Author Archives: aditi.nayakarun

 One of the first things that came to mind when I read the article was that why has there been dominance by the Big 4 in the industry for so long and why have other so called second tier firms not been able to move to the next level and join the Big 4. The Big 4 must be doing something right to maintain their position in the market, for so long. Yes the rankings do change, but only within the Big 4. It is EY leading the race in audit and advisory as per revenues or number or accounts one year or it is KPMG or PwC or Deloitte another year. The competition has not really moved outside the realm of these giants. Is there too little choice then for public companies when it comes to picking an auditor? Do you think that the bigger public companies are actually complaining? Surprisingly they are not. In a report published by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in 2003, many of these firms do not look beyond the Big 4 to provide them various services. It is also surprising that not many of the public companies that require the services of these giants are actually complaining about lack of choice.

So what makes the Big 4, the Big 4? The differentiating factor according to me lies in the attitude of the top leadership, the values of these respective firms, and the hunger that these companies share, that keeps them at the top of their game. Their firm belief and clarity on what they stand for is what drives their working. They share a common hunger and passion to expand. Their internal foundation is so strong that the quality of the work they deliver is incomparable to any of the smaller firms. Every piece of work that is sent to the ‘client’ undergoes multiple rounds of reviews and checks and a very serious effort is made to deliver the best possible report or in Big 4 terms- a ‘Deliverable’. Yes there have been lapses in the past with Enron, WorldCom etc but the number of these lapses have been so few and sporadic.

So now what about the tier 2 firms and smaller firms? Looks like they will have to keep working harder and take a more aggressive approach to getting new accounts or be satisfied in ruling their own space, because lets face it…the Big 4 are here to stay!