HONG KONG, Dec. 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — KPMG International announced today annual aggregated revenues for KPMG firms globally of $32.13 billion for the fiscal year ending 30 September 2021 (FY21). Reporting a 10% increase in US dollar revenues from FY20, this follows an extensive period of investment and focus on priority services and solutions addressing the challenges faced by businesses across the globe.
- Strong growth across functions: Advisory growing at 17%, Audit at 4% and Tax & Legal Services at 8%.
- During FY21, the global organization committed to a more than $1.5 billion investment to focus on a multi-year program to accelerate the delivery of its global environmental, societal and governance (ESG) plan and solutions.
- KPMG firms are focused on building an inclusive and diverse culture and have increased female diversity among leadership ranks to 27% of partners and directors.
“2021 was a strong year for KPMG. We achieved outstanding growth in a challenging business climate, unveiled KPMG: Our Impact Plan to help drive sustainable change across our organization, and launched a new global ESG plan to support our clients in achieving their goals of addressing the most existential challenges — while making a difference in the world.”
“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. We have focused first and foremost on enhancing quality and building trust. We have also worked with our leading ecosystem of alliances to support business and technology transformation. This year’s financial success is the result of KPMG firms coming together to chart a new trajectory for the global organization with a commitment to a bold ambition to become the most trusted and trustworthy professional services firm.” – Bill Thomas, Global Chairman & CEO, KPMG International
Honson To, Chairman of KPMG Asia Pacific and China, said:
“Leveraging our professional capabilities, extensive global network and long-term strategic vision, KPMG continues in a strong position. Looking at the composition of our FY21 revenues, Asia Pacific has once again recorded the fastest regional growth, and KPMG China continues to grow solidly as well. The positive feedback we have received from the market and our clients serves as recognition of our progress and also pushes us forward. Looking ahead to FY22, KPMG will continue to promote an inclusive and equal work environment, help our clients achieve sustainable growth, build trust in the capital market, and encourage innovation. At the same time, we will continue to focus on delivering a positive impact to our communities by promoting environmental protection and supporting the disadvantaged and vulnerable.”
KPMG FY21 Highlights
KPMG Delivery Network (KDN) launch
KPMG established a new global delivery network (KDN), which was created to provide large- scale, cross-functional capabilities and technology through a network of delivery centers.
KDN includes a multi-tiered global sales and delivery support organization that harnesses the power of KPMG teams globally and transforms how KPMG firms and people work together for better, helping to deliver a more seamless client experience across the globe. KDN provides services and solutions across all three functions — Tax and Legal Services and Advisory are fully operational, with Audit planned in FY22.
ESG to be the watermark running through KPMG
Prioritizing the ESG agenda, KPMG committed over $1.5 billion over the next three years toward confronting the ESG challenges being faced by clients, communities and stakeholders across the globe. Designed to accelerate ESG solutions for clients, as well as the global organization, the multi-year program is anchored in five key focus areas that aim to drive measurable change: harnessing data to deliver solutions, training talent in leading ESG education, supporting developing nations’ ESG journeys, delivering solutions in collaboration with strategic alliances, and driving action through advocacy.
The global ESG plan is underpinned by KPMG: Our Impact Plan, which holds the global organization accountable to fulfill its own ESG commitments, with the aim of leading by example to make a lasting, positive impact. We are focusing on supporting clients and stakeholders to transform their businesses and supply chains to help reduce their carbon footprint, integrate climate risk into corporate strategies and support the world’s realization of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Wei Lin, Head of Environmental, Social and Governance, KPMG China, said:
“Following China’s announcement of its 2030 & 2060 goals and the goal of Common Prosperity, Chinese enterprises are increasingly focusing their attention on ESG. ESG is widely recognized as an important tool to promote a new round of technological innovation and high-quality development and China’s pursuit of these targets will be transformative for business and communities. Against this backdrop, governments, enterprises and individuals are all facing both opportunities and challenges. We have observed that enterprises are increasingly integrating ESG solutions into their corporate strategies. At the same time, investors are also requiring more comprehensive ESG reporting from businesses. In this context, KPMG has also developed a global ESG strategy to support the ESG transformation of our clients and people, as well as the firm itself, so that we can address these challenges proactively.”
