The big got bigger in 2019, with the largest auditing firms boosting their share of the public company audit market, according to a new report.
The “Who Audits Public Company — 2020 Edition” from Audit Analytics found that the share of public companies audited by the 10 leading firms rose to 65.7 percent in 2019, up from 63.8 percent in 2018. For 2019, that represented 3,933 companies out of 5,985.
And among the top 10, it really was the biggest that got bigger, with the Big Four firms’ share of overall audits rising to 49.2 percent in 2019, up from 47.1 percent in 2018, while the rest of the leading firms’ share declined very slightly, to 16.5 from 16.7 percent.
Top 10 public company auditors
| Companies | % | |
| Ernst & Young | 927 | 15.50% |
| Deloitte & Touche | 748 | 12.50% |
| PricewaterhouseCoopers | 669 | 11.20% |
| KPMG | 596 | 10.00% |
| BDO USA | 227 | 3.80% |
| Grant Thornton | 217 | 3.60% |
| Marcum LLP* | 213 | 3.60% |
| RSM US | 132 | 2.20% |
| BF Borgers CPA | 112 | 1.90% |
| Crowe | 92 | 1.50% |
*Includes Marcum Bernstein & Pinchuk
The overall universe of public companies grew only a little in 2019, increasing by 0.2 percent from the 5,973 in 2018. Interestingly, the number of accelerated filers grew by almost 12 percent.
A full breakdown by filing type will be part of Audit Analytics’ full report, which will be available
Data provided by Audit Analytics, a premium online intelligence service delivering audit, regulatory and disclosure analysis. Reach them at (508) 476-7007,
