Grant Thornton Achieves Dynamic Revenue Growth of 17% in 2022
The petals on the Purple Rose of Chicago were in full, fragrant bloom in 2022 as Grant Thornton posted revenue for its fiscal year ending July 31 of $2.3 billion, a nearly 17% increase over the $1.97 billion the firm brought in last year. 2022 was clearly one of the best years GT has had […]
Promotion Watch ’22: Grant Thornton Admits 38 New Partners and Principals
Plenty of new promotion purple roses were handed out at Grant Thornton on Aug. 1, as the firm celebrated its largest class of new partners, principals, and managing directors in GT’s history. The 96 new PPMDs in the class of 2022 surpasses the 87 in last year’s class, which had been Grant Thornton’s largest ever. […]
Guidehouse is Buying Grant Thornton’s Public Sector Advisory Practice (UPDATE)
Ed. note: Internal email regarding the acquisition sent to Grant Thornton staff included below. This is a developing story. A tipster reached out to us this morning to let us know the rumor mill is churning over Guidehouse potentially picking up GTPS. “This took some people by surprise when they read about it on Fishbowl,” […]
Compensation Watch ’22: Did the Purple Rose Reek of Bad Raises at Grant Thornton?
The most DYNAMIC firm in all of public accounting recently had comp discussions, according to r/accounting. It was the final round of raises during the reign of CEO Brad Preber, who was put out to pasture on Aug. 1 when new Grant Thornton CEO Seth Siegel took over. We’ve heard some rumblings that some GTers […]
KPMG Poaches Someone From Grant Thornton and Issues a Press Release, Part IV
It‘s been awhile since we paid attention to people leaving Grant Thornton for KPMG and vice versa, but this news that was made public yesterday is a biggie: well-known Grant Thornton Chief Economist Diane Swonk turned in her purple rose after more than four years with the firm and has joined the House of Klynveld […]
Rumor: Is Some Culture Drama Going Down at Grant Thornton?
We received a tip about a situation over at Grant Thornton that may or may not have any basis in reality but since the only time Grant Thornton ever gets mentioned here is to get made fun of over being so bad at auditing (it’s getting better OK!) we thought hey, let’s have a discussion […]
If This Is How Grant Thornton Recruiters Talk No Wonder They Can’t Find People to Work For Them
Today’s Grant Thornton roasting comes not from the PCAOB (like usual) but from r/accounting, also known as the magic genie from whence a wealth of content is born. We didn’t have time to create a fake resume, apply to one of the many, many open positions at GT, and hope we get the same recruiter […]
Grant Thornton Drops Its Russian Affiliate Over Conflict In Ukraine
In a two-paragraph statement posted on its website yesterday, Grant Thornton International said that the firm’s affiliate in Russia, FBK Grant Thornton, is no longer a member of the exclusive GT club: In light of the conflict in Ukraine, FBK, the Grant Thornton member firm in Russia, is leaving the network with immediate effect. Like […]
Not Surprisingly, Grant Thornton Made Billions Across the Globe In 2021
Grant Thornton didn’t want to be left out of the billionaires club for 2021. GT joined Deloitte, PwC, EY, KPMG, BDO, and RSM by pulling in at least 10-digit global revenues this past fiscal year. Specifically, Grant Thornton racked up $6.6 billion in 2021, up from $5.8 billion in 2020. The press release Grant Thornton […]
Compensation Watch ’21: Grant Thornton Is Dragging Its Feet On Announcing Mid-Year Raises (NEW UPDATE)
[UPDATE on Dec. 23] Now that it’s been two weeks since we started to hear that Grant Thornton employees were getting mid-year salary adjustments, let’s take a look at the GT comp adjustment thread on Reddit to see what some GTers got: Associate 2 5% (audit) 5.7% (audit) Senior 1 9.5% (audit) Senior 2 7% […]
Grant Thornton Is Trying to Keep Heinies In Seats By Giving Raises Enhancing Benefits
Aw, better luck next time, GTers. Maybe some good news on Dec. 17? Anyway, here’s what Grant Thornton sent out on Dec. 1: Grant Thornton has further embraced the changing nature of benefits by taking its traditional benefits package — which includes items such as retirement plans and medical insurance — and layering on a […]
PCAOB Inspection Report Day Is No Longer An Embarrassment For Grant Thornton
Once the laughingstock of the firms annually inspected by the PCAOB (and of us at Going Concern HQ), Grant Thornton has recently shown it has really gotten the hang of this thing called auditing. It really is a surprising turnaround for a firm that had epically bad PCAOB inspection reports for 2011 (43% deficiency rate), […]
Despite a 2.6% Increase In 2021, Grant Thornton Couldn’t Catch BDO USA In the Midtier Firm Revenue Pissing Contest
This just in from the purple gang: Grant Thornton LLP, the U.S. member firm of Grant Thornton International Ltd., today announced record revenues of $1.97 billion for the fiscal year ended July 31, 2021. “In a changing and uncertain environment, we continue to remain agile and perform with excellence across our entire firm, including our […]
The CEO Seat At Grant Thornton Will Soon Be Kept Warm By Seth Siegel
It seemed like yesterday that Brad Preber took over as interim CEO at Grant Thornton and right away had to deal with GTers freaking out after a whole bunch of people got pink slips, and now here we are talking about Preber’s upcoming retirement and who’s going to replace him as CEO. We found out […]
Compensation Watch ’21: Did Grant Thornton Give Employees Briefcases Full Of Money This Year?
