Growth has eased back (from 8% in 2023 to 7% in 2024) but fee income has risen (from US$275bn US$297bn) for the 33 accountancy networks that took part in the International Accounting Bulletin‘s 2025 survey.
Across the Big Four, growth was 4%, significantly down from the average 7.25% in 2024. The 10 next biggest networks all grew by 6% or more, with half of them achieving double-digit growth.
Growth in staff across all networks was only 1% up on 2023, after widely reported lay-offs across professional services in 2024. PwC saw the biggest decline (6%), with 25,000 fewer staff than the previous year.
There was 13% revenue growth across the 18 associations covered in the survey, the first time since 2019 that they outperformed the networks on this metric. Total association fee income reached US$37bn in 2024, up from US$29bn the previous year.
Service lines
All service lines saw double-digit growth in 2024, among both networks and associations.
In terms of advisory, Deloitte had the highest fee income again, with US$43bn, accounting for 37% of total advisory fee income reported by all networks in 2024. EY was the only member of the Big Four where advisory fee income dropped, down 5% on the previous year. Outside of the Big Four, RSM emerged strongest, with advisory fee income of US$3.88bn, up 26% on the previous year.
For accounting services, BDO had the highest fee income at $2.2bn, followed by ETL Global and HLB. There was also strong fee income growth of 29% at fourth-placed Moore Global.
In tax, PwC led, with fee income of US$12.7bn. KPMG enjoyed the highest growth among the Big Four, with 12%. Outside of the Big Four, BDO had the highest fee income, US$3.4bn, while Moore Global posted strong growth of 25%.
In audit and assurance, PwC’s US$19.4bn fee income growth was the highest, as was its 28% growth figure. Outside of the Big Four, BDO reported the highest fee income, with US$6.1bn.
Among the associations, Praxity led in terms of fee income for all four service lines.
Regional variations
Among the Big Four, the highest growth was seen in the EMEA region, with a 10% year-on-year increase. PwC was again top for fee income in the region, although Deloitte had the highest growth –12% compared with PwC’s 11%.
There was a 5% fall in fee income from the Asia Pacific region. Fee income here was highest for Deloitte, followed by PwC, but all the Big Four reported lower fee income than in 2023.
In the Americas, there was positive growth, ranging from 1% to 4%, for all the Big Four. Deloitte remains top for fee income, but KPMG posted the highest growth, with 4%.
Outside the Big Four, there was positive growth across all regions for the networks this year, with North America, Europe and the Middle East all delivering double-digit growth.
It was a more mixed outlook for the associations. All regions except Asia Pacific saw positive growth, but the figure was in double digits only for Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. As in 2023, there was no change in fee income for Asia Pacific.
