Imagine my surprise when a link to the 2013 Vault Accounting 50 found its way to our tip box. It comes to us five months earlier than last year and I really didn't expect to see all of the Big 4 in the type five, especially the likes of E&Y and KPMG who were doing well to break the top 25 in the 2012 ranking. But really, after last year's upset by Grant Thornton, maybe we should get used to firms coming out of nowhere to land a top ten spot.
This year, Ernst & Young did better than that. Like GT in the 2012 ranking, E&Y came from 22 last year to top this year's list. KPMG also made a big jump from 23 to 5, while Deloitte and PwC maintained their presence in the top five. Derek Loosvelt explains E&Y's rise to new numero uno thusly:
[T]he firm's prestige ranking rose this year versus last (from No. 3 to No. 2), and the firm outranked its fellow Big 4 firms (Deloitte, PwC, and KPMG) in firm culture, satisfaction, work/life balance, and compensation.
Here's your top 25 in its entirety:
1 (22) Ernst & Young
2 (1) Grant Thornton
3 (3) Deloitte
4 (2) PwC
5 (23) KPMG
6 (27) Plante Moran
7 (6) Moss Adams
8 (16) Baker Tilly Virchow Krause
9 (4) Rothstein Kass
10 (11) Eide Bailly
11 (32) Reznick Group
12 (8) Friedman
13 (7) Withum Smith + Brown
14 (5) Dixon Hughes Goodman
15 (14) Elliott Davis
16 (17) Armanino McKenna
17 (13) Berdon
18 (12) SS&G
19 (20) Schenk Schenck
20 (46) Frank Rimerman
21 (9) Marcum
22 (18) CBIZ
23 (40) Blackman Kallick
24 (21) Cherry Bakaert & Holland
25 (19) Marks Paneth & Shron
In addition to E&Y and KPMG, you can see big moves by Plante Moran, Reznick Group, and Frank Rimerman; all three jumped at least 20 spots. Marcum was your biggest loser, getting knocked down 12 spots. We'll get to the bottom 25 and more of the rankings throughout the week but for now, discuss top 25 as you see fit.
Accounting Firms Rankings 2013: Vault Accounting 50 [Vault, Methodology]