Grant Thornton was another firm last year that decided it would be financially irresponsible to give its hardworking employees raises during the height of the pandemic, even though GT’s revenue in fiscal year 2020 hit a record of $1.92 billion. But that was then, this is now. We still don’t know Grant Thornton’s revenue results […]
Promotion Watch ’21: Grant Thornton Admits 46 New Partners and Principals
Well, well, well … look what we have here — a big promotion day at Grant Thornton. The Purple Rose of Chicago this morning announced a larger-than-usual class of 87 new partners, principals, and managing directors. The breakdown: 41 new managing directors 35 new partners 11 new principals While Grant Thornton notes in the press […]
Layoff Watch ’20: Grant Thornton Is the Latest Firm to Trim Some Staff
Happy Friday, everyone! Hopefully you all made it through this week unscathed and still have your job. Unfortunately for some employees of Grant Thornton, they can’t say the same. We received this tip a little bit ago: Looks like GT will be cutting some advisory people and furloughing new hires and cutting some executive assistants. […]
Grant Thornton’s 2018 PCAOB Inspection Report Is Not As Good As 2017’s, Not As Bad As 2012’s
Monday morning we got an email that the PCAOB had dropped six 2018 inspection reports on us—the Big 4 firms, Grant Thornton, and BDO USA—so everyone’s favorite audit cops could show off their new snazzy inspection report format. This might have been the largest one-day release of reports of firms that are inspected annually by […]
Promotion Watch ’20: A Dozen Grant Thornton Partners Have New Titles to Show Off On LinkedIn
These are your new Grant Thornton office managing partners: Brett Beightol, Orange County, CA, succeeds Alan Herrmann on Aug. 1. Hermann was promoted to lead Grant Thornton’s West region tax practice in 2019. Mike Desmond, Charlotte, NC, succeeds Dave Wedding who is retiring on July 31. David Gifford, Phoenix, succeeds Tim Zingraf on Aug. 1. […]
Grant Thornton to Staff: ‘Don’t Expect Raises or Bonuses This Year, Sry’
We’ve gotten news this afternoon from a few sources that Grant Thornton has broken it to their loyal employees that no one should expect raises this year, with one exception. One tipster writes: GT firmwide call – promotions continuing with raise commensurate with level, no raise or bonus to anyone else Another tipster informs us […]
Layoff Watch ’20: What’s This About Grant Thornton ‘Optimizing’ Some People?
