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Accounting firm CEOs

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Deloitte US Picked a New CEO and Chair, Sent Out an Email

How many times can we reuse this stupid Deloitte billboard picture? Deloitte US announced this morning that Jason Girzadas has been selected as chief executive officer and Lara Abrash has been selected as the chair of the board, beginning June 4, 2023, subject to a partner ratification vote. Jason succeeds outgoing CEO Joe Ucuzoglu who […]

BDO USA Will Continue to Be Wayne’s World For the Foreseeable Future

Wayne Berson will be taking pies to the face from BDO USAers for several more years, as he was re-elected last month to his fourth term as Bravo Delta Oscar’s CEO in the U.S. BDO USA, LLP, one of the nation’s premier accounting and advisory firms, announced the re-election of Wayne Berson as CEO for […]

There Will Be a New Boss at Moss Adams Next Year

A day after Grant Thornton announced its next occupant of the corner office, Moss Adams sent out a release on Sept. 16 saying who its next corner office dweller will be. The new boss of Moss starting next April is Eric Miles, a partner who currently leads the firm’s consulting practice and has spent his […]

Grant Thornton and BKD Have Better CEOs Than the Ones At Big 4 Firms, According to Glassdoor

Here’s a quick recap of where public accounting firm CEOs were ranked in Glassdoor’s 100 top CEOs in 2021, based on anonymous employee reviews and feedback: 47. Brad Preber, Grant Thornton, 94% approval rating 61. Ted Dickman, BKD, 93% approval rating 67. Tim Ryan, PwC, 93% approval rating 99. Paul Knopp, KPMG, 90% approval rating […]

These Colleges Have Cranked Out the Most Public Accounting Firm CEOs and Managing Partners (2020)

Now that INSIDE Public Accounting has released its latest ranking of the top public accounting firms in the nation by revenue, we thought we’d update a post from last year about which colleges and universities have graduated the most firm CEOs, chairmen, and managing partners. As we did last year, we looked at IPA’s most […]

Mike McGuire Is Retiring From Grant Thornton

Mike McGuire with his man-crush, Rickie Fowler. Farewell to Mike McGuire, former CEO-turned-CEO emeritus of Grant Thornton, who is hanging it up in February after 17 years with the Purple Rose of Chicago. “I am so pleased about the progress we’ve made growing our firm and serving clients’ needs during my time at Grant Thornton,” […]

RSM U.K. Did a Little House Cleaning

There recently was a shake-up among management at the Queen’s RSM, as the firm kicked a couple people out of the C-suite after it misstated its results by almost £10 million over two years. Sound familiar? Does anyone here remember RSM Tenon? This is the second time that RSM’s internal accounting has tripped it up. […]

It’s Now Official: Grant Thornton Has Elected Brad Preber as CEO

UPDATE: Nice work, tipsters. Grant Thornton released the following press release today confirming the story we broke yesterday (see below line break): The Partnership Board at Grant Thornton LLP announced that Bradley J. Preber will serve as the firm’s CEO. The board appointed Preber to the role following a comprehensive search process, and the firm’s partners and […]

These Colleges Have Cranked Out the Most Public Accounting Firm CEOs and Managing Partners

Last Thursday I got an email from Renaissance Capital listing the colleges that have produced the most initial public offering CEOs in 2019. If you’re curious, the answer is Princeton University with four. So that got me wondering about which colleges have produced the most public accounting firm CEOs/chairmen/managing partners. So I took a look […]

Those Who Know, Know BDO CEO Wayne Berson Is Back for Another Term

You’d be smiling too if you were Wayne Berson. Wow, what a day at Bravo Delta Oscar! Not only did BDO USA announce that supreme leader and ex-cricket player Wayne Berson was re-elected by partners to a third term as CEO, but the firm achieved another record-setting year of revenue, topping out at $1.64 billion […]

Who Will Be the Next CEO of Grant Thornton?

