The Indian accounting landscape is primarily regulated by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), which sets standards and guidelines for accounting and auditing practices. As of recent estimates, India has over 400,000 Chartered Accountants (CAs) and more than 200,000 CA firms, reflecting a robust profession. The accounting practices in India adhere to Indian Accounting Standards (Ind AS), which are converging with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The landscape is continually evolving with reforms aimed at enhancing transparency and accountability.
Category: KPMG
Total employees and gender diversity in Big4
In this blog we’ll look into the total workforce of big4 firms and their gender representation.
PwC
PwC has 295,371 employees across the world with 11,897 partners. Of the total employees, 49.3% are female while 50.6% are male. Among the Partners, 22.4% are female while 77.6% are male.
Deloitte
Deloitte has 345,374 employees across the world . Of the total employees, 45% are female while 55% are male. Among the Partners 25% are female.
KPMG
KPMG has 236,257 employees across the world with 11,455 partners. Of the total employees, 48% are female while 52% are male.
EY
EY has 312,250 employees across the world with 12,938 partners. Of the total employees, 48% are female while 52% are male. Among the Partners, 23% are female while 77% are male.
Salary data tool
For anyone interested to know the salary information across the various accounting firms, feel free to submit your salary information anonymously. The results will be aggregated and regularly updated within a separate blog post.
Details of Salary data received so far. After submission, we’ll do a quick check and get your numbers included as well. Three cheers for transparency!!
Firm Compensation Data with Filter
| Firm | Service Line | Role | City | Total Years of Experience | Total Years with the Firm | Base Salary | Bonus and Other Payments | Total Compensation | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deloitte | Audit | Associate | Melbourne | 0 | 0 | 63,000 | 63,000 | 2022 | |
| Deloitte | Tax | Analyst | Brisbane | 5 | 1.5 | 62,000 | 68,000 | 2022 | |
| PWC | Actuarial | SM | London | 12 | 1 | 100,000 | 100,000 | 2022 | |
| KPMG | Advisory | SA1 | Auckland | 2 | 2 | 90,000 | 90,000 | 2022 | |
| EY | Tax | Staff 1 | Minneapolis | 0 | 0 | 67,000 | 67,000 | 2022 | |
| KPMG | Audit | London | 3 | 3 | 50,000 | 60,000 | 2022 | ||
| KPMG | Audit | SA1 | Tokyo | 1 | 1 | ¥4,600,000 | ¥1,200,000 | ¥5,800,000 | 2022 |
| Deloitte | Tax | Intern | Hobart | 0 | 0 | 51,000 | 0 | 51,000 | 2022 |
PCAOB 2020 Inspection Reports
The 2020 inspection reports sprung a lot of surprises. PwC led the big4 firms with only 1 deficiency out of the 52 audits inspected. Deloitte had 2 deficiencies out of the 53 audits reviewed. The detailed summary of Part I deficiencies of audit firms is noted below:
Marked improvement by the big4 firms in 2020. Both PwC and Deloitte have only single digit deficiency. Appears that the firms improved audit quality drastically last year by being virtual.
PwC had just one exception in 2020. The report says the one exception was identified in the Industrials sector with revenues ranging from $10 to $50 billion. Refer to our blog on the S&P 500 companies audited by PwC. For the one exception, deficiencies were identified in revenue and inventory.
Deloitte’s two exceptions were in the Consumer Staples and Industrials sector. Deficiencies were identified in Revenue and Accounts receivable.
KPMG’s exception areas is noted below. Of the 5 audits reviewed, exceptions were identified in the expense area in 40% of them. Other major area of exception was Investment securities.
Would be interesting to read the next year’s report and see if similar percentages can be maintained by PwC and Deloitte.
Top Audit Firms in India
In India, regulations do not permit foreign auditing firms to operate. Hence KPMG carries out audits in India under the name of BSR & Co, an auditing firm that it bought. BSR & Co was an auditing firm founded by B.S. Raut in Mumbai. Deloitte carries out audits in India under multiple names of C.C.Chokshi & Co, Fraser & Ross, PC Hansotia & Company and SB Billimoria & Company and Deloitte Haskins & Sells. Price Waterhouse is the Indian affiliate of PwC. EY carries out its Indian audit operations through the firm SR Batliboi & Associates.