Technology reshaping every business and our own
KPMG is in its third year of our $5 billion commitment to digital transformation, focused on purpose-driven technology, people and innovation.
Co-creating solutions with world-class global alliances, KPMG firms continue to deliver leading-edge, multidisciplinary capabilities. New this year, KPMG expanded its alliance with ServiceNow to help clients accelerate their ESG impact and modernize their risk management and resilience-building.
To accelerate and safeguard its digital experience, KPMG has created a globally consistent and secure environment for our people and clients that leverages a common, cloud-based platform built on Microsoft Azure and Azure AI.
Reynold Liu, Chief Technology Officer and Head of Technology and Innovation, KPMG China, said:
“KPMG is committed to driving internal and external digital transformation and applying technological innovations, with our sector insights. We continue to leverage various innovative technologies to grow and transform KPMG’s business. We are also building a large digital transformation centre that integrates innovation, R&D and delivery to refine, implement and deliver digital solutions developed by KPMG and our alliance partners, with the goal of making digital transformation more practical and delivering results. In addition to building our digital partner ecosystem, we also attach great importance to the development of local partners. China has a large number of technology companies, and we will continue to help them with their development plans both in China and globally.”
Our people define who we are
KPMG’s global headcount in FY21 reached more than 236,000 partners and employees, securing its position as a leading employer of choice and being ranked as one of the World’s Most Attractive Employers for business, IT and engineering students.
With a renewed focus on harnessing the potential of all our people, the firm launched an Inclusion, Diversity and Equity (IDE) Collective Action Plan, introduced a Global IDE Center of Excellence, rolled out a new global IDE policy and instated a new governance structure to ensure accountability and consistency to IDE. With IDE as a key driver of the global organization’s success, it became a signatory to Valuable 500, further cementing its commitment to inclusive practices, diverse and equitable recruitment.
As part of our new global ESG plan, all of our people will receive ESG training that is aligned to a learning framework developed in partnership with the University of Cambridge Judge Business School.
Reimagining the future of work, the global organization has worked across regions to develop a set of globally consistent principles that offer flexibility and guide our teams as we adopt hybrid ways of working.
Linda Lin, Head of People, Performance & Culture, KPMG China, said:
“At KPMG, we encourage continuous learning and comprehensive growth through a variety of channels and resources, and empower each person to bring out the best in themselves. We strive to create opportunities for our people so that they can grow together with the firm. Going forward, we will continue to transform our delivery model, embrace diversity, and provide comprehensive development programs to help build and improve the industry’s talent ecosystem. At the same time, we will continue to do our best to look after our people and ensure an extraordinary career experience for them.”
Continued growth and investment across the business
Audit
Audit achieved total revenues of $11.46 billion across all KPMG firms globally in FY21.
Our unwavering commitment is to serve the public interest with audit quality as the foundation of our business. Our continued focus on innovation is enabling true global consistency and delivering deeper insights for clients and stakeholders.
KPMG is investing significantly in our system of quality management aligned to new global quality management standards and the continued rollout of KPMG Clara — our global cloud- enabled, Microsoft Azure-powered smart audit platform.
ESG assurance, led by our Audit function, is a critical element of KPMG’s new global ESG plan and will be a key area of investment for the global organization to help ensure the information that businesses report is robust and independently assured to meet the needs and gain the trust of investors, stakeholders and the wider public.
“Audit quality remains our top priority and we are investing heavily in this continuous journey. Over the past year, we have made significant investments in our system of quality management, global monitoring of audit quality, and enhanced support to all of our audit professionals globally. Building on KPMG’s solid foundation, we need to continuously innovate, never losing our focus. We each own the responsibility for quality, underpinned by our mission to serve the public interest and the capital markets.” – Larry Bradley, Global Head of Audit, KPMG International
Tax and Legal services
Tax and Legal services achieved total revenues of $7.02 billion across all KPMG firms globally in FY21. Growth was largely driven by demand for Tax services as clients continue to seek support in navigating tax and statutory compliance in an increasingly complex economic and regulatory environment.
