Florida-based CPA firm Assurance Dimensions took the lead among accounting firms with the most new Securities and Exchange Commission audit clients in the third quarter of 2019, while Top 15 Firm Marcum LLP led the field among large firms.
Assurance Dimensions brought on nine new clients in the quarter, and netted the same, after acquiring the SEC practice of another Florida firm, Soles, Heyn & Co. (See “Net engagement leaders,” at the bottom of this story.)
Marcum had 12 new engagements over the period, netting eight, while Deloitte took second place among large firms, adding nine audit clients and netting seven.
MAJOR FIRMS WINS & LOSSES
| Firm | Wins & losses | Net clients |
| Marcum* | +12/-4 | 8 |
| Deloitte | +9/-2 | 7 |
| EY | +4/-3 | 1 |
| BKD | +1 | 1 |
| Crowe | +1 | 1 |
| RSM US | +1 | 1 |
| Moss Adams | +2/-3 | -1 |
| EisnerAmper | +1/-2 | -1 |
| KPMG | +1/-3 | -2 |
| Grant Thornton | +1/-4 | -3 |
| PwC | +1/-4 | -3 |
| BDO USA | +4/-8 | -4 |
* Comprising Marcum LLP & Marcum Bernstein Pinchuk LLP
Clients by filing status, and more
There wasn’t much activity among large accelerated filers and accelerated filers. Three large firms tied in terms of new large accelerated filers, with one each, while Top 25 Firm Eide Bailly edged out a few other firms in terms of accelerated filers by bringing on two. (See “Audit leaders,” below.) (Eide Bailly was also the beneficiary of a merger – all six of its new clients came from Top 100 Firm Vavrinek, Trine, Day & Co., which it merged in in July.)
NEW LARGE ACCELERATED FILERS
| Auditor | Wins | Losses | Net |
| Crowe | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Deloitte & Touche | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Eide Bailly | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| PricewaterhouseCoopers | 1 | 1 | 0 |
NEW ACCELERATED FILERS
| Auditor | Wins | Losses | Net |
| Eide Bailly | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Deloitte & Touche | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Armanino | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Ernst & Young | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Friedman | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| RSM | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Grant Thornton | 1 | 1 | 0 |
All nine of Assurance Dimensions’ clients were smaller reporting companies, putting it at the top of the league tables, with Marcum coming in second with seven.
NEW SMALLER REPORTING COMPANIES
| Auditor | Wins | Losses | Net |
| Assurance Dimensions | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| Marcum | 7 | 1 | 6 |
| Prager Metis CPAs | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| MaloneBailey | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| M&K CPAs | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Fruci & Associates | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| BF Borgers CPA | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| KCCW Accountancy Corp | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Bolko and Associates | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Boyle CPA | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Buckley Dodds | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Deloitte & Touche | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Dylan Floyd Accounting | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Eide Bailly | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Exelient PAC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Halperin Ilanit CPA | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| James Pai CPA | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| KMJ Corbin & Co. | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Lo and Kwong CPA & Co. | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Macias Gini & O’Connell | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| RH CPA | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Slack & Co. CPAs | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Smythe | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Total Asia Associates | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Turner Stone & Co. | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Yusufali & Associates | 1 | 0 | 1 |
In terms of new market capitalization audited, PricewaterhouseCoopers led in the third quarter, all thanks to the $5.54 billion it brought on with packaging materials company Sealed Air. Sealed Air also put PwC second in terms of new audit fees, with $7.15 million.
LEADERS IN NEW MARKET CAP AUDITED
| Auditor | Market cap |
| PricewaterhouseCoopers | $5,542,595,584 |
| Deloitte & Touche | $2,877,289,461 |
| Ernst & Young | $2,437,231,804 |
| Eide Bailly | $1,686,276,168 |
| Marcum | $816,322,532 |
| RSM | $717,389,184 |
| Crowe | $641,326,848 |
| BDO USA | $558,247,168 |
| Centurion ZD CPA & Co. | $425,190,848 |
| BKD | $400,511,563 |
| AJ Robbins CPA | $385,301,696 |
| Prager Metis CPAs | $344,583,856 |
| Friedman | $295,372,624 |
| Grant Thornton | $279,097,376 |
Deloitte came in second in market cap audited, with $2.88 billion; the biggest single chunk of that -- $981 million – came with biotechnology company Intrexon Corp. The Big Four firm swapped places with PwC to lead the league in terms of new audit fees; it added $8.63 million in fees, with Intrexon contributing the most at $3.02 million, and consumer finance company Curo Group Holdings Corp. bringing in $2.53 million.