| Global Firm | Indian Affiliate |
| KPMG | BSR & Co. |
| Deloitte | Deloitte Haskins & Sells |
| PwC | Price Waterhouse |
| EY | SR Batliboi & Associates |
| GT | Walker Chandiok & Co. |
| BDO | MSKA & Associates |
Price Waterhouse was banned in 2019 by Indian market regulator Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for a period of 2 years from conducting any audits. This order was later set aside by the Appellate Tribunal. Based on looking at the top 100 companies of India by market cap, PwC only audits 6 companies. KPMG audits 23 of the top 100 companies either individually or as a joint auditor while EY audits 22 of them. Deloitte audits 17 of the 100 companies. Indian audit market is highly fragmented with local firms auditing some of the biggest listed companies. Also, a significant number of companies on the top 100 list is government owned where auditors are non-big4 firms appointed by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
| Audit Firm | Total Audit fees (In INR Crores) | No. of Companies audited |
| Non big-4 or GT or BDO | 258.23 | 28 |
| KPMG | 197.53 | 22 |
| EY | 221.39 | 21 |
| Deloitte | 132.67 | 17 |
| PwC | 66.27 | 6 |
| GT | 15.01 | 3 |
| EY & KPMG | 15.26 | 1 |
| GT & PwC | 9.91 | 1 |
| BDO | 4.63 | 1 |
The listing of top 100 Indian companies by their market capitalization, auditor, and audit fees is provided below:
| # | Company | Audit Firm | Global Firm | Total Fee (Crores INR) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reliance Industries | SRBC & Co. LLP and DTS Associates | EY | 59.73 |
| 2 | Tata Consultancy Services | BSR & Co. LLP | KPMG | 14.67 |
| 3 | HDFC Bank | MSKA & Associates | BDO | 4.63 |
| 4 | Infosys | Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP | Deloitte | 19.00 |
| 5 | Hindustan Unilever | BSR & Co. LLP | KPMG | 4.49 |
| 6 | Housing Development Finance Corporation | BSR & Co. LLP | KPMG | 9.02 |
| 7 | ICICI Bank | Walker Chandiok & Co. | GT | 11.29 |
| 8 | State Bank of India | Khandelwal Jain & Co | Non-big4 | 0 |
| 9 | Bajaj Finance | SRBC & Co. | EY | 1.65 |
| 10 | Kotak Mahindra Bank | Walker Chandiok & Co. and Price Waterhouse LLP | GT & PwC | 9.91 |
| 11 | Wipro | Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP | Deloitte | 14.00 |
| 12 | Bharti Airtel | Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP | Deloitte | 57.80 |
| 13 | Asian Paints | Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP | Deloitte | 3.65 |
| 14 | ITC | SRBC & Co. | EY | 7.66 |
| 15 | HCL Technologies | BSR & Co. LLP | KPMG | 22.00 |
| 16 | Maruti Suzuki India | Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP | Deloitte | 2.90 |
| 17 | Bharat Petroleum | CVK Associates & Borkar Mazumdar | Non-big4 | 0.96 |
| 18 | DMart | SRBC & Co. | EY | 1.35 |
| 19 | Adani Green Energy | Dharmesh Parikh & Co. | Non-big4 | 1.65 |
| 20 | Bajaj Finserv | SRBC & Co. | EY | 3.86 |
| 21 | UltraTech Cement | BSR & Co. LLP; Khimji Kunverji & Co. | KPMG | 6.20 |
| 22 | Axis Bank | Haribhakti & Co. LLP | Non-big4 | 5.97 |
| 23 | Adani Enterprises | Shah Dhandharia & Co | Non-big4 | 0.60 |
| 24 | Adani Transmission | Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP | Deloitte | 2.12 |
| 25 | JSW Steel | SRBC & Co. | EY | 22.56 |
| 26 | Adani Ports & SEZ | Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP | Deloitte | 4.31 |
| 27 | Nestlé India | BSR & Co. LLP | KPMG | 1.30 |
| 28 | Sun Pharmaceutical | SRBC & Co. | EY | 15.72 |
| 29 | Oil & Natural Gas | MKPS & Associates, G.M. Kapadia & Co., R. Gopal & Associates, Kalani & Co., SARC & Associates and R.G.N. Price & Co | Non-big4 | 4.70 |
| 30 | Titan Company | BSR & Co. LLP | KPMG | 2.84 |
| 31 | Hindustan Zinc | SRBC & Co. | EY | 2.01 |
| 32 | HDFC Life | G.M. Kapadia & Co., & Price Waterhouse | PwC | 1.14 |
| 33 | Tata Steel | Price Waterhouse & Co. | PwC | 53.31 |
| 34 | Bajaj Auto | SRBC & Co. | EY | 3.65 |
| 35 | Tata Motors | BSR & Co. LLP | KPMG | 79.72 |
| 36 | Powergrid Corporation of India | T R Chadha & Co.;Umamaheswara Rao & Co.;B M Chatrath & Co. and P S D & Associates | Non-big4 | 1.21 |
| 37 | Divis Laboratories | Price Waterhouse & Co. | PwC | 0.63 |
| 38 | NTPC Limited | S K Mehta & Co., New Delhi; S.N. Dhawan & Co. LLP, New Delhi; Varma & Varma, Hyderabad; Parakh & Co., Jaipur; M/s C K Prusty & Associates, Bhubaneshwar; M/s B C Jain & Co., Kanpur; and M/s V K Jindal & Co., Ranchi. | Non-big4 | 2.03 |
| 39 | Indian Oil | V. Singhi & Associates, Kolkata; K. C. Mehta & Co., Mumbai; G. S. Mathur & Co., New Delhi; and Singhi & Co., Kolkata | Non-big4 | 4.02 |
| 40 | Vedanta | SRBC & Co. | EY | 29.00 |
| 41 | Pidilite | Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP | Deloitte | 1.50 |
| 42 | Bharat Petroleum | BSR & Co. LLP | KPMG | 9.02 |
| 43 | Shree Cement | Gupta & Dua | Non-big4 | 56.94 |
