2015. That was the last time PwC held the distinction of being the world’s biggest accounting firm by revenue, edging Deloitte by a $35.4 billion to $35.2 billion margin. But since then it’s been all Deloitte, overtaking PwC in 2016 and widening its lead in 2022 to about $9 billion now that PwC has officially released its global revenue haul for the latest fiscal year.
PwC’s global revenue for the year ending June 30 was a firm record $50.3 billion, up nearly 11.5% over 2021’s revenue of $45.1 billion. But Deloitte’s revenue was almost 18% higher than PwC’s for 2022, as the Green Dot pulled in $59.3 billion. EY is still a distant third with $45.4 billion in 2022, and we’re still awaiting KPMG’s numbers for this year.
PwC said the Americas region showed the biggest year-over-year revenue growth at 16%, with U.S. revenue increasing 17% and Brazil’s by 21%. The Americas were followed by Asia Pacific, which had revenue growth of 14% and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), which grew 10% over last year.
Among its three core lines of service, advisory had the biggest increase in revenue (22%) from $17 billion in 2021 to $20.7 billion, according to PwC. Assurance revenues grew from $17.1 billion in 2021 to $18 billion, a roughly 5.3% increase, and PwC’s tax, legal, and people business had revenue of $11.6 billion in 2022, up about 5.5% from last year’s $11 billion.
And PwC continues to be the firm that spouts out the word “trust” more than any other professional services firm, saying it 202 times in its 17-page 2022 Global Annual Review.
PwC Global Chairman Bob Mortiz had some interesting things to say to the Financial Times on the eve of the firm’s revenue announcement about EY likely possibly splitting its auditing and consulting businesses into two separate entities. According to what BoMo said, we might be posting quite a bit of “PwC Poaches Someone From EY and Issues a Press Release” news in the coming months:
Hiring opportunities had picked up, he said, since EY provided partners with more details of its split. “Now you’ve got some basics outlined you’re starting to see a little pick-up in that area. People now see one side or the other and [ask] ‘is that the organisation I want to be part of?’ and ‘is that the culture I want to be part of?’”
Moritz reiterated PwC’s commitment to keeping its consulting and audit arms together, saying it was “watching and assessing” EY’s move but had not changed its conclusion that a “multi-competency” model strengthened both sides of the firm.
“We want to be extremely certain and definitive . . . to give our people certainty, that there’s a long-term sustainable future for them, and it’s full of career opportunities,” he said. “My hope is that with a little disruption in the industry, that creates opportunity [and] we can pick up on the uncertainty, not necessarily just [at] EY.”
PwC now employs nearly 328,000 warm bodies around the world, up from 295,000 at the end of FY 2021. The firm said it’s ahead of pace with its target set last year to hire 100,000 (net) additional professionals by 2026.
The last of the Big 4 (and last place of the Big 4) to announce its 2022 global revenue is KPMG, and that should be coming sometime in December.
Are these audited numbers? If not, how do we know they aren’t lying? Would anyone be surprised if they were lying?