KPMG has surpassed the $30 billion mark in global revenues for the first time in its history. The milestone comes as a result of double-digit growth in the firm’s latest financial year.
Big Four professional services company KPMG has reported global revenues of $32.1 billion for its latest financial year, which ended in October 2021. This represents a 10% increase on the $29.2 billion generated over a pandemic-impacted 2020. Growth was led by a 17% surge in global Advisory revenues, while the Asia Pacific slightly outperformed the EMEA as the firm’s fastest-growing region; rising by 13% to contribute just under $6 billion in revenues.
“This year’s financial success is the result of KPMG firms coming together to chart a new trajectory for the global organisation with a commitment to a bold ambition to become the most trusted and trustworthy professional services firm,” said KPMG CEO Bill Thomas. “I am thankful to our talented teams who have worked tirelessly, in difficult circumstances, to ensure we met the rapidly evolving needs of our clients.”
KPMG achieved solid growth across its three major service lines, with Tax & Legal Services bringing in $7 billion to be up by 8%, and Audit takings rising by 4% to $11.9 billion. It is the firm’s Advisory line, however, which continues to stand out, now easily eclipsing audit with a $13.7 billion contribution. A decade ago, that figure was $7.5 billion, while Audit was already bringing in in excess of $10 billion.
A recent factor for the firm’s outstanding Advisory growth has been the continuing global mergers & acquisitions frenzy, which has boosted demand for KPMG’s Transaction & Deal Advisory services division, while pandemic-motivated business transformations have seen them tap the firm’s management consulting offering. Ongoing digital transformations and the ever-increasing need for advanced cyber solutions also continue to drive advisory business.
Regional breakdown
Geographically, KPMG’s Asia Pacific region is now worth just a fraction under $6 billion, a 50 percent increase over the past decade. Elsewhere, its largest region – EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) – also saw strong growth, up by 12 percent in US dollar terms to $14.3 billion, while the Americas contributed $11.9 billion through growth of 6 percent.
As of September, KPMG had a total of 11,455 partners worldwide, and an overall headcount of over 236,000, up by about 10,000 on the year prior. EMEA is home to more than half of the firm’s personnel, while APAC numbers are fast catching up to the Americas – at about 50,000 against 60,000. It can be expected that APAC will soon pull ahead, with plans to hire an extra 7,000 people over the next three years in China alone.
ESG investment
Like many of its biggest consulting and professional services peers, KPMG is emphasising the firm’s push towards the environmental, societal and governance domain, with a release from the firm stating that it wants “ESG to be the watermark running through KPMG”. To back its plans, the firm has committed $1.5 billion over the next three years toward accelerating ESG services and solutions for clients, as well as continuing the evolution within KPMG.
“ESG has ascended the global agenda, and it is now incumbent upon business, political and civic leaders to tackle these challenges the world is facing with transparency, honesty, positivity and a sense of collective responsibility,” said Richard Threlfall, KPMG’s global head of ESG. “Our people have the passion, talent and skills to make a difference, and help drive and encourage the change that is so sorely needed.”
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