| 44 | Mahindra & Mahindra | BSR & Co. LLP | KPMG | 11.22 |
| 45 | SBI Life Insurance | R. Devendra Kumar & Associates and S.C. Bapna & Associates, | Non-big4 | 0.74 |
| 46 | Grasim Industries | SRBC & Co. and BSR & Co. LLP | EY & KPMG | 15.26 |
| 47 | SBI Card | S. Ramanand Aiyar & Co | Non-big4 | 0.49 |
| 48 | Tech Mahindra | BSR & Co. LLP | KPMG | 6.60 |
| 49 | Dabur | Walker Chandiok & Co LLP | GT | 0.98 |
| 50 | Coal India | RAY & RAY | Non-big4 | 0.95 |
| 51 | Dr. Reddy's | SRBC & Co. | EY | 11.16 |
| 52 | Hindalco Industries | Price Waterhouse & Co. | PwC | 5.00 |
| 53 | Godrej | BSR & Co. LLP | KPMG | 0.89 |
| 54 | Britannia Industries | BSR & Co. LLP | KPMG | 1.67 |
| 55 | ICICI Prulife | BSR & Co. LLP | KPMG | 2.16 |
| 56 | Motherson Sumi Systems | SRBC & Co. | EY | 45.94 |
| 57 | IndusInd Bank | Haribhakti & Co. LLP | Non-big4 | 2.36 |
| 58 | Berger Paints | SRBC & Co. | EY | 0.78 |
| 59 | Cipla | Walker Chandiok & Co LLP | GT | 2.75 |
| 60 | Siemens India | BSR & Co. LLP | KPMG | 3.00 |
| 61 | Eicher Motors | SRBC & Co. | EY | 3.63 |
| 62 | DLF | SRBC & Co. | EY | 2.38 |
| 63 | GAIL | ASA & Associates LLP and A R & Co. | Non-big4 | 1.56 |
| 64 | InterGlobe Aviation | SRBC & Co. | EY | 4.02 |
| 65 | Indus Towers | Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP | Deloitte | 1.32 |
| 66 | Havells India | SRBC & Co. | EY | 1.45 |
| 67 | Ambuja Cements | Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP | Deloitte | 2.14 |
| 68 | ICICI Lombard | Chaturvedi & Co and PKF Sridhar & Santhanam LLP | Non-big4 | 3.17 |
| 69 | Cadila Healthcare | Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP | Deloitte | 1.38 |
| 70 | UPL | BSR & Co. LLP | KPMG | 9.99 |
| 71 | Tata Consumer Products | Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP | Deloitte | 12.84 |
| 72 | Marico | BSR & Co. LLP | KPMG | 2.72 |
| 73 | Hero MotoCorp | BSR & Co. LLP | KPMG | 2.76 |
| 74 | Muthoot Finance | Varma & Varma | Non-big4 | 0.77 |
| 75 | Info Edge | SRBC & Co. | EY | 1.26 |
| 76 | National Mineral Development Corporation | Sagar & Associates | Non-big4 | 0.90 |
| 77 | Aurobindo Pharma | BSR & Co. LLP | KPMG | 2.60 |
| 78 | Lupin Limited | BSR & Co. LLP | KPMG | 1.09 |
| 79 | Gland Pharma | SRBC & Co. | EY | 1.01 |
| 80 | Bandhan Bank | Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP and M. M. Nissim & Co. LLP | Deloitte | 1.62 |
| 81 | Apollo Hospitals | Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP | Deloitte | 4.00 |
| 82 | Torrent Pharmaceuticals | BSR & Co. LLP | KPMG | 1.17 |
| 83 | Cholamandalam Investment and Finance | SRBC & Co. | EY | 1.19 |
| 84 | Biocon | BSR & Co. LLP | KPMG | 2.40 |
| 85 | BOSCH India | Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP | Deloitte | 1.10 |
| 86 | Colgate-Palmolive India | SRBC & Co. | EY | 1.38 |
| 87 | Punjab National Bank | S N Dhawan & Co. LLP; M K Aggarwal & Co.; A John Moris & Co.; S R Goyal & Co.; PSMG & Associates | Non-big4 | 85.97 |
| 88 | Hindustan Petroleum | M.P. Chitale & Co. and R. Devendra Kumar & Associates | Non-big4 | 1.41 |
| 89 | Piramal Group | Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP | Deloitte | 2.03 |
| 90 | Container Corporation of India | S.N. Nanda & Co | Non-big4 | 0.05 |
| 91 | United Spirits | Price Waterhouse & Co | PwC | 5.15 |
| 92 | Balkrishna Industries | N G Thakrar & Co. | Non-big4 | 0.46 |
| 93 | Bank of Baroda | Dass Gupta & Associates; R Devendra Kumar & Associates; J Kala & Associates; Vyas & Vyas | Non-big4 | 74.10 |
| 94 | IDBI Bank | K S Aiyar & Co and M P Chitale & Co. | Non-big4 | 3.25 |
| 95 | Jubilant FoodWorks | Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP | Deloitte | 0.96 |
| 96 | Procter & Gamble India | Kalyaniwalla & Mistry LLP | Non-big4 | 1.17 |
| 97 | PI Industries | Price Waterhouse & Co | PwC | 1.04 |
| 98 | Jindal Steel & Power | Lodha & Co. | Non-big4 | 2.41 |
| 99 | Gujarat Gas | S. R. Goyal & Co. | Non-big4 | 0.24 |
| 100 | Adani Gas | Shah Dhandharia & Co. | Non-big4 | 0.14 |
Look into our other posts on big4 audit clients in USA, UK, and Australia. We are starting a new blogpost to collect the salary data to help all current and prospective employees of accounting firms. So if interested, update the form and results will be published soon.
Biggest Companies in the world by market cap
2020 was a phenomenal year for the markets with some big changes in the Global Top 100 companies by market capitalization. Tesla for instance saw its market capitalization increase by 565% from the levels seen in March 2020. In this blog we’ll look at the global top 100 companies by market capitalization as of Mar-2021 and who their auditors are. The top-100 companies were identified based on the survey performed by PwC. This blog provides a listing of the top 100 companies along with their auditors.