Among the slew of tips we received about the layoffs that went down at Grant Thornton last week and what interim CEO Brad Preber had to say about it was this one that also piqued our interest: As Brad Preber is the “interim” CEO, there are three people (women) currently being considered for the CEO […]

We’re Sure Mike McGuire Will Be Dynamic In His New Role as Grant Thornton ‘Brand Ambassador’

Bear with me, I’m writing this on my phone at the side of a pool. Anyway, talk about your Friday night news dumps. This came out of the blue: Grant Thornton LLP, the U.S. member firm of Grant Thornton International Ltd (GTIL), one of the world’s leading audit, tax and advisory firms, announced today that […]

CohnReznick Will Have a New CEO In 2020

Ch-ch-changes are coming at the top of CohnReznick, as partners at the top 15 accounting firm this week elected David Kessler as CEO, effective Feb. 1, 2020. Kessler will succeed Frank Longobardi, who has been CEO since October 2015. Longobardi will remain at the firm until he reaches CohnReznick’s mandatory retirement age in January 2021, […]

Grant Thornton CEO Mike McGuire Will Hang Around For a Few More Dynamic Years

While Grant Thornton U.K. is actively looking for a new CEO to replace Sacha Romanovitch, who is quitting after being stabbed in the back by a group of anonymous partners, everything is hunky-dory at Grant Thornton LLP, where the U.S. firm has decided to keep its current czar around for a little while longer. A […]

pwc tim ryan

Talking About Race, Mega Lawsuits, That Oscars Screw-up and More: A Conversation With PwC’s Tim Ryan

Most people would look at the year PwC Chairman and Senior Partner Tim Ryan has had and think, “That’s rough.” After two killings of black men by police officers and the killing of 5 Dallas police officers last summer, Ryan told Fortune in February that he scrapped his plans and, “got the team together and […]

Who Will Be the Next CEO of Deloitte?

Last Friday we learned that Deloitte CEO Joe Echevarria had decided to call it a career after 34 years at the Green Dot. The news came as a bit of surprise, especially since Joe is only 57 and would be able to serve another four years in the big chair without reaching Deloitte's mandatory retirement […]

Grant Thornton Names Mike McGuire CEO-elect

Today: J. Michael McGuire named CEO-elect of Grant Thornton U.S. http://t.co/LEviUIJtDh pic.twitter.com/qfKWTBpp4f — Grant Thornton LLP (@GrantThorntonUS) June 2, 2014 Looks like Grant Thornton opted for something other than a Costanza lookalike for their next CEO. According to a Grant Thornton press release, JMM assumes the role of CEO-elect immediately and will take over for Stephen […]

There’s a New Boss at Moss

Well, technically you'll have to wait until 2013, but, barring any unforeseen events, Chris Schmidt will be the next Chairman and CEO of Moss Adams and he's legit excited about it. "I'm honored and excited to have the opportunity to help lead Moss Adams forward into its second century," Schmidt said. "I hope to continue to build […]

Joe Echevarria: Washington Needs to Get Its Act Together

Deloitte CEO Joe Echevarria is confident in his firm's ability to create jobs. He told CNBC that the Green Dot will hire another 17,000 new employees next year (netting "about half of that"). The reason that other, lesser, CEOs aren't kicking ass and taking names is that they can't deal with all the uncertainty out […]

Ted Dickman Will Be the Next Head of BKD

He's replacing Neal Spencer who is the guy that kinda looks like he's from the future. So, while BKDers lose a nice clean scalp, in return they get a CEO with a surname that will encourage immature jokes. But you better get it out of your system now because he'll be a BSDickman. [AWEB]

Twitter Absentee Barry Salzberg Preaches the Importance of Social Media

To our knowledge, Dr. Phil hasn't taken up the Deloitte CEO Twitter torch since he replaced Jim Quigley, so you'll excuse us if we take this comment from Salzberg's talk at Brooklyn College as a little disingenuous:  During the meeting, Salzberg advised students on their careers and answered questions about professional advancement, such as how […]

Let’s Speculate About: Joe Echevarria’s Rumored Meeting with the SEC

Earlier today we were informed that Deloitte CEO Joe Echevarria was a commencement speaker at the University of Miami, his alma mater, this morning. A quick search confirmed Joe E's gig, however, our tipster had this to add:  Said he had just come from a meeting with SEC, didn't mention what it was about, lol. This could […]

Old White Guy to Be Replaced By Slightly Less Old White Guy as CEO of Accounting Firm

Crowe Horwath International has announced Frank Arford will be retiring after having served as the network's CEO since 2007. He'll be replaced by Kevin McGrath effective July 1, 2012. Mr. Arford has been in the accounting industry for 40 years. McGrath has been with Crowe Horwath for 35 years. Bonus points to anyone that can […]