We were told the other day that Grant Thornton recently got rid of some GTers who were not meeting their utilization goals. ’Tis the season for cutting loose low performers, regardless of a deadly pandemic and a shitty economy. Here’s the tip we got: They’re “optimizing” people at GT US in certain departments. Digital transformation […]
Grant Thornton Reducing Partner Draws By 25% For the Rest of FY 2020
[Updated with message from CEO Brad Preber to Grant Thornton staff.] Yesterday evening as I was on my way home from picking up some Red Robin for dinner for me and my family, we got a text on the tipline that Grant Thornton partners in the U.S. are taking a 25% pay cut. That was […]
Grant Thornton Is Going All In On Working From Home During the COVID-19 Pandemic
While many accounting firms are “empowering” and “encouraging” their employees to work from home during the coronavirus outbreak, but still ultimately leaving it up to them to make that decision, Grant Thornton employees had that decision made for them yesterday. A tipster sent us this message that all GTers received from CEO Brad Preber on […]
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,” […]
Grant Thornton Made a Little Magic Happen In 2019
Despite layoffs at its U.S. firm and general malaise about its audit practice in the U.K., Grant Thornton pulled a rabbit out of its hat and managed to increase global revenue by 5.1% to $5.72 billion in the 2019 financial year that ended on Sept. 30. Instead of me regurgitating all the numbers provided in […]
Grant Thornton Elects Three Dynamic Individuals to Partnership Board
Purple roses were bestowed to three dynamos who were elected to the partnership board at Chez Preber. The newest board members are: Robert Fox: Bert is national managing partner of professional standards, based in Chicago. He leads the Purple Rose of Chicago’s national office teams over accounting principles, audit methodology, SEC and regulatory matters, and […]
Grant Thornton Poaches Someone From Deloitte and Issues a Press Release, Part II
It’s been more than four years since Going Concern has reported on someone changing their team colors from green to purple, but that happened recently as Grant Thornton nabbed a former managing partner at Deloitte Consulting to join its Public Sector Healthcare practice. David B. Weir, Jr. has joined Grant Thornton LLP’s Public Sector Healthcare […]
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 […]
Grant Thornton Reports 5.4% Increase In FY 2019 Revenue, Still Gloating About Its 2017 PCAOB Inspection Report
Grant Thornton sent out a snoozer of a press release earlier today announcing that its fiscal year 2019 revenue totaled $1.9 billion, up 5.4% from $1.8 billion in 2018. The only fun thing in the release is that GT is still taking a victory lap over its 2017 PCAOB inspection report, which found that only […]
Promotion Watch ’19: Grant Thornton Admits 42 New Partners and Principals
The last month hasn’t been the greatest for Grant Thornton, as the firm gave pink slips to 230 professionals and 40 PPMDs, approximately 3.5% of its workforce, at the end of July. So GT’s leadership probably wanted to wait until the dust settled before they announced that interim CEO Brad Preber had recently handed out […]
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 […]
Layoff Watch ’19: Interim CEO Brad Preber Addresses the Grant Thornton Layoff Rumors
It’s Brad Preber’s first day on the job as interim CEO of Grant Thornton after now-former CEO and hero of the wastes Mike McGuire noped on up out of that seat. And boy did he have a shitstorm to deal with first thing. Rumors of Grant Thornton layoffs started swirling earlier this week, and no […]
Layoff Watch ’19: It’s Going Down at Grant Thornton
Back in March, Jason let us know about a handful of layoffs out of Grant Thornton U.K. and now it seems the fun is coming to ‘Murica. First, a tipster informed us of a shake-up in the Northeast Region, with the Westborough, MA office closing up and possibly more closures planned. Our tipster says they […]
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 […]
Auditor Swap: AZZ Says Buh-Bye to BDO USA, Hires Grant Thornton
Auditor shopping has made the news a little more than usual of late, with high-profile companies like Fitbit and Goldman Sachs in the U.K. both kicking PwC to the curb in favor of a fresh, new set of eyes. Then there’s General Electric, which might end its century-old relationship with KPMG after this year. While […]
Grant Thornton Poaches Someone From KPMG and Issues a Press Release, Part II
In the comment section of an article we posted on May 10 about a managing director and a partner recently fleeing KPMG to join Grant Thornton’s Corporate Value Consulting practice, we got a tip that the Purple Rose of Chicago recently poached KPMG again—Candice Turner left the HoK to join GT as a principal in […]
Grant Thornton Poaches Two People From KPMG and Issues a Press Release, Part I
A couple of months ago, we reported that a partner and a principal bolted Grant Thornton earlier this year for the blue-and-white confines of KPMG, one of whom actually left and came back to the House of Klynveld. Well, it looks like the Purple Rose of Chicago has turned the tables on KPMG. Grant Thornton […]