Industry Sectors
Of the top 100 companies, 20 of them are in the Technology sector, 17 of them in the Consumer Discretionary sector, and 16 of them in the Healthcare sector. No surprises that Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet (Google), Facebook, and Tencent occupy spots within the top 10 companies. NextEra Energy is the only utility company within the top 100 list. See below for a detailed breakdown of companies by sector:
Company Location
Of the top 100 companies, 59 of them are located in the United States while 11 of them are located in the People’s Republic of China. Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Switzerland, and UK have 3 companies each. See below for a detailed breakdown of companies by country:
Auditors
Looking at the top 100 Companies, PwC leads in the number of audit clients followed by EY. PwC audits 37 companies while EY audits 26. Deloitte and KPMG audits 16 companies each. PwC received a total audit fee of $1.03 billion from these 37 companies while EY received an audit fee income of $861 million. The break-down of the auditors for these 100 companies along with their audit fees are as follows:
The public fillings of Saudi Aramco does not disclose how much they paid to PwC, their auditors. Hence the above numbers for PwC does not include the fees for the Aramco audit which is expected to be a very substantial amount. Samsung Electronics and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China switched to Deloitte in FY’20. However, for the purposes of the above chart, they are considered under their previous auditors.
Biggest Companies in the World
| Ranking | Company | Country | Sector | Market Cap. ($ bn) | Auditor | Currency | Total Audit Fees (Million) | Total Audit Fees (USD Million) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | APPLE INC | United States | Technology | 2051 | EY | USD | 22.18 | 22.18 |
| 2 | SAUDI ARAMCO | Saudi Arabia | Energy | 1920 | PwC | -Na- | ||
| 3 | MICROSOFT CORP | United States | Technology | 1778 | Deloitte | USD | 55.29 | 55.29 |
| 4 | AMAZON.COM INC | United States | Consumer Discretionary | 1558 | EY | USD | 30.90 | 30.90 |
| 5 | ALPHABET INC | United States | Technology | 1393 | EY | USD | 29.85 | 29.85 |
| 6 | FACEBOOK INC | United States | Technology | 839 | EY | USD | 27.33 | 27.33 |
| 7 | TENCENT | China | Technology | 753 | PwC | RMB | 164 | 25.31 |
| 8 | TESLA INC | United States | Consumer Discretionary | 641 | PwC | USD | 13.54 | 13.54 |
| 9 | ALIBABA GRP | China | Consumer Discretionary | 615 | PwC | RMB | 162.51 | 25.08 |
| 10 | BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY | United States | Financials | 588 | Deloitte | USD | 48.80 | 48.80 |
| 11 | TSMC | Taiwan | Technology | 534 | Deloitte | NTS | 70.32 | 2.51 |
| 12 | VISA INC | United States | Industrials | 468 | KPMG | USD | 11.74 | 11.74 |
| 13 | JPMORGAN CHASE | United States | Financials | 465 | PwC | USD | 105.10 | 105.10 |
| 14 | JOHNSON & JOHNSON | United States | Health Care | 433 | PwC | USD | 58.63 | 58.63 |
| 15 | SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS | South Korea | Technology | 431 | PwC | KRW | 6,866 | 6.00 |
| 16 | KWEICHOW MOUTA | China | Consumer Staples | 385 | Lixin CPA | -Na- | 0 | |
| 17 | WALMART INC | United States | Consumer Discretionary | 383 | EY | USD | 28.23 | 28.23 |
| 18 | MASTERCARD INC | United States | Industrials | 354 | PwC | USD | 9.94 | 9.94 |
| 19 | UNITEDHEALTH GRP | United States | Health Care | 352 | Deloitte | USD | 27.02 | 27.02 |
| 20 | LVMH MOET HENNESSY | France | Consumer Discretionary | 337 | EY & Mazars | EUR | 15(EY); 8(Mazars) | 27.31 |
| 21 | WALT DISNEY CO | United States | Consumer Discretionary | 335 | PwC | USD | 33.30 | 33.30 |
| 22 | BANK OF AMERICA | United States | Financials | 334 | PwC | USD | 67.50 | 67.50 |
| 23 | PROCTER & GAMBLE | United States | Consumer Staples | 333 | Deloitte | USD | 30.99 | 30.99 |
| 24 | NVIDIA CORP | United States | Technology | 331 | PwC | USD | 6.90 | 6.90 |
| 25 | HOME DEPOT INC | United States | Consumer Discretionary | 329 | KPMG | USD | 8.14 | 8.14 |
| 26 | NESTLE SA | Switzerland | Consumer Staples | 322 | EY | CHF | 45.00 | 49.23 |