Ernst & Young Employees Think Jim Turley Is Doing a Bang-up Job

Ernst & Young global CEO Jim Turley will be retiring next summer and judging by the results of a Glassdoor ranking, that will be a very disappointing day, when JT steps down. According to the ranking, Jimbo has a 95% approval rating, good enough for second place, finishing behind Apple's Tim Cook. This was a […]

Deloitte Netherlands CEO Is Resigning After Stupidly Violating Independence Rules

Not exactly the best way to start a new job: Deloitte said the chief executive of its Dutch arm had stepped down with immediate effect after breaking internal rules on owning stakes in companies whose books are audited by the accountancy firm. Deloitte Netherlands CEO Piet Hein Meeter, who took up the job on Jan. 1, […]

Wayne Berson Will Be the Next CEO of BDO

It was a very quick turn around from the time we learned that the most interesting accounting firm CEO was retiring, to learning the slate of candidates to the announcement of the successor but here we are. Wayne Berson, BDO's Atlantic Assurance leader will be the new CEO effective November 1.  “I am honored and […]

Who Will Be the Next CEO of BDO?

Last month we learned that Jack Weisbaum would be retiring at the end of his current term as BDO's CEO. It's been quite the run for Captain Jack, but eventually you knew that things wouldn't stay interesting forever. A tipster tells us that the process to replace J. Dubs will soon be under way: The […]

Jack Weisbaum to Step Down as BDO CEO

One last thing before you're off to make bad decisions this weekend…Oh, right! You're probably working this weekend and you probably don't get to make any decisions about that. ANYWAY, Captain Jack Weisbaum, the most interesting accounting firm CEO in the world will not seek reelection, and will retire effective October 31, 2012 when his current […]

Who Wants to Live Like a Deloitte CEO?

Newly minted Deloitte CEO Joe Echevarria is upgrading his digs and he needs your help! His 6,000 square foot house in Westchester is on the block for $2.8 million and he dropped the price just last month, so now i


There are all kinds of nice amenities including: fireplace, high ceilings, patio, sprinkler system for the lawn, walk-in-closets [!], and a walkout basement and more. If that doesn’t sell you, read the broker’s description:

Spacious, striking residence in prestigious Matthiessen Park, built for gracious living & comfort. The home embodies spectacular craftsmanship with superior attention to detail. Beautiful stone entryway from local quarry, masonry fireplaces, soaring ceilings with dentil molding, red oak herringbone inlaid floors. Expansive family room, breakfast area & deluxe kitchen. Elegant library with exquisite mahogany millwork. Additional 2,000 [square feet] in finished lower level.Seasonal views of the magnificent Hudson River.

Sounds lovely, no? Anyway, take a peek over the next few pages and then hit up the team at Houlihan Lawrence to make an offer.

Naturally, you’ll want to look at a few photos

Jeremy Newman’s Blogging Career Is Coming to End

Related: he’s also stepping down as BDO International’s CEO on September 30:

[After] 33 years in total with BDO UK and BDO International, I will be stepping down on 30 September 2011.

I have had a fantastic career and have been privileged to lead BDO UK for 7 years and BDO International for the last 3 years. I have had some great colleagues, worked with some brilliant people and, in my earlier career, been involved with some terrific clients.

Martin van Roekel, the firm’s Managing Partner in the Netherlands, will officially be the new International Chief on October 1.

Newman says “it is time for a change,” but he “[doesn’t] know what I will do but after 33 years in this business, I am looking forward to seeking new opportunities outside the accounting profession.” He is promising to keep blogging through September, so hopefully he’s still working on his delicate sensibilities.

Moving On [CEO Insights]

McGladrey & Pullen Names Joe Adams as New Managing Partner and CEO

Joe Adams is 30+ year vet of the firm and gets some high praise from the M&P Chairman of the Board, Jerry Bourassa, “His commitment to quality and McGladrey’s success make him an excellent choice for the Managing Partner position. I’m looking forward to working with him in his new role overseeing McGladrey & Pullen’s national strategy and business operations.”

Joe takes over for Dave Scudder who turned in his papers back in February. Joe was kind enough to give Dave a nod of appreciation in the press release, “I’m looking forward to these new responsibilities, and continuing the excellent work that Dave Scudder did in this role.” He gets the big chair on May 1st and we assume cake and punch will be served but an appearance by Natalie Gulbis has yet to be confirmed. [McGladrey]

Barry Salzberg Elected to Be Deloitte’s New Global CEO

Barry Salzberg will be the next global CEO of Deloitte, according to a statement released by the firm today. Of course, if you’ve been following our coverage of the controversy around the election process at Deloitte, then you already knew that this was coming. As you know, this election was an all or nothing deal and with Salzberg taking the reigns from Jim Quigley on June 1, Joe Echeverria will be the new U.S. CEO and Punit Renjen will assume the Chairman’s role vacated by Sharon Allen.


