We've Moved! - The Big Four Blog Is Now At Big4.com Site

Dear Readers, if you've been missing some recent events, news, happenings on the Big Four firm space....it's because we've moved to our blog spot on the Big4.com site!

Please bookmark the new site, and we'll see you there!


Here are some recent posts you'll find only there:

Cuomo Sues Pronto. Ernst & Young Fires Back. More Drama To Come

Ernst and Young Likely To Be Charged By New York AG This Week

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) Stock Reaches Historic High. Market Cap Tops $30 Billion

Deloitte Think Tank Reveals The Secret To US Job Growth – Insourcing

Deloitte Shocked and Saddened As SEC Charges Ex-Partner and Wife With Insider Trading

Deloitte Reportedly Still Pursuing Roland Berger Deal

Deloitte Starts Combination Talks With Roland Berger. RB Partners Quickly Vote No

KPMG UK Welcomes The Queen Of England. A Lucky Few Get The Chance To Meet

8 CPAs In The New House of US Reps, One of 50 Is An Accountant, 2 Big Four Alumni

Deloitte Moving Into Iraq Next Year, PwC and E&Y Already There

What A Day In Big Four M&A! Deals Abound All Over The World

Ernst & Young UK Huge Draw On Campuses, 4,500 Apps For 700 Spots

Accenture Stock ACN Is Now At Historic Highs, And Likely More Upside Ahead


We are now at http://www.big4.com/blog.html. Be sure to visit us there.

Yes, There Is A (KPMG Tax) iPad App For That!

by Lisa Chapman, Big4.com

So say, you are on a train somewhere or flying to a client, and have just about gone through all your iPad apps, including Angry Birds, Flipside and NBA Courtside. And you are dying for the latest in tax information and ruling.....

We’ve moved. Click here to go the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!

Satyam Publishes Financials, India Seeks Auditor Liability – Impacts on Big Four

by Susan Black, Big4.com

We have blogged extensively about the fraud at Satyam Computers, when it was exposed by a letter from its erstwhile Chairman Ramalinga Raju on January 7, 2009, and shocked investors all over the world....

We’ve moved. Click here to go the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!

Dubai World Chief Restructuring Officer Aidan Birkett, ex Deloitte, To Step Down

by John Fowler, Big4.com

We have blogged earlier about how Aidan Birkett, who was a key managing director in Deloitte UK’s restructuring practice went first to help Dubai World when it surprised global markets on the eve of Thanksgiving 2009....

We’ve moved. Click here to go the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!

KPMG, Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte Are Global Most Attractive Employers

Susan Black, Big4.com

(blog) We have blogged earlier about Universum’s World Most Attractive Employer Survey and this year Universum says it best themselves, “Big 4 challenge Google’s position as the world’s most attractive employer 2010.”...

We’ve moved. Click here to go the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!

Accenture Q4 Beats Street on Revenue and EPS, Confident Outlook, Shares Zoom

John Fowler, Big4.com

(blog) Accenture (NYSE: ACN)’s Q4-2010 and FY 2010 financial results ending August 31, 2010 blew past Wall Street expectations. To add to this, Accenture projected double digit growth in 2011 revenue and 1% higher-than-previous-guidance growth in 2011 EPS. Investors loved it, moving the stock up 3.6% after hours....

We’ve moved. Click here to go the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!

Deloitte HQ Moves Out Of Switzerland, Follows Ernst & Young To UK

Lisa Chapman, Big4.com

(blog) We saw very recently an article in The Guardian of the UK which compelled us to really look at the footnote at the end of each Deloitte formal press release.  And it’s true. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, or Deloitte, has quietly moved its legally registered HQ from Switzerland to the UK, as noted astutely by the Guardian – full credit to them....

We’ve moved. Click here to go the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!

Accenture And Deloitte Both Talk Jobs: 250,000 Each by 2015

Susan Black, Big4.com

(blog) Just in the last few days, we have had two Big Four firms talk about big job numbers. Accenture (NYSE: ACN) and Deloitte are both coincidentally talking about the magic number of 250,000 by 2015...

We’ve moved. Click here to go the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!

UK Executives Feel Pinch Of Salary Freezes, Finds Deloitte

Rob Starr, Big4.com

Times are tough all over for everyone. And when you read a Deloitte report that says over half the FTSE 350 companies will not increase the pay for their executives, you know that the pinch is being felt everywhere....

We’ve moved. Click here to go the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!

London Tube To Go Down Monday, But No Worries, PwC Has Survival Advice!

John Fowler, Big4.com

4 September 2010

(blog) The London Underground (affectionately, the Tube) is going down at 5 pm Monday on September 6th 2010, as The National Union of Rail, Maritime, and Transport Workers (RMT) goes on strike, which is likely to grind trains to a halt and affect millions of commuters....

