UK based accounting and consulting firm Deloitte recently announced that its fiscal year 2021 revenues grew by 5.5% to reach $50.2 billion, making it the first out of the big four accounting and consulting firms to have achieved the milestone.
“Events of this past year have had an unprecedented impact on the world and our organization. From the Covid-19 pandemic to more frequent, extreme climate events and social upheavals, we are grateful that we’ve been able to continue to help clients and support our people as we all navigate through this challenging environment. While the past year was difficult and defined by uncertainty, it has shown what can be achieved at speed and scale when businesses, governments, and society work together to tackle tough global challenges,” said Punit Renjen, Deloitte Global CEO.
The previous 2020 fiscal year, mired by the pandemic downturn in its second half, was a challenging one for the Big Four, with Deloitte registering only 3.9% growth to reach $47.6 billion in revenue, its lowest growth rate in five years.
In FY2020, four of Deloitte’s five service lines had increased – or had flat revenues, while audit and assurance saw a 3% decline. However, Deloitte’s results for FY2021 seem to indicate a rebound in fortunes. FY2021 saw revenue growth for all service lines, with audit and assurance posting a reassuring 6.1% increase.
Deloitte’s rivals fared worse in FY2020, with PwC registering 1.4% growth and $43 billion in revenue, EY seeing 2.3% growth and $37.2 billion in revenue, and KPMG even seeing a revenue growth decline of 1.8% to fall to $29.2 billion.
Financial services clients represented the largest portion of Deloitte’s revenue, at more than a quarter of overall fees ($13.3 billion). Deloitte says its workforce increased by 3.2% to reach a global headcount of 345,000.
