[Anonymous]

Which CPA firms have the highest percentage of CPAs among their professionals that bill? I want to work for a premier firm. My success depends on the competency and qualifications of my co-workers and vice versa. Please limit it to the firms with at least 100 billing professionals.

[Son]

Derosa, it's an interesting approach to the topic – it's likely safe to assume most large public accounting firms have a very high percentage of CPAs, especially because in many you need to be a CPA to become a manager. Big4s and top regional firms would probably be on par in this regard (https://www.vault.com/blog/job-search/the-50-best-accounting-firms-to-work-for#slideshowAnchor)

What makes you lean onto a CPA designation as a defining factor for choosing a company to work for? Seems to me there are more factors to consider, such as national footprint, training, client base etc.

AUD - passed
REG - passed
BEC - passed
FAR - passed

[Anonymous]

1) PwC – in CPA divisions they will not promote you unless you pass the exam. If you don't pass in time for promotion – fired. They have the largest concentration and revenue for tax and audit work specifically. Most likely PwC.
2) EY – they promote in 2 years, which affords some flexibility on the exam itself (Deloitte and KPMG are also like this). Close 2nd my guess – they are #2 for audit and tax revenue.
3) Deloitte and KPMG tied. I assume Deloitte is diluted by the consulting base. KPMG I think let's you go up to manager without the CPA in CPA divisions, but huge caveats come with it (walk on water performance, a plan in place, etc.) That could be entirely wrong. If so, Deloitte is #4.

[Anonymous]

Thanks CJ. That's some good info with regards to the big four firms. I kind of guessed Deloitte might be the worst, but it would be great to see a list with the percentages for all of the firms with over 100 billing professionals as that's the only way to know which ones are the best. I know there are firms that have a lot of unlicensed business people that have no intention of becoming licensed.

[Anonymous]

I just checked out that link to the Vault ranking. It is dubious to say the least. It sounds like “prestige” is the element in the methodology with the largest weight. That's like being famous for being famous. Similarly, the “prestige” thing seems like it's essentially based on firm size and the groundless perception of quality that can create in mindless people.

[Son]

CJ, you're actually mistaken. Deloitte is the largest of all Big4s, both in terms of revenue and headcount. Then PWC, then EY. KPMG is the smallest and is frankly has been struggling to compete with other Big4s in the past few years.

Derosa, curious as to what bothers you about the “prestige” part of the ranking? Considering auditors trade in their good name and reputation as much as they do in their accounting skills, doesn't seem surprising at all.

AUD - passed
REG - passed
BEC - passed
FAR - passed

[TheB4Newbie]

Son, both CJ and you are right. CJ was only mentioning audit and tax revenues, which PwC triumphs all with both the largest audit practice and the largest tax practice in the world; in that regard, EY comes in 2nd, then Deloitte and KPMG, 3rd and 4th, respectively.

You are right about Deloitte being the largest overall because of their consulting revenue, which was over 50% of Deloitte's total revenue globally. In that sense, not sure if Deloitte should still be considered an accounting firm. It looks very much like a consulting firm.

For Derosa321: in the US, PwC has the most CPAs.

In 2014: (FAR + AUD + REG + BEC) / 4 = 95.0 < 95.5 Pitifully; But the job was done, regardless.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like all we've really figured out so far is that Deloitte probably won't be cracking into the top 20 best CPA firms anytime soon. It also sounds like there's some confusion as to what I'm asking. I'm not asking which firms have the highest percentage of CPAs out of the total number of CPAs in the country. What I'm asking is: which CPA firms have the highest percentage of CPAs out of their respective total number of professionals that bill for their time?

[SaveBandit]

Nobody has specific data like that, and you know it.

4 for 4

FAR 85
AUD 94
BEC 86
REG 90

[Anonymous]

Really SaveBandit? It's pretty basic information and I guarantee every firm has it. I was just on Clifton Larson's About Page and they had it. They say 1800 CPAs and 5000 total professionals. That's 36%. That doesn't sound that great to me, but that's what I'm trying to figure out. I'm sure if everyone asked around where they work, we could piece it together.

[Author]

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