• EY, Deloitte, PwC, and KPMG make up the world's largest accounting and consulting firms — the Big Four.
• The sector is tackling a slowdown in demand, new regulatory pressures, and the need to adapt to AI.
• These are the four leaders who have made it to the top of the firms.

EY, Deloitte, PwC, and KPMG make up the world's largest accounting and consulting firms, known as the Big Four.

They're billion-dollar companies with a collective 1.5 million staff and influence over hundreds of industries.

In recent years, the Big Four have faced a series of challenges, including a downturn in demand after the height of the pandemic, shifting regulatory requirements, and the need to adapt their skills and services for the emerging AI future.

Two of the firms appointed new leaders in 2024. The process varies by firm but generally includes hustings, in which contenders present their vision to voters, a partner vote, and global board ratification.

These are the four people who now sit at the helm of the world's biggest professional-services firms.

PwC — Mohamed Kande

In July, Mohamed Kande was elected as PwC's global chair for a four-year term, becoming the first Black leader of a Big Four firm.

Kande is also the first PwC head to come from the advisory division, as opposed to the audit wing.

Kande was born and raised in the West African country of Ivory Coast. When he was 16, he moved to France alone to study. He worked at a PwC subsidiary called PRTM Management Consultants before joining the firm in 2011. He became a global advisory leader in 2019.

Kande took over leading PwC's 370,000 employees at a time when it appeared to be tightening purse strings amid the consulting slowdown. Partner payouts dropped and more PwC partners took early retirement at the end of the year. In October, The Wall Street Journal reported that the firm would make its first major layoffs since 2009 and cut 1,800 jobs.

PwC is also working to rebuild trust in the Asia-Pacific region following scandals in Australia and China.

"The need for reinvention has never been more urgent," Kande said in the firm's 2024 annual review.

In 2021, he wrote a 1,000-word essay on LinkedIn about the impact his race had on his career in professional services.

"Often, I had to work hard to be included because I was different. I have felt slight but sharp jabs about my accent and my name, accompanied by quieter, larger unspokens about my skin color," Kande wrote.

"I try to give the opportunities that others gave me," he added. "I try to bring them into the room, knowing that their diversity, their unique perspective is a strength and something to be valued."

Deloitte — Joe Ucuzoglu

Joe Ucuzoglu has been Deloitte's global CEO since January 2023.

Ucuzolgu, who grew up in Los Angeles, was CEO of Deloitte US from 2019 to 2022 before ascending to the top job. He was a college intern in 1997. He rose to become a senior advisor at the SEC before rejoining Deloitte in 2015.

Deloitte is the largest of the Big Four by both revenues and number of employees, with 460,000 staff.

In March 2024, Deloitte announced a major restructuring aimed at cutting costs and repositioning it for future success. It said it was "modernizing and simplifying" its core offering into four categories: audit and assurance, tax and legal strategy, risk and transactions, and technology and transformation.

Ucuzoglu told the firm's partners in an email that the reorganization would reduce the firm's "complexity" and "free up" more partners for client work instead of managing staff.

Under Ucuzoglu, Deloitte has taken steps to drive investment in green hydrogen, releasing a report in 2023 estimating that the energy source could become a $1.4 trillion global market by 2050 and arguing that it "is moving into prime position as a solution for hard-to-abate sectors."

The CEO continues to engage with clients. He's also a frequent speaker at the World Economic Forum, a member of the Business Roundtable, and regularly gives interviews on issues affecting the business community.

EY — Janet Truncale

Janet Truncale was elected as EY's global chair and CEO in July, making her the first woman to lead a Big Four accounting firm. She joined EY as an intern in 1991.

Prior to her election, Truncale had spent almost four years as the vice chair and regional managing partner of the Americas Financial Services Organization.

The New Jersey native now heads EY's global workforce of more than 400,000 staff.

In her first public statement as global CEO, she launched a new strategy called "All in."

"All in is not just a business strategy, it captures an attitude and way of working," Truncale said. Her focus on unity has come after EY was rocked by a failed plan to break up its consultancy and audit divisions into two units, known as Project Everest.

Truncale was named as one of the "25 Most Influential Women" of 2023 by the Financial Times, which described her as "a trust builder" and "an advocate of being down to earth."

