Who are the big four? (Deloitte, PwC, EY & KPMG)

Описание: What are the big 4 accounting firms? The big four accounting firms are the four largest international CPA firms in the world. They are well known for their large audit practices, auditing 99% of companies in the FTSE 1000. In addition to audit services of publicly traded companies, the Big Four also offers private company audits, assurance services, taxation, management consulting, corporate finance and other advisory services

Make sure to visit https://big4accountingfirms.com to learn more

History of the big 4 accounting firms

Each of the big 4 accounting firms was created by a series of mergers. In the list below we’ve included the earliest start date of the member firms of each big 4 firm, and we’ve also included the last date of significant merger for each top accounting firm.
EY History – The earliest founding date for a member firm is 1849. The last major merger for Ernst & Young was in 1989.
PwC History – The earliest founding date for a member firm of PwC was in 1914. The last major merger date for PwC was in 1998 when Pricewaterhouse merged with Coopers & Lybrand.

Deloitte History – The earliest founding date for a member firm of Deloitte was in 1849. The last major merger date for Deloitte was in 1989.
KPMG History – The earliest founding date for a member firm of KPMG was in 1891. The last major merger date for KPMG was in 1987.

Big 4 Accounting Firm Salary

Many people want to know what the salaries are like at the big 4. It is pretty obvious what the salaries are like at the big 4 just by understanding the structure. Salaries at the big 4 are very low for people starting out while the salaries earned by big 4 partners are extremely high. Even though partners don’t really earn what most people would call a salary.

Most associates in the big 4 start out at around $50,000 to $60,000 in the United States. This can obviously go higher depending on the amount of credential that you enter the firm with. If you have a law degree or an LLM, you will obviously earn more than 60,000, but the average starting salary at the big 4 is probably between $50,000 to $60,000.

Big Four Structure (Partnership vs. Corporation)

The big 4 accounting firms are structured as partnerships. This means that all the partners own the firm. Most of the firms are LLPs. LLP stands for Limited Liability Partnership.
This structure governs the way that the big 4 are run. Many people believe that the big 4 are run like corporations, but they are not. They are run like several businesses that all operate independently.

Big 8 Accounting Firms

The 8 big accounting firms predated the big five accounting firms. The phrase was used to the largest public accounting firms in the world until 1989. They were no longer referred to the big 8 after a series of mergers. The big eight were:
1. Arthur Andersen
2. Arthur Young
3. Deloitte Haskins and Sells
4. Ernst & Whinney
5. Peat Marwick Mitchell
6. Price Waterhouse
7. Touche Ross
8. Coopers & Lybrand

Big 5 Accounting Firms

The 5 big accounting firms predated the big four accounting firms. They were the largest accounting firms until 2002. The big 5 accounting firms were Ernst & Young, Deloitte & Touche, Arthur Andersen, KPMG and Pricewaterhouse coopers.