If you’re contemplating a career in accounting, you may have an understandable interest in understanding what are the biggest employers of professionals in this field. You may have an interest in knowing what the “Big Four” accounting firms are and desire some basic information about these sprawling organizations. The Big Four accounting firms are Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG, and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
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Deloitte
Deloitte technically is called Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited. It is described as a multinational professional services network. In fact, it is the largest enterprise of its kind with the most revenue and the largest number of professionals in its ranks. Accounting services are a key component of the work of Deloitte. The firm is headquartered in London, England, United Kingdom. Deloitte currently has about 312,000 professionals on its team of employees. The firm is adding employees to its team on a fairly consistent basis.
Ernst & Young
Officially christened Ernst & Young Global Limited, this firm is a multinational professional services enterprise. It is headquartered in London, England, United Kingdom. Ernst & Young focuses on providing assurance, financial audit, tax, consulting, and advisory services to clients across the globe. Ernst & Young has over 284,000 professionals on its team. The firm continues to grown and is adding new employees to its roster annually. Ernst & Young has been a growing operation for an extended period of time, a trend that continues today.
KPMG
KPMG is a multinational professional services network. The firm legally is called KPMG International Cooperative. KPMG is headquartered in Amstelveen, Netherlands. At this time, KPMG maintains operations in 147 countries. The firm has over 219,000 professionals on its team. The primary lines of service of KPMG are financial audit, tax, and advisory. Its tax and advisory services are further divided into various service groups. KPMG is adding professionals and support employees to its operations around the globe. The course of growth at KPMG is expected to continue into the future.
PricewaterhouseCoopers
PricewaterhouseCoopers is a global professional services network of firms operating as partnerships under the PricewaterhouseCoopers brand. PricewaterhouseCoopers is the second largest professional services in the world. At the current time, PricewaterhouseCoopers has 721 locations internationally. The enterprise employs 250,930 professionals. Employees of PricewaterhouseCoopers are distributed around the world with 28% in Asia, 28% in North America and the Caribbean. and 30% in Western Europe.
At this juncture in time, there are about 1,424,000 positions as accountants and auditors in the United States, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The number of available positions is anticipated to grow about 6% through 2028, a growth rate that is at the average of the labor market as a whole.
In addition to positions of employment at one or another of the Big Four accounting firm, there are similar opportunities at other large accounting houses. In addition, accountants find employment in smaller firms as well as with corporations across the country and around the world. Some accountants join boutique firms that specialize in particular areas of the profession. Others ultimately set up their own private accounting practices or firms.
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