Grant Thornton sees revenue rise to $1.97B

Grant Thornton reported Thursday that its U.S. member firm reached record revenues of $1.97 billion for the fiscal year ended July 31, 2021.

Revenue from advisory services made up 39% of fees, accounting and auditing fees comprised 35%, and tax services accounted for 26% of revenue.

The firm saw its revenue increase despite the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused GT to make rapid adjustments to help its workforce. The firm offered employee benefits such as psychological wellness, childcare, home meal preparation and tutoring, while introducing a “return-to-work” hybrid workplace model that gives the firm’s professionals more autonomy and flexibility during the pandemic.

“We have learned that with the right support, our people can serve our clients with excellence from anywhere,” said Grant Thornton CEO Brad Preber in a statement. “Our teammates have different comfort levels with returning to face-to-face interactions, different needs for in-person contact and different family responsibilities. This is why we created a policy that delivers exceptional results for clients without requiring attendance in our offices or at client sites for many business situations.”

Preber is set to retire next summer, and last month the firm’s partnership board named Seth Siegel to succeed him on Aug. 1, 2022 (see story). GT also named several other new leaders in the past fiscal year, including Janet Malzone as the firm’s national managing partner of audit services and Jeff Hughes as the national managing partner for audit quality and Risk. GT also named Beatrix Bernauer as chief risk and compliance officer, and Partho Ghatak as its chief information security officer. In addition, GT named Rashada Whitehead as its national managing director of culture, immersion and inclusion.

Grant Thornton also established a Center of Excellence in Orlando, Florida, this past year to develop more services to help tax clients turn data into insights.

Just after FY 2021 wrapped, Grant Thornton’s Partnership Board also named Seth Siegel as the firm’s CEO-elect. His term as CEO will begin on August 1, 2022, immediately following current CEO Brad Preber’s mandatory retirement after almost two decades in leadership roles at the firm.