Most firms registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board aren't conducting any public audits.
In its 2025 annual report, the PCAOB found that 863 of 1,444 registered firms (60%) do not perform issuer, broker-dealer or substantial-role audits. Within the U.S., 340 of 646 (53%) of firms do not perform any of those audits, which is a lower share than 523 of 798 (66%) of non-U.S. firms.
This category was followed by firms that perform audits for broker-dealers only, with 112 U.S. firms and zero non-U.S. firms. The next most common firm performed only one to five audits for SEC issuers, with 87 U.S. firms and 159 U.S. firms.
The PCAOB saw a decrease in the number of registered firms last year. At the end of 2025, there were 1,444 registered, down 6% from 1,544 at the end of 2024. Fifty-eight percent of firms that withdrew their registrations gave the fact that they performed no work that required registration with the PCAOB as their reason, followed by a business combination or dissolution of the firm (12%), and increased regulation (7%). Twenty percent of withdrawing firms did not cite a reason.
Last year, the PCAOB inspected over 200 firms and reviewed over 880 audit engagements of public companies and SEC-registered broker-dealers. Seventy (35%) of these firms, responsible for over 200 audits, were located outside of the U.S. The board issued 37 public disciplinary orders for misconduct such as audit failures and quality control violations.
The PCAOB's net operating revenue increased to $376.1 million, up 4% from $360.1 million the prior year, largely due to the increase in accounting support fees. Personnel costs were the greatest operating expense at 76%, with more than half of those costs related to its registration and inspections program.