Grant Thornton Partner Killed In Car Crash
Some sad news to report, as a partner in Grant Thornton’s New York City office died in a one-car crash in Westport, Conn., on April 14. Cullen Walsh, 39, was identified by authorities on Tuesday as the person killed in the crash, according to the Westport News. Shortly before 1 a.m. Sunday morning, first responders […]
Grant Thornton Surprises Everyone By Not Sucking at Auditing
Grant Thornton gets a bad rap around here, much of which is kinda justified to be fair. They’re sort of like your annoying little brother who always wants to come with you to hang out with your friends but he smells like curdled milk and always has crusty gunk on the corners of his mouth. […]
Layoff Watch ’19: Grant Thornton U.K. to Part Ways with Up to 60 Staffers
Some unlucky folks at Grant Thornton U.K. are taking the hit for the firm’s miserable 2018, which saw GT stop bidding for new audit work at the largest U.K. companies, the CEO not seeking a second four-year term after a partner revolt, revenue dip from £500 million in 2017 to £491 million last year, partners’ average […]
Auditor Swap: Fitbit Dumps PwC In Favor of Grant Thornton
The Purple Rose of Chicago just got itself a new engagement. Via Reuters: Wearable device maker Fitbit Inc has dismissed auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP after a review of its fees and appointed Grant Thornton LLP, the company said in a regulatory filing on Thursday. The filing states that Fitbit chose not to renew its engagement with PwC […]
KPMG Poaches Someone From Grant Thornton and Issues a Press Release, Parts I and II
We here at GC HQ love a good poaching, especially when it involves two of the top six firms in the U.S. So we were happy to see this press release from KPMG come across our virtual desk this morning: Mark Rems has joined KPMG LLP, the audit, tax and advisory firm, as a principal […]
Grant Thornton Current and Former Partners Will Have a Seat In the PCAOB’s Penalty Box
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board doled out suspensions to a current partner and a former partner at Grant Thornton on Feb. 26 for their roles in screwing up the 2013 audit of a real estate investment trust. Richard Huff Jr., CPA, was censured and given a one-year ban by the PCAOB. Huff was the […]
Grant Thornton Jumps on the ‘Let’s Form a Panel to Show We’re Committed to Audit Quality’ Bandwagon
Last week we let you guys know about a three-member independent committee EY recently created that will be tasked with advising senior leadership on how to strengthen audit quality. Not to be outdone, Grant Thornton announced Jan. 30 that it, too, has formed a three-member, mostly independent panel that will counsel the firm’s partnership board […]
Grant Thornton Topped $5.4 Billion in Global Revenue in 2018
It’s a dynamic time to be a GTer (unless you work in the U.K.), as Grant Thornton International announced this week that its network of firms around the world combined to reach a record $5.45 billion in revenue for the financial year that ended on Sept. 30, 2018. Global revenue grew 9.4% in U.S. dollar […]
Patisserie Holdings Said It Was Hiring an Audit Firm That No Longer Exists to Replace Grant Thornton U.K. as Auditor
It’s the Friday before Christmas, and when you have a bad case of holiday brain, sometimes mistakes can happen. Sometimes these mistakes can be hilarious. Like this one from Patisserie Holdings, parent company of U.K. coffeehouse chain Patisserie Valerie: Patisserie Valerie mistakenly says it has named RSM Tenon as its new auditor… RSM Tenon collapsed […]
An 8% Drop in Pay Might Be the Reason Why Some Grant Thornton U.K. Partners Were Pissy at CEO
We’re just spitballin’ here. From Economia: [Grant Thornton] said on Friday its average profit per partner fell 8% from £403,000 to £373,000 in 2017/18. Ouch! Of the top six accounting firms in the United Kingdom, this puts Grant Thornton sixth, by quite a bit, in average partner pay for the 2017-18 financial year: Deloitte: £832,000 […]
Grant Thornton U.K. Gets a New CEO
Good morning/afternooon, gang. We have some news to share from across the pond, as Grant Thornton has appointed a new CEO to replace Sacha Romanovitch. We are pleased to announce that Dave Dunckley has been ratified as our new CEO elect. His focus will be to create an organisation which powerfully connects a clear social […]
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 […]
Anonymously Bashing Your Boss Must Have Worked as Grant Thornton U.K. CEO Is Calling It Quits
A small group of Grant Thornton U.K. partners must have been grinning from ear to ear on Oct. 15 after hearing the news that Sacha Romanovitch has decided not to seek a second term as the firm’s CEO. A new CEO is expected to be appointed before the end of 2018 following an election process in […]
Grant Thornton Posts Revenue of $1.8 Billion in Fiscal Year 2018
