
• What are the top consulting firms in the world for clients in the Accounting industry?
• The firm has over 35,000 employees and rakes in over $4B in revenue each year.

You can participate in our global and regional networking events, allowing you to make valuable connections, obtain advice and gain an international perspective from trusted peers. At MGI Worldwide CPAAI, we are proud of our reputation as one of the world’s leading global accountancy networks of independent audit, tax, accounting and consulting firms. Accounting and consulting firms will respond to this need with one or sometimes multiple consultants, depending on timing and how many experts are needed to get the job done. Consultants could work at the client company on a five-days-a-week basis for a stretch of time or just a few hours a week. The top Accounting consulting firms in the US list presents the country’s leading consultancy firms in the industry, based on our unique database of more than 2 million data points spanning insights from clients and consultants.

Responsibilities for an Accounting Consultant

Read our white paper, How to start an accounting advisory business, to learn more about how to become an accounting consultant. Hourly rates for accounting consultants range from $27.39 to $44.39 (Washington, D.C.). The survey also compared annual accounting consultant salaries by geographic and metro regions. For example, a CPA consultant’s average salary in New York City is $106,000 per year, while in Bethesda, MD, the annual salary averages $74,000.

On the other hand, Big 4 consultants do have somewhat better work-life balance, with the weekly hours ranging from 50 to 70. In reality, however, there is more variance between the projects than between two groups of firms. Consultants from McKinsey, BCG and Bain are not paid much more than their Big 4 fellows – as far as base salaries are concerned. In the United States, junior consultants in both groups are paid $70,000-$90,000 per year as base, while that of senior consultants fluctuate around the $140,000 mark. However, with bonuses and profit sharing, the gap between MBB and Big 4 firms widens .