Outside EY, she serves as board chair for Women's World Banking and is on the board of UNICEF USA and the US-China Business Council.

Truncale has a BSE from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Columbia University.

KPMG — Bill Thomas

Bill Thomas became KPMG's global chairman and CEO in October 2017. Three years later, he was unanimously reelected to a second term.

Thomas has more than a decade in executive-level leadership and was previously the chairman of KPMG's Americas region from 2014 to 2017.

The Canadian leads KPMG's 275,000 employees. The firm is the smallest of the Big Four.

Over the past seven years, Thomas has focused on overseeing the development and implementation of KPMG's global strategy. Under Thomas, KPMG has launched a $5 billion digital-strategy investment plan.

"Over the coming years, my focus will be on continuing to enable and empower these talented teams to achieve their full potential," he said in a statement released on his reelection in 2020.

KPMG's global annual revenues have grown by 45% since the year Thomas was appointed CEO. In its latest annual earnings, it reported annual revenue of $38.4 billion.

Thomas stays largely out of the media spotlight, giving few interviews. Before entering the business world, he studied science, which he says is "extremely relevant today as technology infuses every part of our business and the businesses of clients."

Do you work at the Big Four and have a tip or story to share? Contact this reporter in confidence at [email protected] or on Signal.

• The Big Four firms reported revenue growth in 2024, but consulting lagged behind other services.
• The firms reported more growth in tax and legal services as demand for consulting slowed.
• PwC cited market factors and political uncertainty as reasons for slower growth in consulting.

The Big Four professional-services firms — PwC, Deloitte, EY, and KPMG — all reported revenue growth this year, but growth in their consulting arms lagged compared with their other services.

After experiencing a boom during the pandemic, the consulting industry has faced economic headwinds and slowing demand over the past couple of years. Major firms have conducted layoffs, delayed start dates, and cut partner pay.

Financial reports released by the Big Four professional-services firms throughout the year indicated that their consulting arms grew slightly, but not as much as their legal, tax, and assurance businesses.

In October, PwC said several factors were contributing to the slower growth in consulting.

"A continuing slow market for mergers and acquisitions, sluggish economic growth in a number of key markets and political uncertainty holding back investment in some key projects meant that the growth of our advisory operations slowed over the last twelve months," its report said.

KPMG, the last Big Four firm to report 2024 financials, reported the highest overall revenue growth, at 5.1% year over year.

Here's a breakdown of how the Big Four firms performed this year.

Deloitte

• Fiscal year end: May 2024
• Global revenue: $67.2 billion
• Revenue growth year over year: 3.1%

• Revenue growth by category:

  • Tax and legal: 8.7%
  • Audit and assurance: 4.1%
  • Consulting: 1.9%
  • Financial advisory: - 3.8%
  • Risk advisory: 3.2%

PwC

• Fiscal year end: June 2024
• Global revenue: $55.4 billion
• Revenue growth year over year: 3.7%

• Revenue growth by category:

  • Tax and legal: 6.3%
  • Assurance: 3.4%
  • Advisory: 2.6%

EY

• Fiscal year end: June 2024
• Global revenue: $51.2 billion
• Revenue growth year over year: 3.9%

• Revenue growth by category:

  • Assurance: 6.3%
  • Tax: 6.3%
  • Strategy and transactions: 2.3%
  • Consulting: 0.1%

KPMG

• Fiscal year end: September 2024
• Global revenue: $38.4 billion
• Revenue growth, year-over-year: 5.1%

• Revenue growth by category:

  • Tax and legal: 9.6%
  • Audit: 6.2%
  • Advisory: 2%

Have a news tip or a story to share? Do you work in consulting? Contact this reporter at [email protected].

• 28-year-old Aamanh Sehdev was named a McKinsey partner this December.
• After joining as a summer intern, he's climbed the ranks in just seven years.
• Sehdev spoke to BI about how he heard the news and what helped him progress at McKinsey.

Aamanh Sehdev had spent a week in early December trying to distract himself by seeing friends and playing padel.

He'd been an associate partner for two of his seven-year career at McKinsey and knew there was a chance he'd be promoted to partner.

But there was a low number of elections this year, so he thought it was fifty-fifty.

