Regional CPA Firms Go Head-to-Head with Big Four in Talent Wars

Highly rated for ‘quality of life:’ Moss Adams, Plante Moran, Friedman, BPM.

By CPA Trendlines 

Deloitte, KPMG and Moss Adams are gaining ground in the recruiting wars, according to a new survey of more than 8,000 accountants.

While PwC maintains its hold as the best brand in the business, second-ranked Deloitte is closing the gap, and KPMG jumped one spot to fourth place, in the latest Vault Accounting 50, a ranking of the best accounting firms to work for.

Even though the Big 4 firms rank highly in the Formal Training category, mid-sized firms are big winners in Quality of Life Rankings.

  • Michigan-based Plante Moran ranks No. 1 in 11 categories, including Culture, Overall Satisfaction, Informal Training, Business Outlook, and Firm Leadership.
  • New York City-based Friedman ranks No. 1 in Hours, Work/Life Balance, and Relationships with Supervisors. And,
  • San Francisco-based BPM ranks No. 1 in Overall Diversity, Minority Diversity, and LGBT Diversity.

Meanwhile, Chicago-based Grant Thornton got knocked back to fifth and West Coast firm Moss Adams leaped three spots to No. 8, moving back into the top 10.

The Top 10 firms in the survey are: