Arthur Andersen was an American accounting firm based in Chicago that provided auditing, tax advising, consulting and other professional services to large corporations. By 2001, it had become one of the world's largest multinational corporations and was one of the "Big Five" accounting firms. The firm collapsed by mid-2002, as details of its questionable accounting practices for energy company Enron and telecommunications company WorldCom were revealed amid the two high-profile bankruptcies. The scandals were a factor in the enactment of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002.
The Big Four are the four largest professional services networks in the world: Deloitte, Ernst & Young (EY), KPMG, and PwC. They are the four largest global accounting networks as measured by revenue. The four are often grouped because they are comparable in size relative to the rest of the market, both in terms of revenue and workforce; they are considered equal in their ability to provide a wide scope of professional services to their clients; and, among those looking to start a career in professional services, particularly accounting, they are considered equally attractive networks to work in, because of the frequency with which these firms engage with Fortune 500 companies.
Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational professional services partnership. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is considered one of the Big Four accounting firms. It primarily provides assurance, tax, information technology services, consulting, and advisory services to its clients.
KPMG International Limited is a multinational professional services network, and one of the Big Four accounting organizations, along with Ernst & Young (EY), Deloitte, and PwC. The name "KPMG" stands for "Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler". The initialism was chosen when KMG merged with Peat Marwick in 1987.
PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited is a multinational professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting firms, along with Deloitte, EY and KPMG.
An audit is an "independent examination of financial information of any entity, whether profit oriented or not, irrespective of its size or legal form when such an examination is conducted with a view to express an opinion thereon." Auditing also attempts to ensure that the books of accounts are properly maintained by the concern as required by law. Auditors consider the propositions before them, obtain evidence, roll forward prior year working papers, and evaluate the propositions in their auditing report.
Accenture plc is an Irish-American professional services company based in Dublin, specializing in information technology (IT) services and consulting. A Fortune Global 500 company, it reported revenues of $64.1 billion in 2023. Accenture's current clients include 91 of the Fortune Global 100 and more than three-quarters of the Fortune Global 500. As of 2022, Accenture is considered the largest consulting firm in the world by number of employees.
Protiviti Inc. (Protiviti) is a global consulting firm headquartered in Menlo Park and San Ramon, California, that provides consulting in internal audit, risk and compliance, technology, business processes, data analytics and finance. It is a subsidiary under Robert Half. Protiviti and its independently and locally owned Member Firms serve clients through a network of more than 85 locations in over 27 countries.
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, commonly referred to as Deloitte, is a multinational professional services network. Deloitte is the largest professional services network by revenue and number of professionals in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting firms along with EY, KPMG and PwC.
Morningstar, Inc. is an American financial services firm headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, and was founded by Joe Mansueto in 1984. It provides an array of investment research and investment management services.
Wolters Kluwer N.V. is a Dutch information services company. The company is headquartered in Alphen aan den Rijn, Netherlands (Global) and Philadelphia, United States (corporate). Wolters Kluwer in its current form was founded in 1987 with a merger between Kluwer Publishers and Wolters Samsom. The company serves legal, business, tax, accounting, finance, audit, risk, compliance, and healthcare markets. It operates in over 150 countries.
Bloomberg Industry Group is an affiliate of Bloomberg L.P. and a source of legal, tax, regulatory, and business news and information for professionals. It is headquartered in Arlington County, Virginia. The CEO of the company is Josh Eastright.
Hitachi Consulting Corporation was an American international management and technology consulting firm with headquarters in Dallas, Texas. It was founded in November 2000 as a subsidiary of the Japanese corporation Hitachi, and employed approximately 6,500 people in the US, Japan, Brazil, China, India, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, the UK, Germany, and Vietnam.
SyCip Gorres Velayo & Company is a Philippine multidisciplinary professional services firm.
Verisk Analytics, Inc. is an American multinational data analytics and risk assessment firm based in Jersey City, New Jersey, with customers in insurance, natural resources, financial services, government, and risk management sectors. The company uses proprietary data sets and industry expertise to provide predictive analytics and decision support consultations in areas including fraud prevention, actuarial science, insurance coverage, fire protection, catastrophe and weather risk, and data management.
Huron Consulting Group, commonly known as Huron, is a management consulting firm offering services to the healthcare, life sciences, commercial, and higher education industries.
Moody's Analytics is a subsidiary of Moody's Corporation established in 2007 to focus on non-rating activities, separate from Moody's Investors Service. It provides economic research regarding risk, performance and financial modeling, as well as consulting, training and software services. Moody's Analytics is composed of divisions such as Moody's KMV, Moody's Economy.com, Moody's Wall Street Analytics, the Institute of Risk Standards and Qualifications, and Canadian Securities Institute Global Education Inc.
An accounting network or accounting association is a professional services network whose principal purpose is to provide members resources to assist the clients around the world and hence reduce the uncertainty by bringing together a greater number of resources to work on a problem. The networks and associations operate independently of the independent members. The largest accounting networks are known as the Big Four.
Multidisciplinary professional services networks are organizations formed by law, accounting and other professional services firms to offer clients new multidisciplinary approaches solving increasingly complex issues. They are a type of professional services network which operates to provide services to their members. They operate in the same way as accounting firm networks and associations and law firm networks. They do not practice a profession such as law or accounting but provide services to members so they can serve clients needs. Their aim is to provide members involved in doing business internationally with access to experienced, tried and tested, reliable, and responsive professional advisers who know their local jurisdiction intimately as well as the intricacies of cross border business.
Andersen Tax LLC is a tax firm headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States. It provides tax, valuation, financial advisory and consulting services to individuals and corporate clients. It has offices in Chicago, Baltimore, Boston, Dallas, Florham Park, Greenwich, Harrisburg, Houston, Long Island, Los Angeles, New York City, Orange County, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Seattle, Silicon Valley, Washington, D.C., West Palm Beach and Woodland Hills.
US$$7.24 billion (2022)
