Accounting sector revenue growth up 5% in 2016

Revenue of the big four accounting firms gained 7%.

The accounting sector earned $2.17b gaining 5% total revenue growth amidst the general business sector down by 0.9% in 2016, according to the Accounting Entities (AEs) Census 2016-2017.

The $1.64b came from the total revenue of the big four firms including Deloitte & Touche, Ernst & Young (EY), KPMG, and PricewatehouseCoopers (PWC). The 2016 revenue of the other 680 AEs reached $704m, which had a 1% growth compared to 2015.

With 450 jobs created, the same year saw 2.5% increase in the AEs’ workforce. Meanwhile, the sector’s productivity also rose by 2% in 2016, the census showed.

Among the new jobs, 38% were for advisory positions. Meanwhile, 32% were placed in assurance, 19% went to tax, and 11% worked for the corporate support services.

The census also showed that audit and assurance continued to be the main source of revenue for AEs. Meanwhile, non-audit revenues grew by 6%.

“It is heartening to know that the sector is also progressively delivering a wider diversification of services with the growth in non-audit services outperforming the growth of audit services,” Singapore Accountancy Commission (SAC) chief executive Evan Law said.

“This is essential to capture international demand for accounting services, and for Singapore to develop into an accountancy hub for high value adding services,” Law added. 

In 2018, the sector is expecting for continued growth in the non-audit services including corporate finance and deal advisory services, risk management and governance, and business valuation. The national census is conducted by the SAC on AES which include accounting firms, accounting partnerships, and accounting corporations. It was conducted among 197 AEs from July to August 2017.