The always quote-worthy (at least in the context of a Deloitte press release) Dr. Phil said he was “humbled by the confidence that the network has placed in my leadership during this historic time.” He also had some kind words for predecessor, “Over the years, I have worked closely with Jim Quigley and admired his commitment to our strong global culture and shared values, which have brought us to our preeminent position in the marketplace today.”

So congrats to Mr. Salzberg on the promotion (and surviving the coup d’etat). Feel free to leave your well-wishes or other thoughts on the matter in the comments below.

How Would You Vote on the Deloitte Leadership Candidates?

Last month, we shared with you the concerns of a Deloitte partner who has a lot of issues with the processes around electing the firm’s leadership. As the partner explained it to us, “The elected individuals are the Chairman, the CEO, and a CEO ‘Alternate.’ The CEO ‘Alternate’ is there in the event that the CEO elect is also elected as the Global CEO (which will typically happen).”

Recently, we were able to confirm the candidates and thought we’d share them with all of you since some of you might not be aware of who they are:


Punit Renjen, for Chairman of Deloitte LLP (Current CEO of Deloitte Consulting)

Barry Salzberg, for CEO of Deloitte LLP (Current CEO of Deloitte LLP)

Joe Echeverria, for CEO Alternate (Current Managing Partner of U.S. Operations)

What’s not immediately known is when Deloitte partners will be voting “Yes or No” on these candidates. One of our sources speculated that the vote could be as early this week.

In our previous post, we learned that the partners vote up or down on these candidates as a group as the partner in our last post explained “The partners get to vote ‘YES or NO’ on the ‘slate’ of candidates that is advanced.” Since we know a lot of you out there in Internetland are Deloitte employees but not partners, we thought we’d get your perspective on this slate of candidates and whether you would give them a “Yes” or “No.” And since the comments box allows for further explanation, feel free to elaborate on your vote. We know of one person who will be voting no.

A message left with Deloitte spokesperson Jonathan Gandal was not immediately returned.

Earlier:
Deloitte Partner Encourages Brethren to Take Back Their Firm

Deloitte Global CEO Jim Quigley Is Tweeting

There goes the Twittersphere.

Jim Quigley has broken the Big 4 CEO cherry on Twitter (to our knowledge) and he decided to do it in honor of the World Economic Forum (aka: The annual CEO ego strokefest) in Davos, Switzerland that gets underway in less than two weeks. Above is Quig’s one and only tweet so far and it’s very CEO-ish. We’re not expecting anything of the Kaplan variety but cripes man, add some color. May we recommend our series of “Doing it Wrong” Twitter posts from our resident expert?

Anyhoo, here’s the video from the tweet:

Thoughts on the performance are welcome. And JQ should know that we know Twitter can have a slight learning curve, so we’ll save you the trouble: you can follow Going Concern here. Oh, and Adrienne will be writing a review, so tweet to impress.

[via TS]

Accounting News Roundup: Ernst & Young Expresses ‘Sympathies’ to Equitable Policyholders; ABA: Fair Value Will Result in ‘Craziness’; Annoying Is a Vital Accountant Trait | 06.04.10

E&Y pays out almost £3m following Equitable verdict [Accountancy Age]
“E&Y successfully contested a claim they were not objective in their audit of the firm. However the JDS finding that the 1999 Financial Statements from Equitable did not show a true and fair view, still stand. The firm extended ‘our sympathies’ to policyholders of Equitable Life, who have been impacted by the near-collapse of the company.” Is expressing sympathy a new strategy for E&Y?


FASB Exposure Draft Alarms Bank CFOs [CFO]
What kind of alarm you ask? So alarming that a lobbyist spoke out against it with statements like, ‘aw-dropping’ and ‘You don’t want that craziness in your financial statements.’ That’s the words of the American Bankers Association’s Senior VP of Tax and Accounting who was hospitalized with cardiac trouble.