We’ve moved. Click here to go the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!

UK Employers Finding It Hard to Fill Key Job Vacancies Today, Says KPMG

Rob Starr, Big4.com

25 August 2010

(blog) Here’s another one for the truth is stranger than fiction file. According to a new report from KPMG UK, almost half of the British employers surveyed said that they were having a hard time filling open job vacancies. In fact 45% of the 600 that were surveyed said that they were having this problem to such an extent they were looking offshore to fill the vacancies, especially for key positions where historically talent has been sourced from outside the UK as in engineering, accounting/finance and IT....

We’ve moved. Click here to go the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!

FASB Chairman Herz, ex-PwC, Unexpectedly Retires. Seidman, ex-E&Y, Is Acting

Lisa Chapman, Big4.com

25 August 2010

(blog) We saw it yesterday buzzing around in the news, and also confirmed by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) that its current chairman Robert Herz is retiring on his own accord almost two years before the end of his term, much to the surprise of the industry, the Board and the Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF). Robert H. Herz was appointed FASB chairman on July 1, 2002, and was reappointed to a second term effective July 1, 2007 for a 5 year term. Previously, he was a senior partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers...

We’ve moved. Click here to go the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!

Interest Rates To Hit Eight Percent By 2012? No Way Says Ernst And Young

Rob Starr, Big4.com

25 August 2010

(blog) Fair Investment.co.uk has an interesting story about how “Andrew Lilico, chief economist at Policy Exchange claims that interest rates could have to increase to eight per cent to combat the high inflation that will couple the boom he is predicting.”...

We’ve moved. Click here to go the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Pays $378 Million Cash for Diamond Management & Technology Consultants

Susan Black, Big4.com

24 August 2010

(blog) PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) is plunking down $378 million in cold hard cash for Diamond Management & Technology Consultants, Inc. in another sign that the M&A market in the consulting business is heating up – see all our previous blogs on this, notably Booz-AT Kearney, Deloitte UK, Accenture and Capgemini being key newsmakers in recent months....

We’ve moved. Click here to go the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!

PricewaterhouseCoopers UK Has A Term For The Housing Market: “Slowth”

by John Fowler, Big4.com

August 20th, 2010

(blog) Stagnation plus inflation is “Stagflation”

Breakfast plus lunch is “Brunch”

You have very likely heard of these common blended words.

Now PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) UK introduces “Slowth” into housing lexicon, which is not what the Urban Dictionary defines as “Slowness. Generally sloth-like behavior, especially of computers or co-workers” but presumably a blended word of “Slow” plus “Growth”.

In this case, slowth has hit the UK housing market.

We’ve moved. Click here to go the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!

UK Government Reveals Consultant Spend, Big Four Firms Garner Millions

by James Spencer, Big4.com

August 20th, 2010

(blog) The recent release of the Communities and Local Government spending data for the last year 2009 may have been meant as a political gimmick, but it’s proven very useful to see who is really up and down in the reasonably secretive world of public sector procurement.

We’ve moved. Click here to go the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!

PricewaterhouseCoopers Tearing Their Hair Out With Fergie

by Rob Starr, Big4.com

August 20th, 2010

(blog) It’s easy to imagine that the money gurus at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) have done more than a few jobs in their time which might have caused them some strife. After all, dealing with some of the biggest names in the financial world and having to juggle complicate money systems from one end of the globe to the other can’t be easy.

We’ve moved. Click here to go the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!

Westpoint Now Embroils KPMG, Deloitte And Australian Securities and Investments Commission

Rob Starr, Big4.com

19 August 2010

(blog) Earlier we had blogged about how KPMG Australia was going to fight its case against Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) in the Australian High Court arguing that the case against it was unconstitutional under Australian law (http://bigfouralumni.blogspot.com/2010/05/kpmg-goes-to-high-court-down-under.html)

We said in that blog post…

We’ve moved. Click here to go the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!

KPMG Piggybacks on Dodd-Frank, Hires ex-Fed Official

Chris Nelson, Big4.com

16 August 2010

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the "Dodd-Frank Act") is expected to help lawyers, lobbyists, lawmakers….now Big Four firms.

Yes, Big Four firms are looking at streams of consulting revenue as clients try to understand and make sense of this sprawling act with many procedures which are unclear now and are left to further study .

We’ve moved. Click here to go the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!

PCAOB Releases 2009 Inspection Report on PricewaterhouseCoopers, 9 Issuers Cited

John Fowler, Big4.com

August 16, 2010

PCAOB just released its 2009 annual inspection report on PricewaterhouseCoopers using inspections from October 2008 through October 2009 at the Firm's National Office and at 34 of its approximately 61 U.S. assurance practice offices.