| 27 | IND & COMM BK | China | Financials | 290 | KPMG | RMB | 224.00 | 34.57 |
| 28 | PAYPAL HOLDINGS | United States | Industrials | 284 | PwC | USD | 16.64 | 16.64 |
| 29 | ROCHE HOLDING | Switzerland | Health Care | 283 | KPMG | CHF | 23.70 | 25.93 |
| 30 | INTEL CORP | United States | Technology | 261 | EY | USD | 21.97 | 21.97 |
| 31 | ASML HOLDING NV | Netherlands | Technology | 255 | KPMG | Euro | 3.46 | 4.11 |
| 32 | TOYOTA MOTOR | Japan | Consumer Discretionary | 254 | PwC | Yen | 5,739 | 52.10 |
| 33 | COMCAST CORP | United States | Telecommunications | 248 | Deloitte | USD | 24.30 | 24.30 |
| 34 | VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS | United States | Telecommunications | 241 | EY | USD | 50.70 | 50.70 |
| 35 | EXXON MOBIL CORP | United States | Energy | 236 | PwC | USD | 41.80 | 41.80 |
| 36 | NETFLIX INC | United States | Consumer Discretionary | 231 | EY | USD | 7.52 | 7.52 |
| 37 | ADOBE INC | United States | Technology | 228 | KPMG | USD | 8.08 | 8.08 |
| 38 | COCA-COLA CO | United States | Consumer Staples | 227 | EY | USD | 40.16 | 40.16 |
| 39 | MEITUAN | China | Technology | 226 | PwC | RMB | 50.79 | 7.84 |
| 40 | PING AN | China | Financials | 219 | PwC | RMB | 122 | 18.83 |
| 41 | CISCO SYSTEMS | United States | Telecommunications | 218 | PwC | USD | 28.27 | 28.27 |
| 42 | AT&T INC | United States | Financials | 216 | EY | USD | 69.80 | 69.80 |
| 43 | L'OREAL | France | Consumer Discretionary | 215 | PwC & Deloitte | Euro | 12.4(PwC), 7.4(Deloitte) | 13.54 |
| 44 | CHINA CONSTRUCTION BANK | China | Financials | 213 | EY | RMB | 151.86 | 23.44 |
| 45 | ABBOTT LABS | United States | Health Care | 212 | EY | USD | 31.67 | 31.67 |
| 46 | NOVARTIS AG | Switzerland | Health Care | 212 | PwC | USD | 23.50 | 23.50 |
| 47 | NIKE INC | United States | Consumer Discretionary | 209 | PwC | USD | 22.40 | 22.40 |
| 48 | ORACLE CORP | United States | Technology | 202 | EY | USD | 31.80 | 31.80 |
| 49 | PFIZER INC | United States | Health Care | 202 | KPMG | USD | 32.82 | 32.82 |
| 50 | CHEVRON CORP | United States | Oil & Gas | 202 | PwC | USD | 31.00 | 31.00 |
| 51 | CHINA MERCH | China | Financials | 196 | Deloitte | RMB | 44.00 | 6.79 |
| 52 | PEPSICO INC | United States | Consumer Staples | 195 | KPMG | USD | 25.77 | 25.77 |
| 53 | SALESFORCE.COM | United States | Technology | 195 | EY | USD | 27.28 | 27.28 |
| 54 | MERCK & CO | United States | Health Care | 195 | PwC | USD | 58.8 | 58.8 |
| 55 | ABBVIE INC | United States | Health Care | 191 | EY | USD | 32.1 | 32.1 |
| 56 | BROADCOM INC | United States | Technology | 189 | PwC | USD | 18.69 | 18.69 |
| 57 | PROSUS NV | Netherlands | Technology | 181 | PwC | USD | 11 | 11 |
| 58 | RELIANCE INDS | India | Energy | 180 | EY & DTS Assoc. | INR | 597.3 | 8.02 |
| 59 | THERMO FISHER | United States | Health Care | 180 | PwC | USD | 37.13 | 37.13 |
| 60 | ELI LILLY & CO | United States | Health Care | 179 | EY | USD | 17.3 | 17.3 |
| 61 | AGRICULTURAL BANK OF CHINA | China | Financials | 178 | PwC | RMB | 122.3 | 18.88 |
| 62 | SOFTBANK GROUP | Japan | Telecommunications | 176 | Deloitte | Yen | 786 | 7.14 |
| 63 | ACCENTURE PLC | Ireland | Industrials | 176 | KPMG | USD | 26.92 | 26.92 |
| 64 | TEXAS INSTRUMENT | United States | Technology | 174 | EY | USD | 13.05 | 13.05 |
| 65 | MCDONALDS CORP | United States | Consumer Discretionary | 167 | EY | USD | 11.4 | 11.4 |
| 66 | VOLKSWAGEN AG | Germany | Consumer Discretionary | 165 | EY | Euro | 53 | 62.95 |
| 67 | BHP GROUP LTD | Australia | Basic Materials | 163 | EY | USD | 16.70 | 16.70 |
| 68 | WELLS FARGO & CO | United States | Financials | 162 | KPMG | USD | 58.60 | 58.60 |
| 69 | TATA CONSULTANCY | India | Technology | 161 | KPMG | INR | 146 | 1.96 |
| 70 | DANAHER CORP | United States | Health Care | 160 | EY | USD | 29.95 | 29.95 |
| 71 | NOVO NORDISK | Denmark | Health Care | 160 | PwC | DKK | 42 | 5.71 |
| 72 | MEDTRONIC PLC | Ireland | Health Care | 159 | PwC | USD | 17.61 | 17.61 |
| 73 | WULIANGYE YIBI | China | Consumer Staples | 159 | Sichuan Huaxin | RMB | 1.32 | 0.2 |
| 74 | COSTCO WHOLESALE | United States | Consumer Discretionary | 156 | KPMG | USD | 8.81 | 8.81 |