CFOs were a little less sound-bitey, but still aren’t jumping for joy over the proposal, telling CFO “I don’t see how that improves transparency” and “[FASB] they will end up with is a situation where there is a ton of judgment involved.”

Field narrows in race for top Deloitte job [Times Online]
The Times Online is having fun speculating about the new Deloitte CEO in the UK, now that Vince Niblett, “The early favourite” has been appointed as the head of audit there. It’s a three horse race according to the Times, with David Sproul, head of tax, and Martin Eadon, a senior audit partner also rumored to be taking the head spot after John Connolly retires next year.

TaxProf Blog Crosses 10 Million Visitor Mark [TaxProf Blog]
And counting…congrats Paul!

Friday tip: embrace your annoying accountant [AccMan]
“In order to be a successful accountant you do not need to be ‘born dull.’ But you do need to be born annoying.”

KPMG’s Leadership Is Not Determined By Rock-Paper-Scissors

KPMG Leadership has been on a communication rampage this month, answering questions from inquiring Klynveldians about the firm’s performance and compensation.

This time around, thd by COO Henry Keizer) discuss their roles in the firm and the election process because, presumably, it might make for a good ice breaker at your upcoming Memorial Day BBQ.

Inquisitor 1: Congratulations on your new roles – Chairman and Deputy Chairman. What can you tell us about the process that you go through in having that occur? And what’s the differentiation between your two roles?

Flynn: The board has a responsibility to have a succession planning process in place to elect the Chairman and Deputy Chairman. That is then put to an up or down vote of the partners for ratification. Chairman and Deputy Chairman are – today – a five-year term jointly and then a three-year second term, should they so choose. The board elects them to a second term.

John and I were elected in June of 2005, for a five-year term. I was elected as Global Chairman on October 1, 2007. I came to the conclusion through the fall that I really couldn’t do both roles full time.

In recognizing that in a complex, changing world today, we really need a full-time U.S. Chairman and Deputy Chairman to take care of what has to get done here in the world that we’re in—and as well, we’ll talk more about it, but we have to evolve the global firm, a $20 billion organization – shouldn’t there be a full-time executive team that wakes up every day on how to carry out the responsibilities of a $20 billion organization?

Veihmeyer: In terms of specific responsibilities – as Chairman, I’m the CEO. Henry chairs the Management Committee and a lot of what we talked about in terms of executing effectively and making sure that we are – from an operational standpoint – a very high-performance organization, Henry will lead through his role as Chief Operating Officer.

In other words – the process at KPMG isn’t exactly the electoral college. It’s basically a fight until the (near) death and the winner gets the thumbs up/thumbs down, Gladiator style, from the Board. Then they shake hands, slap each other on the ass, etc. and get back to work.

For this past cycle it does sound like T Fly was a little burned out from the globe trotting and keeping the peace Stateside so it was natural for JVeih to step up to the big chair for the U.S. after the terms expired. A $20 billion company is nothing to sneeze at so we thought that maybe we should start taking this “global firm” thing seriously (even though we’re all independent of each other and are legally not one firm) and let somebody tackle it full time.

Inquisitor 2: How will the succession process work within the next three months?

Veihmeyer: In terms of the specific things that have to take place, obviously we have some things around the leadership team that we have to get in place. Henry comes out of his role leading our Audit practice. So we will get all that in place as we lead up to early June, what team will be in place as we go forward post-June 10th, leading the firm. Henry…

Keizer: The transition that Tim and John described sets us up in a very good position to make sure as we move through fiscal 2010, we won’t be focused internally. It will allow us not only to continue to build on the foundation that we’ve built over the past several years, but more importantly, to really stay focused on making sure when we look back on 2010, it will be a year where everyone could say we’re on our way to recovery. The things that we all want, in terms of a more vibrant business, more rewards for our people, are all beginning to come back into the picture, and that that’s what we’re all committed to, I’m sure.

We’re taking applications for Hank’s position. You have to be able to stick to talking points, send out a mass amount of emails (via admin assistant natch) and smile a lot. Oh, and you can’t gush when Phil shows up for photo ops; you’ve got to keep it cool.

John Veihmeyer Doesn’t Mind Repeating Himself if It’s About Raises at KPMG

While some people are still sweating out to hear if they’re part of the new manager class, John Veihmeyer and Henry Keizer did more casual chatting with the troops and this time it was about everyone’s favorite topic to bitch about – compensation.