We’ve moved. Click here to go the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!

Accenture Expands Even As the IT Outsourcing Market Outlook Remains Uncertain

Charles Harper, Big4.com

August 9, 2010

(Blog) Even as industry leaders point to an uncertain outlook for IT Outsourcing for the rest of 2010, Accenture moved quite rapidly in July 2010 to grow its market share for the current year and beyond. Within the month of July, the company has announced the acquisition of a French business processing company, the expansion of its operations in the Philippine Islands and the securing of a major outsourcing deal in Bangalore, India.

We’ve moved. Click here to go the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!

Deloitte Powers On In Social Media, But Australian Companies Lag

Nita Teoh, Big4.com

August 5, 2010

Social media is proving to be a powerful force on the business front. And it has been used in multiple ways by innovative companies, as in building a company’s brand, increasing engagement with partners, customers and employees, as also to recruit talent and manage external public relations.

We’ve moved. Click here to go the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!

Big Four Firms Await Developments on Australian Minerals Resource Rent Tax

Nita Teoh, Big4.com

July 20, 2010

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Treasurer Wayne Swan treaded carefully to reach an amicable deal with the mining industry giants over the revised Minerals Resource Rent Tax (MRRT).

Since the new tax was released on the 2nd July, the Opposition party has been hard at work to uncover the downsides of Labor’s new policy.

We’ve moved. Click here to go the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!

We Talk with Grant Thornton on Accounting Talent Management

July 20, 2010

Company CFOs, as guardians of corporate coffers, have been under severe pressure in this economic crisis, equally to maintain profitability and efficiently manage their own financial organization. Revenue enhancement, cost control and risk management is still job number one. But not far from that is the acquisition, nurturing and retention of those who really make it happen – the accounting staff within their organizations.

We’ve moved. Click here to go the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!

KPMG Extends Consulting Depth, Buys Grant Thornton Supply Chain Practice

John Fowler, Big4.com

July 19, 2010

We have not seen many acquisitions come through for KPMG US, but there has been growing rhetoric about the need for Big Four firms to get back into the consulting business.  See this article right from KPMG’s global site, which says….”For some time, the Big 4 accountants have been keen to make the point that they're more than just auditors. Less than ten years ago though, three of them exited the market for consultancy services. Fast forward several years and they're back en masse - and seemingly more assured than before.

We’ve moved. Click here to go the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!

Deloitte’s iPad Sales Predictions Are Right On The Money

Rob Starr, Big4.com

July 16, 2010

A recent update to Deloitte’s Technology, Media & Telecommunications Predictions 2010 has some findings that would have been quite anticipated given the state of the economy, but that the demand for mobile searches was slower than expected was a little surprising.

We’ve moved. Click here to go the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!

Ernst & Young UK Seeing A Fragile Recovery For The UK Economy

Rob Starr, Big4.com
July 14, 2010

The recovery from the worst worldwide recession in the last 6o years has left the domestic side of the UK’s economy more vulnerable than first expected, according to official statisticians and Ernst & Young UK. The general consensus is that the country entered recession in Q4-2008 and was out of it in Q4-2009. But it is the growth in the quarters following the end of the recession are that much more critical. 

We’ve moved. Click here to go the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!

Capgemini And KPMG Shape The Thinking At 2010 World Congress On IT

Nita Teoh, Big4.com
July 14, 2010

Chief Information Officers (CIOs) are continually faced with the increasing pressure of delivering greater value from IT services for their companies on a daily basis. Much like Moore’s law, demands on performance keeps increasing while costs continually drop. 

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Ernst & Young Combines Far East and Oceania Into Asia-Pacific Region

John Fowler, Big4.com

July 13, 2010

Singaporean and Asian newspapers and websites are reporting that Ernst & Young will combine its Far East and Oceania areas into an integrated Asia-Pacific region.

We’ve moved. Click here to go the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!

KPMG’s Infrastructure 100 – Most Exciting Global Projects – A Must Read

Nita Teoh, Big4.com

July 13, 2010

It’s not often that phrase “most exciting” and “accounting firms” are found together.

So, it was interesting to see a list of “the most exciting infrastructure projects from around the world, as selected by independent judging panels due to their scale, complexity, innovation and impact on society” in a recent KPMG report.

We’ve moved. Click here to go the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!

Deloitte Realizes Synergies From BearingPoint Federal Practice. Thousands Hired

Charles Harper, Big4.com

July 12, 2010

More than a year ago, on March 25, 2009, we wrote about the imminent breakup of BearingPoint with business assets being sold to various Big Four firms and to BearingPoint Europe management (http://bigfouralumni.blogspot.com/2009/03/bearingpoint-breakup-imminent-business.html).

We’ve moved. Click here to go the full post at the new Big Four Blog at Big4.com!