[Updated with quote from Grant Thornton spokesperson.] The Purple Rose of Chicago put out a very skimpy press release this morning announcing that the U.S. firm’s revenue hit $1.8 billion for the fiscal year that ended July 31, 2018, up 3.4% over last fiscal year. And … that’s pretty much it. Not even a mention […]
Some Grant Thornton U.K. Partners Are Trying to Undermine CEO, Say She Is Pushing a ‘Socialist Agenda’
Grant Thornton U.K. CEO Sacha Romanovitch isn’t very popular with a small group of partners who say she is pursuing a “socialist agenda” and has instilled a “culture of fear” at the firm where there are severe repercussions for speaking out, according to a Sept. 21 Financial Times report. Romanovitch, who became the first female […]
FRC Didn’t Want Grant Thornton U.K. to Feel Left Out of All the Disciplinary Fun
The Big 4 firms in the U.K. have been the target of repeated tongue-lashings from the Financial Reporting Council lately because, let’s face it, audits have been pretty damn bad. Things have gotten so desperate that EY is bringing in behavioral psychologists to improve audit quality. But the U.K. accounting watchdog’s most recent tongue-lashing wasn’t […]
Grant Thornton Admits 32 New Partners and Principals
This just in from the Purple Rose of Chicago: Grant Thornton LLP has admitted 32 new partners and principals, and promoted 29 to managing director, effective today. Specifically, 20 new partners and 12 new principals are members of the class of 2018. Here’s how this year’s numbers compare to previous years’ new partner/principal promotions at […]
Grant Thornton Gets Dinged for Giving Partners with Audit Quality Issues More Work
The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has announced a big settlement with Grant Thornton over quality control violations and audit failures. The firm was censured and agreed to pay a $1.5 million civil penalty. The quality control violations related to the assignment of two Philadelphia-based partners to audits in 2013 when they had been cited […]
Grant Thornton Admits 39 New Partners and Principals
Who are the new Grant Thornton partners? Glad you asked. The firm announced them earlier today along with new principals and managing directors, as is customary for the Purple Rose of Chicago. If you like to parse these things out, then it breaks down as: 27 partners, 12 principals and 28 managing directors. In the […]
Grant Thornton Making Some Tweaks to Its Unlimited PTO Policy
Last time we checked on Grant Thornton’s unlimited PTO policy, we learned that it was having at least one desired effect: people were taking more time off. The median number of PTO days taken jumped from 17.4 to 19.1. However, the comments from that article suggested that things were getting a bit out of hand. […]
How’s Grant Thornton’s Unlimited Vacation Policy Been Working Out?
Last year, the only second-tier accounting firm not cool enough to go by its inititals, Grant Thornton, announced a new paid-time off policy that would allow its employees to take unlimited vacation. Although GT employees seemed happy with the idea, the move was met by skepticism here and elsewhere.
Grant Thornton Offers Unnecessary Reminder
#ElectionDay fact: Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are two of the most unpopular candidates in history>> https://t.co/bjeXFC2rpV — Grant Thornton (@GrantThorntonUS) November 8, 2016 Thanks, GT.
Don’t Pretend That the Presence of Three Grant Thornton CEOs Had Nothing to Do With a Cubs Victory
The first Cubs World Series win at Wrigley Field in 71 years wasn't just going to happen. The three CEO's of Grant Thornton since 2001 at the World Series tonight! Go Cubs! pic.twitter.com/jhf2lVgDba — J. Michael McGuire (@mikemcguireCLT) October 31, 2016
Accounting News Roundup: Grant Thornton’s Reprehensibility and Common Sense for Auditors | 09.23.16
Grant Thornton's reprehensibility Here's an interesting report from Courthouse News Service that discusses Grant Thornton losing a tax shelter case based on a leveraged distribution 301 transaction or Lev301. A Lev301 involved "a foreign corporation [borrowing] money to buy U.S. Treasury notes before transferring the notes to corporate shareholders in the U.S." GT recommend the […]
Grant Thornton Admits 47 New Partners and Principals
Grant Thornton announced its new partner class yesterday and while this year's group was slightly smaller than last year's class of 50, it's still far larger from those in recent years. There were 32 new partners admitted in 2014, 30 in 2013, 27 in 2012, 26 in 2011 and 22 in 2010. Here's the newly […]
Grant Thornton CEO Does His Best Ferris Bueller Impression
Mike's just blowing off work to see a Cubs game: Our @mikemcguireCLT put on his #Cubs hat + took to the mound to throw out the first pitch. #LetsGo pic.twitter.com/kl0fPlFsyC — Grant Thornton LLP (@GrantThorntonUS) August 5, 2016 Ball? Strike? Wild pitch? If you were there, get in touch to let us know how he […]
Here’s Your Open Thread for Grant Thornton Compensation Discussions (2016)
Grant Thornton saves its compensation discussions for the dog days of summer. My hunch is that they like sharing disappointing news when people are feeling lethargic and unwilling to make too much of a fuss over a raise that barely keeps up with inflation.