Specifically, somee asking about raises for FY ’10 and 401k match. Strange thing is, JV has already addressed the issue of KPMG raises in a previous communiqué by saying:

“[B]y year-end, we fully expect that the pickup in market and business conditions will drive compensation increases for the vast majority of our people. Also, assuming we meet our plan, as we are on track to do, our goal is to enhance our variable compensation pool from last year—meaning higher bonuses than last year for EP performers as well as bonuses for deserving SP performers.”


Good thing he doesn’t mind repeating himself:

Inquisitor #1: I was just wondering, if it’s likely that employees will get raises this year?

Veihmeyer: We are very optimistic at this point that that is exactly what’s going to happen. We all need to stay really engaged in what’s going on in the marketplace at this point to make sure that the second six months of our fiscal year also tracks the plan that we put in place. If we do that, we are very committed to sharing the rewards appropriately across KPMG.

As we assess the market right now – means that the vast majority of our people will be getting compensation increases this year. We are just as committed to increasing that variable compensation pool to the maximum extent we can reflective of how our results play out over the next six months.

Keizer: And in terms of variable compensation at the EP level that will translate into larger rewards and our deserving SP performers will also receive compensation rewards.

I am confident – based on what we see out in the marketplace, the foundation we have within the firm, the indicators of economic vibrance that are coming back – that we will be able to reward our people better and to be able to restore some of the things that we had to eliminate in a very measured and prudent way.

And John Veihmeyer was just wondering why you didn’t read his previous statement (or websites where it might appear) on the matter. Since V seems like a nice guy he managed to say what he said before only this time without saying “Yes” outright. Whether the absence of this explicit confirmation is a cause for concern can only be determined by you. Hank chimes in about the bonuses, presumably so he doesn’t feel awkward (at least that’s how we picture it).

So what about the 401k match? Is that returning to pre-financial apocalyptic levels?

Inquisitor #2: You mentioned earlier that we recently brought back the Standing Ovation award into the Encore program. Can we expect to see a change in our 401K match?

Veihmeyer: With an eye toward maximizing the immediate financial rewards to our people – to a level that we all can feel good about – we have some goals and objectives around base and variable compensation that in our view will take precedence over 401K as we reinstate and are able to shift those rewards. But it’s something that if the circumstances change and our ability to reinstate some of those things evolve, we will continue to look at it.

In a word – No. First things first you rubes – We’ve going to get every single Klynveldian feeling great about their immediate financial rewards. Until that is accomplished, your retirement will have to wait. The time frame of “we all feel good” was not given.

John Veihmeyer and Tim Flynn Would Love To Tell You How KPMG Is Doing

This time of year, the leadership at your firms are on a communication offensive because you all just went through hell. They want to whisper sweet words in your ears so that you keep the faith in them and your firm.

Today we bring you a little taste of some of those sweet words courtesy of the C-suite at KPMG.

Newlynveld, John Veihmeyer was joined by Tim Flynn, COO Henry Keizer, along with some inquisitors for a grueling Q&A that should re-energize you for summer.

Conversations with Leadership
How Are We Doing?

Flynn: First one up gets the mike.

[Prepackaged Inquisitor #1]: Are we on track? How is it going? What challenges have we faced?

Flynn: I think the foundation for recovery is being laid. And I think it started, obviously, in Asia. It’s moving its way through the U.S. Things are better than people had predicted three or four months ago. And we saw retail sales today came out with improvement – consumer confidence being up. So all of those things are signs that we’re on a path for recovery. And now the question is, how does that translate into our business?

Veihmeyer: We’ve built a plan that was consistent with our expectation of what that marketplace was going to be. First half of the year continuing to be a very challenging marketplace, with a gradual increase in marketplace activity as we got into the second six months of our fiscal year. So what have we seen to date? Our results have tracked what we expected. We are actually slightly ahead of plan, six months through our fiscal year, which is the great news.

And I think everyone should feel really good about that, particularly as you look at what we’re seeing in some of the businesses – Advisory, which was clearly hard hit by the lack of spending and the curtailing of a lot of initiatives on the part of our clients, have had very strong months the last several months. And that corner seems to have absolutely turned.

And we are just beginning to see, I think, the things that really impact Audit and Tax around some of the transactional activity that really drives those incremental services that make a big difference in Audit and Tax – that’s starting to come. We expect that to translate into greater revenue over the second six months.

