For the third year running, BDO USA led the way in new SEC audit client wins among the major global and national firms. The Top 10 firm increased its net SEC client count by 17, gaining 42 and losing 25. That continues the firm’s impressive string of results, which saw net gains of 40 and 57 in 2014 and 2013, respectively.
BDO USA has been active in the mergers and acquisitions market, as one can see from the table above. All told, the firm’s growth helped it to become the latest audit firm to top a billion dollars in annual revenue, and the global network topped $7 billion.
The table below presents a comprehensive view of the gains and losses of the major global and national firms. It shows how many SEC audit clients each auditor gained or lost, and also the auditor from or to which the client was won or lost.
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Marcum LLP was the other big winner in 2015, with a net gain of 15 new SEC audit clients. The Melville, NY firm was bolstered by a strong performance in the fourth quarter, in which they gained 11 new clients, offset by a loss of 5.
KPMG LLP may have lost a net of 22 clients, but overall the Big Four firm won over $37 million in new audit fees. That means the 25 clients they brought in more than offset the 47 they lost. KPMG also had a good year in 2014, bringing in nearly $36 million in new fees. Deloitte won a net of over $27 million, and BDO topped $20 million in new audit fees. Crowe Horwath and RSM US round out the top five in net audit fees won.
In the following tables, we disaggregate the auditor changes by the size of the companies gained or lost, as represented by the companies’ filing status. The first table shows auditor changes for Large Accelerated Filers, i.e., those with a worldwide public float of more than $700 million.
The next table presents a sample of the largest wins and losses for Accelerated Filers, which are companies with public float between $75 million and $700 million.
Finally, the last table presents the top five gains and losses for Smaller Reporting Companies.
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