The news usually arrives at the end of the week. But at around 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sehdev received a call at home. It was from Tunde Olanrewaju, managing partner of McKinsey's UK, Ireland, and Israel offices.

"The nerves were kicking in, but he got straight to the point," Sehdev told Business Insider.

"Hey, it's great news. Welcome to the partnership. We're really excited to have you on board," Sehdev recalled Olanrewaju telling him. "I said thanks, but in a slightly higher pitch voice than I typically have."

Sehdev is one of around 200 McKinsey employees promoted to partner this December. Amid a slowdown in demand for consulting services, this year's cohort is one of the firm's smallest in recent years.

The promotion elevates him to one of the most senior positions you can reach in a major consulting firm. Partnerships are participatory, giving individuals a say in the direction of the firm. Those promoted to equity partners receive a share of the annual profits.

On McKinsey's website, partners are described as "not only meeting McKinsey's high bar for exceptional leadership, but they are also dedicated to finding solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges."

At 28, Sehdev is one of the youngest in the cohort. He spoke to BI about what it was like to receive the news and what it takes to make partner.

'Enjoy the moment'

Although his call with Olanrewaju lasted only a few minutes, Sehdev spent the next hour and a half on the phone with sponsors and mentors.

"Obviously, there was a lot of excitement, a lot of congratulations, and a bit of a common thread of 'let it sink in, don't rush into the next thing, enjoy the moment,'" he said.

He also called his mother and brother that evening. His parents didn't go to university, so it was a major milestone for the family. "They were super proud and excited," he said. "They've obviously been pretty key in shaping my journey."

But the following morning, it was into the office to carry on as usual and keep the news a secret from his colleagues until McKinsey's formal announcement a week and a half later.

Sehdev said he was still digesting the achievement. In the new year, he's taking a 17-day trip to Australia to "carve out a little bit of time to think about it a bit more formulaically."

His first focus is to switch off and get some sun, he added.

Becoming a partner is notoriously difficult and competitive. It's the ultimate goal for many consultants starting their careers.

Not for Sehdev.

When he began studying mechanical engineering at London's Imperial College, Sehdev had never heard of McKinsey.

"It was something that people around me were talking about alongside banking," he told BI. "I turned up to a career fair, it was interesting, and I applied for the internship."

For the first half of his career, Sehdev said he was doing "a bit of a random walk" through a whole host of sectors and different functions. It helped him find the right home at the firm — he now works on a combination of private capital and McKinsey's telecommunications (TMT) practice.

Sehdev acknowledged that seven years was a fast ascent up the ranks, but said that meritocracy was one of McKinsey's benefits.

"What McKinsey has a tendency to do is when you get comfortable, they take you to the next role or level, and then you get uncomfortable again. That snowballed for me over the last seven years."

Sehdev said three reasons he was selected as a partner came through in his evaluation.

First, he always has a focused strategy for what he's doing and what he wants to do next at the firm. Second, he showed entrepreneurship and originality, particularly when it came to creating novel ways to work with the smaller software businesses he concentrates on. Lastly, he invested time with the teams and created a positive, energizing atmosphere.

There's an element of luck involved in it as well, he added, saying he was fortunate to have met managers early on who would stay late in the evenings to teach him.

No matter how good you are, working at a top consultancy can be intense. Sehdev said he carves out time to exercise, spend time with family, and protect his weekends. He doesn't expect that to change now he's a partner.

"My mindset has always been, look, I'll set a really high bar, but I'll not let the micro-events or little things take away too much energy. That's made me better at my job."

• Deloitte UK has had a year of reorganization and cost-cutting amid a consulting slowdown.
• It is planning to cut staff travel and expenses by 50% for the rest of the financial year, the FT reported.
• The cuts to spending were short-term, a senior exec said in internal messaging.

The Big Four consulting firm Deloitte wants to cut its spending on staff travel and expenses by more than 50% in the UK, where it is headquartered.

In an email sent to partners and directors in October, Deloitte said the "firmwide cost management measures" were being introduced because of "challenging market conditions" in the UK, the Financial Times reported.

Deloitte reportedly said it was only aiming to maintain the cost cuts until the end of its current financial year in May and described the reduction in spending as "limited" and "temporary."

