Vault has announced its much-loved Accounting 25 list today and it should come as no surprise that PwC has once again topped the list, making it 11 years in a row at the top for P. Dubs. Congrats to them for holding down the throne.
While prestige is the most important factor in the Vault Accounting 25 ranking formula, the 11,000 accounting professionals surveyed also value the following factors: firm culture, type of work, location, work/life balance, compensation, business outlook, and training opportunities. Prestige accounts for 35 percent of the ranking formula; culture makes up 20 percent; satisfaction, compensation, and work/life balance each account for ten; business outlook, formal training, and informal training round it out with 5 percent each. And now you know how Vault comes up with each firm’s score.
PwC is widely considered to be the world’s most prestigious and progressive accounting firm (that’s Vault’s language, not ours. Though we don’t necessarily disagree) yet interestingly ranked #2 in Vault’s Prestige Rankings this year, losing their spot to Deloitte for 2024. The Accounting 25 rank tells us factors other than prestige — like culture, satisfaction, compensation, and training — pushed PwC to #1.
PwC also ranks first in all three Practice Area Rankings (Audit & Assurance, Tax, and Forensic Accounting). Accountants at peer firms told Vault that PwC is “progressive,” “diverse,” “the gold standard,” “the top dog of the Big 4,” “super prestigious,” and “filled with great people.” It also offers “thorough training resources” and “great benefits.” And PwCers say the firm has an “amazing culture” with “smart, caring, friendly, motivated people,” and rave about the “challenging work and opportunities for growth and development.”
The Top 10 Firms in the Vault Accounting 25 (2024) and their scores are:
- PwC 8.584 (down from 8.807 in 2023)
- Deloitte 8.432
- KPMG 7.962
- BDO USA 7.653
- RSM US 7.578
- Moss Adams 7.576
- Plante Moran 7.560
- Baker Tilly 7.484
- CohnReznick 7.347
- PKF O’Connor Davies 7.133
You’ll notice a name missing from the top ten. EY came in allllllll the way down at #25 with a score of 2.984.
“Our recent survey and new rankings of the top accounting firms reflect the real-time pulse of over 11,000 accounting professionals, providing unique insight into the inner workings at the top firms,” said Eric Stutzke, SVP & General Manager of Vault. “While the busy season workload is certainly not declining, our survey reveals that firms have are making strategic investments to support their talent’s work/life balance. They’re doubling down on wellness benefits, increasing paid time off, and improving various workplace benefits to raise employee satisfaction.”
When the first Vault Accounting list debuted for 2011 it included twice as many firms and was topped by Deloitte until PwC overtook them to steal first place where they’ve been ever since. Shoutout to KPMG for crawling all the way up from its 2011 rank of 22 to third place for 2024.
Back in the day you used to be able to browse disparaging reviews of the firms on the list but then Vault got married to Firsthand and they tried to clean up the joint by removing sweet bonus content like this:
We miss you, Vault snark.
Full list here.
Vault Releases 2024 Rankings of Top Accounting Firms To Work For [PR Newswire]
Where is the purple rose??