'Big 4' Audit: A company reported a profit of less than 500 million VND, employee salaries and bonuses of several hundred billion VND

Big 4 - Deloitte, PwC, EY and KPMG - are large auditing firms chosen by many businesses for their prestige and professionalism. However, the business results in 2024 of some units still plummeted.

Business activities of most Big4 auditing groups in the Vietnamese market are showing signs of decline - Photo: AI drawing

A Big4 auditor reported a profit of less than 500 million VND, with staff costs of nearly 700 billion VND.

EY Vietnam 's transparency report said the company's total revenue in fiscal year 2024 reached nearly VND1,278 billion, down 6% compared to 2023.

Revenue structure shows that EY Vietnam recorded more positive performance in the financial statement audit service segment for public interest entities with VND451.14 billion, an increase of nearly 53%.

In contrast, revenue from financial statement auditing services of other units decreased by 24% to 630 billion VND. Revenue from other services also decreased by 20%.

On the other hand, EY Vietnam's total operating expenses in 2024 are nearly VND1,273 billion, down nearly 7%. Salaries and bonuses for employees are still the largest part of the structure, although slightly reduced, still nearly VND695 billion.

	Revenue	Profit after tax
EY Vietnam	1278	0.5
KPMG Vietnam	679.2	32.15
PwC Vietnam	1067	65.5

Data: BCMB 2024

According to the report as of June 2024, at the headquarters, EY Vietnam has 56 approved practicing auditors, and at the branches there are 49 people.

Due to the cost reduction not being enough to offset the decline in revenue, EY Vietnam's after-tax profit in 2024 only reached VND494.7 million, "evaporating" 94% compared to the same period last year. This is also the lowest profit of EY Vietnam since 2017.

With the above results, EY Vietnam's taxes payable to the state budget also decreased sharply, to just over VND 11.2 billion. The company does not have to pay corporate income tax, while in 2023 this figure is still nearly VND 4.3 billion.

At PwC Vietnam, the 2024 report also revealed some financial information such as total revenue in fiscal year 2024 reached VND 1,067 billion, down more than 13% compared to 2023.

Contrary to the trend of EY or KPMG, revenue from auditing financial statements of public interest entities of PwC Vietnam decreased by 6% to VND78.3 billion. Revenue from other services (risk management and other services other than assurance services) decreased more sharply by 26% to nearly VND524 billion. Meanwhile, revenue from auditing financial statements of other entities increased, reaching VND465 billion.

PwC Vietnam's salary and bonus expenses reached more than VND611 billion, down more than 16% compared to the previous year. However, this item still accounts for a large part of the total cost structure, at more than 61%. After deducting all expenses, PwC Vietnam's after-tax profit reached VND65.5 billion, down nearly 57% compared to 2023.

However, PwC Vietnam's tax contribution to the state budget is still among the highest among Big4 with more than VND 186 billion, of which corporate income tax alone is more than VND 20.5 billion.

A company reported a sharp increase in profits.

KPMG Vietnam - another Big 4 firm - recorded total revenue in fiscal year 2024 of more than VND679.2 billion, a slight increase of nearly 2% compared to the previous year. Financial statement auditing services of public interest entities contributed more than VND157.5 billion, an increase of 9%.

Similar to EY Vietnam, KPMG's salary and bonus expenses for employees last year accounted for a large part of the total expenditure structure, reaching more than VND437 billion, but decreased by nearly 5%.

Revenue increased slightly, and costs were reduced. Finally, KPMG Vietnam's after-tax profit was more than VND 32.1 billion, nearly 15 times higher than in fiscal year 2023.

	Employee salary and bonus	Total cost
EY Vietnam	694	1272
KPMG Vietnam	437	647
PwC Vietnam	611	992

Data: BCMB 2024

According to the attached list, KPMG Vietnam has 18 auditors approved to practice at its Hanoi headquarters and 40 at its Ho Chi Minh City branch.

Regarding Deloitte's business results, Tuoi Tre Online has not been able to update the report for the 2024 fiscal year. However, general data from a financial unit shows that in 2024, the Big4 group will achieve a total revenue of nearly VND 3,688 billion, down 4% compared to 2023.

Why are salary and bonus costs at Big4 auditing so high?

Speaking to Tuoi Tre , a veteran auditor in the auditing industry said that auditing is one of the industries with a high job turnover rate. There are even auditors who consider this job a "career launch pad", after 2-3 years they will move to positions with higher salaries and less pressure such as chief accountant, financial specialist in enterprises and banks.

To retain good staff, auditing firms are forced to pay salaries and benefits higher than the average. In addition, retraining will increase costs.

Audit scandal

In 2024, after a series of scandals involving major cases, the list of people whose auditor qualifications were suspended grew longer, raising public concerns about the quality of this industry.

As for the Big4 group, three units - KPMG, Deloitte, Ernst & Young - were criticized for not detecting serious financial violations in the audit report of SCB Bank.

BINH KHANH

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/kiem-toan-big4-mot-cong-ty-bao-lai-chua-day-500-trieu-dong-luong-thuong-nhan-vien-vai-tram-ti-20250601164525776.htm