For the 17th year, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) surveyed members of the six UK accounting associations (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (ICAI/CAI), Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), and Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS)), plus the Association of International Accountants (AIA).

The FRC’s Key Facts and Trends in the Accountancy Profession—October 2019 is a great read for anyone providing business valuation services in the UK or Republic of Ireland. Some findings of particular interest from this new edition:

• The Big Four took in an additional 1.7% in audit fee income, while the non-Big Four audit firms lost an additional 6.3%.
• This growth in audit fees for EY, KPMG, PwC, and Deloitte slowed compared to 2017—also not surprising because these firms already audit all 100 of the biggest firms in FTSE—or what Accounting Today calls ‘approximately 100% of the FTSE 100.’
• As the audit business concentrates, the number of firms registered with the FRC to carry out statutory audit work continues to fall. By 2018, that number dropped to 5,394, 4.7% less than at the end of 2017.
• There are 365,000 chartered accountant members between the six UK organizations, with ICAEW at 129,000, ACCA at 98,000, and CIMA at 83,000. Growth in total UK membership slowed slightly, to 1.7% (the compound rate from 2014 to 2018 is 2.2%). The worldwide growth in accountancy body members rose 2.9%, so the UK lagged marginally. (FRC counts members of the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) separately.)
• The average percentage of members who are female is now 37%, up slightly from 35% in 2014. ICAEW lags this overall average, with 29% female members. Gender issues continue to plague the profession, despite more attention to the protected characteristics (under the Equality Act of 2010). For instance, EY received negative social media attention for a training session for women partners earlier this year. (EY perhaps deserves a little better, since so many large firms offer little to support women in senior management. Nonetheless, the Big Four firm’s training event, out of context, appeared to mention just about every incorrect stereotype regarding professional women in the workplace and in leadership.)
• The FRC’s Audit Quality Review (AQR) team conducted 129 reviews of retained audits in the 12 months prior to March 2019. Of these, 98 were audits done by the Big Four. BDO and Grant Thornton received eight reviews each. Other reviewed audits were conducted at Mazars (five), Moore Stephens (three), Beever and Struthers (two), Crowe (two), Haysmacintyre (two), and Scott-Moncrieff (one). Of course, the accounting associations also conduct their own reviews.