Grant Thornton Hoping to Bring Soul-Crushing Disappointment to Charlotte Hornets With New Sponsorship
Grant Thornton recently became a multi-year sponsor of the Charlotte Hornets basketball team. The deal will afford them several perks including "leasing a suite at Time Warner Cable Arena, advertising courtside and putting the firm’s name on a private club near the home locker room." It's a great deal for GT; a sports franchise — […]
What’s On Your Audit Partner Disclosure Wish List?
Earlier this week, we learned about a couple of Grant Thornton audits that were less than perfect. The partner on those engagements, Melissa Koeppel, had a poor track record with four restatements in two years, including the one that resulted from the infamous Koss Corporation fraud. No one outside of Grant Thornton had knowledge of […]
Fake Occupants Caused Some Some Problems in Grant Thornton’s Audit of Assisted Living Concepts
The SEC announced a settlement with Grant Thornton and two partners today over some bad audits that went down in America's Dairyland. The firm will pay $3 million in fines, plus forfeit $1.5 million in audit fees with interest. The partners, Melissa Koeppel and Jeffrey Robinson agreed to a $10k fine and a 5-year ban and $2.5k and 2-year ban, respectively.
Grant Thornton: New Unlimited PTO Policy Not Designed to Get People to Take Less Vacation
As you've all heard by now, Grant Thornton will be launching an unlimited PTO policy starting November 1. The firm documented its employees' surprise to the move and it is surprising since less than 1% of companies offer unlimited vacation. Not only that, but the Purple Rose of Chicago will be the only major accounting […]
Grant Thornton Demonstrates Its Instinct for Diversity in Its Paid Time-Off Video
Grant Thornton’s video announcing their unlimited paid time off policy was exceptional cinema. For starters, everyone in the video looks very uncomfortable — like they weren’t sure if they were giving feedback on company policy or making a sex tape with a tax manager. It’s also clear that the people who were ambushed in the […]
Grant Thornton’s Revenue Didn’t Take Time Off
The Purple Rose of Chicago earned $1.45 billion in the U.S., beating last year's haul of $1.35 bil. Judging by Mike McGuire's canned quote, everything is on the up and up: “Our financial results are a direct reflection of the value we’re providing to our clients,” said Mike McGuire, chief executive officer of Grant Thornton […]
Not-So-Fine Opining: High School Auditors, Grant Thornton’s Independence Problems, Close Family Members
This week we have three (!) stories to share of auditors behaving badly. Story #1 is Michael J. Moore of Las Vegas. Back in 2009, MJM was barred from being associated with a PCAOB registered accounting firm and suspended from practicing before the SEC as an accountant. The reason? Among other things, he issued audits […]
Grant Thornton Should Pay Its People to Take Vacation
Grant Thornton is getting into the surprisingly generous benefits act, announcing that it will offer its employees unlimited time off starting in November. They even shot this video of their people's reactions to the news: Those people seem genuinely surprised. That's kinda nice. Few companies offer unlimited PTO; this Bloomberg report says fewer than 1% […]
Deloitte Rules Chicago
And it's not even close! Over at Crain's, Claire Bushey reports on the pecking order of the largest accounting firms in the Windy City: In 2014, New York-based accounting giant Deloitte stood head-and-shoulders above other Big Four firms in Chicago, raking in fees totaling more than $76.5 million from companies here. In the local market, […]
Stephen Chipman Calling it a Career at Grant Thornton
Stephen Chipman, erstwhile CEO of Grant Thornton, blogger, romantic, inexperienced Chicagoan, incredibly unprepared Chicagoan, note writer, dynamic perpetual optimist etc. etc. is hanging it up after 34 years at the Purple Rose of Chicago: Grant Thornton LLP announced that Stephen Chipman, senior vice chairman of Grant Thornton LLP, has elected to retire early from […]
Grant Thornton Admits 50 New Partners
Grant Thornton deified 50 new partners on August 1st, according to a firm press release. This year's class size dwarfs those from recent years; there were 32 new partners admitted in 2014, 30 in 2013, 27 in 2012, 26 in 2011 and 22 in 2010. Purple Rose of Chicago CEO Mike McGuire heaps on the […]