The email was sent by Sarah Humphreys, chief operating officer of the tax and legal division. Humphreys said Deloitte was also reviewing its "recruitment agency costs, licence fees, bad debts and global recharges," the FT reported.

The cost-saving efforts come after a year of reorganization and redundancies at Deloitte, as the firm grapples with an industry-wide slowdown in demand for consulting services that has hit revenue growth.

Deloitte's global consulting revenues grew by 1.9% in the 2024 financial year ending 31 May. The previous year, they grew by 19.1%.

"Like many organisations, we are looking carefully at our costs to ensure we're able to meet clients' needs while continuing to make investments in our firm and our people," Deloitte said in a statement shared with Business Insider Monday.

The downturn comes after many consultancies hired aggressively during the pandemic.

In March, Deloitte carried out a global overhaul of its operations aimed at cutting costs and repositioning it for future success. It simplified its core offering from five to four categories: audit and assurance, tax and legal strategy, risk and transactions, and technology and transformation.

It has also held several rounds of layoffs in the UK, where it has around 25,000 employees. In internal messages seen by Business Insider, Deloitte said layoffs of around 180 staff in September were "necessary to enable us to navigate the remainder of a challenging FY25."

The firm has also cut UK partner's pay to save on costs, leaving the most senior class of employees with roughly £50,000 ($63,000) less than the previous year — a 4.5% decline. UK partners still took home an average of around £1 million ($1.2 million) for the fourth year running.

Do you work at Deloitte? Contact this reporter in confidence to share your thoughts on the industry at [email protected]

• The Big Four — EY, Deloitte, KPMG, and PwC — are the world's largest accounting and consulting firms.
• They pull in billions annually but have faced a slowdown in demand for their services.
• This is how the Big Four have performed in recent years, and how they're looking to adapt in future.

Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PwC are the world's largest accounting and consulting firms, known as the Big Four.

With histories dating back to the 19th century, they have grown into billion-dollar companies employing hundreds of thousands of staff who earn high salaries and often work very long hours.

The Big Four offer companies services such as workforce transformations, reshaping corporate finance portfolios, assurance, valuation, and optimizing the use of technology.

Put simply, they're there to assess businesses and tell them how to run more efficiently.

The pandemic changed the landscape for the major firms, with a surge in demand that sparked a hiring boom. The Big Four are now attempting to balance operations amid slowing demand.

Here's a look at where the Big Four stand.

EY

After a series of mergers, EY was formed in 1989 as the accountancy firm Ernst & Young. It has since diversified its offerings and, in 2013, rebranded to EY.

Headquartered in central London, EY has more than 700 offices in 150 countries. Janet Truncale, the global chair and CEO, took over from Carmine Di Sibio in July.

EY focuses heavily on consultancy and assurance but also covers tax and strategy, and transactions.

Revenue was up 3.9% on the previous year to $51.2 billion, according to the firm's latest annual report published in October. It was EY's poorest performance since 2010. Assurance services were its largest revenue generator.

In May 2024, the firm was caught up in a scandal along with PwC and fined $11.7 million by UK authorities for a series of auditing failures.

As pressure has mounted, EY cut UK partner payouts by 5% and laid off employees. Overall employee numbers dropped by 2,450 during EY's latest financial year — the first decrease in 14 years.

EY's global head count now stands at about 393,000.

In 2023, the firm launched EY.ai, an AI platform aiming to assist clients across all its professional services. It also offers clients a conversational AI assistant called EYQ.

Deloitte

Deloitte is the largest of the Big Four by both revenue and employees.

Founded in the UK in 1845, Deloitte expanded into the US in 1890. It is headquartered in London and has more than 700 offices in some 150 countries. It's known for strong business and technology consulting services.

Joe Ucuzoglu has been its global CEO since 2022.

In March, Deloitte announced a major restructuring aimed at cutting costs and repositioning it for future success.

It is "modernizing and simplifying" its core offering into four categories: audit and assurance, tax and legal strategy, risk and transactions, and technology and transformation.

Global revenue climbed 3.1% to $67.2 billion in the 2024 financial year, but, like EY, that performance was far lower than the 14.9% growth in 2023.

The slowdown has affected partner payouts, which fell by 4.5% to about $1.27 million. Equity partners took home roughly $63,000 less than they did a year ago.

Deloitte's global workforce expanded to 460,000 in 2024, an increase of 3,000.

