The Big Four Accounting Firms in Nigeria 

After establishing a firm, management must regularly review how the organisation is to ascertain whether any fraudulent conduct is occurring. This is where the services of accounting firms come in handy.

According to the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), shareholders of a corporation must vote to appoint auditors during the annual general meeting before appointing an auditing firm or individual.

The auditors in question must be members of either the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN, Nigeria) or the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria. They must possess a certificate confirming their authorisation to practise in the relevant field (ANAN).

The four largest accounting firms in Nigeria are PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), Deloitte, KPMG, and Ernst & Young. In the year 2020, they received a staggering N6.13 billion in audit fees from 11 Nigerian banks.

These banks included Zenith Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, Access Bank, Stanbic IBTC, First Bank, UBA, Union Bank, Fidelity, Sterling, First City Monument Bank, and Ecobank.Most of the bank audits were done by four international accounting firms. Let’s take a look at them. 

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1. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)

Through its predecessor companies, Coopers & Lybrand and Price Waterhouse, PwC has been operating in Nigeria since 1953. PwC is a network of businesses in 157 countries with approximately 276,000 employees.

Based in London, the United Kingdom. The firm ranks as the second largest professional services firm in the world, which makes it one of the big four.

It renders assurance, advisory, tax advisory, tax controversy, strategy consulting, data & analytics, management consulting, financial advisory, actuarial and legal services.

2. Deloitte & Touche

By both revenue and personnel count, Deloitte is the world’s largest professional services network. It is ranked 24th on Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For.

With around 330,000 employees in 150 nations, Deloitte was founded in London, United Kingdom, and offers audit, consultancy, financial advisory, risk advisory, tax, and legal services.

The first African to earn a chartered accountant designation, Akintola Williams, founded the Deloitte & Touche member firm in Nigeria in 1952. Deloitte & Touche is the country’s oldest indigenous accounting firm.

3. KPMG, the big four international accounting firms in Nigeria

With over 219,000 employees and partners worldwide with a Netherlands base, KPMG is a network of companies offering financial audit, tax, and advisory services.

Following rankings of 36th in 2019 and 29th in 2018, KPMG was ranked 41 on the Fortune list of the 100 greatest businesses to work for in 2022.

The UK regulator determined in July that KPMG’s bank audits need improvement for the third year in a row, which was deemed “unacceptable.”

In April 2020, KPMG was hired to replace PWC as FBN Holdings’ external auditors. PWC had previously served the bank and the bank’s holdings as auditors for eight and ten years, respectively.

4. Ernst & Young

E&Y is a global professional services company with its headquarters in London, United Kingdom. It primarily offers assurance, tax, consulting, and advising services to its clients.

It was established 32 years ago with the merger of Ernst & Whinney and Arthur Young & Co. It employs 280,00 people worldwide in 150 different countries.

On Accounting Today’s list of the top 100 accounting firms based on U.S. revenue in 2021, E&Y was rated third. In its most recent reported fiscal year, the company generated $15 billion.

It provides professional services in Nigeria by assembling teams from a pool of 25 partners and more than 410 professionals with a variety of specialised talents.

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