Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

PwC Once Again Tops the Vault Accounting 25, EY Almost Didn’t Make the List

PwC Chad

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:

  1. PwC 8.584 (down from 8.807 in 2023)
  2. Deloitte 8.432
  3. KPMG 7.962
  4. BDO USA 7.653
  5. RSM US 7.578
  6. Moss Adams 7.576
  7. Plante Moran 7.560
  8. Baker Tilly 7.484
  9. CohnReznick 7.347
  10. 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:

KPMG-vault-careers-3

We miss you, Vault snark.

Full list here.

Vault Releases 2024 Rankings of Top Accounting Firms To Work For [PR Newswire]

Latest Accounting Jobs--Apply Now:

Have something to add to this story? Give us a shout by email, Twitter, or text/call the tipline at 202-505-8885. As always, all tips are anonymous.

1 Comment

Comments are closed.

Related articles

PwC Australia is Very Very Sorry, You Guys

Presumably because the many apologies and decisions made before this letter have not sufficiently gotten the heat off their backs (and boy is it hot), PwC Australia published an open letter apology on their website Monday. The entire text, including the formatting, appears in below. At issue, if you make your residence under a rock, […]

Collie carrying American flag in its mouth

Friday Footnotes: The ERC Problem; EY Double Dips; Stress Less in Public Accounting | 5.26.23

Footnotes is a collection of stories from around the accounting profession curated by actual humans and published every Friday at 5pm Eastern. While you’re here, subscribe to our newsletter to get the week’s top stories in your inbox every Tuesday and Friday. Have a safe Memorial Day. Long Read How a Pandemic-Era Program Became a […]