Deloitte has pledged to invest $3 billion in AI by fiscal year 2030 and has partnered with technology industry leaders Nvidia, Google Cloud, and AWS to develop its client offering.

PwC

PwC is often considered the most prestigious of the Big Four, and topped the latest Vault Accounting 25 ranking.

Officially formed in 1998 from a merger between Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand, PwC's headquarters is almost opposite EY's main office in London.

Mohamed Kande has been the global chairman since July.

PwC has three core lines of business — assurance, advisory, and tax and legal services — but the firm is particularly known for its strong and well-established audit client base.

It employs more than 370,000 people in 149 countries and territories.

In 2021, PwC committed to creating over 100,000 net new jobs over a five-year period, and in October 2024, it said it had already hit three-quarters of that target.

PwC was the second-highest earning of the Big Four, posting record gross revenue of $55.4 billion and 3.7% annual growth in the year to June 30.

Though not as stark a slowdown as Deloitte or EY, growth at PwC still dropped noticeably compared to the 9.9% rise reported for the previous 12 months.

A number of high-profile scandals in the Asia-Pacific region involving its work with the Australian and Chinese governments damaged business.

To handle the changing environment, PwC cut partner pay by 5%, leaving partners taking home an average of $1.09 million this financial year.

In October The Wall Street Journal reported that the firm would make its first major layoffs since 2009 and cut 1,800 jobs.

PwC has invested $1.5 billion to expand and scale its AI capabilities. In February 2024, it unveiled a tax AI assistant for 2,300 PwC tax professionals in the UK to use.

KPMG

The smallest of the Big Four in terms of revenue and employees, KPMG is headquartered in Amsterdam and has a long-serving leader in chairman and chief executive Bill Thomas.

Its core services cover audit, tax and legal, and advisory.

The last of the Big Four to report its 2024 results, KPMG reported in December that in the 12 months to September 30, it saw revenues of $38.4 billion, a rise of just over 5% compared to 2023.

Overall, its revenues are the lowest among the Big Four, close to $20 billion less than its three competitors.

KPMG has faced scrutiny across several markets for its auditing and accounting work. In 2023, it was fined a record $26 million in the UK after "exceptional" failures in its accounting work.

Employee numbers grew by just over 1% in the 2024 financial year to reach 275,000. That's 185,000 people fewer than Deloitte.

Over 2024, KPMG has made a series of layoffs. About 330 staff, or 4%, were cut from its US audit practice; 5% cut across advisory, tax, and back-office functions; and 2% from its advisory workforce in 2023, according to Accountancy Age.

KPMG said it is looking to invest more in specialist roles in areas like ESG, tax, and technology.

While it lags behind in revenues, the firm is seen to foster a less cutthroat workplace than its competitors. The firm has said it aims to have women in a third of partner or director roles by 2025.

According to its latest report, women hold 29.9% of leadership roles.

What's your experience of working at the Big Four accountancy firms? Contact this reporter in confidence at [email protected]

• A team of eleven lawyers from EY have left the firm to join Hunton Andrews Kurth, a US law firm.
• US law firms are expanding their presence in the UK to serve global clients.
• EY's legal division has cut jobs over the past year and is reportedly considering restructuring.

Eleven lawyers from the Big Four firm EY have been poached by the London office of Hunton Andrews Kurth, a US law firm.

The team of departees includes Charles Morrison, a partner and former head of EY's energy-services team; three other partners; a counsel; a consultant; and five associates, the firm said in a statement. They will focus on transactions in the energy sector.

Hunton Andrews Kurth is an energy and infrastructure specialist. It's the 70th-largest law firm in the US by employee numbers, with 754 lawyers in 2023, according to Law.com.

Sam Danon, Hunton Andrews Kurth's managing partner, said that the group "aligns well with our international growth strategy, which is focused on ensuring that we've achieved critical mass in key practices, in core industry focus areas and in geographies where client demand is strong."

Hunton Andrews Kurth has seen demand for its services rise in recent years. Law.com said the firm's revenue rose by 3.5% to $823 million in 2023.

The team's move also plays into a wider trend in the industry — the growing presence of US law firms in the UK. Firms like Latham & Watkins have been building their UK teams to leverage their American client bases in Europe, often poaching staff from legacy British establishments.

