Utah firms lead in Q1 SEC audit clients

Two Salt Lake City firms led the auditing profession in terms of new Securities and Exchange Commission clients in the first quarter of 2018, while Big Four firms Deloitte and Ernst & Young led among large auditors.

Utah-based Haynie & Co. brought on 15 new audit clients in Q1, largely thanks to its January 1 merged with local firm Pritchett, Siler & Hardy. Meanwhile, neighboring firm Heaton & Co. also picked up 15 firms in the same period that used to be audited by Pritchett Siler, as well as three others, for a total of 18 new clients. (See “Net Engagement Leaders.”)

With 11 new clients a piece, Deloitte and EY tied for third place, though Deloitte netted the most, at five. (See “Q1 Client Gains & Losses.”)

All of the new clients for Heaton & Co. and Haynie & Co. were smaller reporting companies, so they led the field in that area; Deloitte and EY swapped first and second in terms of new larger reporting clients and non-accelerated clients, while RSM US brought on the most new accelerated filers. (See “Audit Leaders.”)

On a side note, a number of firms picked up individual clients from Anton & Chia, which was charged with fraud by the SEC in December 2017. Benjamin & Young LLP alone picked up four, while ZH CPAs picked up two.

In terms of sheer client size, EY was the big winner, thanks to landing General Motors. The automaker has been a Deloitte client for a century; according to Audit Analytics, there are only four companies left in the S&P 500 with auditors that have a tenure of over 100 years. GM’s $59 billion in market cap, $212.5 billion in assets, and $33 million in audit fees put EY at the top of all those league tables. (See “New Client Leaders.”) Deloitte took second in all of them, with the biggest boost coming from commercial and consumer lender CIT Group, with $6.5 billion in market cap, $49.36 billion in assets, and $12.6 million in audit fees.

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, info@auditanalytics.com or www.auditanalytics.com.