Deloitte & Touche took on the most new Securities and Exchange Commission clients in the first quarter of 2019, with 11 new engagements and a net of nine.
The Big Four firm’s figures were all the more impressive for coming in a relatively low-scoring quarter. While there was plenty of movement between auditors, few firms came out with large hauls.
Marcum brought on nine new engagements, for instance, but saw 11 clients go elsewhere. A few other firms, including EY and Grant Thornton, brought on six new clients, but netted fewer, while the vast majority of firms on this quarter’s list netted two or fewer.
| Firm | Wins and losses | Net |
| Deloitte | +11 /-2 | 9 |
| Grant Thornton | +6/-1 | 5 |
| RSM | +4/-2 | 2 |
| BDO USA | +5/-4 | 1 |
| BKD | 0 | 0 |
| KPMG | +3/-4 | -1 |
| Marcum* | +9/-11 | -2 |
| EisnerAmper | +1/-3 | -2 |
| Moss Adams | -2 | -2 |
| Crowe | +1/-4 | -3 |
| EY | +6/-13 | -7 |
| PwC | +2/-11 | -9 |
* Comprised of Marcum LLP & Marcum Bernstein Pinchuk LLP
(For a more extensive matrix of leading firms,
Clients by filing status, and more
Given its commanding lead in new clients, it’s no surprise that Deloitte led in terms of both new large accelerated filers and new accelerated filer clients. Top 5 Firm RSM netted the most non-accelerated filers, while New Jersey-based Boyle CPA led among new smaller reporting companies brought on board.
| Large accelerated filers | |||
| Auditor | Wins | Losses | Net |
| Deloitte & Touche | 7 | 2 | 5 |
| Grant Thornton | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| BDO USA | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Crowe | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Accelerated filers | |||
| Auditor | Wins | Losses | Net |
| Deloitte & Touche | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Grant Thornton | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Armanino | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| CliftonLarsonAllen | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| KPMG | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Shandong Haoxin CPAs | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| BDO USA | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Non-accelerated filers | |||
| Auditor | Wins | Losses | Net |
| RSM | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Marcum | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| BDO USA | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Fruci & Associates | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Smaller reporting companies | |||
| Auditor | Wins | Losses | Net |
| Boyle CPA | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| BF Borgers CPA | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| Simon & Edward | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| Hall & Co. CPAs | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| KSP Group Inc. | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| M&K CPAs | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| RRBB & Co. | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Heaton & Co. | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Yu CPA | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| AJSH & Co. | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| JLKZ CPA | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| MAC Accounting Group | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Accell Audit & Compliance | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| D Brooks & Associates CPAs | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Friedman | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Total Asia Associates | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Ranked by net gain. Ties are broken by overall number of client wins, then by alphabetical order.
Interestingly, Deloitte’s haul of new clients put it at the top of the league tables for new market capitalization audited — with roughly $3.1 billion each from California-based software company Alteryx Inc. and business development company FS KKR Capital Corp., as well as $2.8 billion from Georgia-based cryogenic equipment maker Chart Industries — it only came second in audit fees, and third in assets audited.
KPMG took the top spot for assets audited, with $79.6 billion of its $80.2 billion coming from Alabama-based insurer Protective Life Corp.
Ernst & Young, meanwhile, took the top spot for new audit fees, with Hertz Global Holdings contributing the lion’s share at $13 million, and helping the Big Four firm come in second in assets audited, with $21.3 billion in new assets, or nearly half of the firm’s total. The firm also came in second in new market cap, with the biggest chunk, $5.8 billion, coming from California-based power management systems manufacturer Monolithic Power Systems.