Ferdinand Calice, a managing partner of Hunton Andrews Kurth's London office, said the energy-focused corporate and disputes teams in London had "experienced tremendous growth" in the past year.

Since August 2023, more than two dozen lawyers, including two more former EY staffers, have been added to the London office.

EY's legal division in the UK has been struggling. In the past year, the firm has closed down a business unit and held several rounds of layoffs, Financial News reported.

In October, sources told the paper that EY was reviewing the future of its legal arm in the region, considering further layoffs and a joint venture deal with a major international law firm.

EY recorded its poorest performance since 2010 this year, with global revenue rising 3.9% on the previous year to $51.2 billion — a decline on the 16% growth recorded the year before. The slowdown has also hit fellow its Big Four firms: PwC, KPMG, and Deloitte.

EY did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Do you work in the legal division at one of the Big Four firms? Contact this reporter in confidence at [email protected].

• McKinsey will promote about 200 people to partner this year, The Wall Street Journal reported.
• That's down from about 250 partner promotions in 2023.
• Partner payouts at the Big Four consultancies have been falling amid a tough climate for professional services.

Consulting firm McKinsey is promoting one of the smallest groups in recent years to the level of partner.

The firm is only advancing about 200 employees to the coveted position, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources. That marks a 20% reduction from 2023 and as much as half the level of other recent years.

In 2023, McKinsey created about 250 partners, while the number was more than 400 in 2021.

Many employees at major consulting firms view reaching the role of partner as the pinnacle of achievement, a sign of excellence and dedication. Partnerships are participatory, giving individuals a say in the direction of the firm, and those promoted to equity partner receive a share of the annual profits.

That also means any downturn in demand for services hits partners' pockets.

The falling number of partner promotions comes as McKinsey's global staff numbers have grown rapidly. According to its website, there are about 45,000 staff globally, up by almost 50% from the roughly 30,000 people it employed as recently as 2021.

McKinsey did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

McKinsey's partners are not the only senior consultants facing harder times. Partner payouts at the Big Four consultancies have fallen this year.

At EY, partner payouts in the UK were down by 5% this year. UK partners received an average of £723,000 (about $938,000), compared with £761,000 (about $987,000) the previous year.

At PwC, more partners will take early retirement at the end of this year.

Do you work at a consulting firm? Contact this reporter in confidence to share your thoughts on the industry at [email protected]

• EY is set to cut 150 UK consultancy jobs amid a fall in demand for advisory services.
• Big Four consulting firms have launched a number of small rounds of cuts in recent months.
• In October, EY reported its first annual drop in employee head count for 14 years.

EY is set to cut 150 jobs in its UK consultancy division as demand slows for advisory services.

The layoffs at the Big Four firm will affect senior consultants like managers, senior managers, and directors, The Times of London, which first reported the news, said.

"EY regularly reviews the resourcing needs of the business. Regrettably, proposals put forward in part of the UK consulting practice may result in a reduction of 150 roles," an EY spokesperson told Business Insider.

"A consultation process is now underway with those impacted by these proposals."

EY employs around 4,700 people in its consulting division in the UK.

Under UK law, all companies making more than 100 redundancies must carry out a consultation for at least 45 days before dismissing employees.

At the same time as the cuts, Benoit Laclau, the managing partner of EY's consulting business in the UK and Ireland, is stepping down after nearly five years.

Laclau will continue to "serve some of EY's largest clients and lead the firm's technology driven pursuits in the UK."

The news comes amid a struggle among Big Four firms to deal with declining demand for professional services.

According to EY's annual report published in October, the company's head count fell by 2,450 in the year to June 30 — the first decrease in 14 years.

Revenue was up 3.9% on the previous year to $51.2 billion, the firm's poorest performance since 2010. And it reported a 4% fall in revenues for consulting and strategy.

EY is not alone in cutting UK staff numbers in recent months. In October, Deloitte cut 250 employees deemed to be underperforming working on consulting and advisory services in the UK.

Deloitte confirmed plans for additional cuts in the advisory division in November.

In its internal messages, Deloitte said the planned cuts were "necessary to enable us to navigate the remainder of a challenging FY25."

