The Orange County Business Journal has published “Accounting Firms on Hiring Binge for 2nd Straight Year” and in it we find out that the 48 largest firms on their annual list of accounting firms reported an 11% increase in local hires to 6,676 employees for 2022, up from 9.6% the year prior and way way up from a 1% drop in 2020. A PDF of the list costs $10 and we don’t have money like that so we’re just going to talk about the article.
Orange County’s largest accounting firms are continuing their hiring spree, with most of the county’s top companies adding to their headcount in 2022.
Altogether, 39 firms on the list reported increases, including 22 by more than 10%. A year ago, 20 firms reported double-digit growth.
Only one firm reported a reduction in staff while eight reported no change. A year ago, seven firms reported a headcount reduction and two years ago, 13 did so.
Of the big firms, eight of 10 reported increases. OCBJ was kind enough to give us the numbers for three of the Big 4.
The Costa Mesa office of Deloitte once again topped the list with 1,097 employees, a 12% jump; a year ago, it increased headcount by 15%.
Deloitte OC Managing Partner Marshall Solomon has previously told the Business Journal that the local growth is a reflection of the company’s national growth; its companywide headcount rose 20% to 415,000. [Ed. note: Deloitte laid off 1.5% of its US workforce in April, the OCBJ numbers are for 2022].
Locally, it’s been growing in sectors like life sciences, technology and real estate.
No. 4 PwC, also known as PricewaterhouseCoopers, in Irvine jumped 18% to 489 employees. It’s the second straight year of double-digit growth; last year, it reported a 12% increase.
It’s right behind No. 3 KPMG LLP, which reported the same employee count at 498.
The number of partners at accounting firms in Orange County increased 6.4% to 700, up from 5.3% the year prior. The article also says the number of certified public accountants rose 9% to 2,014 but then states “executives at several firms are reporting a shortage of qualified candidates.”
The average base salary for accountants in Orange County is $69,000 according to one site with limited salary points to work off of. Glassdoor lists an average of $80,903 base for a CPA with 1-3 years experience in Irvine, $110,954 with 7-9 years of experience.
