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KPMG bosses have called for dozens of mergers among national partnerships that make up global accounting firms in moves to promote growth and prevent audit scandals, according to those familiar with the issue.
Efforts to more closely integrate companies owned individually by partners in each country will become one of the biggest overhauls of the Big Four Network in a few years, a time of declining growth and uncertainty in the industry.
KPMG aims to reduce the number of “economic units” that make up just 32 international networks by next year, more than two years ago, according to the presentation executive, which was presented to analysts last month’s presentation executive, which described the Financial Times.
This goal represents the acceleration of the “clustering” strategy the company has been pursuing since 2023, leading to a combination of several member companies in the Middle East and similar initiatives in Africa.
In further integration, KPMG’s UK partnership voted last year to merge with Swiss KPMG business.
Unlike multinational companies, Big 4 accounting firms have historically been made up of a network of local partnerships.
However, the model is becoming increasingly nervous when consulting, which requires substantial investment in technology, becomes a more important part of the business.
According to people familiar with the issue, the company is concerned that small countries may struggle to keep up with these investments and may fund the compliance procedures needed to protect the quality of their audits and prevent reputational scandals.
KPMG generated global revenue of $38.4 billion last year. At 5.4%, it stripped away currency fluctuations, which grew the fastest of the Big Four, but represents a slowdown from the previous year.
The industry outlook for 2025 is clouded by the economic and geopolitical uncertainties affecting clients.
Bill Thomas, CEO of KPMG International, was given a one-year extension of his leadership term through an investment and integration strategy held in September 2026.
Executives set a revenue threshold of $300 million, but below that, the member companies may be too small to remain full members of the KPMG network.
KPMG also argues that in any merger, the partner’s profit pool is intended to be at least partially shared in the countries involved and move to full profit sharing over time.
Previous merger attempts within the KPMG have proven difficult. In 2007, the company’s UK, Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein merged to form KPMG Europe, but this move reversed as it failed to provide the intended efficiency.
Other large companies face similar challenges of adapting their structures to meet the need for technology investment and more efficient services for international clients.
The plan will be brought to light in the stock market, which collapsed in the fierce civil war in 2023, combining EY’s national consulting business.
Deloitte has successfully collaborated with a cluster of member companies, including Northwest Europe in 2016 and Asia-Pacific in 2018.
KPMG said it would retain national-level legal entities to comply with local audit regulations, but said that reducing the number of economic units would encourage the investment needed for its growth strategy.
“We are pleased to announce that we are committed to providing a range of services and services to providing services that are important to us,” said Gary Wingrove, Chief Operating Officer, KPMG International.
“We want a better size for our member companies. We deal with factors related to resilience and quality (this will protect the fabric of our organization and allow larger units to invest more in providing the right service to clients around the world,” he said.
“It also offers our people a better career outlook, as it’s easier to travel within the unit than between them.”