| 75 | T-MOBILE US INC | United States | Telecommunications | 156 | PwC | USD | 48.62 | 48.62 |
| 76 | CITIGROUP INC | United States | Financials | 152 | KPMG | USD | 98.6 | 98.6 |
| 77 | HONEYWELL INTL | United States | Industrials | 151 | Deloitte | USD | 18.69 | 18.69 |
| 78 | QUALCOMM INC | United States | Technology | 151 | PwC | USD | 11.46 | 11.46 |
| 79 | SAP SE | Germany | Technology | 151 | KPMG | Euro | 14 | 16.63 |
| 80 | BOEING CO | United States | Industrials | 149 | Deloitte | USD | 32.3 | 32.3 |
| 81 | ROYAL DUTCH SHELL | Netherlands | Oil & Gas | 148 | EY | USD | 58 | 58 |
| 82 | NEXTERA ENERGY | United States | Utilities | 148 | Deloitte | USD | 11.21 | 11.21 |
| 83 | UNITED PARCEL | United States | Industrials | 148 | Deloitte | USD | 19.81 | 19.81 |
| 84 | UNION PAC CORP | United States | Industrials | 148 | Deloitte | USD | 3.72 | 3.72 |
| 85 | UNILEVER PLC | United Kingdom | Consumer Staples | 147 | KPMG | Euro | 26 | 30.88 |
| 86 | AIA | Hong Kong SAR | Financials | 147 | PwC | USD | 25.20 | 25.20 |
| 87 | LINDE PLC | United Kingdom | Basic Materials | 146 | PwC | USD | 25.21 | 25.21 |
| 88 | AMGEN INC | United States | Health Care | 144 | EY | USD | 9.25 | 9.25 |
| 89 | BRISTOL-MYER SQB | United States | Health Care | 141 | Deloitte | USD | 28.90 | 28.90 |
| 90 | SIEMENS AG | Germany | Industrials | 140 | EY | Euro | 68.60 | 81.48 |
| 91 | BANK OF CHINA | China | Financials | 139 | EY | RMB | 237 | 36.58 |
| 92 | PHILIP MORRIS INC | United States | Consumer Staples | 138 | PwC | USD | 25.87 | 25.87 |
| 93 | LOWE'S COS INC | United States | Consumer Discretionary | 136 | Deloitte | USD | 4.19 | 4.19 |
| 94 | CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS | United States | Telecommunications | 135 | KPMG | USD | 10.20 | 10.20 |
| 95 | CHINA MOBILE | Hong Kong SAR | Telecommunications | 134 | PwC | RMB | 114 | 17.60 |
| 96 | SONY GROUP CORP | Japan | Consumer Discretionary | 132 | PwC | Yen | 4529 | 41.11 |
| 97 | ASTRAZENECA PLC | United Kingdom | Health Care | 131 | PwC | USD | 20.30 | 20.30 |
| 98 | ROYAL BANK OF CANADA | Canada | Financials | 131 | PwC | CAD | 50.80 | 40.82 |
| 99 | STARBUCKS CORP | United States | Consumer Discretionary | 129 | Deloitte | USD | 8.49 | 8.49 |
| 100 | ANHEUSER-BUSCH | Belgium | Consumer Staples | 128 | PwC | USD | 20 | 20 |
Apple is the biggest company in the world in terms of market capitalization with a value of $2.05 trillion followed by Saudi Aramco with a market value of $1.92 trillion (as of Mar’21). Microsoft and Amazon occupy the third and fourth spot with a market value of $1.78 trillion and $1.56 trillion respectively.
Do read our other blogs on the top 500 companies in the US and their auditors.
Biggest Big4 clients in Europe (Part-2)
Don’t miss Part-1 of this blog. Continuing from there,
Germany: The breakdown of the 15 top companies in Germany is as follows:
| Name | Auditor | Currency | Sum of Total Fees (Reporting Currency) | Total Fees (Millions USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adidas | KPMG | Euro | 2.50 | 3.03 |
| Allianz | PwC | Euro | 77.60 | 93.90 |
| BASF | KPMG | Euro | 20.80 | 25.17 |
| Bayer | Deloitte | Euro | 28.00 | 33.88 |
| Daimler | KPMG | Euro | 52.00 | 62.92 |
| Deutsche Boerse | KPMG | Euro | 7.70 | 9.32 |
| Deutsche Post | PwC | Euro | 11.00 | 13.31 |
| Deutsche Telekom | PwC | Euro | 17.00 | 20.57 |
| Infineon Technologies | KPMG | Euro | 4.02 | 4.87 |
| Linde | PwC | USD | 25.21 | 25.21 |
| Muenchener Rueck | EY | Euro | 12.41 | 15.02 |
| SAP | KPMG | Euro | 14.00 | 16.94 |
| Siemens | EY | Euro | 68.60 | 83.01 |
| Volkswagen Pref | EY | Euro | 53.00 | 64.13 |
| Vonovia Se | KPMG | Euro | 5.40 | 6.53 |
| Grand Total | 399.24 | 477.79 |
Switzerland: The breakdown of the 14 top companies in Switzerland is as follows:
| Name | Auditor | Currency | Sum of Total Fees (Reporting Currency) | Total Fees (Millions USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABB | KPMG | USD | 44.10 | 44.10 |
| Alcon | PwC | USD | 10.60 | 10.60 |
| Cie Financiere Richemont | PwC | Euro | 12.20 | 14.76 |
| Credit Suisse Grp | PwC | CHF | 58.10 | 64.49 |
| Givaudan | Deloitte | CHF | 3.60 | 4.00 |
| Holcim | Deloitte | CHF | 12.60 | 13.99 |