LEADERS IN NEW AUDIT FEES
| Auditor | Audit fees |
| Deloitte & Touche | $8,632,737 |
| PricewaterhouseCoopers | $7,151,000 |
| BDO USA | $4,387,410 |
| Ernst & Young | $3,370,223 |
| Marcum | $3,347,506 |
| Eide Bailly | $1,621,805 |
| Friedman | $1,571,673 |
| BKD | $1,507,070 |
| Crowe | $1,365,000 |
| EisnerAmper | $670,000 |
| Plante Moran | $642,654 |
| Whitley Penn | $577,317 |
| Prager Metis CPAs | $561,195 |
| KMJ Corbin & Co. | $541,000 |
| Grant Thornton | $502,328 |
Finally, Eide Bailly brought on the most new assets audited -- $13.78 billion – the biggest single chunk of which came from personal and commercial banking company First Foundation Inc., with $5.84 billion in assets. Crowe brought on the second-largest collection new assets to audit – and all $5.5 billion came from multi-ethnic community bank Hanmi Financial Corp.
LEADERS BY NEW ASSETS AUDITED
| Auditor | Assets audited |
| Eide Bailly | $13,783,815,000 |
| Crowe | $5,502,219,000 |
| PwC | $5,050,200,000 |
| Deloitte & Touche | $3,231,458,214 |
| Dixon Hughes Goodman | $2,094,896,000 |
| BDO USA | $1,573,979,000 |
| Whitley Penn | $1,480,867,051 |
| Ernst & Young | $1,255,202,115 |
| Plante Moran | $848,882,000 |
| RSM | $471,155,000 |
| Marcum | $433,148,552 |
| Friedman | $347,737,403 |
| AJ Robbins CPA | $286,932,000 |
| $236,047,000 | |
| BKD | $235,038,000 |
Data for the quarterly rankings are provided by Audit Analytics, a premium online intelligence service delivering audit, regulatory and disclosure analysis. Reach them at (508) 476-7007,
NET NEW ENGAGEMENTS
| Accounting firm | Net new engagements | New engagements |
| Assurance Dimensions | 9 | 9 |
| Marcum | 8 | 12 |
| Deloitte & Touche | 7 | 9 |
| Eide Bailly | 6 | 6 |
| Prager Metis CPAs | 5 | 7 |
| Friedman | 3 | 5 |
| MaloneBailey | 3 | 5 |
| M&K CPAS | 3 | 4 |
| BF Borgers CPA | 2 | 4 |
| Ernst & Young | 1 | 4 |
| Boyle CPA | 2 | 2 |
| Fruci & Associates | 1 | 2 |
| KCCW Accountancy Corp. | 1 | 2 |
| Slack & Co. CPAs | 1 | 2 |
| AJ Robbins CPA | 1 | 1 |
| Armanino | 1 | 1 |
| Artesian CPA | 1 | 1 |
| BBD | 1 | 1 |
| BKD | 1 | 1 |
| Bolko and Associates | 1 | 1 |
| Briggs & Veselka Co. | 1 | 1 |
| Brown Edwards & Co. | 1 | 1 |
| Buckley Dodds | 1 | 1 |
| Ciro E Adams CPA | 1 | 1 |
| Crowe | 1 | 1 |
| D Brooks & Associates CPAs | 1 | 1 |
| Dixon Hughes Goodman | 1 | 1 |
| Dylan Floyd Accounting & Consulting | 1 | 1 |
| Exelient PAC | 1 | 1 |
| Halperin Ilanit CPA | 1 | 1 |
| James Pai CPA | 1 | 1 |
| Macias Gini & O'Connell | 1 | 1 |
| Moore Stephens Lovelace | 1 | 1 |
| Morgan & Co. | 1 | 1 |
| Pinnacle Accountancy Group of Utah | 1 | 1 |
| RH CPA | 1 | 1 |
| RSM | 1 | 1 |
| Smythe | 1 | 1 |
| Squar Milner | 1 | 1 |
| Stowe & Degon | 1 | 1 |
| Total Asia Associates | 1 | 1 |
| Turner Stone & Co. | 1 | 1 |
| Wei Wei & Co. | 1 | 1 |
| WWC PC CPAs | 1 | 1 |
| Yusufali & Associates | 1 | 1 |