The organization continued to invest significantly as part of its $1 billion investment in Tax and Legal technology to enable solutions like KPMG Digital Gateway — our native cloud platform, also powered by Microsoft Azure, providing clients access to our full suite of tax technologies.
With ESG at the forefront of all leadership agendas, tax transparency is increasingly being used as a key metric of success, leading to the creation of KPMG Tax Impact Reporting — a new service that helps clients mitigate risk, remain compliant and advance their responsible tax approach in a complex environment.
“We are in the midst of unprecedented developments for Tax policy, globally. Tax transformation is now a global imperative. At KPMG, we’re excited about how our people, technologies and approach to business transformation combine to help tax leaders take their place at the executive leadership table and shape corporate action. Tax now has an even greater influence on the broader business agenda, and KPMG Tax, Legal and Mobility professionals are better placed than ever to support clients in responding to the rapidly evolving regulatory environment.” – David Linke, Global Head of Tax & Legal Services, KPMG International.
Advisory
Advisory achieved total revenues of $13.65 billion across all KPMG firms globally in FY21. Growth was driven in large part by the success of our Transaction and Deal Advisory services, as well as continued demand for innovative technologies and advanced cyber security solutions.
Further boosting Advisory’s revenue growth was the suite of digital and business transformation solutions delivered by our world-class management consulting talent, leveraging our market-leading ‘Connected. Powered. Trusted.’ approach. KPMG Regulatory Driven Transformation was also a key driver, providing bold solutions for clients’ rapidly evolving digital security and operational needs by helping to optimize risk, automate compliance and support the identification of opportunities created by regulatory change.
KPMG’s Advisory capabilities, powered by technology and supported by long-term relationships, are expert-led and deliver transformational solutions — a fact recognized over the past year by the global analyst community, including being named a “Leader” by IDC, Forrester, and HFS for our digital strategy, data analytics and AI services.
“Clients are looking to KPMG’s world-class professionals and experts as their trusted advisor to guide them through their toughest business challenges, especially now, in this highly competitive, increasingly digital-first global environment. By providing access to our tested solutions, high-performance tools and leading methodologies, we continue to equip clients with the solutions they need to help them remain competitive in a rapidly evolving landscape.” – Carl Carande, Global Head of Advisory, KPMG International
About KPMG International
KPMG is a global organization of independent professional services firms providing Audit, Tax and Advisory services. KPMG is the brand under which the member firms of KPMG International Limited (“KPMG International”) operate and provide professional services. “KPMG” is used to refer to individual member firms within the KPMG organization or to one or more member firms collectively.
KPMG firms operate in 145 countries and territories with more than 236,000 partners and employees working in member firms around the world. Each KPMG firm is a legally distinct and separate entity and describes itself as such. Each KPMG member firm is responsible for its own obligations and liabilities.
KPMG International Limited is a private English company limited by guarantee. KPMG International Limited and its related entities do not provide services to clients.
For more detail about our structure, please visit https://home.kpmg/xx/en/home/misc/governance.html
Notes to editors:
The financial information set forth represents combined information of the independent KPMG member firms that perform professional services for clients, affiliated with KPMG International Limited. The information is combined here solely for presentation purposes. KPMG International Limited performs no services for clients nor, concomitantly, generates any client revenue.
FY21 revenues and growth rates, throughout this press release, reflect KPMG’s financial year between 1 October 2020 and 30 September 2021 and are expressed in US dollars.
Headcount reported above based on partners and staff employed as at 30 September 2021. KPMG’s average FTE (full-time equivalent) for FY21 was 230,477, increased from the 226,882 reported in FY20.
Legal services may not be offered to SEC registrant audit clients or where otherwise prohibited by law.
Throughout this press release, “we”, “KPMG”, “us” and “our” refers to the global organization or to one or more of the member firms of KPMG International Limited (“KPMG
International”), each of which is a separate legal entity.
No member firm has any authority to obligate or bind KPMG International or any other member firm vis-à-vis third parties, nor does KPMG International have any such authority to obligate or bind any member firm.