| Lonza | KPMG | CHF | 13.27 | 14.73 |
| Nestle | EY | CHF | 45.00 | 49.95 |
| Novartis | PwC | USD | 23.50 | 23.50 |
| Roche Hldg P | KPMG | CHF | 23.70 | 26.31 |
| Sika | EY | CHF | 6.40 | 7.10 |
| Swiss Reinsurance Company | PwC | USD | 43.30 | 43.30 |
| UBS Group | EY | USD | 73.00 | 73.00 |
| Zurich Insurance Group | PwC | USD | 57.20 | 57.20 |
| Grand Total | 426.57 | 447.02 |
The summary for other European countries are provided below:
| Name | Auditor | Currency | Sum of Total Fees (Reporting Currency) | Total Fees (Millions USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium | ||||
| Anheuser-Busch Inbev | PwC | USD | 20 | 20 |
| Total | 20 | 20 | ||
| Denmark | ||||
| Dsv Panalpina | PwC | DKK | 65 | 10 |
| Novo Nordisk B | PwC | DKK | 42 | 7 |
| Orsted | PwC | DKK | 24 | 4 |
| Vestas Wind Systems | PwC | Euro | 4 | 5 |
| Total | 135 | 26 | ||
| Spain | ||||
| Amadeus It Group | EY | Euro | 3 | 4 |
| Bco Santander | PwC | Euro | 104 | 126 |
| Iberdrola | KPMG | Euro | 28 | 34 |
| Industria De Diseno Textil Sa | EY | Euro | 8 | 10 |
| Total | 143 | 173 | ||
| Finland | ||||
| Kone B | PwC | Euro | 7 | 8 |
| Nokia | Deloitte | Euro | 25 | 30 |
| Total | 31 | 38 | ||
| Ireland | ||||
| CRH | Deloitte | USD | 18 | 18 |
| Total | 18 | 18 | ||
| Italy | ||||
| Enel | KPMG | Euro | – | 15 |
| ENI | PwC | Euro | 1 | 1 |
| Intesa Sanpaolo | KPMG | Euro | 20 | 24 |
| Total | 21 | 40 | ||
| Netherlands | ||||
| Adyen | PwC | Euro | 1 | 1 |
| Ahold Delhaize | PwC | Euro | 8 | 10 |
| ASML Hldg | KPMG | Euro | 3 | 4 |
| ING Grp | KPMG | Euro | 26 | 31 |
| Koninklijke Dsm | KPMG | Euro | 6 | 7 |
| Philips | EY | Euro | 17 | 20 |
| Prosus | PwC | USD | 8 | 8 |
| Total | 69 | 82 | ||
| Russia | ||||
| Gazprom | OOO FBK | Rubles | 20 | 0 |
| Lukoil | KPMG | Rubles | 257 | 4 |
| Novatek | PwC | Rubles | 48 | 1 |
| Sberbank | PwC | Rubles | 109 | 2 |
| Total | 434 | 6 | ||
| Sweden | ||||
| Atlas Copco A | EY | SEK | 90 | 11 |
| Ericsson Lm B | Deloitte | SEK | 114 | 14 |
| Investor B | Deloitte | SEK | 50 | 6 |
| Volvo B | Deloitte | SEK | 124 | 15 |
| Total | 378 | 45 |
If you like such analysis, subscribe to this blog and do share. If there is any specific country you want me to look at or other similar analysis, drop me a comment.
Biggest Big4 clients in Europe (Part-1)
This week we’ll look into the top 100 companies in Europe and their auditors. We utilize the iSTOXX European 100 index to identify the companies. iSTOXX European 100 index provides a blue-chip representation of Europe’s largest companies, combining indices from the Eurozone, the UK and Switzerland that include the largest companies from their respective region in terms of free-float market capitalization.
The breakout of the top100 companies by region is as follows:
| Country | # of Companies |
|---|---|
| UK | 23 |
| France | 18 |
| Germany | 15 |
| Switzerland | 14 |
| Netherlands | 7 |
| Denmark | 4 |
| Spain | 4 |
| Russia | 4 |
| Swedwn | 4 |
| Italy | 3 |
| Finland | 2 |
| Belgium | 1 |
| Ireland | 1 |
| 100 |
Interesting to note that France has a joint audit requirement. Joint Audits were mandated in 1966 to promote a sustainable French audit system. For the interested folks, here is a research paper assessing if two heads are better than one when it comes to audit.
Here is the number of clients and the audit fees big4 gets from these 100 companies:
| Audit Firms | # of Audits Performed | Total Fees (Millions USD) |
|---|---|---|
| Deloitte | 13 | 301 |
| EY | 16 | 479 |
| KPMG | 25 | 537 |
| PwC | 28 | 780 |
| Deloitte & PwC & KPMG | 1 | 26 |
| Deloitte & EY | 2 | 60 |
| Deloitte & PwC & Mazars | 1 | 72 |
| EY & KPMG | 1 | 65 |
| EY & Mazars | 3 | 65 |
| KPMG & Deloitte | 2 | 22 |
| PwC & Deloitte | 1 | 24 |
| PwC & EY | 3 | 69 |
| PwC & GT | 1 | 4 |
| PwC & Mazars | 2 | 72 |
| OOO FBK | 1 | 0 |
| Grand Total | 100 | 2,577 |
The joint audits we see on the list above are French companies. Excluding that, PwC audits 28 of the top 100 companies and is a joint auditor for another 9 of them (37%). KPMG comes in next with 25 companies and is a joint auditor for 4 of them (29%). EY and Deloitte is a sole auditor for 16 and 13 companies respectively.