Judge Felt Compelled to Call Out Grant Thornton’s Extraordinarly Crappy Work
It's always amusing when a judge reprimands an accounting firm for sucking at its job. Usually it's due to some dumpster fire that auditors watched burn for too long, but today's bench slap came from a judge on Delaware's Court of Chancery in regards to some valuation work Grant Thornton performed: Vice Chancellor Travis Laster […]
Oops: Grant Thornton Lost an Audit Client Due to ‘Inadvertent Scope Creep’
Ahhhh, independence. The albatross around the neck of the audit profession. Or maybe that's the PCAOB. Or maybe it's the technology. Fuck, I don't know. If you imagine all the giant birds shitting on auditors, ugh, that's a horrific thought.
Here’s Your Open Thread for Grant Thornton Compensation Discussions (2015)
The last time we teased with talk of GT compensation, our tipster seemed impatient and harboring inflated expectations. Hopefully most of you McGuire Munchkins are either more patient or realistic about your comp news. Or perhpas you've adopted, "I don't care about money anymore," as your personal comp season motto. That'd be a fun surprise […]
Bonus Watch: Impatient Grant Thornton Employees with Big Expectations
This just in: Grant Thornton will pay out bonuses early this year (July 21). They will electronically disseminate salary and bonus information on July 14. All I'm saying is they better be good. Our tipster included an excerpt from an alleged message to the troops: At Grant Thornton, our people are talented, intellectually curious and […]
Grant Thornton Poaches Someone From Deloitte and Issues a Press Release, Part I
Grant Thornton has put everyone on notice that they’ve snagged Deloitte National Managing Partner for U.S. Government Affairs & Public Policy Jim Brady. He will become GT’s Central Region Managing Partner effective August 1. Brady has had quite a career at Deloitte, serving in many similarly dynamic roles. Among them: National Audit Leader for Growth […]
Grant Thornton Has Starring Role in Marine Corps’s Snafu Audit
How's this for a Charlie Foxtrot: the professional services firm known as Grant Thornton (or, if you prefer, Golf Tango) is smack dab in the middle of the Pentagon's messy accounting. Reuters has the whole scoop but the long/short of it is this: last year the Defense Department announced that the Marine Corps "passed" its […]
Grant Thornton Not Gonna Let Some Rich Guy Drag Its Good Name Through the Mud and Get Away With It
You wanna get nuts? Come on, let's get nuts! Grant Thornton has filed a counter-claim against Vincent Tchenguiz for defamation after the property entrepreneur sued the accounting firm for £2.2bn and accused it of a conspiracy. In documents filed at the London High Court on Tuesday, Grant Thornton denied Mr Tchenguiz’s claims and said it […]
Grant Thornton’s Hartford Office Will Need All the Comforts of Your Average Frat House
The modern office has changed. With companies like Google and Facebook throwing around perks like free sushi, bowling alleys, dog runs, a keg in every kitchen, full spa service, among other luxuries, businesses feel the need to keep up however they can. Grant Thornton's Glastonbury office is currently shopping around space in Hartford and Frank Kurre, the […]
Grant Thornton Names New Big Cheese in Wisconsin
Don't have a cow. You won't have to learn a new name as Jeff Bradford succeedsJeff Robinson. Although if you suspect a Jeff nepotism in GT Dairyland, we wouldn't blame you. Incidentally, Bradford earned his Bachelor's and Master's at UT so if you suspect a Longhorn biaswithin GT, you can run with that, too. [MJS]
PCAOB Inspection Report Gives Grant Thornton Another Swift Kick in the AS5
Just when you thought, "Boy, it's been awhile since I've seen a terrible PCAOB inspection report," here comes the PCAOB with a terrible inspection report. It's like Christmas! Well, for those of us who find this entertaining, anyway. For Grant Thornton, not so much. Out of reviews of portions of 36 audits, PCAOB inspectors found […]
UK Auditor Regulator Stops Short of Calling Grant Thornton Audits ‘God-Awful’