Quite the trifecta of vague brainteasers PI #1 had. But without being very specific, and using a couple of banal metaphors, JV and T Fly are confident that everything is cool, thanks to China and India. Europe isn’t worth mentioning, that’ll blow over. Advisory was on its deathbed but things are bouncing back. Audit and Tax are far less sexy but they’re cash cows. They might see a little more action if Advisory started showing more skin.

[Prepackaged Inquisitor #2]: My name’s [Prepackaged Inquisitor #2]. I just wanted to ask about the new role of the office managing partners, focusing on just going to market.

Keizer: By focusing the office managing partners really on two areas: one, growth of our business, and also our people. So the office managing partners teamed with the functional leaders, and the professionals within geographies, and looked outside into the marketplace, and which companies fit that criteria—impactful to our brand, our people, great growth, and profitability opportunity.

From that exercise, across the country, over 1,600 companies were identified. A process was then undertaken to actually assign specific resources. As we sit today, and we take that population of companies and say, how are we doing? The revenue growth that has been realized in our first six months, in that population, has exceeded our normal portfolio of clients. So it’s showing, again, at an early stage, focus, and a prioritization of where we want to strategically go, does translate into opportunity and revenue.

Flynn: If there’s one message that comes out of this, just one message to everybody here listening – is that the one thing we know for certain—we are not short of opportunities.

We have tremendous opportunities what’s happening around the world. The key is, how do we align our resources, look at our investments, develop our people’s skills to capitalize on those opportunities? So from a standpoint of the future – there’s tremendous opportunity for all of you, and for our businesses, as we go forward.

Your local bigwigs are out there digging up biz because things have gotten a little more competitive than we would like. We can’t simply rely on a sexy Masters Champion in every RFP so they’re getting their hands dirty for a change. Plus, from where we stand, there’s plenty of business out there so if they don’t get the job done, we’ll probably go to the bullpen.

John Veihmeyer Gets a Little Mysterio About His Path to the Top of KPMG

New KPMG Chairman (and US CEO since 2008) John Veihmeyer told the Washington Post about growing up to ascend the public accounting ladder and if that’s something you’re looking to do with your life, be sure to check it out.

Since some of us would rather sip on Molotov cocktails and scratch our eyeballs out with sharpened #2 pencils, we can merely press our faces to the glass to see how public accounting really works. According to J Veihm, it’s something like this: once you’re jumped in, there’s no getting out.

One of the very best pieces of mentoring advice I ever received was to “view a challenge as an opportunity” and then “take it on and do it better than anybody else.” I recall one specific moment, when KPMG’s leadership asked me to consider accepting a particular position that, at the time, I thought would be something of a roadblock to achieving one of the goals I had set for my career in public accounting. I shared my concerns with a trusted colleague, who I have long considered to be my professional mentor, and his response has stayed with me over the course of my 33 years with KPMG. He said, “look at this challenge as an opportunity, accept it, and then do it better than anybody before you ever has.” I took his advice, and he was right. In hindsight, the experience I gained in that role did more to prepare me for the rest of my career than anything else I could have done.

Translating that, if you express concerns about the gang shoving you up the corporate ladder by sending you on your own drive-bys or whathaveyou, one of the higher officers will reassuringly pat you on the shoulder and remind you that there’s one way to go and that’s up. Accept it, there is only one way out (for gang members, that usually means getting shot to death; in public accounting, it might mean a heart attack at 45). Creepy.

KPMG knows all about challenges so it’s probably a good thing that Johnny V was groomed in advance for his duties as KPMG Chair.

(UPDATE) John Veihmeyer to Succeed Tim Flynn as Chairman of KPMG’s U.S. Firm

UPDATE/Correction, Wednesday 3.24.10 – Previously, headline stated that John Veihmeyer was succeeding Tim Flynn as Chairman and CEO. John V. has actually been the U.S. CEO since 2008. Sorry JV, for not giving you credit there.

The suspense is over. Johnnie V. has been serving as th the U.S. Firm since 2005 and he has the full confidence of TF, “There is no finer individual to lead the U.S. firm and build upon the progress that has been made over the last five years…John is equally passionate that KPMG continues to be a great place for our people to build their careers, in a culture that embraces diversity.”

JV will be succeeded by Henry Keizer in the Deputy Chairman role. Hank will also be the U.S. firm’s Chief Operating Officer. Timmay is also excited for Keizer Soze’s promotion, “His leadership and professionalism will be vital to ensuring the firm meets the challenges and capitalizes on the tremendous opportunities ahead…he has championed the use of technology and off shoring to enhance our operational effectiveness and efficiency in an increasingly competitive marketplace.”