• The "Big Four" accounting firms employ about 1.5 million people worldwide. 
• Many of these employees make six-figure salaries and are eligible for annual bonuses.  
• Business Insider analyzed data to determine how much employees are paid at these firms. 

The so called "Big Four" accounting firms — Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), KPMG, and Ernst & Young (EY) — are known for paying their staff high salaries. 

An entry-level consultant who just graduated from business school can make over $200,000 a year at the four firms when you include base salary, bonuses, and relocation expenses. 

Several of these firms have faced layoffs and implemented hiring freezes over the past year as demand for consulting services has waned. Still, they're a good bet for anyone looking to land a six-figure job straight out of school. 

Business Insider analyzed the US Office of Foreign Labor Certification's 2023 disclosure data for permanent and temporary foreign workers to find out what PwC, KPMG, EY, and Deloitte paid US-based employees for jobs ranging from entry-level to executive roles. We looked through entries specifically for roles related to management consulting and accounting. This data does not reflect performance bonuses, signing bonuses, and compensation other than base salaries.

Here's how much Deloitte, PwC, KPMG, and EY paid their hires.  

Deloitte paid senior managers between $91,603 to $288,000

With 457,000 employees worldwide, Deloitte employs the most people of any of the 'Big Four.' It pulled in close to $64.9 billion in revenue for the 2023 fiscal year, marking a 9.4% increase from 2022.

Deloitte did not immediately respond to a request for comment on its salary data or 2024 hiring plans.

Here are the salary ranges for consulting and accounting roles: 

• Analyst: $49,219 to $337,500 (includes advisory, business, project delivery, management, and systems)
• Senior business analyst: $97,739 
• Audit and assurance senior assistant: average $58,895
• Consultant: $54,475 to $125,000 (includes advisory, technology strategy, and strategic services)  
• Global business process lead: $180,000 
• Senior consultant: average $122,211
• Manager: average $152,971
• Tax manager: average $117,268
• Senior manager: $91,603 to $288,000  
• Managing director: average $326,769
• Tax managing director: average $248,581
• Principal: $225,000 to $875,000

Principals at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) can make well over $1 million.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is a global professional services firm with over 370,000 employees worldwide. The firm reported a revenue of more than $53 billion for the 2023 fiscal year, marking a 5.6% increase from 2022. 

PwC did not immediately respond to a request for comment on its salary data or 2024 hiring plans.

Here are the salary ranges for both consulting and accounting roles. 

• Associate: $68,000 to $145,200
• Senior associate: $72,000 to $197,000 
• Manager: $114,300 to $231,000
• Senior manager: $142,000 to $251,000 
• Director: $165,000 to $400,000  
• Managing director: $260,000 to $330,600
• Principal: $1,081,182 to $1,376,196

KPMG offers managing directors anywhere between $230,000 to $485,000

KPMG has over 273,000 employees worldwide. The firm reported a revenue of $36 billion for the 2023 fiscal year, marking a 5% increase from 2022. 

KPMG did not immediately respond to a request for comment on its salary data or 2024 hiring plans.

Here are the salary ranges for consultants, accountants, and leadership at KPMG. 

• Associate: $61,000 to $140,000
• Senior associate: $66,248 to $215,000
• Director: $155,600 to $260,000
• Associate director: $155,700 to $196,600 
• Specialist director: $174,000 to $225,000
• Lead specialist: $140,500 to $200,000
• Senior specialist: $134,000 to $155,000
• Manager: $99,445 to $293,800
• Senior manager: $110,677 to $332,800
• Managing director: $230,000 to $485,000

Statisticians at Ernst & Young (EY) make salaries ranging between $66,000 to $283,500.

EY employs close to 400,000 people worldwide. For the 2023 fiscal year, the firm reported a record revenue of $49.4 billion, marking a 9.3% jump from 2022. 

The firm did not immediately respond to a request for comment on its salary data or 2024 hiring plans.

Here are the salary ranges for consultants, accountants, auditors, and chief executives at the firm: 

• Accountants and auditors: $54,000 to $390,000
• Appraisers and assessors of real estate: $166,626 to $185,444
• Computer systems analyst: $62,000 to $367,510
• Management analyst: $49,220 to $337,500
• Statistician: $66,000 to $283,500
• Financial risk specialist: $62,000 to $342,400
• Actuaries: $84,800 to $291,459
• Economist: $77,000 to $141,000
• Logisticians: $72,000 t0 $275,000
• Mathematicians: $165,136 to $377,000
• Computer and information systems manager: $136,167 to $600,000
• Financial manager: average $320,000

Aman Kidwai and Weng Cheong contributed to an earlier version of this post. 