| By market capitalization audited | |
| Auditor | Market cap |
| Deloitte & Touche | $16,770,934,505 |
| Ernst & Young | $11,580,387,267 |
| Grant Thornton | $4,419,647,451 |
| KPMG | $2,038,854,939 |
| PricewaterhouseCoopers | $1,749,423,058 |
| BDO USA | $1,747,076,310 |
| Crowe | $1,254,484,239 |
| Marcum | $592,964,671 |
| JLKZ CPA | $504,764,182 |
| CliftonLarsonAllen | $388,512,602 |
| Simon & Edward | $224,925,497 |
| Yusufali & Associates | $169,471,248 |
| MNP | $166,394,592 |
| RSM | $88,249,314 |
| By assets audited | |
| Auditor | Assets audited |
| KPMG | $80,210,937,000 |
| Ernst & Young | $41,479,061,000 |
| Deloitte & Touche | $26,109,310,000 |
| BDO USA | $6,703,764,955 |
| Grant Thornton | $5,864,603,000 |
| Crowe | $4,899,012,000 |
| PricewaterhouseCoopers | $4,829,601,000 |
| CliftonLarsonAllen | $2,328,864,000 |
| RSM | $1,971,522,701 |
| Marcum | $508,206,558 |
| Plante & Moran | $329,494,000 |
| Shandong Haoxin CPAs | $185,128,421 |
| JLKZ CPA | $92,885,353 |
| ACM | $89,933,000 |
| Centurion ZD CPA & Co. | $83,100,417 |
| By audit fees | |
| Auditor | Audit fees |
| Ernst & Young | $21,925,940 |
| Deloitte & Touche | $14,749,136 |
| Grant Thornton | $11,073,700 |
| KPMG | $8,435,679 |
| PricewaterhouseCoopers | $6,378,910 |
| RSM | $2,292,138 |
| BDO USA | $1,548,200 |
| Marcum | $741,193 |
| Crowe | $723,555 |
| BDO India | $600,000 |
| ACM | $374,988 |
| CliftonLarsonAllen | $344,000 |
| Centurion ZD CPA & Co. | $210,000 |
| Wipfli | $148,506 |
| Davidson & Co. | $132,018 |
Where previous quarters' rankings have been heavily influenced by mergers and acquisitions among auditing firms, they played relatively little role in this quarter's list, with very few firms bringing in significant numbers of clients who shared a previous auditor.
NET ENAGAGEMENT LEADERS
| Accounting firm | Net engagements | New engagements |
| Deloitte & Touche | 9 | 11 |
| Grant Thornton | 5 | 6 |
| Boyle CPA | 5 | 5 |
| KSP Group Inc | 4 | 4 |
| RRBB & Co. | 4 | 4 |
| BF Borgers CPA | 3 | 4 |
| Hall & Co. CPAs | 3 | 4 |
| Simon & Edward | 3 | 4 |
| JLKZ CPA | 3 | 3 |
| M&K CPAS | 3 | 3 |
| Heaton & Co. | 2 | 4 |
| RSM | 2 | 4 |
| Accell Audit & Compliance | 2 | 3 |
| Yu CPA | 2 | 3 |
| AJSH & Co. | 2 | 2 |
| Armanino | 2 | 2 |
| Davidson & Co. | 2 | 2 |
| MAC Accounting Group | 2 | 2 |
| Salberg & Co. | 2 | 2 |
| BDO USA | 1 | 5 |
| Friedman | 1 | 3 |
| Total Asia Associates | 1 | 2 |
| Wei Wei & Co | 1 | 2 |
| WWC CPAs | 1 | 2 |
| ACM | 1 | 1 |
| BDO India | 1 | 1 |
| Cherry Bekaert | 1 | 1 |
| CliftonLarsonAllen | 1 | 1 |
| Dylan Floyd Accounting | 1 | 1 |
| Exelient PAC | 1 | 1 |
| Kaufman Rossin & Co. | 1 | 1 |
| Pinnacle Accountancy Group | 1 | 1 |
| Plante Moran | 1 | 1 |
| Prager Metis CPAs | 1 | 1 |
| Ramirez Jimenez Int’l CPAs | 1 | 1 |
| RH CPA | 1 | 1 |
| Shandong Haoxin CPAs Co. Ltd | 1 | 1 |
| TAAD | 1 | 1 |
| Warren Averett | 1 | 1 |
| Weaver & Tidwell | 1 | 1 |
| Wipfli | 1 | 1 |
| Yichien Yeh CPA | 1 | 1 |
| Yusufali & Associates | 1 | 1 |
| Fruci & Associates | 0 | 3 |
| D Brooks & Associates CPAs | 0 | 2 |
Ranked by net engagements; ties are broken by the number of new engagements, then by alphabetical order. † New engagements include significant gains from the same previous auditor, often an indication of a merger or other change in firm structure, or that some of the new engagements have a corporate affiliation, as with Ernst & Young picking up both Hertz Global Holdings and Hertz Corp. from PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Data for the quarterly rankings are provided by Audit Analytics, a premium online intelligence service delivering audit, regulatory and disclosure analysis. Reach them at (508) 476-7007,