Tim will be focusing on his roles as the Chairman and Senior Partner of Klynveld International, dashing our wishes for him to be the next Secretary of the Treasury. He was “strongly endorsed” by the Global Board to get down to business in this “unprecedented global economic and regulatory environment.” You can probably plan on more Davos interviews next year, chatting up royalty, caddying, etc.

I am extremely pleased to announce that the partners have ratified the election of John Veihmeyer as Chairman and CEO, and Henry Keizer as Deputy Chairman and COO, of the U.S. firm. John and Henry will assume their new responsibilities on June 10, 2010, when my term ends as U.S. Chairman. John and Henry bring strategic insight, deep leadership skills and extensive experience in serving clients to their new roles.

While it was a difficult decision for me not to continue in my role as Chairman of the U.S. firm, it has become increasingly clear to me that my additional role of Chairman and Senior Partner of KPMG International requires a full-time commitment. Last week, the Global Board strongly endorsed that I serve full time as Global Chairman in this unprecedented global economic and regulatory environment and period of tremendous opportunity for our member firms and people.

Having the privilege to work side by side with John during our five-year term as Chairman and Deputy Chairman, I have seen first-hand his professionalism, leadership and commitment to KPMG, its people and clients. There is no finer individual to lead the U.S. firm and build upon the progress that has been made over the last five years.

In addition, Henry will bring a tremendous amount of operating experience and energy to the Deputy Chairman and COO role. His leadership and professionalism will be vital to ensuring the firm meets the challenges and capitalizes on the tremendous opportunities ahead.

John has served as Deputy Chairman of KPMG since 2005, and he brings a unique combination of skills and experience, across all aspects of our strategic priorities, to the role of chairman. John is equally passionate that KPMG continues to be a great place for our people to build their careers, in a culture that embraces diversity.

Henry comes to his new role after serving as U.S. Vice Chair, Audit since 2005 and Global Head of Audit since 2006. In these roles, he has championed the use of technology and off shoring to enhance our operational effectiveness and efficiency in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

John and Henry’s professional depth, integrity and commitment to our clients, partners and the people of KPMG will serve the U.S. firm well as we move forward. Please join me in congratulating John and Henry and welcoming them to their new roles.

In closing, there was never a day that I was not grateful and humbled by the opportunity to lead and work with the truly exceptional people of KPMG. I have been awed by your talent, proud of your accomplishments and appreciative of your dedication. It truly has been an honor to serve as Chairman of the U.S. firm for the last five years.

Thank you for all that you do every day to support our firm and deliver on our promise of professionalism to each other, our clients and the capital markets we serve.

All the best,

Tim

Is Stephen Chipman Preparing to Embrace Twitter?

We hope! Our speculation is fueled by a line from SC’s most recent post:

“Because I’ve heard it said that brevity is not my strong suit, I will try to explain it in 50 words.”

Whether Steve-o realizes it or not, at 50 words, he still needs to improve his brevity. But it’s a start and we’re hoping that he’ll get eventually embrace Twitter. We’re envisioning pithy Tweets followed by clever hashtags like #GTrocks or #Big4sucks or #isecretlyheartsuesachdeva.


The fact the whole brevity topic came up makes us curious. We only made mention of it once, ages ago, so we’re certain that he isn’t referring to our commentary (which we’re sure he reads religiously).

Anyhoo, Even-Stephen was referring to the difference between the Grant Thornton Senior Leadership Team and the Partnership Board. Disappointing everyone, he ended up using 51 words and 258 characters:

The SLT is the equivalent of executive management, and the Partnership Board is the governing body of the firm. The SLT is appointed by the CEO and approved by the PB. The CEO is appointed by the PB. The SLT reports to the CEO, and the CEO reports to the PB.

That’s followed up by Stephen getting back to his windy ways, describing what every member of the SLT does (you can get the gist from their titles).

So while we’re encouraged by Chip’s effort at getting to the point, he still has some work to do. Just sign up and go for it man. Plus we’d be interested to know who Steve-o would follow. Going Concern is a given but does he go intellectual and follow Taleb and Roubini? Or slum it with the rubes and follow Kim Kardashian, Courtney Love and Kanye?

Stephen, just get on Twitter.