Consulting Pays Off for Accountants Again

Worldwide, consulting is an even bigger business for Deloitte, making up 45% of its $20 billion in global revenue. In 2006, it totaled $8.9 billion, according to Peterborough (N.H.)-based Kennedy Information. And it hasn't taken long for the other audit firms to do the math, and quickly rebuild their own consulting arms. KPMG Worldwide last year sold $5.3 billion of consulting, a 12% jump from the year before; PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) $3.7 billion, up 20%; and Ernst & Young $2.4 billion, a 2% increase. "It's a huge growth industry, and a big margin business," says Clark Beecher, a professional-services executive search consultant at Houston-based Magellan International. Beecher estimates demand for consultants who do the work the Big 4 specialize in is now 15 times the supply. "It's the old mentality again. You sell everything you can." Business Week