Fee income of almost €1bn at Ireland’s Big Four accountants

Fee income at Ireland's Big Four accountancy firms grew to almost € 1 billion in 2014 for the first time, new figures compiled by The Irish Times' business database Top1000.ie show.

In total, the four firms generated €993.3 million in fees last year, up by 12.3 per cent on the €884 million earned in 2013, illustrating the extent to which the firms are benefiting from the economic revival.

In the period 2010-13 for example, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) grew its island of Ireland fee income by just 0.7 per cent.

Profitability among the Big Four is not known, as partnerships are not required to disclose their financial information.

PwC, whose audit clients include DCC, Smurfit Kappa and Bank of Ireland, has retained its spot as the largest accountancy firm operating in Ireland, with fee income of €329 million for 2014, up by 9.3 per cent on the previous year.

Employment at the firm, which reports on an all-island basis, also advanced, up by 7.3 per cent to 3,041.

Ronan Murphy, senior partner at PwC, said that the increase in fees was "reflective of our recovering economy, continued investment by FDI and, more recently, greater confidence amongst the SME sector".

Looking ahead, he expects revenue growth to continue in line with the economic recovery.

Second-placed KPMG, which also reports on an all-island basis, reported even stronger growth last year, with fee income of €300 million, up 11 per cent on 2013. The firm added 152 jobs during the year to bring employment up to 2,000.

According to its recently published transparency report, advising on tax reported the fastest growth rate in 2014, up by 22 per cent. Tax was also the biggest contributor to the firm’s income, generating fees of €101 million, overtaking audit as the most important segment.

Figures for third-placed Deloitte show that the firm, which counts AIB and Kerry Group among its audit clients, is close to breaching the €200 million mark in Ireland, having grown its fees by 15 per cent across the island in 2014 to €198.3 million.

Fourth-placed EY was the fastest growing of the Big Four in 2014, increasing its fee income by 17.7 per cent to €166 million in the 12 months to June 30th 2014. EY's fee income relates excludes its practice in Northern Ireland.