United Kingdom: The breakdown of the 23 top companies in UK is as follows:
| Name | Auditor | Reporting Currency | Total Fees (per reporting currency) | Total Fees (Millions USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HSBC | PwC | USD | 130 | 130 |
| Barclays | KPMG | Euro | 59 | 71 |
| Royal Dutch Shell A | EY | USD | 58 | 58 |
| BP | Deloitte | USD | 54 | 54 |
| Glaxosmithkline | Deloitte | GBP | 30 | 42 |
| Lloyds Banking Grp | PwC | GBP | 29 | 41 |
| British American Tobacco | KPMG | GBP | 28 | 40 |
| Vodafone Grp | EY | Euro | 28 | 34 |
| Unilever Plc | KPMG | Euro | 26 | 31 |
| Glencore Plc | Deloitte | USD | 28 | 28 |
| National Grid | Deloitte | Euro | 20 | 24 |
| Astrazeneca | PwC | USD | 20 | 20 |
| Rio Tinto | KPMG | USD | 20 | 20 |
| Tesco | Deloitte | GBP | 13 | 18 |
| Reckitt Benckiser Grp | KPMG | GBP | 13 | 18 |
| Diageo | PwC | GBP | 12 | 17 |
| BHP Group Plc. | EY | USD | 17 | 17 |
| Prudential | KPMG | USD | 16 | 16 |
| Relx Plc | EY | Euro | 9 | 11 |
| London Stock Exchange | EY | GBP | 5 | 7 |
| Experian | KPMG | USD | 6 | 6 |
| Anglo American | PwC | USD | 3 | 3 |
| Compass Grp | KPMG | GBP | 1 | 2 |
| Grand Total | 625 | 709 |
France: The breakdown of the 18 top companies in France is as follows:
| Name | Auditor | Total Fees (Millions USD) |
|---|---|---|
| Air Liquide | PwC & EY | 16 |
| Airbus | EY | 15 |
| AXA | PwC & Mazars | 51 |
| BNP Paribas | Deloitte & PwC & Mazars | 72 |
| Danone | PwC & EY | 14 |
| Engie | Deloitte & EY | 39 |
| Essilorluxottica | PwC & Mazars | 21 |
| Hermes International | PwC & GT | 4 |
| Kering | KPMG & Deloitte | 11 |
| L’Oreal | PwC & Deloitte | 24 |
| Lvmh Moet Hennessy | EY & Mazars | 28 |
| Pernod Ricard | KPMG & Deloitte | 11 |
| Safran | EY & Mazars | 11 |
| Sanofi | PwC & EY | 39 |
| Schneider Electric | EY & Mazars | 26 |
| Total Energies | EY & KPMG | 65 |
| Vinci | Deloitte & PwC & KPMG | 26 |
| Vivendi | Deloitte & EY | 21 |
| Grand Total | 495 |
Look out for Part-2 of this blog post to see the companies from other European Nations.
KPMG Australia Clients
KPMG Australia is led by its CEO Andrew Yates who took over in July, 2021. KPMG Revenues were 1.9 billion AUD up 7% when compared with FY 19. Audit, Assurance & Risk Consulting (AARC) revenues was up 9%, Deals, Tax & Legal was up 8.1%, Enterprise was up 5.8%, Management Consulting was up 4.6%, and KPMG Strategy was up 13.5%.
The break-out of KPMG’s revenues across the various service lines are as follows.
KPMG’s non-audit services to non-audit clients increased on an average by 12% each year over the past 5 years. Audit services increased on an average by 5% while non-audit services to audit clients has remained fairly consistent.
Number of KPMG partners in the audit practice declined by 2% each year over the past 5 years. The audit staff personnel has remained consistent over the past five years. There was a 20% increase in 2016 followed by a 9% and 5% decline in 2018 and 2019.
KPMG audits 40 of the 200 Companies in the ASX200 Index, a healthy 20% audit market share. Among companies in the ASX 200 Index, KPMG leads other big4 firms in the materials sectors. Of the 37 Materials Companies in ASX 200, KPMG audits 11 of them. Refer to the other posts on the distribution of ASX 200 clients among the other three big4 firms.
Top 25 KPMG audit clients in the order of the clients market capitalization are as follows:
| Company | Sector |
|---|---|
| BHP Group Ltd | Materials |
| Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd | Financials |
| RIO Tinto Ltd | Materials |
| Goodman Group | Real Estate |
| Insurance Australia Group Ltd | Financials |
| Sydney Airport | Industrials |
| Cochlear Ltd | Health Care |
| Suncorp Group Ltd | Financials |
| SOUTH32 Ltd | Materials |
| Lendlease Group | Real Estate |
| Resmed Inc | Health Care |
| Orica Ltd | Materials |
| Treasury Wine Estates Ltd | Consumer Staples |
| Ausnet Services Ltd | Utilities |
| Wisetech Global Ltd | Information Technology |
| Caltex Australia Ltd | Energy |
| Qantas Airways Ltd | Industrials |
| Ansell Ltd | Health Care |
| Boral Ltd | Materials |
| Appen Ltd | Information Technology |
| OZ Minerals Ltd | Materials |
| Chorus Ltd | |
| Steadfast Group Ltd | Financials |
| Regis Resources Ltd | Materials |
| Downer Edi Ltd | Industrials |
Check out the link if you want to read KPMG Audit Transparency Report. We are starting a new blogpost to collect the salary data to help all current and prospective employees of accounting firms. So if interested, update the form and results will be published soon.
Do read our other blog posts