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 public interest financial statement audit service segment with VND 451.14 billion, up nearly 53%.
In contrast, revenue from financial statement auditing services of other units decreased by 24% to VND630 billion. 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 portion of the structure, although slightly reduced, still nearly VND695 billion.
Data: BCMB 2024
According to the report at 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 was only 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 contributions to the state budget are 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 Big4 firm - recorded total revenue in fiscal year 2024 of over VND679.2 billion, a slight increase of nearly 2% compared to the previous year. Auditing services for financial statements of public interest entities contributed over 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 portion of its total expenses, 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 32.1 billion VND, nearly 15 times higher than in fiscal year 2023.
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 updated 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 3,688 billion VND, down 4% compared to 2023.
Why are salary and bonus costs at Big4 auditing so high?
Speaking to Tuoi Tre , a long-time 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 - have been criticized for failing to detect serious financial violations in the audit report of SCB Bank.
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
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