BDO USA continues to hold the top spot for new SEC audit client wins among the major global and national firms for the fourth year running. The firm acquired Mantyla McReynolds LLC in the spring, which helped boost its net SEC client count by 10, gaining 32 and losing 22. Last year they were on top with a net of 17 new clients, and 54 new clients in 2014. Marcum LLP was also at the top, tied with BDO USA for a net of 10 new SEC clients this year, gaining 18 and losing 8.
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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PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP may have lost a net of 24 clients, but overall the Big Four firm won over $14.6 million in new audit fees. That means the 18 clients they brought in more than offset the 42 they lost. BDO USA was also in the Top 5 for audit fees won for the second year in a row, bringing in over $13 million in new audit fees.
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.
The most activity for 2016 was seen among the smaller firms. DCAW (CPA) Ltd., a new firm created in early 2016 with the merger of two smaller firms brought in a total of 45 new SEC client wins, 38 smaller reporting companies and 7 non-accelerated filer companies. Haynie & Co. held the second spot, with 29 new SEC client wins, due to a merger with HJ & Associates.
Audit Analytics tracks audit fees, auditor changes, restatements, and a wide range of audit and regulatory disclosures, with the ability to create daily email alerts for new disclosures by industry, auditor, location, and more. In addition to these and many other databases, we also offer qualitative red flag alerts for due diligence and risk assessment. Please contact Audit Analytics for an online demonstration or to learn more about these data sets. You can call us at (508) 476-7007 or e-mail info@auditanalytics.com.