The market for auditing and tax consulting in Germany grew again last year, albeit at a slightly slower rate than in the previous year. The market volume increased by 7.6% to 21.3 billion euros in 2024, according to the latest analysis of the largest auditing and tax consulting firms by Lünendonk & Hossenfelder, which analysed 70 auditing firms and twelve networks and alliances.

Among the 25 largest firms, the average growth rate was 10.7%. The industry is undergoing more upheaval than ever before, says Jörg Hossenfelder, Managing Director of the research and consulting firm. The multi-year view has long resembled a resting ECG, he says. „But now we are seeing significant changes.“

The top dog in the German market is PwC, which, according to the Lünendonk list, will exceed the 3 billion euros turnover mark in Germany in 2024. The other Big Four firms KPMG, Deloitte and EY are almost on a par. Companies are included in the list if they generate more than 60% of their turnover from auditing, tax consultancy, corporate finance, or legal advice. At least 15% of this must be in the area of pure auditing.

However, the growth dynamics of the Big Four varied greatly: while growth at Deloitte (10.6%) and KPMG (8.6%) was significant, PwC and EY had to make do with revenue growth of 1.1% each. The market power of the Big Four is enormous: According to the Lünendonk list, 10.8 billion euros of the total volume of 21.3 billion euros is accounted for by the cumulative turnover of the four largest auditing and consulting firms. The 25 largest firms on the list have a combined total turnover of 14 billion euros, which means that the other 3,000 or so registered audit and consultancy firms account for a further 8 billion euros.

This fragmentation of the market also makes it interesting for private equity investors, who are increasingly finding ways to penetrate the market for tax consultancy and auditing despite the ban on third-party ownership. This can also be seen in the advance orders for the study on the auditing market, reports Hossenfelder. „We have many enquiries from private equity investors, particularly from the Anglo-Saxon and US markets.“

Behind the Big Four are the Next Six with RSM Ebner Stolz, BDO, Rödl & Partner, Forvis Mazars, Baker Tilly and Grant Thornton. They grew by an average of 15.8% in 2024. With DHPG, another audit firm has made the leap into the three-digit turnover regions. As DHPG focuses on SMEs, they differ from the Next Six, which target public interest entities (PIEs).

The industry's top 25 are slightly more positive about the coming years than the market as a whole, even though the auditors are anticipating a slowdown in market growth overall. For 2025, the industry as a whole expects growth of 7.3%. The 25 largest firms are slightly more optimistic, forecasting growth of 8.5%. The turnover forecast for the following years up to 2029 is also within this range.

The topic of ESG has suffered a setback as the great hope for growth in the coming years. The reason for this is the EU's Omnibus Initiative, which significantly reduces the number of companies subject to ESG reporting requirements. While 80% of participants in the previous Lünendonk survey still expected „significant increases in turnover“ in non-financial reporting, only 43% expect this in the current survey. „Hopes of auditing sustainability reports on a large scale from 2025 onwards have been scaled back. This is because the EU omnibus initiative means that four out of five clients subject to CSRD are now exempt from ESG regulation – at least for two years,“ says Hossenfelder. 69% of those surveyed described the ESG project volumes of their clients as low.

Instead, the companies expect significant growth in the areas of restructuring and reorganisation. All of the Big Four companies and all of the Next Six anticipate increases in turnover in this segment, and 80% of the 25 largest auditing companies. In the overall tableau of all 82 study participants analysed, the figure is still two thirds.

There is also unanimity among the ten largest audit firms when it comes to the key management tasks: all of the Big Four and Next Six say that digitalisation and artificial intelligence are at the top of the agenda. According to the survey, 78% of auditors already have an AI competence centre and a further 10% are planning one. 12% are not yet addressing the issue. „You should be concerned about them,“ warns Hossenfelder. The second major task is recruiting. Although more candidates have recently registered for the auditor exam, the number of successful graduates has so far remained constant.