• Dozens of UK partners at PwC will take early retirement in December, Sky News reported.
• The larger-than-usual cohort comes as Big Four firms grapple with declining revenues.
• Partner payouts at PwC also took a hit this year, declining by 5%.

More PwC partners than usual will take early retirement at the end of this year, marking another shake-up at the firm's UK division since the appointment of a new boss, Marco Amitrano, in Spring.

PwC's 1,030 UK partners were informed this week via a voice memo from Amitrano that dozens of partners would take early retirement next month, Sky News reported.

The cohort of early retirees was larger than usual, though one insider disputed that the numbers involved were "significant," Sky News reported.

The Big Four firm appointed 60 new UK partners earlier this year.

Senior employees at the Big Four consultancies — Deloitte, EY, KPMG, and PwC, all of which are privately held — can be promoted to partners, and some are offered equity ownership in the business. In addition to salary and bonuses, equity partners traditionally receive a share of annual profits.

The jump in partners taking early retirement follows a series of changes following Amitrano's elevation to senior partner for the UK and Middle East in April.

Amitrano has launched an overhaul of operations in the UK, including creating a standalone technology and artificial intelligence unit and merging other parts of the business to create six new teams, the FT reported in October.

Almost all the major consulting firms have been grappling with a slowdown in business this year following the end of the pandemic-era rush on advisory services. The firms have been restructuring divisions, laying off employees, and making cuts to limit revenue decline.

Partner payouts have been one area targeted for cuts at EY, Deloitte, and PwC. UK partners at PwC took home an average of £862,000 (about $1.1 million) this financial year, 5% less than they did in 2023.

PwC, which is the largest of the Big Four by revenue in the UK, is also facing higher taxes per employee after the country's recently elected Labour government increased the rate of national insurance contributions (a tax on earnings) employers must pay.

PwC declined to comment.

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• Deloitte is planning to cut more roles from its advisory division.
• The "ongoing challenging market" is forcing the firm to restructure, a spokesperson said.
• The growth rate in Deloitte's global consulting division has fallen from 19% in 2023 to 1.9% in 2024.

Deloitte plans to cut more staff from its advisory division as demand for consultancy services declines.

The Big Four firm informed staff on Tuesday that parts of its UK business would be undergoing a restructuring process that would "put some roles at risk of redundancy," Deloitte told Business Insider.

A Deloitte spokesperson said the job cuts were still subject to consultation. Under UK law, all companies making more than 100 redundancies must carry out a consultation for at least 45 days before dismissing employees.

The cuts will affect 180 staff from the strategy, risk and transactions, and the technology and transformation divisions, according to people familiar with the decision, The Financial Times reported.

Deloitte's restructuring is the latest in over a year of redundancies and firings as it tries to balance costs and workforce numbers against slowing demand for consulting services.

This fall, the firm fired about 250 employees from advisory services in the UK who it deemed to be underperforming. A source with knowledge of the matter told Business Insider in October that about 1% of the UK workforce had left the company as part of internal "performance management processes."

Deloitte also carried out 100 redundancies in February 2024 and 800 redundancies in September 2023.

"In the context of an ongoing challenging market, we have to carefully consider the shape of our firm," Deloitte told BI on Wednesday.

The upheaval comes as the major consulting firms struggle to adjust to slowing demand after a surge in growth during the pandemic.

According to its latest annual report, Deloitte's global consulting revenues grew by 1.9% in the 2024 financial year ending 31 May. Over the same period in 2023, consulting revenues grew by 19.1%.

The slowdown has also affected partner payouts at the firm, which fell by 4.5% to about $1.27 million. Equity partners took home roughly $63,000 less than they did a year ago.

Deloitte's global workforce expanded to 460,000 in the 2024 financial year, an increase of 3,000. Tens of thousands of new hires were made in the previous two years.

Do you work at Deloitte? Contact this reporter in confidence to share your thoughts on the industry at [email protected]