We’ll be waiting several more months until KPMG releases its global revenue results and have at least a couple weeks to go before revenue numbers start rolling out for the rest of the Big 4 so let’s check in with KPMG Australia in the meantime. They reported revenue earlier this week and, to be honest, it’s not terrible. It’s down — “a small decline,” they said in the report — but not hopeless. Well, consulting kind of is.
For the year ended June 30, 2025, KPMG Australia recorded total revenue of $2.315 billion AUD (unaudited as always). What constitutes “a small decline” to the smallest Big 4 firm?
| FY25 | FY24[iv] | Change | |
| Total revenue | $2.315 (AUD in billions) | $2.386 | -3% |
| Recoverable expenses | $0.184 | $0.167 | 10% |
| Revenue | $2.131 | $2.219 | -4% |
Converting these numbers to freedom units we get:
| FY25 | FY24[iv] | Change | |
| Total revenue | $1.51 (USD in billions) | $1.56 | -3% |
| Recoverable expenses | $0.12 | $0.11 | 10% |
| Revenue | $1.39 | $1.45 | -4% |
Evidently KPMG Australia has a different financial year than the global FY which ends on September 30, hence the December reporting of those numbers. KPMG reported annual globally aggregated revenues of $38.4 billion USD for 2024.
Dragging down KPMG Australia’s performance for 2025 was consulting, no surprise. So much so that single-digit growth in Tax & Legal and audit along with double-digit growth in mid-market Enterprise couldn’t bring the team’s average up overall.
The year’s highlights per the firm’s 2025 Impact Report:
- The mid-market Enterprise business remained a standout, building on last year’s double-digit growth to record a 13% increase in revenue.
- Audit & Assurance performed strongly, with revenue up 7% – reflecting the impact of improving technology and new audit mandates.
- Increased investment in technology and senior talent saw robust growth in the Tax & Legal business (up 8%). The firm exited its stand-alone Commercial Law business during the year, while retaining the Tax Controversy & Disputes legal practice.
- The Deal Advisory & Infrastructure business saw revenue rise by 2%, reflecting an improving market.
- The market environment for the Consulting business was impacted by a significant reduction in the government use of consultants, as well as the broader economic slowdown, with revenues down 18% for the year.
Revenue contributions from the businesses were: Audit & Assurance $365 million, Consulting $749 million, Deal Advisory & Infrastructure $332 million, Enterprise $434 million, Tax & Legal $240 million, Other (inc. KPMG Futures) $11 million.
And still more highlights:
- Employed 8,967 people and 637 new graduates
- Led by 684 partners – including 71 new partners
- Work delivered to more than 13,000 clients
- Taxes paid by the firm and partners – $396 million
- Community impact contribution – $9.83 million, including 34,360 hours through volunteering, mentoring, secondments and pro bono engagements
As reported by Australian Financial Review, the KPMG Australia headcount was down 6.6% from 2024, going from 9,602 to 8,967. Would you like some more people figures? Too bad, you’re getting them anyway.
- The percentage of women in partnership increased to 37% (up from 36% last year).
- The percentage of partners identifying as culturally diverse increased to 18.4% (up from 14.9%).
- KPMG hired 26 Indigenous people in FY25 (a marked improvement from the 10 Indigenous people hired last year, although short of its Reconciliation Action Plan target).
“This is a strong result in what was a highly unpredictable environment,” said KPMG Australia CEO Andrew Yates. “I’m really pleased with how our people and partners responded to the challenges that emerged during FY25, and how we invested in our people and the way we serve our clients. In this year like no other, KPMG’s multidisciplinary model came to the fore, with excellent results across most parts of the firm.”
Why do we care about Australia? Well these are the first numbers we’re seeing for Big 4 revenue season and while their toilets do flush the wrong way (jk that’s a myth) and their seasons are completely backwards, their market is similar to ours so we can make some educated guesses about how things will shake out for the US. We predict consulting won’t be as bad globally, or at least in the US, due to the fallout from the PwC tax scandal still impacting the ability of Big 4 firms in Australia to generate billable hours in consulting.
Believe it or not, KPMG had the highest rate of growth among global Big 4 firms in 2024: 5.4%. That’s how bad last year was and we don’t expect 2025 to be much better. Or worse. Probably worse. It remains to be seen.