The PCAOB inspection report for Grant Thornton, while worse in susbtance, doesn't quite express the feelings of a regulator who expects a little more. A report from the UK accountancy watchdog said it was “disappointed” to find that five of the eight Grant Thornton audits it reviewed required either improvements or significant improvements, a blow […]
Grant Thornton Sees Itself Out of American Realty Capital
"The accountant for eight nontraded real estate investment trusts managed by Nicholas Schorsch's privately held real estate manager, American Realty Capital, has resigned. Grant Thornton on Jan. 22 resigned as the independent registered public accounting firm for the eight REITs, including American Realty Capital Trust V, the last of the extremely popular ARC net lease REITs […]
Grant Thornton’s Philadelphia Office Gives a Purple Rose to Former Bachelorette Contestant
Where do you go in life after you've been eliminated from The Bachelorette? To Grant Thornton, natch. 42-year-old Sean Denham has 20 years of public accounting experience and most recently served as partner in GT's National Professional Standards group. He's most recently taken over for Wayne Kaplan as managing partner of the Philadelphia office: Denham, […]
Spotted: Chevy Belonging to Grant Thornton Refugee or Peeing Calvin
There's also a chance that this is a picture of one of Craig Haber's old cars. Don't want to rule out any possibilities.
Grant Thornton to Have Rat Problem for Foreseeable Future
A little bad news for Grant Thornton today: The towering rat balloon—six to 25 feet tall, often dubbed “Scabby the Rat”—is a common and sometimes contentious sight. It’s a gimmick used most frequently by unions to protest employers, but the inflated rats have occasionally been used by unions to protest other unions and, in an […]
Grant Thornton Warns Alumni the Sky is Falling
We wish we could tell you why Grant Thornton sent out this email to their alumni list today, unfortunately we don't have any clue. Not even crazy speculation barely rooted in reality. Even our tipster, who presumably receives odd emails from Grant Thornton regularly as a member of the esteemed Grant Thornton alumni email list, […]
The Monthly Close: Grant Thornton Mayonnaise Sandwiches and Other Rejected Mascots
It's time once again for the ritual that is closing the books on Going Concern's prior month. Enjoy!
Grant Thornton’s Chosen Markets Netted the Firm Record-Breaking Revenue This Year
Not one to be left out of the "we made a metric shit ton of money this year, guys" party, Grant Thornton announced today the highest revenue in the firm's 90 year history. Considering a dollar could buy you a month's worth of groceries, a house, and a horse 90 years ago1, that's not saying […]
Let’s Play Spot the Spelling Error at Meet the Firms with Grant Thornton
This suspect was spotted at University of South Carolina: Wonder if GT is in the market for a proofreader?
Grant Thornton Has a Fight Song and It’s As Awful As You Might Expect
Grant Thornton is in the anniversary mood and wants its people to get on board, too. In that spirit, they are looking for staff to make their best GT fight song video. Show your Grant Thornton spirit!To help us celebrate our 90th anniversary, we’re pleased to launch Grant Thornton’s Got Talent — a contest in […]
Teamsters Deploy a New Weapon in the War Against Grant Thornton
Back in July, we learned that Teamsters were upset with Grant Thornton's downtown NYC office for hiring a moving company that was not paying prevailing wages for that area. To get their point across, Teamsters deployed their infamous giant rat to hang out in front of GT's office. Teamsters claim that GT's mover of choice […]
Which Big 4 Firm Audits the Most Large Accelerated Filers?
This is a question you've probably never asked yourself but now that you're here, you're dying to know. Our friends over at Audit Analytics broke it down and figured out not only which of the Big 4 audits the most large accelerated and accelerated filers but also how many of those filers are audited by […]
Grant Thornton’s Downtown NYC Office Still Has a Rat Problem
If Grant Thornton had any competitors, those competitors would be thrilled to see what's ongoing at Grant Thornton's downtown Manhattan office at 60 Broad. We wrote about the Teamsters' giant rat down there back in July but now we have photographic evidence. With bold print and underlining! Let's see what's going on: This makes us […]