PwC shakes up U.S. firm

PricewaterhouseCoopers US is realigning its organizational structure across three lines of service — Assurance, Tax and Advisory — starting in July, only about three years after it restructured into two sides: Trust Solutions and Consulting Solutions. PwC US is also adding a new operating committee to run the firm.

A spokesperson said the new structure would better serve client needs, their buying patterns and the market. It takes effect July 1. The new operating committee includes assurance leader Deanna Byrne and tax leader Krishnan Chandrasekhar.

PwC US's incoming senior partner, Paul Griggs, announced the changes Thursday in a LinkedIn post.

"These leaders are market-focused, inspiring and committed to harnessing the amazing talent, capabilities and creativity of this firm to help us as we continue to deliver quality and grow in new ways — as a team and as individuals," he said. 

The new leadership team on the operating committee is shown here.

"We have the right leadership, people and technical capabilities to achieve remarkable things," Griggs added. "And we will be relentless in our pursuit of providing quality work across the firm and in serving our clients, the markets and our stakeholders."

PwC announced in February that Griggs will succeed longtime chief Tim Ryan as senior partner at the firm, starting July 1, which is when the new operating committee will be in place. 

Byrne, who will be leading the assurance side, is currently the office managing partner of PwC's Philadelphia office. Chandrasekhar, who will be leading the tax practice, is currently the banking and capital markets tax leader. 

The changes at PwC come less than a month after the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board fined PwC US $2.75 million for auditing quality control violations, as well as levied a $600,000 penalty against the Australian firm of PwC, which has endured a high-profile tax scandal involving leaked government documents.

The restructuring undoes the split of the tax practice three years ago, when it was divided between the Trust Solutions and Consulting Solutions sides. Under that structure, PwC combined its assurance and tax reporting practices into the Trust Solutions segment, while the Consulting Solutions segment includes tax consulting, business transformation, cybersecurity, business deals, cloud, digital, privacy and risk. Starting in July, there will be separate assurance, tax and advisory practices.

Another Big Four firm, Deloitte, went through a restructuring last month, reducing its main business units from five to four: audit and assurance; strategy, risk and transactions; technology and transformation; and tax and legal.